RTM Votes 179-9 to Let Fire Contract Stand

Town Meeting · Meeting of October 26, 2026

Greenwich's RTM voted 179-9 to reject a motion blocking the town's firefighters contract, letting the three-year deal take effect retroactive to July 1. Town Labor Negotiator Mike Mason and Assistant Fire Chief Charles Lubicki discussed the pact, which covers 105 positions with 3 percent annual raises and a health-premium share rising to 18.25 percent; Budget Overview Committee Chairman James Waters put its total three-year cost near $69.9 million. Richard Neuman, chairman of the Town Services Committee, said a family's combined healthcare cost "is creeping up on $75,000," above a new firefighter's $73,990 starting salary.

Members also voted 185-5 to raise the yearly mooring fee from $100 to $150 starting in 2027 for late renewals, after Land Use Committee's Sandra Harris flagged that the call's original wording did not match how officials explained the fee structure.

In the full story:

• Opening Honors and a Tribute to John Marginot
• Minutes and Consent Calendar
• Combined Postponement of Items 1 and 7
• Item 8: Harbor Mooring Fee Increase
• Item 9: Rejecting the Firefighters' Contract
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,271 words

Source: the Town Meeting meeting of October 26, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript. It was corrected where it differed.

The Full Article

Opening Honors and a Tribute to John Marginot

Background and stakes: Greenwich's October RTM meeting traditionally doubles as the body's annual veterans' recognition because there is no November session. This year it also carried a formal remembrance of John Marginot, a five-term First Selectman who died on Columbus Day at 98.

The question before the body: no vote was required; this was ceremonial business preceding the night's substantive items.

Substantive content: Moderator Alexis Voulgaris introduced six members with military service records, including James Waters (U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and SEAL officer, Afghanistan combat veteran), Steve Waters (U.S. Navy, three destroyers, 1968-1972), Jan Kniffen (U.S. Air Force captain, Vietnam and the 1973 Yom Kippur War), Kip Burgweger (U.S. Army, Vietnam, Bronze Star), and, recognized in absentia, Tom West and Daniel Izzo. First Selectman Fred Camillo then delivered a tribute to Marginot, describing his path from a lookout post atop the old Town Hall cupola through service in occupied Japan, ten years on the RTM beginning in 1959, two years on the Board of Estimate and Taxation, four years on the Board of Selectmen, and five terms as First Selectman beginning in 1985. Camillo also noted the recent death of Marginot's longtime friend Dick Kriske, 93.

The deliberation: Camillo's remarks were largely uncontested tribute, delivered to a standing, silent chamber. "Greenwich really lost a true son and a local legend," Camillo said, adding that Marginot "was a man of the people" who "set a great example."

Procedural steps and outcome: The membership observed a moment of silence; no vote was taken.

Implications and what is next: A memorial service had been previously announced for mid-October at First Church in Old Greenwich. The tribute, along with remarks honoring Arch Street Teen Center plans and a children's book drive, consumed roughly the meeting's first fifteen minutes before substantive business began.

Minutes and Consent Calendar

Background and stakes: The RTM routinely dispenses with reading prior minutes and groups uncontested appointments on a consent calendar to speed business.

The question before the body: whether to adopt the September special and regular meeting minutes, with one correction, and whether to place five appointment items on the consent calendar.

Substantive content: Voulgaris noted a correction to the September special meeting minutes: Leslie Koch of District 9 had been recorded as attending remotely but actually attended in person. With that fix, both sets of September minutes were adopted by unanimous consent. The moderator then designated Items 2 through 6 for the consent calendar: Kaan Aslansan and Steven Siler to the GHS Natatorium, Tennis and Access Driveway Building Committee; Kristin Toretta to the Old Greenwich School Building Committee; and William Baker and William Galvin as alternate and regular members, respectively, of the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency.

The deliberation: No member objected to the consent grouping. An electronic vote was opened, accompanied by what Voulgaris called "spooky Halloween music" for the in-room audience. The recording captured that the items carried, but the specific favor/opposed/abstain counts were not clearly audible.

Procedural steps and outcome: Items 2-6 carried on the consent calendar. No separate individual votes were taken on these appointments.

Implications and what is next: All five appointees are now seated on their respective boards and building committees effective immediately.

Combined Postponement of Items 1 and 7

Background and stakes: Two appointment items held over from September, Niels Pennings to the Fair Rent Commission and John Macaskill to the Board of Parks and Recreation, needed further committee review before coming to a floor vote.

The question before the body: whether to combine the two items for a single postponement vote.

Substantive content: Cathryn Steel, chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, moved to postpone Pennings's nomination to December 2026. Myra Klockenbrink, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee, separately moved postponement of Macaskill's nomination, initially misstating the committee of referral before Voulgaris clarified the motion applied to Item 7, Macaskill's Parks and Recreation seat.

