On Wednesday Greenwich’s 12 member finance board, the Board of Estimate and Taxation – comprised of six Democrats and six Republicans who were elected last November – were sworn at Greenwich Town Hall.
Top of the agenda was an election for a new chair, vice chair and clerk.
Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation member David Weisbrod welcomed people to Wednesday’s meeting. Jan 7, 2026 (GCTV Youtube live)
Newly elected Democratic chairman of the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation, David Weisbrod. Jan 7, 2026 (GCTV Youtube live)
The BET has in recent years been a hotbed of disagreement and party-line votes while under Republican control.
Wednesday’s proceedings were the inverse of those a year earlier when there was a rift among Republican BET members.
At the swearing in and election of officers in 2025, Harry Fisher was elected chair, 8-4, after some Republicans preferred Nisha Arora.
Subsequently, Karen Fassuliotis was appointed by Mr. Fisher to chair the Policy and Procedure, Health & Human Resources, and Law Committees, in addition to being voted in as both vice chair and clerk.
Then, last spring, the Human Resources Committee, then chaired by Ms Fassuliotis, endured turmoil after a disagreement related to a Managerial Confidential Salary Study RFP, and two Democratic members – Scott Kalb and Elliot Alchek – resigned. The disagreement culminated in Ms Fassuliotis walking out of the April 14, 2025 BET meeting.
Fassuliotis did not win a seat last November when she ran as an Independent candidate. Four incumbent Republicans who weren’t nominated by their party, did not survive a September primary.
In the October candidate debates, Democratic candidates hammered away at what they said was a lack of Republican collaboration and over-use of the Republican chair’s tie-breaking vote.
Other issues for Democrats were that Republicans on the BET rejected a mandate from the RTM who had passed a leaf blower ordinance, and rejected a mandate for a geothermal HVAC system at Ham Ave School.
Of course, the ultimate showdown was over the public school budget which was cut $4+ million in a vote along party lines after the Republican chair Harry Fisher cast his tie-breaking vote.
As of Wednesday, for the second time in a century, the BET is under Democratic control.
Last November’s historic municipal election results yielded more votes for Democrats than Republicans, which is significant because the party with the most votes is awarded the BET chairmanship, which comes with a unique tie-breaking vote.
On Wednesday board voted Democrat David Weisbrod, nominated by Stephen Selbst, as chair by unanimous consent, 12-0-0.
Harry Fisher, David Weisbrod and Joe Pellegrino at the Jan 7, 2026 BET meeting where Mr. Weisbrod was voted in as the new chair by unanimous consent. (Youtube GCTV live)
Before the vote, Mr. Selbst talked about Mr. Weisbrod’s background.
“David is a proud graduate of Cornell University. From there he went to the Peace Corps, which was the start of David’s career in public service. In the private sector, David served for many years with JP Morgan, where he rose to the rank of vice chairman, where he was responsible of risk management.”
Weisbrod’s service to the town started on the Zoning Board of Appeals. He is beginning his fifth term on the BET.
“David is animated by a desire to serve the town as best as we are able to – to serve as long terms stewards of the town and protect the interests of taxpayers at all times,” Selbst said.
Joe Pellegrino said the Republican caucus was unanimous in support of Weisbrod’s nomination.
“We commit ourselves to working with you and your colleagues respectfully and collaboratively,” Pellegrino said. “I believe all that you have done in your professional and public life has prepared you for this responsibility.”
Mr. Weisbrod next nominated Matt DesChamps to be vice chair.
“He is an excellent civil servant in the community. He has provided leadership on many things, most recently on the skating committee He will serve illustriously in this new role,” he said.
Mr. Fisher said he “wholeheartedly” seconded the nomination.
Mr. DesChamps was also voted by unanimous consent, 12-0-0.
Mr. DesChamps nominated Doug Fenton to be the board’s clerk.
“While he is new to the BET, he is well known to the Democratic caucus and to many members of the public for his outstanding work as a public servant on the RTM and for his dispatches, which are very informative,” DesChamps said.
