In a news conference outside Town Hall steps on Monday morning, Greenwich Democrats announced candidates seeking endorsement from their party to run for top leadership positions in the November municipal elections.
Anthony Moor, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to run for First Selectman, said, “You deserve leaders who listen, bring us together, collaborate on solutions and respect your values.”
Moor introduced a team of fellow candidates, Rachel Khanna for Selectperson. Also, Matt DesChamps, Laura Erickson, Stephen Selbst, and Doug Fenton for the Board of Estimate and Taxation; Bob Chaney and Veronica Chiavaroli for the Board of Education; Meghan McCreary for Town Clerk; and Hale Bayram for Tax Collector.
“As a team running together, we’re ready to challenge the status quo because you deserved a better Greenwich.
On the steps of Greenwich Town Hall, left to right, candidates for BET, Matt DesChamps, Stephen Selbst, Doug Fenton and Laura Erickson. Candidate for Selectperson Rachel Khanna, candidate for First Selectman, Anthony Moor, candidate for tax collector, Hale Bayram, candidate for town clerk, Meghan McCreary, candidates for BOE, Veronica Chiavaroli and Bob Chaney. June 2, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager
Former State Senate candidate, Nick Simmons, who is not a November candidate, greeted candidates for Greenwich BET, Matt DesChamps and Stephen Selbst. June 2, 2025
Mr. Moor said he and his wife had moved to Greenwich for the quality of life, including low taxes.
“We wanted a home we could afford in retirement, a home where we could bring our kids and hopefully welcome some grand kids,” he said.
A former news reporter – television, print and online – in upstate New York, Central Florida, New Mexico, California and Texas, Moor said he previously spent “all day, every day meeting and reporting on the people in local communities, the issues in local communities and on the governing authorities whose responsibilities it was to do something about those issues.”
“I gained a broad understanding of what makes communities tick,” Moor continued. “Almost right away, here in Greenwich I found myself noticing little inconveniences in our vibrant, beautiful town.”
“What’s with these confusing intersections on Greenwich Avenue?” he asked. “It’s like playing a game of Frogger just to get across. I don’t care if you’re in a car or on foot, it’s tough!”
“How come you can’t renew your dog license online? And how come you can’t use your phone to get into Tod’s Point?” Moor asked. “This town hall is so 20th century. Let’s make it clear, we live in the 21st century. Why are the hours to take your trash and recycling to Holly Hill the perfect hours for when you are working?”
Moor said getting elected to the RTM had been an eye-opener, having won a spot in D7 in 2021. Now in his his second term, he first become vice chair of the Transportation Committee, and today is committee chair.
“It turns out here, in town hall we don’t plan ahead. We wait for things to fall apart and then we beg donors to bail us out,” Moor said.
“Traffic is congested at the wrong times, while pedestrians and others are neglected.”
“And there is a tone-deaf majority on the finance board. They’ve rammed through irresponsible budget cuts,” he continued. “”Based on climate denial, they zeroed out projects to mitigate our risk of flooding, and that flooding risk has increased.”
“And they’ve arbitrarily knee-capped our public schools.”
“There is no leadership in town hall, and partisan infighting is tearing us all down,” he continued. “The first selectman wields no influence over fellow majority Republicans on the town boards. He is suing the school board instead of supporting it. The finance board Republicans refuses to fund the laws that the town legislature passes, and the Republican BOE members often don’t show up to meetings.”
Mr. Moor described “decay” that he said happened when one party is in charge for 100 years, almost unbroken.
As a team with Ms Khanna, Moor they would be “accountable and collaborative leaders.”
“Let’s stop settling for good enough,” Moor said.
Former State Rep Rachel Khanna, mother of four daughters, said her family had moved from NYC to Greenwich 25 years earlier, with a key factor being the quality of the public schools.
Khanna served two terms on the RTM and most recently was State Rep for the 149th district.
“I worked hard to bring money back to Greenwich, whether it was $20 million for the reconstruction of Central Middle School, $6.5 million for the Glenville traffic safety project, or supporting local non profits that do critical work. I built strong relationships with state legislators.”
While the candidacies of Anthony Moor and Khanna made headlines over the weekend, there were other candidates with long volunteer resumes who had cut their teeth by running for RTM, serving on PTAs and attending BOE meetings.
Meghan McCreary, Veronica Chiavaroli and Bob Chaney on the steps of Greenwich Town Hall. June 2, 2025
After the formal news conference candidates were available for comment.
Meghan McCreary said it was high time to get Greenwich digitized and modern.
“Right now the town clerk’s records are really difficult. It’s not as democratic as it could be,” she said, adding that when she realized it was difficult to look up RTM votes online, she and her partner Akash Patel created a website called 203.vote where people are able look up any RTM member, their voting record, and their attendance rate.
McCreary, who graduated from Oberlin College where she majored in computer science, went on to work as a software engineer.
She said had a lot of ideas about modernizing the town clerk office, starting with accessing RTM votes and attendance.
