The November 7 Election is an important one and we want to give you all of the information to understand what you are voting for and who the candidates are. Thank you to our friends at League of Women Voters of Greenwich for providing useful, non-partisan information about the Election, which we will share below to give you better idea of the workings of our Town of Greenwich Government.
LWV Greenwich builds citizen participation in the democratic process, studies key community issues in an unbiased manner, and seeks positive solutions to public policy issues through education.
How & Where Do I Vote?
Use this LINK to find your district, polling place, polling location hours, and absentee ballot status. Just enter your first and last name and your birthdate.
Who is running?
Use this LINK to find out who is running for each office and their bios. Enter your address then click to the next page. All offices up for election are found here and your RTM district appears next to the RTM option toward the bottom of the page as you scroll down. To see who is running for each office, click on the “View Race” box to the right of each office listed to see all the candidates and their bios (RTM candidates are listed for your district based on the address entered). On the next page, check the “View Answers” box under each candidate’s photo to read their bio. A list for all the candidates’ bios you selected will appear at the bottom of the page so please scroll down. Below the bios for your selected candidates, the answers to the LWV Greenwich candidate questions are presented. Candidates with blank photos and/or no bios chose not to submit.
Other than the First Selectman Race, which you can read more about on our site , we are voting for the below Town of Greenwich Offices in addition to 230 RTM (Representative Town Meeting) seats!
BOARD OF EDUCATION
The Board of Education election is uncontested this year. There are 8 members of the BOE. Four Democrats and Four Republicans. Terms are for two years. This year, there are two Democrats and two Republicans running, so therefore all four candidates will be elected to the Board of Education.
The Chairmanship of the BOE is elected between the BOE members, after the election. If they cannot agree to a Chair and are at a 4-4 stalemate, the decision is made by the Board of Selectman (1st Selectman and both Select People).
BOARD OF ESTIMATE AND TAXATION
The Board of Estimate and Taxation is the Finance Board in Town. They control more than 50% of the budget. The BET provides “budget guidelines” annually to Town department heads and determines the Mill Rate.
There are 12 members to the BET. The Chairmanship of the BET is determined by which party’s 6 candidates get the MOST aggregate votes among them on election night. That is why when you vote for the BET you should vote for six candidates.
RTM (Representative Town Meeting)
The Greenwich RTM is the main legislative body withing our Town government. It has 230 members and is the the third largest legislative body in the U.S. it is a non-partisan body, which means candidates do not have to affiliate themselves with a political party to run for election. There are twelve districts in Greenwich and each is represented by a group of RTM members.
The RTM votes on every Town expenditure larger than $5,000 and has the authority to reject or cut items within the budget. RTM terms are for two years.