Tarkington seconded the nomination. “Doug joins he BET with the experience and perspective of having served on the RTM and on its Budget Overview Committee. Doug is familiar with the BET and its processes as he has attended the BET budget committee annual department fiscal year budget cycle and BET meetings.”
Mr. Fenton was also voted by unanimous consent, 12-0-0.
Harry Fisher, David Weisbrod and Joe Pellegrino at the Jan 7, 2026 BET organizational meeting.
Mr. Weisbrod shared brief remarks and thanked outgoing chair Mr. Fisher for leading the BET “in difficult times.”
“The charter empowers the BET to be ‘responsible for the proper administration of the financial affairs of the town,'” Weisbrod said. “This is a large responsibility and I know we approach this with enormous dedication and respect for what is expected
“We are all partners in this endeavor,” he said. “We will strive to engage collaboratively with other elected officials on the RTM, office of the selectmen, and the Board of Education. We will listen carefully to their voices.”
“We will work to empower the town’s professional staff whose commitment is critical. They too will be important partners as we address our challenges and opportunities.”
“There is much to do to create annual budgets and manage the town’s immediate affairs. at the same time we must keep an eye on the longer term future including plans to address infrastructure, technology and sustainability – focusing always on assuring that taxes are affordable and predictable.”
“The history of the BET shows that we have performed best when there is trust and open communication, starting with all 12 members and extending into the community at large. I pledge to do my very best to do just that.”
Mr. Weisbrod said the board would experiment with more use of Zoom and allowing the public to access the meetings more readily.
“I consider this as an experiment,” he said. “I would hope that the 12 of us attend the meetings in person. In those instances when we’re traveling or unavailable, Zoom is an alternative.”
Weisbrod in the past BET liaisons roles, they had been relatively informal and casual.
“I would hope they get more formal and solidified and that liaisons reach out to the different departments they’re linked into to schedule sessions with them to get the ball rolling on that engagement.”
He said active liaison roles can help enormously in the budget preparation process.
Ms. Erickson’s Jan 13 budget committee meeting would be the substantive session to evaluate the interim request coming from the Old Greenwich School building committee who will do a presentation at that meeting along with their consultants.
Newly elected BET clerk, Mr. Fenton read aloud the committee assignments and liaison assignments:
Standing Committees:
Audit Committee
Chair: Matt DesChamps
Members: Stephen Selbst, Leslie Tarkington, Josh Brown
Budget Committee
Chair: Laura Erickson
Members: Doug Fenton, Harry Fisher, Joe Kelly
Human Resources Committee
Chair: Elliot Alchek
Members: /Doug Fenton, Leslie Tarkington, Josh Brown
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Investment Advisory / OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) Committee
Chair: Elliot Alchek
Members: Stephen Selbst, Joe Pellegrino, Sally Bednar
Law Committee
Chair: Stephen Selbst
Member: Leslie Tarkington
Policy and Procedure Committee
Chair: Laura Erickson
Member: Josh Brown
Liaisons
Assessor Liaisons
Elliot Alchek and Leslie Tarkington
Community Development Block Grant Liaisons
Matt DesChamps, Joe Pellegrino
Controller of Finance
David Weisbrod, Joe Pellegrino
Board of Education
Laura Erickson, Joe Pellegrinto
Dept of Public Works
Doug Fenton, Leslie Tarkington
Information Technology Dept
Matt DesChamps, Harry Fisher
Nathaniel Witherell
Stephen Selbst, Harry Fisher
Parks & Rec Dept
Matt DesChamps, Sally Bednar
Public Safety Dept
David Weisbrod, Harry Fisher
Retirement Board
Elliot Alchek and Sally Bednar
Retirement Board and Retiree Health Insurance Plan, (OPEB)
Elliot Alchek, Sally Bednar
Special Project Teams
Elliot Alchek
Stephen Selbst, Joe Pellegrinto
Energy Management Advisory Committee
Matt DesChamps
After the BET organizational meeting, the newly created Debt and Fund Balance Policy Committee, chaired by Elliot Alchek hadtheir first meeting. Members are Stephen Selbst, Mr. Alchek, Joe Pellegrino and Sally Bednar.