“I think a lot of people would be shocked to know there are many members who don’t even show up for RTM meetings. There’s one member who has been to two meeting the entire term,” she said. “And whether or not you politically agree with that person, I think people deserve to know who is doing the work and how they’re voting. No matter how nice someone might be when they knock on your door, are they doing the work and voting in your best interest?”
“I think having a chatbot would be helpful. You have to be careful about what facts are in AI, but AI could explain Robert’s Rules or the background to the noise ordinance,” she said. “Greenwich as a town is highly engaged and highly educated. People can understand complicated topics, but they don’t necessarily have time to dig through archives.”
Bob Chaney, who has a 15-year-old GHS freshman and a 7th grader at Central Middle School, said he had served as co-president of Julian Curtiss School PTA, and when Covid hit, he and PTAC president Frances Wu Nobay worked with the school administration and Greenwich Alliance for Education on virtual curriculum enrichment.
“That made me realize it wasn’t just Julian Curtiss School that had issues. They all have some problems and my boys were going into CMS, which seems to be crumbling,” he recalled. “After that, I got involved with PTA Council. Then I realized it’s not just the schools that have challenges. There’s issues throughout town.”
Chaney, who said Janet McMahon had encouraged him to run for RTM, joked about his first step into town government.
“The reason I’m here right now is I volunteered at a book fair at Julian Curtiss,” he said. “You see the differences you want to make. I’m a stay-at-home dad for about 13 years, but I want a job and I want to focus on my kids.”
Before becoming a volunteer in Greenwich Schools and winning a seat on the RTM, Chaney said he worked a social worker at the American Cancer Society in White Plains in cancer patient services.
“All the money donated to ACS goes to the cure, but there are things we can do on the side – maybe get them in touch with a lawyer or social worker, because cancer can eat through your savings and impact your mental health. It was a very rewarding job.”
“The Schools Budget Pie is Getting Smaller”
As for Greenwich Public Schools, Chaney said, “We need to make sure we have a safe, not crumbling environment to thrive. Not only are the schools crumbling, but right now what’s happening with the district is the budget is getting cut. They’re cutting that pie every single year and making it smaller and smaller, and trying to shift the onus onto the Board of Education. It’s not the BOE’s fault they’re giving a budget that doesn’t even cover the salaries of staff in the district. I feel the blame needs to be shifted to where it belongs: the BET.”
Hale Bayram, a 23-year resident in district 3, seeks the nomination to run for tax collector. Bayram and her husband immigrated from Turkey and live in District 3.
Ms Bayram serves on the RTM, as does one of her two daughters, Selin.
“We’re mother-daughter RTM members,” Bayram said.
“I’m very excited. I’ve been in this town 23 years and have two daughters who went through Greenwich Schools, starting in Hamilton Avenue School.”
Bayram said she had a career in finance at MasterCard and Unilever before retiring. At those two companies she said she was afforded great opportunities and worked in finance, product management, business development and risk.
She said her husband is a civil engineer, earned a PhD in Tokyo, Japan.
Her younger daughter is a rising junior Trinity College in Hartford where she is studying neuroscience and is interning at Mass General in Boston.
Her older daughter, Selin, attended Fordham where she studied biology and did a masters in psychology. Today she is a cancer researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Bayram said she had won as a write in candidate for RTM and she serves on the Finance Committee, Labor Contracts Committee and Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.
“The RTM gave me a new chapter in my life,” she said. “And I’m giving back to my community – because this community gave my daughters so many opportunities.”
Longtime friends Nick Simmons and Veronica Chiavaroli, who is running for a Democratic spot on the Board of Education. June 2, 2025 Photo: Leslie Yager
Veronica Chiavaroli, who seeks a spot on the Board of Education, earned a masters in General Education, Special Education and Clinical Social work from Columbia and Bank Street. She taught in schools in Greenwich and New York City, and more recently tutored in a variety of different schools.
Chiavaroli said her mother was a teacher and that inspired her to pursue that career path.
When her father, State Rep Hector Arzeno (D-151) ran for office she recalled she learned a great deal from his experience.
“When my dad ran I realized how little I knew, and I learned a lot to be able to support him,” she recalled. “I am really passionate about busy moms like me who don’t have the time, don’t know where to go, or know how to learn – for them to learn about local politics so when they come to the polls they can make informed decisions.”
“I learned so much from watching his campaign, and he didn’t win in his first campaign,” she recalled. “There’s so much in local politics that impacts my every day life.”
Today she serves as the PTAC Chair for Special Education, serves on the Julian Curtiss building committee, on the alumni council for GCDS
She is also the secretary on the ADA Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, and previously served on the North Street School PTA and Christ Church pre-school PTA.
After the press conference, Select Person Janet Stone McGuigan was reached for comment.
“It has been an honor and privilege to serve Greenwich as a Selectperson these last four years. I’m proud of the record and reputation I established. But it’s time for change. I remain committed to serving my community; only my role will change. I hope we can all work together to create the Greenwich we all deserve.”
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