Last week the Greenwich Board of Education had planned to vote on a new Republican member to replace the seat on the 8-person board vacated by Karen Kowalski who resigned last summer citing a move out of town.
Former BOE chair, Karen Kowalski. Photo: Leslie Yager
At their Oct 17 retreat, acting chair Karen Hirsh asked for nominations, but it was not to be.
The board decided to hold off their decision after Cody Kittle made a motion to delay the vote. It was seconded by Republican Wendy Vizzo.
“I’m willing to vote for that so long as we commit to doing our homework this week, and for there be a special meeting on Wednesday to get this done because it’s important that we are a fully operating board,” said Democratic member Kathleen Stowe.
The board discussed meeting on Wednesday, Oct 23, but instead held an emergency meeting Monday at 11:30am.
Meanwhile, the Board of Selectmen on Monday announced a special meeting for Tuesday at 9:00am with a single agenda item: “Discussion and vote on Board of Education vacancy.”
That meeting was subsequently moved to Tuesday at 3:00pm.
The emergency BOE meeting on Monday was attended by the four Democratic members and one of the three Republicans, Dr. Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony.
The other two Republicans, Cody Kittle and Wendy Vizzo were not in attendance.
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That said, there was quorum without them.
Acting chair Karen Hirsh said both BOE bylaws and CT state statute 219 had clear guidance about procedure for filling a vacancy.
Dr. Mercanti-Anthony asked why it was necessary to hold the emergency meeting Monday rather than a special meeting on Wednesday.
Ms Hirsh said it was important to give a new member time to become familiar with the budget documents before an important vote scheduled for the regular business meeting on Thursday.
“That sounds incredibly insincere,” Mercanti-Anthony said.
Democratic BOE member Laura Kostin nominated Jen Behette to fill the board vacancy.
Many Greenwich Schools parents know Ms Behette for her role on the Central Middle School PTA from 2021 to 2023, and her strong advocacy for the new CMS.
Ms Behette also served on the PTA Executive Board at North Street School from 2017 to 2019 and is a former Greenwich Junior League president.
The nomination was seconded by Democratic board member, Kathleen Stowe.
“First and foremost, for years, Jen was an educator and guidance counselor in the Yonkers City Schools. And having another educator join the Board is really a gift,” Kostin said. “I came to know Jen through her steadfast and consistent advocacy for students and their families.”
“She was elected to these leadership positions because of her commitment to going the extra mile for students and her school community at large,” Kostin added.
She noted that the Junior League runs educational programs including the sell-out “Positively Me” program for young girls.
“Many people across town also know her as a Girl Scout leader who has been committed to nurturing a new generation of community leaders through scouting,” Kostin added.
“I’m excited to have a fully operating board as we have our capital meeting this Thursday,” Ms Stowe said.
During the meeting Dr. Mercanti-Anthony said he had had private conversations with all 6 candidates for the position, and said “any of the other candidates was acceptable.”
“I know you have the votes because there’s four of you and three of us, but in a small town, bi-partisan system like us, this is not how it’s supposed to work. This is a level of parliamentarian moves worthy of Mitch McConnell,” he added. “Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should.”
The five other Republicans who put themselves forward for consideration and were interviewed were Deepa Javeri, David Lancaster, Paul Cappiali, Dan Quigley, and former BOE member and chair, Joe Kelly.
Ms Koven said it was not fair for Dr. Mercanti-Anthony to speak on behalf of the two other Republicans were were not in attendance.
Dr. Mercanti-Anthony disagreed.
“You are crossing a line here,” he said.
“We’ve been working on this for months. We’ve been nothing but conciliatory,” Ms Stowe said. “We ran a very good process.”
“This is a railroad,” Mercanti-Anthony said.
Dr. Mercanti-Anthony declined to elaborate on why he did not find Ms Behette’s qualifications acceptable.
Ms Koven noted the office of First Selectman had called the meeting for Tuesday to fill the Board of Education vacancy.
“If you want to talk about parliamentary politics, I think that would be a very prime example of that as well,” she said. “We have spent several months working on this. Karen Kowalski did us all a disservice by not giving us more advance notice of the fact she was vacating her seat, which she knew many months in advance and didn’t tell anyone – or did not tell me and I was serving on a number of committees with her.”
No other candidates were nominated.
A voice vote was taken.
The four Democrats voted yes for Ms Behette.
Mr. Mercanti-Anthony voted no.
