Toni Simonetti has lived in Westport for nearly 24 years. She is a retired corporate communications executive and former journalist. She has become “passionately interested in good municipal governance, as the town works through a number of high-stakes projects.”
In advance of a series of meetings by the Representative Town Meeting’s Finance and Education Committees, the full RTM and the Board of Finance on the Long Lots Elementary School project, she sent this email to members of those bodies, and the Planning & Zoning Commission.
There is an irresponsible rush to approve the Long Lots appropriation request after a very long period in which the RTM would not entertain a discussion of any magnitude.
“Let the process work,” was the response we got from many an RTM member to the many requests for a hearing on the pending matter.
This is a highly complex project, with a price tag that will increase property taxes by nearly 4%. This is high stakes for every town citizen, and every one of your constituents. Make sure you represent them ALL.
Yet now, the Board of Finance will vote on an initial appropriation on February 7, and the RTM the very next day will hold committee meetings followed by a full RTM special meeting next week for final approval.
You are inviting litigation for malfeasance by those who have been or will be damaged by a rushed decision. As the chair of the BOF stated rather definitively: “Once we approve this [funding request], the train has left the station.”
The Board of Education spent years on this topic. The Long Lots School Building Committee was formed amid some initial hesitation on the makeup of the committee at the RTM last year; it was the last time the RTM had anything close to the Long Lots matter before it.
The LLSBC had 20+ meetings on the project since its inception. None of the meetings were recorded, and written minutes provide no details on the public discussions, which became robust once it became clear the open space on Terrace 1 would be decimated and abutting neighbors potentially damaged. It has been a deeply flawed process.
The Planning & Zoning Commission had 2 meetings on the topic, at which many concerns were expressed by commissioners and the public.
Hundreds of public comments were received, and a record number of electors attended the 2 meetings.
Public interest is high in the Long Lots Elementary School project.
Many of the P&Z concerns are detailed in the resolution included with their positive 8-24 report (click here to see). It calls for transparency, more communication and collaboration, and a lot more scrutiny over the remaining phases of the project.
Your rushed meeting schedules do not honor this commitment to good governance.
Now is the time for the RTM to review the process, the dissension surrounding this project and its process to date, and fix it. Now is the time to revisit the makeup of Long Lots School Building Committee and add collaborative members and experts; to involve the town’s Public Site and Building Commission, and to get neighbors and other stakeholders to the table.
You cannot do that in one meeting. The RTM committees cannot do that in one night. The RTM process is just beginning.
By the way, the RTM committees need to be livestreamed and recorded with good quality audio, and held in a meeting room large enough to accommodate interested citizens.
I implore the RTM to do what is right. This is the biggest capital project in the town’s history. You need to get this right.
Glad we can finally put to rest the running statements that “the gardeners aren’t trying to delay the school”. Hope to never hear that argument in another town meeting going forward.
This person is right. Too much has been decided behind closed doors. By that I mean not public and if public, not well attended.
Citizen Assemblies! https://06880danwoog.com/2024/01/26/opinion-forward-party-offers-solutions-to-political-dysfunction/
Enough- there is no timeline that is soon enough for these students and the faculty and staff at Long Lots. There are public committee meetings where folks can listen to the laundry list of problems at the school. I sat in a committee meeting last Friday morning which was public and maybe about ten people attended. They discussed mold and asbestos removal during February break amkng many other issues. Yes, our taxes may go up. We are lucky they did not go up years ago as we kicked the can down the road long enough to be in this dire situation. I get it – 100 or so gardeners and their invited guests might be displaced during construction. In the meantime, our tax dollars are paying for parts in a building on its last legs and there is not time to wait.
No ! Enough is not even nearly enough.
We did not kick the can down the road. The same FS kicked the can down the road by not fixing things. And now the house is falling down.
If the maintenance had been done we would not be in this predicament.
I’d have far preferred to have seen maintenance carried out as it should have been as you do on your own homes and cars.
We would not now be having to spend profligate money on this project.
