ELECTION 2025 — Candidates for Selectmen and Finance Square Off in LWV-Sponsored Debate

Steering clear of placing blame on the current administration in Town Hall, this year’s candidates for the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance offered voters various perspective on some of the dramas that have infected operations in Wilton government this year.

The Wilton League of Women Voters (LWV), Wilton Library and GOOD Morning Wilton hosted two one-hour candidate debates on Wednesday night, Oct. 15, first for the three candidates vying for the two BOS seats, including Rich McCarty (D), David Tatkow (D), and Anthony Warren (R), who shared their thoughts and responses on several key questions from voters.

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Tune in to TONIGHT’S Board of Education and Planning and Zoning Commission debate.

Check out all the video clips from last night’s Board of Selectmen debate, HERE.

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After that, a one-hour BOF debate followed, with the four BOF candidates, including Eric Fanwick (D), Kim Healy (R), Matt Raimondi (R), and Kari Roberts (D), who are vying for three open seats, demonstrating different styles and skillsets as they proffered thoughts and opinions on Wilton and their respective candidacies.

With a range of issues coming to light this year regarding operations at Town Hall, in particular various finance-related problems, LWV Moderator Kay Maxwell led each debate with a general question regarding Town Hall finance operations and business.

“At the end of the day, it wasn’t the Board of Finance that messed this up,” Fanwick said, noting its purview had it separate of the day-to-day operations under the administration of First Selectman Toni Boucher.

He noted, however, that it may have raised some eyebrows among members why the former chief financial officer, who began holding a full-time job across the country without letting anyone know, was never in-person at BOF meetings.

“Hey,” Fanwick said. “Our CFO is always on Zoom. Why is that?”

Matt Raimondi, incumbent chair of the BOF, defended his board’s response to critical matters that came to light over the past year, beginning with questions around operations in the Finance Department itself.

“We’re not involved in overseeing staff [but] last year, when we heard about the issues in the Finance Department, we asked our former CFO, ‘Do you need more money? Do you need more resources here?'” Raimondi said, noting that former CFO Dawn Norton said the money was there but they couldn’t find people to fill the positions in order to help get the department on track.

Healy, a current BOS member, was candid about the extent of the problems that have occurred.

“As a member of the Board of Selectmen these last four years, I am also shocked by what has happened this last year,” Healy said.

“From the Board of Selectmen’s perspective, we do not manage the day-to-day operation at Town Hall either, but we do have tools in the toolbox through the Charter that could have been used to bring more transparency to the public,” she said.

“I attempted to do that,” Healy said, noting the attention she received in GOOD Morning Wilton for her outspokenness amidst the crises. Working with the BOF, she said, she could now be more active in the audit process of Town Hall finances.

Roberts, a retired Wall Street business executive, was more blunt in her appraisal of operation at Town Hall.

“It just seems like there was a complete, I don’t know, lack of oversight,” Roberts said of the Finance Department.

“To the extent the Charter allows it, i would insert myself in the process,” she said, to help get the town back on track.

Regarding the run for the two open BOS seats, Warren cited what he saw as “dysfunctions” within Town Hall.

“There’s a lot of underlying issues there, a lot of things that have gone on,” Warren said. “Some are public, some aren’t, so I probably don’t know all of them.”

“It appears there are some dysfunctions within the department that need to be addressed,” he said, noting that having at least one staff position vacant for more than 18 months was a sign of a problem.

Tatkow indicated the issue was wider than just Norton or personnel.

“It’s often not the employee, but the construct … Is the situation even winnable?” he said.

“Are we sure those individuals are being properly supported?” he said. “Are they being supported on a technology basis? … Are they hostage to maybe a former employee left things in shambles and now things are a mess?”

McCarty, who was just recently appointed to the open seat vacated by former Selectman Bas Nabulsi, tried to paint a happier picture.

“What I’ve seen in Town Hall and what I heard last night at the Board of Finance [meeting] … was that progress is being made within the operations and that there were no glaring stop signs,” he said, referring to a first report that came from the interim CFO in a report to the BOF.

“We need to create a better work environment,” he said, pointing out that Wilton town employees were, in some cases, subject to poor working conditions.

One disagreement came between Warren and the two Democratic candidates when Warren suggested that there should be regular meetings held behind closed doors in executive session with the next CFO in order to allow them to speak openly about operations with the BOS.

“I would say it’s a part of good corporate governance,” Warren said.

Both McCarty and Tatkow disagreed.

“It inadvertently sends a message that we should not be sending” with regard to transparency, Tatkow said.