The deliberation: The exchange was brief and procedural; no member raised objection to combining the two postponements under a motion to suspend the rules, which the moderator noted required a two-thirds majority but was handled instead by unanimous consent.

Procedural steps and outcome: Items 1 and 7 were postponed to the December 2026 meeting by unanimous consent.

Implications and what is next: Both nominations return to the floor in December; Pennings's and Macaskill's appointments remain pending until then.

Item 8: Harbor Mooring Fee Increase

Background and stakes: The Harbor Management Commission asked the RTM to raise the yearly mooring fee from $100 to $150 beginning with the 2027 boating season, citing chronic late or incomplete renewals among the roughly 800 mooring holders the town manages.

The question before the body: whether to adopt the fee increase, and specifically how to word the trigger for the higher fee given ambiguity in the original call language.

Substantive content: James Waters, reporting for the Budget Overview Committee, said that body voted 12-0-0 in favor after hearing from Rob Pruitt and Jenny Larkin of the Harbor Management Commission's mooring committee. He said the proposal maintains the $100 fee, including a grace period, for mooring holders who complete all renewal requirements, renewal application, boat registration, proof of insurance, and (every three years) a mooring inspection, by March 31, while imposing a $50 premium on late or incomplete renewals. Myra Klockenbrink reported the Parks and Recreation Committee's 10-0-0 vote, with Districts 2 and 9 absent, and added that 197 of the roughly 800 mooring applications were unpaid or incomplete by last year's deadline. Peter Cruikshank, secretary of the Finance Committee (he corrected Voulgaris's introduction of him as "chair"), reported a 9-0-0 vote with Districts 1, 5 and 7 absent, and said his committee had suggested the Harbor Management Commission consider publishing a public list of delinquent mooring holders.

The deliberation: Sandra Harris, reporting for Land Use, said several members there flagged that the call's resolution language did not match how the fee structure was explained in the online "explanos," creating confusion about what members were actually voting on. Land Use voted 9-1-1, with District 4 opposed and District 3 abstaining. On the floor, Edward "Tom" Broadhurst and others pressed Pruitt on whether the higher fee should hinge on an "approved" application or merely a "completed" one. Craig Amundson of District 12 asked directly whether a completed application includes payment, prompting Larkin to clarify that renewal requires registration, insurance, the fee itself, and a periodic inspection, all due by March 31.

"A completed application, and these are for renewals... if any of those are not completed by March 31st, that constitutes an incomplete application."Jenny Larkin, Harbor Management Commission mooring committee

Procedural steps and outcome: Rob Pruitt offered, and the body accepted, a substitute resolution replacing "approved application" with "completed application" to resolve the ambiguity before voting. The amended Item 8 then passed 185-5-0.

Implications and what is next: Mooring holders who miss the March 31 renewal deadline starting in 2027 will pay $150 instead of $100. The Harbor Management Commission indicated longer-term measures, including enforcement procedures, an appeals process and authority to remove non-compliant moorings, remain under separate consideration.

Item 9: Rejecting the Firefighters' Contract

Background and stakes: Under the town's FY26-27 Budget Resolutions and Connecticut General Statutes Section 7-474(b), the RTM has standing authority to reject the funding necessary to implement a negotiated municipal labor contract, which would send the matter to arbitration. The call placed before members a resolution to reject the negotiated three-year extension with Local 1042, International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO, covering July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029.

The question before the body: whether to reject the contract (forcing arbitration) or allow it to take effect as negotiated.

Substantive content: Adam Leader, chairman of the Labor Contracts Committee, said the committee heard from Town Labor Negotiator Mike Mason and Assistant Fire Chief Charles Lubicki. The deal covers 105 authorized positions, including five academy recruits, with 3 percent annual wage increases, an employee health-premium share climbing to 18.25 percent, and a new EMT-certification requirement for incoming hires. He said the town controller certified roughly a 4 percent annual cost increase, about 13 percent cumulatively, or roughly $2.75 million over three years. He noted one town priority, rolling stipends into base pay for payroll simplicity, was not achieved. The Labor Contracts Committee voted, by his account, 0-3-0 against rejecting the contract, with two members absent.

Richard Neuman, chairman of the Town Services Committee, said the settlement was reached without mediation or arbitration after 12 in-person meetings, the second such contract with this union, after the union's request for a four-year term was reduced to three. He put Greenwich's total compensation package just below the regional midpoint and said the employee healthcare cost share rises from 16 percent to 18.25 percent by year three. Drawing on outside research, Neuman said a family of four's combined healthcare cost under the town and employee shares approaches $75,000, exceeding a new firefighter's starting salary of $73,990, and cited a 2025 Municipal Employees State Health Care Plan 2.0 report showing Greenwich's average per-member cost at $67,859. Town Services voted 0-11-1, with District 5 abstaining due to a pension conflict as a retired fire marshal.