This conversation was not about the gardeners. If you want to blame anyone blame the current administration for years of neglect. Yes the same people.
They did not inherit this problem. They caused it.
Tax increases have also been kicked down the road.
Put the taxes up and maintain so it doesn’t fall down !
Big difference between spending money to maintain something versus letting it fall apart.
But now there is still a process, and it IS NOT being followed.
The PSBC should be immediately involved in overseeing the remainder of this design and build.
It is our money, our school, nobody is saying the need is not NOW. In fact the need has been festering for years DUE TO no appropriate maintenance.
And again you know who to thank now for your and my tax dollars being wasted on a virtually from what I’m hearing condemned building, just to keep it limping along.
Blame those who didn’t maintain it.
There is still a process.
It MUST become transparant, that is only right and proper.
If it is not it will end up delayed. And none of us want that.
The problem can’t be that bad because the kids will be in the school for over two years. Close down the school tomorrow if there’s such a danger! (The tires on my car are bald. I’ll get new ones in 2026.)
There is nowhere to put tbe kids
I could not agree more!
This process is beyond flawed!
The cost to the taxpayers of Westport is rediculous. The Board of Education and School Board is about to spend more money than it ever should to build this monument to a school facility..
As usual the people and departments responsible blame the concered residents and affected townspeople for their poor performance and results!
Toni is an absolutely amazing and brilliant woman!!
Oh boy. Amazing is not trying to attempt to stop a school from being built to save a garden. Or, to have things HER way or the highway and delay things.
We are watching and taking note.
Stacking the LLS building committee with members who have a conflict of interest with the needs of the school is simply irresponsible.
What type of person would ask for the process to be slowed down further when we need to have a new school building constructed as soon as possible, and to provide the students and staff of LLS with a healthy building? We have already waited over 2 years to get shovels in the ground.
Enough is enough! Students come first.
Nobody is asking for delays. We are demanding a transparant and correctly followed process… you’d have had your school 6 months to a year earlier if the correct process had been followed and whispering in privately held meetings full of agendas not disclosed had not occurred which has caused this to be longer drawn out. It was all the secrets no body was privy to and attempted land grabs by parks n rec behind everyone’s back that has us “only now” where we are. Blame the parks n rec, the FS and the LLSBC.
It is NOT the neighbors or gardeners fault.
Gardeners led by Toni are literally asking for a delay. Read her letter. This is the same hypocrisy that’s been going on for months. Stop delaying the school! Stop hurting our kids!!
I’m sorry , but I feel very informed about the need for a new Long Lots school building. Much information has been shared about the costly problems to upgrade this building and it needs to be replaced for the safety of the children and staff. Westport schools are one of the shining lights in this wonderful community and there are benefits to your tax dollars being spent on education. Let’s get this process moving forward not backward!
It is clear as day that the only people Toni and her ilk care about are themselves. To hell with the 600+ kids. Mold, asbestos, respiratory illnesses, decrepit learning conditions, crowded classrooms, simply unimportant. We must protect the eyesore that is the community garden….regardless of the fact that the 9 months out of the year that the kids are actually in school, the garden is a barren pit of rotting vegetation…. Enough is enough, BUILD THE SCHOOL! You want to plant tomatoes, do it in your backyard. The arguments against building the school are beyond weak. Its time to stop submitting to this endless bullying of parents trying to do what is best for their kids to appease a tiny minority of gardeners. It will never be good enough. Stand tall, drive forward and get it done!
Mr. Katz
I agree the conditions of the school appear untenable, according to dozens and dozens of parents and teachers. If we are to believe so many urgent cries on school conditions, and I do, more immediate action is warranted. The safety, health and wellbeing of Long Lots students should be the first priority and addressed NOW. Get them out of that school building now.
well said
an error
Nobody is hiding behind progress and yes we know this a school for kids. And none of us sure there’s no conspiracy to defraud the tax payer ! I’m definitely not convinced. With the closed door, unrecorded, sneaky meetings that have been held over a period of 2 years, who knows what conspiracies are afoot.
In fact I’d be shocked if there were none.
