Camillo vows to ‘look to the future’ in 2nd term
GREENWICH — After taking the oath for his second term as Greenwich’s top elected official, First Selectman Fred Camillo reflected on the unprecedented events of the past two years that impacted the town and the world.
“It was a difficult two years, but there’s an old saying that ‘within every crisis lies an opportunity’,” Camillo said at the swearing-in ceremony Wednesday at the Arch Street Teen Center.
“Boy, we had crisis after crisis, but in there was opportunity after opportunity,” he said. “Through resilience, determination and imagination, we not only got through it but we came out stronger, more unified, more efficient than ever before and that is a tribute to everyone who banded together and all our town workers and agencies.”
Even with a 100-year pandemic, a 500-year flood, superstorms and civil unrest, Camillo said the town was able to accomplish its objectives of adding pedestrian friendly streets, enhancing public safety, dealing with blight, establishing public/private partnerships for a new Greenwich Emergency Medical Service station and a new Eastern Greenwich Civic Center; and expanding outdoor dining in town.
Camillo was sworn in by Judge Wayne Keeney, as a new two-year term began for the Board of Selectmen.
Noting that he grew up in town, with a working-class background as the son of a U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor, Camillo said he “never dreamed I would get a chance to serve the town I love like this.”
Camillo said he would “look to the future” in his n0ext two years as first selectman and said he would continue steering the town on the same road.
Selectwoman Lauren Rabin and Selectwoman Janet Stone McGuigan also took the oath of office on Wednesday.
This is the second term for Rabin, who was sworn in by Richard DiPreta, former head of the Republican Town Committee. Rabin recalled that at her first swearing-in ceremony, she didn’t know she would have the opportunity to give a speech. She said she improvised something on the spot two years ago, but for her second term, Rabin prepared a speech.
“I am so grateful to serve this wonderful community for another two years,” Rabin said.
She spoke about her family, recalling how her grandfather, who used a wheelchair, helped to raise her and her siblings while their mother worked and said her grandmother was “the kindest person I knew.”
“They both instilled in me the notion to treat everyone with kindness and respect,” Rabin said. “It is with that respect for my role that I commit to you I will listen and look for ways to collaborate and compromise on solutions that benefit all.”
Rabin pledged to “speak up on the things I believe in” — such as supporting the town’s aging population and those “striving to make ends meet” and helping businesses and residents tap into the community’s resources.
Stone McGuigan, who was a member of the Representative Town Meeting, began her first term on the board after she was sworn in by the Rev. Mareta Hamre, retired pastor at the First Church of Round Hill.
She said she was “honored and humbled” to be selectwoman, as she considered who had served in the role before her. She also pledged to keep her door open and “warmly welcome the community’s guidance and advice.”
“I consider myself a lifelong learner, and I’ll listen and learn, take advantage of every training opportunity, meet with people of all affiliations to build working relationships, and seek input from the broadest range of perspectives,” Stone McGuigan said.
“Substantively, I hope to help Greenwich move forward in the areas of sustainability and public engagement. These are areas I have professional experience in and I’m confident I can add value,” she said.
Former state Sen. L. Scott Frantz, who served with Camillo in the state legislature for 10 years, served as master of ceremonies for the ceremony and praised the “three outstanding leaders” who were sworn into office.
“In our beloved town of Greenwich, everyone knows that it’s important to have great political leadership to create greatness in a town or a city or a country,” Frantz said.
The ceremony featured a Greenwich Police Department honor guard, and town resident David Tovar sang the national anthem.