Dr. Mercanti-Anthony said in a statement after the meeting, “I’m very disappointed in Karen, Sophie, Kathleen, and Laura (the four Democratic BOE members). In forcing upon the Republican caucus the one candidate of the six interviewed we found unacceptable, they are undermining the bi-partisan nature of the board and infusing a no-compromise type of politics that has no place at this level of government.”
Also, following the meeting, Ms Vizzo said in an email, “Mike spoke correctly for me. I oppose Jenn Behette.”
Mr. Kittle said in an email, “After spending 3 years working to constructively build common ground with my Democrat colleagues, I am extremely disappointed with their actions.”
“One would think that to replace a Republican board member, Republicans would have a say. Not so. Despite many ‘compromise’ candidates available, the Democrats opted for a complete power grab,” Kittle continued. “Their approach is unfair to the candidates, as it spills what should be private out into the public. This isn’t just a loss for Republicans. It is a loss for everyone. The BOE as an institution is now damaged, and the second and third order impacts will not be properly understood for sometime. This is a short sighted and poorly informed decision that embodies everything normal people hate about local politics.”
Acting chair Karen Hirsh, a Democrat, also provided a statement:
“The Board called an emergency meeting for Monday morning to fill the vacancy, as the Board needs to be a fully operating body ahead of the our deliberation and vote on the Fiscal Year 26 capital budget, which is on the agenda for the October 24th BOE meeting. We had originally expected that the new member would have had a week to review the lengthy capital budget materials and ask questions prior to the 24th as the Board had a vote to fill the vacancy scheduled for last Thursday. However, out of courtesy to our Republican colleague who left the meeting due to an emergency, we agreed to delay our vote.
Over the last 3 days as we completed our due diligence and it was clear it was time to vote so that we could give our new colleague time to prepare for the meeting. Delaying the vote further would be a disservice to our new colleague and a disservice to our community. We are pleased to have a complete board and to focus on the work of the board.”
Ms Behette will only fill the vacated seat until the municipal election in November 2025.
At that time, there will be three available Republican seats, one of which is for a person to complete remaining two years of Kowalski’s term. The two other seats will be for four-year terms.
The Republican Town Committee (RTC) will be able to put up as many candidates as they wish for the three seats, but they must indicate which are for the two-year seat, and which are for the four-year seats.
“We had incredible candidates who came forward,” acting chair Karen Hirsh said. “I truly hope whoever the board does not end up seating in that role continues their interest by coming to our meetings and continue their interest in a year.”
In an email after Ms Behette was elected, First Selectman Camillo said in an email, “While I have tried to stay out of the BOE business, and could have appointed someone after 30 days since their board did not do what it is expected to do, and should have done. Now, over 90 days later, the Democrats decided to vote for a person that is registered as a Republican, but has apparently said to the GOP BOE members she could not commit to voting for a Republican for Chairman, and that she could not even commit to caucusing with the Republicans, only that she would ‘probably’ do so.”
Further, he said, “I was also hopeful that the Republican members of the BOE could work with their Democratic counterparts on a compromised out of five other candidates, but that effort was rejected by the Democrats on the board.”
Finally, he added, “All meetings have to be noticed 24 hours in advance. The BOE is no exception.”
“As soon as they saw I had posted this meeting, they called an ’emergency meeting.’ It is insulting that elected officials would think the public is that dumb to not see this for what it is: an attempt to subvert the will of not only the three Republican BOE members, but the will of the voters in the last election.”
Ms Hirsh responded to a question about the emergency meeting requirement, saying that per state statute, 24 hours notice was not required.
After the meeting both Ms Kostin and Ms Stowe reached out with statements.
“We delayed the meeting to give our Republican colleague time to prepare for the vote. We let them take the weekend and felt it necessary to have a fourth Republican on the board in time for the capital budget vote, and wanted to give the new member enough time to prepare,” Ms Stowe said.
“It’s a shame that the Board of Selectmen has attempted to subvert the transparent work of the Board of Education,” Kostin said. “The BOE, which derives its powers from CT State Statute, undertook a thorough and deliberate process to interview candidates. We have voted and now look forward to serving with our newest member.”
An email to Ms Behette asking for comment on her election to the Board was not immediately returned.
NOTE: This article was updated with statements from Ms Stowe and Ms Kostin.
See also:
BOE Tie Vote on Chair Means Decision Heads to Board of Selectmen Dec 15, 2024
Board of Selectmen Select Kowalski as Board of Education Chair January 11, 2024
Greenwich Board of Education Chair Resigns Citing Out-of-Town Move July 21, 2024
Filling the Greenwich BOE Leadership Void after Chair’s Resignation July 23, 2024