LLS is a school your administration allowed go to hell in a hand bag because they were too cheap to maintain it so NOW, the payback to the tax payer is profligate spending which I for one question as utterly out of control considering building cost for a school in 2023 was $200 psf at the low end and $700 psf at the high end.
Taking the high end into account that is closer to $50 million than $100million. It starts to sound like the bathrooms at compo beach which should have cost 1/8 of what they did. Why ? Hmmm maybe nobody watched that closely enough. We sure got bitten on that catastrophe.
We are not building a four seasons hotel on a golf course. It is a school. Not buckingham palace. It will not need elaborate woodwork and crown mouldings, it’s not getting coffered ceilings or expensive wide plank wood flooring. There are no mahogany or teak doors going in here. Nor does it need top of the line anything. It needs to be a good modern school rebuild, with basic school decor( thankfully using the furniture from the existing school) it should be solid, with a good hvac system, sanitary bathrooms etc.
it should be 3 floors so if extra parking is required for stepping stones it can be accommodated. Because if we end up building a 2 story school and run out of parking when so many have questioned that wisdom then that sports field could end up sacrificed for parking.
The school building itself should cost somewhere between $200 and $700 psf. But of course good luck to us now getting a single fair bid since the LLSBC has already bandied around the extravagant number of $100 million no less. Another reason we need the PSBC involved.
What contractor in his right mind isn’t going to use that $100 million as their floor when bidding.
And that is why a very watchful eye is being now cast on every single move in this process because we do not trust those involved.
If the flawed process had not been so sneaky from the get go the tax paying residents might be more willing to trust it. But the more digging that’s done the more we discover that the process was abused on many levels. Our town charter was ignored as though the rules didn’t apply in this case.
Breaking news: the rules apply, our town charter must be followed.
This is not about the gardeners and neighbors.
We all get to pay for the school.
We do not trust the process that played out thus far with sneaking around trying to pull the wool over our eyes. The land grabs etc..
Nobody is saying delay it.
But the whole town is watching and we want it done correctly.
The process must be done correctly or 100 million will turn into 200 million. Get the PSBC involved, they can help make sure that the wrong contractors are potentially not chosen for the job for potentially the wrong reasons.
This is not $10, we are talking about. It is tens of millions paid for by the entire town.
Tell me Mr. Katz, why do you suppose the very experts appointed by FS Marpe to that committee have been excluded.
They would have met same days same time same meetings. No delays. It is in our town charter their role. And it is a big and important one. Why do you suppose there is a fear on the part of the FS and LLSBC to exclude them against our town charter.
“nobody is saying delay it.” Who wants to tell her?
Yawn, more bickering about spending money which ain’t yours.
The parents have had enough of this madness! How much longer can this project be delayed? The health, security, and well-being of CHILDREN are at stake here. And since you brought it up, do you want to talk about actual litigation risk? You’re inviting litigation from the thousands of parents, teachers, and staff of LLS for further subjecting our kids and educators to an unhealthy and unsafe learning environment. The decrepit conditions of the school are well-documented, including mold, asbestos, weak air filtration, ceiling incursions, leaks, outdated security systems…the list goes on. Are you waiting for a crisis situation to unfold to put your selfish agenda to rest? Approve the funding, shovels in the ground YESTERDAY, and no more delays!
See above. Many parents concerned about conditions. Me too. Move the kids now.
How ironic that your solution is to move the kids, a logistical nightmare compared to relocating a garden that only gets used a few months of the year.
You move the kids if their life or health is in danger. We did it in 1957 or 1958. Double session at another school. If the kids lives are really in danger, there’s your answer and it has precedent in town!! The town doesn’t want a multi million dollar lawsuit if something happens if Long Lots is a hazard and something happens.
Is the garden more important than the education and lives of kids? Have you seen a situation like this where you live in Florida where a garden mob is delaying and determening the fate of kids and education?
In Florida? Answer is yes and no.
