GHS Student-Run First Selectman Debate: Questions Run the Gamut

On Thursday Greenwich High School student-led a debate between candidates for First Selectman. Students created, curated and delivered the questions.

The effort was planned by the GHS “We the People” team and club, advised by social studies teacher Aaron Hull in conjunction with the Greenwich League of Women Voters.

The candidates were Republican incumbent Fred Camillo and his Democratic challenger Laura Erickson.

Mr. Camillo was previously a small business owner. Later he was elected a State Rep in the 151st district and represented Greenwich in Hartford for 11 years. Camillo is running for this third two-year term.

Ms Erickson has three children who attended Greenwich Public Schools. She worked as a commercial banker in the technology sector. She has served on the Board of Education, including a term as chair, and is currently in her second term on the town finance board (BET). Previously she served on the RTM for 13 years.

Public Safety as a Priority

Camillo said if re-elected he would like to continue to focus on public safety. He noted that while the town had been ranked highly for safety, Greenwich was still a target for crime and he worked with the police department on initiatives.

A second issue he mentioned was addressing flooding, noting that like other Connecticut towns, Greenwich’s infrastructure was dated.

Third, he said he’d like to address “under-used” assets like the Havemeyer building at 290 Greenwich Ave, which is home to the offices of the Board of Education administration. He said those staff would need to be relocated before that beautiful property could be returned to the people of Greenwich.

Ms Erickson shared the priority of public safety.

“I have been very frustrated in my four years on the BET. I feel like both the Police Chief and Fire Chief have come to us with requests for equipment they need to do their jobs properly. Some of my colleagues on the finance board have denied or deferred these requests.”

“I think it’s important we look at not only our first responders, but also look at pedestrian safety and bicycle safety,” she said, adding that there had been a visible increase in traffic and congestion in recent years, and more speeding cars.

Erickson, who has criticized Camillo for removing police from directing traffic at the Greenwich Avenue intersections, brought up the intersection of Havemeyer and Greenwich Ave specifically.

“It’s a little complicated, nobody knows what to do. There is confusion,” she said.

“We also have a documented study that says our fire coverage, particularly in back country, needs more support. We really need to take action to improve that,” she said.

Camillo said that of any town with a “dual system” with both volunteer and career firefighters, Greenwich had the highest rating for fire protection.

He added that some new sidewalks and crosswalks were being installed in town, which would improve pedestrian safety, and that he had organized an Active Transportation Task Force, which replaced the Bike Task Force.

A question asked about improving “deteriorating learning environments in Greenwich Public Schools so they can continue to serve as a draw to new families.”

Ms Erickson, who previously served as the chair of the Board of Education, and worked on both the New Lebanon School and GHS Performing Arts Center/MISA building committees, said, “It’s really important we have a long term capital plan that puts in, not only maintenance of our buildings – we have some aging infrastructure, but I’m really happy that the RTM this past week approved funding for CMS.”

“Those of you who attended CMS know it was definitely deteriorating and past its useful life,” she said. “We also have Old Greenwich School to address. And there are other elementary and middle school issues that need to be addressed.”

“The way to do it is for the long-term capital plan, and it can be done responsibly without raising taxes, if we plan for it,” Erickson added.

Mr. Camillo said that every year the First Selectman presents both an operating and capital budget, and while he does not create the school’s operational budget he can make changes to their capital budget before it goes to the finance board (BET).

He said he had been proud as a State Rep prior to becoming First Selectman to work as a member of the Greenwich delegation to secure $24 million in state funding toward the new New Lebanon School.

Erickson the town was paying to remediate toxic soils at the GHS campus to the tune of close to $40 million, and remediation was about to launch at Western Middle School.

“And of course we did get the Cardinal Stadium done, which was wonderful,” she added.

Asked about the health of the local economy, Mr. Camillo said when he started in office he put in a request to create a position for a director of economic development, but the finance board declined to fund the position.

Nevertheless, he said, “We’re working with all our departments, and as First Selectman, you are the face of Greenwich,” he said. “You have to be both the face of, and an ambassador for the town.”

“Greenwich is doing really well. When I came in in 2019 there were 28 vacancies on Greenwich Avenue. Today there is just one,” he added.

