Peter Tesei
Okay, that's not really our First Selectman pictured here but the poor ol' guy was panhandling on the Town Hall steps and I felt sorry for him so I posted his image - he'll feel better now, I'm sure, once he gains access to a computer and sees his smiling visage.
Anyway, I did hear Mr. Tesei speak today and he did an excellent job discussing our town's budget and a number of problems afflicting Greenwich. I came away thinking we're in good hands, even if I did vote for his opponent.

Tesei told us that Greenwich sends Hartford $600 million each year in taxes and gets back $5 million. This is particularly distressing because, just the other day, I heard a panel discussion of certain liberals bemoaning the fact that cities like Waterbury hit their citizens with property taxes 5X greater than Greenwich. The solution, according to these redistributionists, was to tax Greenwich more heavily. They ignored the one commentator who pointed out that, while Connecticut's population has decreased over the past two decades, the number of municipal employees has increased 39%. Why cut spending when there's a golden goose down the road, just waiting to be plucked?

The answer to our declining schools, Tesei suggested, was to bring some accountability to the School Board (which, by charter, Tesei can't control). Right now, our two political parties each put just two members up for election every other year and, by default, they are elected. The parties could select 4 candidates and create a real contest at the expense of making the incumbents nervous. Tesei seemed to think this was a good idea and so do I. Go put some pressure on your local Democrats and Republicans and consider running for the Board yourself. And don't forget to toss our current superintendent, Betty Sternberg, out of office next year. She's not to blame for everything bad about our schools, I suppose, but heck - it's a start.

Diane Fox, P&Z head honcho, also spoke. I usually disagree with everything the lady has to say and today was no exception. If she has her way, and she always does, watch out for new, stricter requirements for elevating additions to houses along the waterfront. Ms. Fox has smoked a bit too long from the Al Gore bong and seems to think the sea level is going to rise 50' next year. Fortunately, she'll be there with her regulations to save us.

She also wants to see "affordable housing" apartments built along the Post Road and in downtown Greenwich all for the purpose, she claims, of providing housing for our municipal employees. This is a crock and I suspect she knows it. When pressed on the issue of who, exactly, was going to occupy this housing when cops, firemen and teachers all seem to want what everyone else does: a single family house with a backyard, Fox fell back on 'elderly". Nothing against old folks downsizing, but I wish our town planners would be honest enough to admit that that's who we're building for instead of casting these projects in the glow of a "we're providing housing for our workers" argument.