Submitted by Jim Finn, Cos Cob
Republicans vying for the party’s presidential nomination gathered last month and made clear where their fealty lies: With Donald Trump.
When asked who would support Trump if he’s the nominee and is convicted, six of eight of the potential candidates raised their hands in support of Trump.
Greenwich, it’s time for a similar test: Every Republican nominee for November’s municipal elections should be asked the same question and be made to raise their hands in support of Trump. Because it is clear that’s their party leader.
I’ve lived in Cos Cob for 27 years and only got involved in local politics last spring.
And everyone told me that the off-year or municipal elections are really local elections, not national. You have to be focused only on local issues.
Sorry, folks, this is no longer true and hasn’t been since 2019 when I saw the MAGA wing of the Republican party take over the state party and beat a three-time incumbent in Fairfield’s First Selectman race, Mike Tetreau.
And nothing about the last four years in Greenwich can convince me that this is a purely local race as we see the MAGA national playbook come to town…parental rights, CRT, transgender, book banning and the rest of their nonsense.
Let’s not forget that two years ago the Republican Town Committee (RTC) had an insurrection and purged Republicans deemed insufficiently Trump – from Dan Quigley to Randy Caravella to Mike Mason.
Now, the RTC chair claims her party is the party of constructive dialogue. From what I’ve seen the past two years, if this is constructive dialogue then I have an overpriced condo in Trump Towers to sell you!
While I’ve only been here 27 years, it is clear to see that the composition of the town has changed significantly in the last decade. The town is far more diverse and unaffillateds are now the largest group of registered voters, followed by Democrats and then Republicans. Greenwich has voted for every Democratic president since Barack Obama and the party has made huge gains in the congressional and state delegations.
Given the record in even year elections, why has Greenwich chosen to reward Republicans with the First Selectman seat for the last 20 years and had a near monopoly on the BET for a century?
Inevitably, people tell me it’s about keeping the mill rate low and, thus, keeping our tax rates low. OK, I get that but at what cost? And I reject that taxes have to go up if we do what needs to be done as the way this town finances its operations is an abomination.
Then they tell me we need to keep our AAA-rating? I have previously written about this and called it for the red herring it is: we have zero chance of losing our rating; in fact, some 30 towns around the state have considerably more debt than we do and they have AAA and schools that aren’t falling apart.
In a town of Wall Street Wizards, it is time for our finance and governance to move from 1689 to the modern age of finance. The Democratic BET candidates have decades of experience in finance and they should be supported across the board.
And governance is a major issue.
Remember 30 year plus Greenwich police veteran Mark Kordick?
Well, four years ago Mark had the temerity to call out then first selectman candidate, Fred Camillo, as a Trumper.
We now know what ensued. Fred’s campaign went to great lengths to track down the “perpetrator”. During discovery in the current lawsuit, they found texts from the incumbent vowing to fire Mr. Kordick if he was elected and became police commissioner. Sure enough, when Fred was elected he exacted his revenge and Kordick was terminated by the police chief.
Fast forward four years and the lawsuit is moving forward with a jury being selected as we speak and the trial scheduled for September 21 in Stamford. Last month, the town turned down a proposed $675,000 settlement.
No matter what happens, the First Selectman handed the taxpayers a lose-lose proposition. If the town settles before the case goes to trial, it will no doubt be for more than $675,000. And if it goes to trial, I can’t imagine the incumbent is too excited about the case going to trial in the middle of his re-election bid. Stay tuned for the fireworks.
Greenwich deserves better than a thin skinned executive who is going to cost the town well over $1 million to conclude a case that merely confirms the obvious: Greenwich Republicans have been taken over by extremists in the Trump cult.
And if I’m wrong, all you have to do is not raise your hand when asked if you’ll support Trump as the nominee. But that’s not likely since Beth MacGillivray has been pictured in the local press putting a Trump banner on her truck and the policies of the Greenwich Republicans reflect the national positions of the MAGA party.
Let’s also not forget that Fred’s big booster, Scott Franz, is hosting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the godfather of “wokism” and so-called parents rights, for a fundraiser.
Four years later and more than $1 million dollars in legal fees and payouts there’s one thing we can conclude from this sordid affair…Mark Kordick was right!