Because of all the retirees that have flocked to Florida over the years generally speaking old people without kids swamp younger people with kids among voters so, unlike Westport/Connecticut, education is not a high priority. So, the subject probably wouldn’t come up since the school would be voted down. And the public school systems generally suck because of that.
So, if you are tired of having your tax dollars spent on education, move to Florida, not Westport.
Thank you Toni for advocating for all citizens and your
continued diligence in this matter (and others) that lacked
proper procedure and transparency.
It appears many others responding need to
familiarize yourselves
with out Town Charter. It is our Constitution and
has been blatantly ignored by the very people
who we count on to enforce it. This disregard is now
unfortunately back firing on your children. Your angst and disgust is inappropriately
directed at the Gardeners, neighbors, and all
taxpayers. The collateral damage now includes
your children as well. How can this not matter to you in the grand
scheme of things ie more delay as this gets rightfully
and legally sorted out.
Perhaps ask Ms Tooker why she
chose to circumvent stated procedures bypassing
our own RTM and Building Commission not to mention
citizens?
Ask Jen Flava why the secrecy in reference to the
infamous
“ I guess they know now” email sourced by the
FOIA? This certainly indicates that she chose not to
be forthcoming about the turf field. For what reasons?
Ask the RTM why they chose to disallow citizen
petition just when a host of large looming
issues greatly effecting our citizenry
appeared on our doorstep.
Ask our town attorney why “shall” was interpreted
as may when shall is an imperative command.
May is permissive. There is a difference.
Thank you again Toni for getting to the real
meat in this issue. I am at your service for
your continued vigilance if need be.
I am all for remediation of Long Lots in a timely
manner. I get it. What I don’t get is how our
administration subverted this process and why?
It would have been helpful and transparent for Jen Tooker to share
her reasoning behind her actions forming the
LLBC and why each member was specifically appointed
instead
of utilizing our very competent and
experienced Building Commission as directed in our Town Charter, why a supersized turf field was injected
in the BOE mandate to build/remodel Long Lots and
why was this field kept secret from the public and
elected commissions-same with the decision to purposely
keep the Gardeners in the dark of their impending demise.
Sadly this may be the most
important issue regarding the state of our town that
was not addressed or even acknowledged. Hmmm…
Impossible to consider this a one off after the Parker
Harding fiasco one would think. Perhaps “a charette”
is in order before a referendum that might well be
looming and for a host of good reasons.
Excellent comment.
But, you know, the BOE wants what it wants when it wants it. And the Administration, knowing that precedent in town, wanted to take advantage by expanding ball fields (nothing to do with the school) at the expense of the very public community gardeners, for the benefit of private sports leagues.
And this attitude of build it for us NOW, when all of our taxes are going to go up 3.5% percent to pay for a facility holding 600. Taxpayers already collectively kick in $22,700 per student in the district. So maybe a little gratitude would be nice. Let’s do it right, do it right by all of the stakeholders, and do it right by all of the taxpayers.
If this had been an above-board process using the Building Commission, we wouldn’t be bogged down like this now.
Greens Farms School is almost 100 years old! Why aren’t you tearing that building down and spending 150 million on a NEW school? The kids deserve a new school. Why are those kids being discriminated against?
Greens Farms was renovated and modernized about 20 years ago.
There you go… renovate and modernize Long Lots! Of course, Dan, Westport had different leaders back 20 years ago!
The history of the closing Greens Farms Elementary, leasing it to the Westport Arts Center, then clawing it back describes an arc of contention not very different from the one engrossing the town over the Long Lots project now. (06880 published a story back at the beginning of the current brouhaha)
Here is The NY Times account of the earlier brouhaha.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/20/nyregion/in-westport-the-arts-v-education.html
Neither one strikes me as an admirable or deft handling of the issues on the part of any of the “interest groups” involved.
But, hey, I get to use “brouhaha” twice in a comment.
Mr. Liepolt: As one retiree to another: The only limit I’m aware of applies to # of replies (5). Brouhaha (as long as it’s used civilly) is unlimited free use (perhaps the only thing that’s unlimited free left in Westport).