Ms Erickson said the local real estate market was thriving, and a number of new residents had recently relocated to Greenwich, which was good for the local economy.

But, she said, the flip side of that trend was that both residential and commercial rents had risen sharply and some local independent businesses were being driven out. She mentioned The Haircut Place in Old Greenwich and Ada’s Kitchen + Coffee in Riverside.

Long Term Bi-Partisan Capital Plan for Greenwich

Asked about creating a long-term, bi-partisan capital plan for the town, Ms Erickson said the question hit home for her.

She said it was only recently that the Republican chair of the finance board had exercised his tie-breaking vote repeatedly.

“We need a longer term capital plan that meets the needs of the community. It can be done as a bi-partisan effort. It had been done historically this way for years and years,” she said, adding that board should not be politicized. “Takes the politics out.”

“You have to be nimble and adjust to circumstances,” Erickson added. “In the case of CMS, the building department condemned the school so we did have to act quickly, and the RTM passed that funding earlier this week, which we’re grateful for.”

“You also have to recognize that there are changes in severe weather events and climate change which need to be included in the capital plan. That will take further study and action plans on how we’re going to address those needs,” she continued. “We all know there are more severe weather events and the climate is changing.”

Political Polarization

Asked about the current political polarization, Mr. Camillo said when he was a State Representative for the 151st district, he noticed other towns were polarized, but not Greenwich.

Today, however, he said 75% of Greenwich residents were civil, but 25% were part of the “extremes.”

“You have to lead by example,” he said. “How you conduct yourselves is something people look to. If you have to tear your opponent to build yourself up, you’re probably not that great a candidate.”

Ms Erickson agreed.

“There is a real political divide in the country and in our state, and it has filtered down to our town,” she said.

“There are policy differences,” she said. “There are different ways to approach challenges. We need to be civil and respectful with each other and even though I’ve had contentious disagreements with my colleagues on the finance board where I serve, at the end of the day I respect people who go into public service. We’re all volunteers on the finance board and the Board of Education.”

“It’s important we listen to the community,” she said. “When the community tells us what they need and we’re not delivering, we need to look inwards and find out how are we going to get to what the community wants, not what a political agenda is telling us to do.”

“Greenwich is big on civic pride and civic action. I’ve been to most of the 169 municipalities in Connecticut,” Camillo said. “Greenwich has more volunteers than all of them. Even if you have a disagreement with somebody on the BET, BOE or Planning & Zoning commission, know that they are volunteers and they love the town.”

Ms Erickson said she’d grown up in New Hampshire, where the motto of the state is “Live Free or Die.”

“We’d say, ‘Look at the person not the party.’ Unfortunately now it’s very party driven and we’d be better off if we’d look at the person.”

Traffic and Congestion

On a question about addressing increased traffic and congestion, Mr. Camillo said that back in 1969 Greenwich had 59,000 people and 14,000 cars. Today, 54 years later, he noted it had 63,000 residents and 60,000 cars.

“We try to get people to work from home with hybrid setups, in some cases we’ve done that at town hall – if they can work from home a couple days a week, also biking to work we have sharrows now.”

Ms Erickson noted the upgrades at I95 Exit 3 were an improvement.

“But we also need to look at our own patterns. Can we plan our trips a little better, make eye contact and pay attention to drivers making a left turn which causes a lot of crashes.”

Camillo agreed the “Smart Signals” at exit 3 were an improvement to traffic flow.

“We were the first ones in the state to get that – working with Dept of Transportation,” he noted.

Erickson noted Greenwich was part of a very busy corridor and that it was unfortunate that WAYZ diverted drivers to local roadways, adding  pressure to neighborhoods.

Closing Remarks

In closing remarks Ms Erickson said elections were about choices between different visions for the town.

“At the end of the day, all politics is local,” she said. “It’s really important to vote in every election, so if you are registered to vote, please vote. Many people in the world don’t have that opportunity.”

She said running for office was “invigorating, humbling and inspiring.”

Mr. Camillo closed by saying that Greenwich was doing well in many areas.

“We’re the first town to have the age-friendly designation in the state, and the first to have the dementia-friendly designation in the state. We’re one of only 15 towns with AAA credit rating, and basically the lowest mill rate in the state,” he said. “We’re not satisfied with that. We want to make it always better.”