Greenwich Republican Town Committee Vice Chairs Granit Balidemaj and Andreas Duus are publicly pressing the six remaining Board of Education members to let the GOP pick who fills two vacant Republican seats, warning that ignoring the town's longstanding bipartisan custom could trigger a repeat of the 2024 dispute that has already cost taxpayers more than $500,000 in legal fees.
In a letter published Wednesday, Aug. 12, Balidemaj and Duus urged the board to give "appropriate deference" to its Republican members when selecting replacements for former Chair Michael-Joseph Mercanti-Anthony and Secretary Wendy Vizzo Walsh, who filed resignations effective immediately Aug. 7.
"It would be unfortunate if their appointment required the intervention by the Board of Selectmen," the vice chairs wrote. "A better outcome is for the BOE itself to act — and to restore the bipartisan convention that served Greenwich well for so many years."
The warning is pointed. Under Connecticut General Statute §7-107, if the board fails to fill a vacancy within 30 days, the Board of Selectmen can step in and appoint someone directly.
What's at stake
The BOE is a politically balanced board with equal party representation. When a member resigns, the opposing party temporarily holds the majority. Greenwich has historically handled that imbalance through an informal custom: the party that lost the seat gets to designate the replacement.
That custom collapsed in October 2024, when four Democratic board members called an emergency meeting with roughly nine minutes' notice and voted 4-1 to appoint Jennifer Behette to a Republican vacancy left by former Chair Karen Kowalski. The next day, the Board of Selectmen voted 2-0-1 to appoint Paul Cappiali to the same seat.
The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission later ruled the emergency meeting was improperly noticed, did not qualify as a legitimate emergency, contained inaccurate minutes and that the Democratic members had not acted in good faith. First Selectman Fred Camillo filed a lawsuit in December 2024 that remains unresolved, with trial not expected until spring 2027.
The Greenwich Democratic Town Committee said in an Aug. 7 statement that the litigation has placed volunteer board members under enormous stress and cost taxpayers more than $500,000 in legal fees.
Timeline for families
The RTC's Aug. 7 press release confirmed the committee is accepting expressions of interest from registered Republicans. Candidates must submit a resume and letter of interest to board Clerk Michael Antonaccio by Tuesday, Aug. 25. The remaining six members plan to vote on replacements as soon as possible after Wednesday, Aug. 26, according to Greenwich Time.
As we reported Aug. 4, the district is racing to seat new members before the first day of school on Friday, Aug. 28.
BOE Vice Chair Sophie Koven, a Democrat, said before the resignations took effect that the board had not yet met to discuss the vacancies and that appointments would be made by public vote "as required by law." No Democratic board member or party official has publicly responded to the RTC's Aug. 12 letter.
The board currently has three Democrats and three Republicans, meaning any appointment vote could deadlock 3-3 without bipartisan agreement.