When I compare this conversation to the Rah-Rah State of the Town speech from this weekend, I think all sides are of the view this project should have been handled better from the start in terms of the inclusiveness created by our Selectperson.
All that to say, let’s build a new school here. Long Lots has lived its life and is in very different shape than Greens Farms, Saugatuck or KHS were in when they were renovated. From everything I have seen, experienced and read there’s not really an immediate hazard (per Scarice), but it’s not getting better and by the time we get the new school up and running no one is going to be sad about moving.
But let’s also legitimately have a conversation with the garden folks valuing their hard work and the Zen they bring to the property to see whether it can be maintained during and post construction. Maybe the answer is “we really tried and it doesn’t work.” It mostly feels like they were ignored and no one ever asked them their thoughts.
Bad will has been generated and has manifested in the arguments in this thread, let’s take a breath and figure out good next steps. It’s a time for real leadership.
Thank you for taking the side of the children and understanding we need to move forward. This op-ed does the opposite of that and calls for any and all reasons to delay approvals. The lack of transparency argument doesn’t make sense given the building committee has held over 25+ public sessions along with the public meetings of BOE, BOF, and P&Z.
You seem to confuse “taking the side of the children” (and I’m sorry, but that is such a fatuous phrase) with writing a blank check.
The lack of transparency issue makes complete sense, given that the LLSBC was chosen by the FS and sent out with marching orders. Even a member of the BOE called some of their actions “sneaky” at a BOE meeting. This all should have been handled by the Public Site and Building Committee.
Also, the LLSBC never put out detailed agendas, didn’t take minutes, and (if you ever attended these meetings) never showed the slightest interest in concerns expressed about their peripheral interests (beyond replacing the school). Have Jay or Don responded to FOIA requests, yet?
Nope, no confusion on my end. A blank check is different than a thought out plan with a cost attached to it.
You seem to be confusing prioritizing a school (mental and physical education) with not taking other people’s self/special/peripheral (whatever you want to call it) interests into account. The LLSBC thought about the various groups onsite and around the site. Then used that to come up with various plans, deciding on the best option to move forward with.
There has been transparency. I have attended many, if not all, of these meetings because they are open to the public. Transparency.s
I get that the LLSBC endorses your preferred narrative, but aren’t you even slightly curious why they haven’t responded to FOIA requests?
At least be honest about not caring about anyone but your own. I want to see a school built and the Gardens and Preserve protected. You want to see a school built and don’t care at all about anything else. Kind of selfish and sad, it seems to me.
As a taxpayer, I have to think, if you don’t care about anyone else but yourself, why should I care about you?
Is that really the world you want to live in?
Tonight the RTM will have the opportunity to right this ship by reformulating the building committee as it was done in 1999 by including the PSBC experts who should have been engaged fron the outset. This would NOT necessitate delays and it would significantly ameliorate the heretofore flawed process, and stifle the incessant acrimony. It would provide the leadership that has been deficient and prioritize collaboration which has been anemic at best.
However it will take the courage of our RTM representatives to prioritize doing the right thing over political arm twisting and gamesmanship – something that they have been far too reticent to do.
Desiring an acrimoniously flawed process to just “run its course” because it’s the easier path and the one desired by the First Select-person, is a cowardice unbecoming to those who swore to do the work to ensure meaningful community engagement, assign ALL essential project representation, perform the critical Town oversite they are mandated to do, ensure adherence to Westport’s Charter, and preemptively implement corrective actions that will optimize processes and outcome.
Let’s see which path your RTM representatives will choose: Cowardice and responsibility abdication, or now decide to do the right thing that they were entrusted to do.
A reminder: All commenters must use full, real names. I just emailed 5 commenters — all urging that the school be built immediately — who did not use full names. All bounced back, with fake email addresses.
Another reminder: All commenters are limited to 5 comments per story.
Thank you.
Am I the only one wondering why you made sure to point out that these alleged “fake commenters” were in favor of building a new school ASAP?
Yes
Probably. The fake name crowd tends to exaggerate its level of support (on any issue). It’s fundamentally dishonest. It’s good to know who is being dishonest.