James Waters, chairman of the Budget Overview Committee, said his panel voted 0-12-0 against the rejection, effectively endorsing the negotiated terms, and placed the contract's full three-year cost at approximately $69.9 million. Peter Cruikshank, for the Finance Committee, reported a 0-10-0 vote with Districts 1 and 5 absent and praised the Labor Contracts Committee's detailed review.

The deliberation: No member rose to debate the item on the floor once the committee reports concluded.

"Mr. Mason said the town's priorities for this agreement were a three-year term to avoid contract stacking with the police contract, wage growth at or around the inflation rate ... and rolling stipends into base pay."Adam Leader, chairman of the Labor Contracts Committee, summarizing the negotiator's account

Procedural steps and outcome: The resolution to reject was moved and seconded, with Voulgaris clarifying that an affirmative vote meant rejection and arbitration, while a negative vote let the contract stand. The vote: 9 in favor of rejection, 179 opposed, 2 abstaining. The rejection motion failed.

Implications and what is next: The Local 1042 contract takes effect as negotiated, retroactive to July 1, 2026, running through June 30, 2029, without arbitration. The December RTM meeting is expected to be held at the new Central Middle School Auditorium.

WHO WAS THERE

• Alexis Voulgaris, Moderator, presided over the meeting.
• Fred Camillo, First Selectman, delivered the Marginot tribute and was present throughout.
• Lauren Rabin, Selectperson, introduced several Board of Selectmen appointments during the session (referenced from the September 28 minutes pattern; her presence at the October 26 session is implied by the agenda's referral structure though not independently confirmed in this transcript excerpt).
• Richard Neuman, chairman, Town Services Committee, reported on the firefighters contract.
• James Waters, chairman, Budget Overview Committee, reported on both the mooring fee and firefighters contract, and was also recognized as a military veteran.
• Myra Klockenbrink, chairman, Parks and Recreation Committee, reported on the mooring fee and moved postponement of Item 7.
• Peter Cruikshank, secretary, Finance Committee, reported on both items.
• Sandra Harris, District 10, reported for the Land Use Committee.
• Cathryn Steel, chairman, Health and Human Services Committee, moved postponement of Item 1.
• Adam Leader, chairman, Labor Contracts Committee, reported on the firefighters contract.
• Jonathan Kantor, chairman, District 12, was acknowledged with his son in attendance.
• Steve Waters, Jan Kniffen, Kip Burgweger, and James Waters were recognized in person for military service; Tom West and Daniel Izzo were recognized though not present.
• Joe Benoit, Vietnam-era Navy veteran, was separately recognized at the moderator's invitation.
• Craig Amundson, District 12, questioned the mooring fee wording from the floor.
• Staff and outside parties: Mike Mason, Town Labor Negotiator, introduced the firefighters contract item. Assistant Fire Chief Charles Lubicki (also referenced elsewhere in the proceedings with varying pronunciations) represented fire department management. Fire Chief Joe McHugh was cited by Neuman as present at the Town Services Committee review. Rob Pruitt and Jenny Larkin, both of the Harbor Management Commission's mooring committee, presented the mooring fee item. Lois Schneider, Moderator Pro Tem, and Mike Wheeler, head of the rules committee, attended as a visiting delegation from the Darien RTM, along with a representative of the Darien First Selectman's office.
• Public commenters: none formally signed up to debate either Item 8 or Item 9 on the floor.

ORGANIZATIONS AND DOCUMENTS REFERENCED

• Harbor Management Commission: requested the mooring fee increase and sent Rob Pruitt and Jenny Larkin to explain renewal requirements in Item 8.
• Local 1042, International Association of Fire Fighters, AFL-CIO: the union whose three-year contract extension was the subject of Item 9.
• Connecticut General Statutes Section 7-474(b): cited as the RTM's statutory authority to reject the firefighters' labor agreement.
• Town of Greenwich FY26-27 Budget Resolutions: cited alongside the statute as the basis for the RTM's authority over Item 9.
• Municipal Employees State Health Care Plan 2.0, 2025 report: cited by Richard Neuman for average per-member healthcare cost figures in the firefighters contract debate.
• Darien Representative Town Meeting: sent a delegation, including Moderator Pro Tem Lois Schneider and Rules Committee head Mike Wheeler, to observe Greenwich's CloudVote electronic voting system.
• CloudVote: the electronic voting vendor/platform used to run floor votes during the meeting.
• Arch Street Teen Center Committee: announced a second public hearing for November 19 regarding potential integration with Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, expected to return to the RTM.