Submitted by John Cooper, Greenwich
To the Editor:
The Greenwich Time headline from Saturday, September 17, 2022, reads: “67 Greenwich Republicans demand school superintendent be put on leave during hiring investigation.” But to which investigation do they refer: the investigation by the Connecticut Attorney General, the Greenwich First Selectman, the Board of Education, or the Connecticut Department of Education? It might be helpful to know so we can all follow along.
Can I call for a different investigation?
I volunteer for Call-A-Ride driving seniors from their residences to appointments all over town. Earlier this spring on my way to collect a client from Parsonage Cottage on Parsonage Road, I came upon a construction zone at the intersection of North Maple Avenue and Husted Lane. Seems a bump-out was being created to correct a perceived deficiency in the intersection. When that project was completed in summer, I again traveled those same roads and the swerve left required by the bump-out was overdone and in my opinion dangerous, as it nearly threw me into oncoming Husted traffic.
Fast forward to late August and I’m again on my route to Parsonage Cottage. Wow the bump-out is gone and the intersection has been returned almost to its previous condition, with new pavement running a quarter mile onto Husted Lane. I took a photo and wrote an email to the Commissioner of Public Works, asking what had brought about the project in the first place, and what led to the tear out.
Crickets…
So here is something to investigate – answer these questions and it will tell us all a lot about how modern-day Town of Greenwich government works.
As 100% taxpayer dollars were used for the North Maple-Husted folly, how much did the building and then tear out cost the residents of Greenwich? Who was in charge and how were those decisions made?
With so many projects being sprung on the townspeople from bump-outs to permanent outdoor dining and connecting downtown to the waterfront, we should all be demanding that Town Hall be more forthcoming and much more transparent.
Just think, with the monies squandered at North Maple and Husted Lane, the long-ignored refurbishment of the Senior Center on Greenwich Avenue could have been completed. Sadly, it languishes just out of view of the Selectmen’s office across the street.
Respectfully submitted,
John Cooper
Greenwich, CT