I promise you that there are more people for the new build than against! The number of parents supporting Long Lots is probably bigger than you can imagine. More than just signs or posts on social media blogs. The mob with more posts is not the majority.
I live in the district. I have neighbors with children in Long Lots. Like me, they want to see a new school. They are also absolutely upset about what could be happening to the Gardens. Unlike you, they understand that decisions can be made that can benefit more than one constituency.
You and the Fake Name crowd are the outliers – expressing interest only in yourselves. The only compromise is you getting what you want. The rest of town be damned.
That kind of attitude is going to lose you supporters and cause others to dig in their heels.
Children, health, and education are top priority for most people who move to the suburbs and Westport. You could probably take a poll on that. I do not believe it is selfish for saying that fact. I believe the gardeners are being selfish.
The school doesn’t need the Garden space. I’m not sure why you have such a difficult time grasping that.
There is nothing “selfish” about the Gardeners saying “grow together” and “build the school, save the gardens.”
The is nothing selfish about my neighbors with kids in Long Lots of say, “we need the school, but tearing up the gardens would be horrible.”
There is one selfish person here, and that person is you.
Thank you for highlighting these facts and your
due diligence to reveal.
Very disturbing and shameful behavior which
deserves to be called out.
I for one am grateful for your platform to both
inform and provide outlets for comment. I am
so sorry your day has to include fishing out
dishonest citizen’s comments that pollute the spirit
of your site. A travesty for all Westporters.
If we care so much about transparency and honesty, why isn’t Toni’s role with the community garden clearly stated in the byline?
I have a plot. I am no longer a member of the Steering Committee and I do not speak for the Westport Community Gardens.
I am an Advanced Master Gardener (UConn). I am an American Rose Society Consulting Rosarian; President of the Manhattan Rose Society; a candidate for the ARS Board as Northeast Regional Director, a member of the Bartlett Arboretum and its lead greenhouse volunteer. I hold an MBA in addition to a BA in journalism with a minor in French.I am an expert in corporate communications and financial communications. I play bridge but need more silver points for Life Master. I have a husband, a dog and two kids. The gray streak in my hair is natural.
What else do you need to know?
You omitted your preferred pronouns. Everything else, however was 1st class. Did you, by any chance, attend Staples? That would enable an expedited approval of your worthiness and enable you to bypass the TSA when you travel by air.
👍👍🤡😎
I want to know what makes you the expert on what Long Lots parents, teachers, and students need. What are your credentials in education, health, and school building design? How about your credentials in Special Education and their needs and facilities? I am aeager to hear your response and am glad you play bridge, garden, and have a natural silver streak in your hair.
We care about our town administrations dishonesty and sneaky self serving behavior. Yes we care deeply.
We care about having the expert PSBC oversee the LLSBC, who have just botched likely on purpose the rfq’s.. the shade needs to cease.
FYI, the PSBC are supposed to be part of the process. They are supposed to according to our town charter be “supervising” the LLSBC.
If the process til now hadn’t been rife with deception we would not be at this juncture with the parents of children at LLS, feeling like the whole town is ganging up on them.
That is not the case. On the contrary we are almost as irate as the parents of LLS students because the school was allowed through a lack of any real maintenance get into this state. Sounds like you have all watched it falling apart.
We were just lied to so many times over the past 24 months that nobody is feeling very warm and fuzzy. Do you blame them.
Toni did not mention the gardens in her opinion piece.
At this point I think everybody knows that Toni has a plot at the award winning only Westport community garden adjacent to the long lots school.
Hardly think she was misreprenting anything.
I have a question: Other than Dan (who always puts his money where his mouth is as far as Westport public spending is concerned and has always put himself “in the trenches” with Westport’s kids) How many parents of the schoolchildren that were, are now, or will attend the envisioned $100MM Long Lots Elementary School are willing to state publicly that they will remain as taxpaying residents of Westport until the entire debt assumed in connection with the project has been “retired” (aka, “paid off”)?