The end of the RTM as a nonpartisan organization
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In January Jenny Baird and Karen Giannuzzi returned from the Women’s March in Washington, DC where they were among hundreds of thousands protesting Donald Trump’s agenda the day after his inauguration.
The event, a shadow inauguration of sorts, cut across age, race, and socioeconomic status. The duo from Greenwich, who had organized buses to transport Greenwich women to and from the march, returned to Greenwich eager to sustain the energy.
Toward that end, the women began to familiarize themselves with local government in Greenwich, in particular the Representative town Meeting (RTM), which is comprised of 230 members across 12 districts and meets eight times a year at Central Middle School.
“None of us knew about the RTM. So many of the members are over 65 and dominated by men,” Giannuzzi said.
“We wondered where were all the women with children in town,” she said.
“We’ve recruited 40 to 50 candidates, predominantly women, but there are five men. Many have children,” Giannuzzi said on Friday morning. “We found that many people have an international focus but don’t know what’s going on in Greenwich.”
“We are Republicans, Democrats and independents,” Giannuzzi said of the March On candidates.
Unlike other offices, the November ballot does not indicate a candidate’s party affiliation. In fact, March On Greenwich meets at the YWCA under the understanding that the group is strictly non-partisan. [It might be interesting to challenge the YWCA's tax-exempt status over this - ED]
Giannuzzi said her group was grateful to all the current RTM members who are volunteers. She said the goal wasn’t to target them or necessarily bump them from office. But, she said, “Greenwich is racially and ethnically diverse and RTM doesn’t reflect that.”
Of all the arrogant, ignorant statements of Ms. Giannuzzi, this one stands out:
“We’re focusing on a positive message. We’re trying to improve the diversity on RTM to make it relatable to people who use the town services – the parks, the athletic fields and the schools – so that they can have a greater voice on the RTM,” Giannuzzi said, adding that for almost all of the new candidates, it’s the first time they’ve been involved in government beyond voting.
"People who people who use the town services"? Who the hell does she think uses town services? We all do, and parks, schools athletic fields dominate most discussions of governing issues in Greenwich. RTM members, men and women, over-and-under 65, have been dealing with them for decades. I suspect what she means by the term is "people who use town services but don't pay for them", which is a typical liberal concern, but a bleeding heart alone is neither original nor useful.
Where was Giannuzzi during all the past decades, while her fellow citizens were spending countless hours, late at night, at school board meetings, RTM land use meetings, etc.? I haven't seen her listed as a member, or even contributor, to the Friends of Binney Park, or The Greenwich Point Conservancy, or attending any of the citizen clean-up days around town. The lady got a bee up her butt over Trump's election, came back to town after cavorting in Washington and suddenly "discovered" the RTM, and decided she'd bring her Anti-Trump agenda into a truly nonpartisan governing group that's been operating just fine without her help for over a hundred years.
Giannuzzi has absolutely no idea what the RTM is or why it's been structured as a non-political governing body all these years, yet she wants to make it a platform for radical liberalism. What a jerk.
UPDATE: June, 2017: March on Greenwich, Indivisible Greenwich, meet, sign each other's RTM candidacy petitions.
Hang on to your pocketbook, because they're coming after it. And hang on to your children, because MANDATORY transgender classes are next.
