Republican stewardship has served town well
Greenwich is a community blessed with many natural advantages. Proximity to Manhattan. A gorgeous New England shoreline. Backcountry roads lined with fences and historic stone walls. We are all truly blessed to call this place our home.
However, although our community has the benefit of incredible natural beauty and geography, it requires good leadership to make sure that our municipal government runs efficiently, effectively and intelligently.
It is with this in mind that I find myself scratching my head at the relentlessly negative tone exhibited on an almost daily basis in our local press by Democrats. For almost a century, Greenwich has benefited from local Republican leadership.
Whatever one’s feelings are about national politics, it is hard to make an unbiased argument that Republicans have somehow mismanaged our town.
We have a world class hospital, great public schools, first-rate public facilities, low property tax rates, negligible crime, and the benefits of a strong balance sheet and AAA credit rating. It is important to understand that this abundance of structural and fiscal blessings is not the norm for most municipalities. Far from it. It is the result of a long line of involved, fiscally responsible and forwardlooking Republican leaders who had the best interests of the town and their constituents foremost in their minds.
Unfortunately, we seemed to have lost our way in our local political discourse. While it is the American way to criticize our elected officials, I am disturbed that honest criticism has given way to the vilification and demonization of our community leaders. A prime example of this was last spring’s school budget debate, in which hard-working, volunteer Republican Board of Estimate and Taxation members were reviled for making incredibly difficult but decisions for the town during an unprecedented pandemic. Critics, ignoring the uncertain economic environment the town faced, immediately labeled Republican BET members “anti-education” and in some cases “antichildren.” Wanted posters with their faces on them were distributed on social media.
I see this disturbing pattern developing again this year. As a Greenwich resident for many years, I have benefited from the
excellent Republican stewardship that has helped shape this wonderful town we live in. It is unfortunate that, as the demographics and party affiliations have begun to change in our town, the political debates surrounding local issues have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. The civility our Republican and Democratic citizens and town officials historically exhibited toward each other seems to have disappeared to the detriment of our community. Demonizing those who disagree with us threatens to poison our local political discourse beyond the point of return to the historic civility in local politics.
Former Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill coined the phrase “All politics is local.” He was right. In our local political world, the Republican party has served our community well for many decades. They have compiled a compelling track record of continued success in governing our town. However, history shows that one party rule, doesn’t, and rightfully shouldn’t, last forever. Competition is a wonderful motivator that should contribute in even better policies that will improve the lives of our citizens, so I acknowledge the resurgence of the Democratic party in town and the growth and importance of the Undecided majority.
No matter how divisive the national political rhetoric might be, our town is not best served by disparaging our local leaders. I remain proud of the impact our Republican Party has had on our wonderful town, and I look forward to a renewed sense of commitment to the health of our community that should result from an honest, civil debate with our Democratic colleagues.