Submitted by Sandy Waters, President, Greenwich League of Women Voters
Recently, LWV Greenwich completed a study about how the Town might improve its Capital Projects decision-making process. The bipartisan committee, comprised of eleven members, worked for 18 months to identify issues and to suggest opportunities for improvement. In January, LWV Greenwich members unanimously approved a Concurrence Statement with eight (8) recommendations for improving the Capital Projects decision-making process. The League hopes that these recommendations can form the basis for a community discussion about community processes and needs.
Importantly, despite a recent misleading article headline to the contrary, the Committee, its Report, and the Concurrence Statement did not assign blame to any political party for the significant backlog of capital projects.
Town officials have been aware of the substance of the recommendations since February 2023. There have been only a few modest suggestions for improvement.
In July, we released the Report and its Concurrence Statement to the public and held a Zoom presentation on July 25. (Links available on the LWV website). We have scheduled another presentation in person on September 13 at 7:00 pm in the Black Box Theater at the Greenwich Library. Register HERE.
No doubt candidates for public office will be discussing capital projects prior to the upcoming November’s municipal election. Some may seek to use our work to justify their positions. LWV Greenwich stands behind its nonpartisan Report and does not endorse the partisan views of any political party or candidate.
The League encourages citizens to become aware of and to understand the Report’s recommendations to become better informed voters.
We hope everyone – voters, candidates, both parties, and the local press — will read the Report and its Concurrence Statement for themselves and will consider the recommendations for improving the Town’s governance. The opportunity is to identify ways for our Town to do better.
Despite a polarized political climate, let’s demonstrate that we do know how to work together to develop solutions to the community’s needs. The League wants and values input from across the political spectrum.