Special Project Teams
Debt and Fund Balance Policy Committee
Chair: Elliot Alchek
Members: Stephen Selbst, Joe Pellegrino, Sally Bednar
Labor Contract Team
Chair: Stephen Selbst
Member: Josh Brown
GHS Vestibule Committee
David Weisbrod
Central Middle School Building Committee
Joe Kelly
Julian Curtiss School Building Committee
Stephen Selbst
Old Greenwich School Building Committee
Harry Fisher
Riverside School Building Committee
Doug Fenton
The newly formed BET Debt & Fund Balance Policy Committee convened after the organizational meeting.
Chaired by Elliot Alchek convened, the committee includes Stephen Selbst, Joe Pellegrino and Sally Bednar.
Mr. Alchek said he had background in the municipal bond business, having started his career at Goldman Sachs and risen to run the municipal bond desk there.
“We have a great group of people, starting with Sally Bednar. Sally also is a muni person perfect for this committee with experience both at Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo as a municipal banker,” Alchek said. “She really knows the business, inside-out.”
Alchek said Mr. Pellegrino, the chair of the Republican caucus, had been involved in the town for many years and previously served on the BET.
“He has both intelligence and historical perspective – and, full disclosure, I know Joe over 20 years personally and think he’s terrific and am really looking forward to working with you.”
Next, he said Mr. Selbst had the “perfect background.”
“As far as I know Stephen is the only practicing lawyer on the full BET. He’s a partner at a major New York law firm. He co-heads their restructuring business, and is intimately familiar with the issues regarding financial compliance.”
He said other participants would include town administrator Kate Buch, town chief financial officer Joan Lynch, budget director Agnes Cawai, Ben Branyan, who is the chief financial and administrative officer of Greenwich Public Schools.
Alchek said he hoped the committee would bring transparency, clarity and lead to more involvement with capital projects and debt policy from the community.
He listed a series of goals for the committee.
“To assure capital projects that have been identified by the town are incorporated in pro forma planning models and reasonable estimates.”
“In the past we had identified some projects that we didn’t include in planning, and Dorothy Hamill rink is a good example. We had identified that as a project that we thought was going to get done at a certain point. We carried that at zero,” Alchek said. “We felt that was not realistic and I’m pleased to say everyone on this committee agrees that’s not the right way to do it. We’re hoping to put in an estimate – that estimate may change – but we know it’s not zero, and for planning purposes it’s much more helpful to have a more robust number.”
“To evaluate open capital projects appropriated but not bonded. We are going to be identifying projects that have already been approved and funded, but not all the money has been spent. We’re going to identify those projects and make sure the money is either spent or returned to our coffers.”
“To recommend strategic revisions to the capital plan that supports the successful delivery of capital project objectives, while ensuring full compliance with BET and the state of Connecticut debt policy guidelines.”
“To recommend that the BET adopt a capital projects planning process – which my colleague Joe (P) has labeled the CP3 – and forward it to the full board for approval. The CP3 policy will define the lifecycle of capital projects, from initial identification to incorporating them into the 10-year capital plan, prioritizing and funding through the BET including project close-out and reimbursement.”
Alchek said it was not the committee’s purview to approve or disapprove of any particular project.
“That’s the purview of the broad BET,” he said. “Our goal is to shed more light on capital projects in general, and the whole process.”
Alchek said the plan would start with the First Selectman who visits all departments for “a bottom up approach.”
The First Selectman, Fred Camillo is scheduled to present his budget on Jan 27th.
He said that process is run by Kate Buch using Capital Projects CIP sheets that each departments submits to Ms Buch.
“We’re going to try to tweak and fine tune that information to better reflect the disbursements over time,” Alchek said. “I think we can do a better job at indicating when a project is likely to start and how many years it will take to disperse that money….That’s important for cash flow reasons, but if we’re bonding for that debt, we need to comply with municipal arbitrage regulations.”
Alchek said the ultimate goal would be for people to have a better appreciation of debt policy guidelines as well as credit rating agency guidelines.
“A goal of the BET broadly, and our committee particularly, is that the town maintain a triple A rating,” he said. “We want to make sure were not doing anything that may violate or even hint at violating a trigger a rating agency would be concerned with.”