On Monday night several RTM committees elected new chairs, including the Finance Committee where Greg Zorthian defeated incumbent chair, Brooks Harris in a vote of 7-5.
Brooks Harris, Valerie Stauffer, Diego Sanchez, Greg Zorthian, John Merrill in the Hayden Room. Jan 8, 2024 Photo: Leslie Yager
Hector Arzeno nominated Mr. Zorthian. Paul Kramer nominated Mr. Harris.
Each candidate had several minutes for remarks.
Mr. Harris said his background was in finance, with a degree from Wharton in finance and an MBA from Stanford. He said he had worked on Wall Street almost 25 years advising companies on capital structure and business plans.
He joined the RTM when he retired and focused his time working on issues of finance. In 2019, as an alternate on the Finance Committee, he got involved in the town’s debt policy which had traditionally been “pay as you go,” but he said the committee determined it would likely become necessary to consider some debt and long term debt for the town’s schools.
He talked about having led a review in 2021 of the town’s capital policy and the 15 year list of projects the town intends to build.
“I have a strong commitment to hearing all sides of an argument before decisions are made,” Harris said.
He said both proponents and opponents are invited to attend committee meetings, and comments on all sides of an issue are included in the committee reports.
Mr. Harris said he was proud to serve on the board of Greenwich’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and to have helped the non-partisan League of Women Voters’ study of capital policy.
Lastly, Mr. Harris said he also worked hard to promote bi-partisan consensus.
Mr. Zorthian said he was running for chair for a number of reasons.
“This is not about what I or any other individual has done in the past. This is Greenwich. We’re all smart. We’re all accomplished individuals. To me, this is about what we can accomplish going forward as a committee.”
“In the past we’ve been guided to positions, rather than doing the guiding. We need to develop our own point of view. We need to be more representative, to represent the broader constituency of the RTM and we need to speak with a strong and objective voice,” Zorthian said.
Zorthian said debt policy and capital spending were only one third of the committee’s responsibilities.
He passed around a description of the committee’s responsibilities straight from the RTM handbook.
“Two thirds of our responsibilities are about operations and budgets and we need to be more proactive in fulfilling those responsibilities. These are functions I’ve spent my 35 year career doing. We need to be smart and creative. We need to find ways to say yes, to solve the critical issues facing this town instead of automatically saying no.”
Zorthian said his goal would be to coordinate with the Budget Overview Committee so the two committees avoid duplicating each other’s efforts.
He talked about being fiscally responsible, but also about respecting other members during disagreements.
Having lived in town 32 years, with children attending Greenwich Public Schools, Mr. Zorthain said he had also volunteered in the community as a soccer coach, scout master, board director of the Northeast Greenwich Association, president of the Yale Club of Greenwich and member of the Harvard Business School Fairfield County non-profit consulting team.
Career-wise, Zorthian said he had run companies and the boards of both for-profits and non-profits.
“I’ve turned around big businesses and started business from scratch,” he said.
“I like to run an efficient meeting. We’re all volunteers and I want to avoid wasting your time and mine.”
Zorthian is in his fifth term on the RTM, his third term on Finance Committee. He also served two terms on the BOC.
“I will be a fair and objective chair. My only interest is to make this committee respected as a source of non-biased guidance for the RTM, and a committee that values its members. It’s not about me. It’s about us.”
The vote was by paper ballot. The result was was 7-5 in favor of Mr. Zorthian.
John Merrill was unanimously elected vice chair. He was the only candidate nominated for that office.
There were no nominations for secretary. Katherine Ashforth volunteered to serve as secretary for the committee.
See also:
Harry Fisher Elected Chair of Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation
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