Dear Readers,

Due to production constraints, we were unable to include 2 important contributions in the print edition of the paper. Both deserve attention and our apology to their authors.

We are sending them to you directly now, in full, and as intended.

• Chief of Police Jim Heavey shares a Memorial Day column that speaks not only to the sacrifice of service members, but to the responsibilities we all share in honoring them. He also includes this weekend’s scheduled events.
  

• Harry Fisher offers a perspective clarifying the fiscal philosophy guiding recent decisions and addressing public concerns in A Time for Grace and Gravity in Our Public Discourse.

We thank our contributors for their insight and service—and we regret the delay in publishing their work. We hope readers will take a moment to read these important pieces.

With appreciation for your continued support,

The Greenwich Sentinel

Column: Memorial Day 2025

By Chief Jim Heavey

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of Summer, but it’s important to remember the origins of this solemn remembrance: to remember and honor those who perished in war defending the United States. While we appreciate everyone who has served in uniform, Memorial Day should not be confused with Veterans Day (November 11).

If you visit Greenwich Town Hall, you can see the names of every service member from town who lost his life in the service of our country. The names on the wall do not just represent a fallen service member, but also the proud sacrifice of their family and their hometown.

One quiet but important tradition in Greenwich, led by the American Legion Post 29 and assisted by the Greenwich Knights of Columbus, is the placement of small US flags on the graves of all departed Veterans in our local cemeteries the week before Memorial Day. What is especially poignant about this tradition is that the flags are placed by our local Scouts the week before Memorial Day.

I would especially like to remember two Greenwich Police Officers who gave their lives while serving in WWII:
Police officer Bernard McGillian, a young, popular rookie officer hired in January of 1943, left Greenwich to serve in the US Army Air Corps as a Sergeant. McGillian was killed in action in the Pacific on June 5, 1945, when his B-29 aircraft failed to return after a mission over Japan.

Police Captain John Trufel was appointed to the Greenwich Police Department in June of 1926 and served many years as the commander of the detective division. Trufel joined the US Army at age 42 and was killed on May 8, 1945, in Germany on the very day of Victory in Europe (VE Day) while serving as US Army First Lieutenant.

My Memorial Day Challenge to you is to spend some quality time with friends and family, but also to participate in one of the many Memorial Day events that occur in Greenwich over the holiday weekend:
Saturday, May 24
11:00 AM—Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 101012, ceremony at Cos Cob Marina, 94 Strickland Road
Sunday, May 25
1:00 PM—Byram Veterans Parade and Ceremony, Veterans Way and Delavan Ave., Byram
5:00 PM—Glenville Volunteer Fire Company & 9th District Veterans Parade and Ceremony, parade down Glenville to Glenville Fire House, 266 Glenville Road
Monday May 26
8:00 AM—American Legion Post 29 wreath-laying and ceremony at Indian Harbor Yacht Club, 710 Steamboat Road
10:00 AM—Sound Beach Volunteer Fire Dept. Memorial Day Parade on Sound Beach Ave, with ceremony in Binney Park following the parade.
10:00 AM—Byram Veterans Memorial Day Ceremony at Eugene Morlot Veterans Memorial Grove (behind McKinney Terrace and near the Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink, off Sherman Ave.)

Far Away
From all they knew, With hearts of pride
And courage true, Vowed to serve
As freedom’s light, And through their strength
Our nation’s might, They gave all
Our brave defenders, Where poppies lie,
We will remember.
— Author unknown

A life-long Greenwich resident, Jim Heavey is the Greenwich Chief of Police, a volunteer firefighter, scouting leader, and United States Army veteran.

Column: A Time for Grace and Gravity in Our Public Discourse

By Harry Fisher

In every generation, Americans are called to reaffirm their faith in the institutions of self-government. These institutions—boards, commissions, councils—are the foundation of our working local democracy. And at the heart of these institutions is the principle of mutual respect. Lose that, and the body politic begins to wither.

Lately, in our venerable town, I fear that we have forgotten how to talk to one another. We are blessed with a town that is beautiful, a citizenry that is generous, and a record of responsible government. Yet even here, we find ourselves tangled in an increasingly uncivil discourse. That should trouble all of us, no matter the letter next to our name.

On Friday, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Toni Jones issued a community-wide message under the guise of her official position that crossed a line—not of partisanship, but of decorum and appropriateness. In her public statement, she alleged that the Board of Estimate and Taxation failed to support “basic operational needs” of the school district—needs she described as contractually required salaries, utilities, and transportation.

There are two things to be said here. First, this accusation is fundamentally manipulative. State law prohibits the BET from touching specific line items in the Board of Education’s budget. And second, it disregards a hard truth: our schools are not suffering from a lack of dollars but from how each of those $240+ million dollars are spent.

In the last five years, enrollment in Greenwich Public Schools has declined by more than 500 students. Yet the number of teachers has increased by 20. Absenteeism among teachers is twice the state average, costing taxpayers an additional $1 million. The system is top-heavy with administrative assistants and inflated hiring salaries. And yet, the BET has not shrunk the budget. It reduced the growth of an already robust request—from a 5.1% increase to a still-generous 3% increase.

Is that not fiscal responsibility? Is that not stewardship?

I have long believed that when public servants disagree, they must do so with dignity. We are not enemies, but colleagues—working under the same roof, toward the same goal: a town where every child can learn, and every taxpayer can trust. A public email from a salaried town employee making serious allegations about an elected independent fiscal board tasked with representing taxpayers erodes that trust. It sets fire where we need bridges.

The BET has approved record capital investments for our schools. Three major construction projects are moving forward at the same time—unprecedented in Greenwich history. The assertion that the BET is undermining the school system is not only untrue, it’s corrosive.

I also regret to observe that this isn’t an isolated incident. Across town meetings, letters to the editor, and social media posts, the tone has darkened. Anger masquerades as activism. Sarcasm substitutes for substance. Personal attacks and often outright lies have displaced public dialogue. And this, too, must end.

Some blame the tools of the age—email and Facebook and the swift send button. But I say the tools are not the problem. The heart is.

I’ve always said, “We can disagree without being disagreeable.” That’s not just a clever phrase—it’s a call to conscience. And it applies doubly to those who serve at the pleasure of the town: to remember that their role is not to scold or scorn elected boards, but to serve the public good with grace… and to set an example of what grace looks like for future generations.

To my Democratic friends, I offer this appeal: leadership is not about winning votes on a technicality, nor about weaponizing the airwaves of communication. The appointment of a Board of Education chair against long-standing custom, aided by partisan maneuvering, has further divided a town that was once guided by shared assumptions of fair play. Let us not deepen that division with words we cannot take back.

Our town deserves better. We all do.

Let us put down the torches and pick up the tools of statesmanship. Let us model for our children how to lead, not how to sow discord.

Because in the end, it’s not about Republicans or Democrats. It’s about the future we shape together as neighbors.

A life-long Greenwich resident, Harry Fisher serves as Chair of the BET