Citing 'Dysfunction,' Campbell Issues Sharp Plea to Dems [Updated]

Note, Oct. 8:  The full Oct. 4 Board of Selectmen meeting will run this week on Channel 79 (Cablevision only) on the following cycle: 2:09 am, 8:15 am, 2:00 pm, 5:00 pm, and 8:00 pm. Patch thanks Channel 79 for the use of its footage.

In a pointed coda to his usual biweekly report, First Selectman Dave Campbell chastised the town's two Democratic selectmen at Monday night's board meeting, accusing them of "throw[ing] sand" in his face for political reasons and calling on them to cooperate more closely with the Republican majority.

The two-minute monologue sparked a testy exchange between Campbell and Selectman David Bayne, who was effectively gaveled down as he tried to respond to the First Selectman's criticisms.

Segueing from his account of last weekend's Big Rig Gig, Campbell cited a Sept. 30 editorial from the Darien Times to contend that the Board of Selectman had become overcomplicated and dysfunctional due to Democratic obstructionism.

In its editorial, the paper criticized Democratic Selectman Callie Sullivan for putting forward an alternate senior center proposal after the board had already approved a plan and called on Bayne and Sullivan to work with the majority in the mold of former Republican selectmen Linda Santarella and Seth Morton.

"I agree with the Times that our job is to set policy for the entire Town of Darien," Campbell said. "[But] from my first day in office it's been very hard to manage this town with a minority party that wants to throw sand in my face every time to try to advance their political agenda."

Campbell recalled a Mar. 22 email in which Bayne—writing in the wake of the epic Mar. 13 storm—offered to "work at us coming together" after Campbell had faced criticism for traveling to Utah the morning of the 14th. Bayne was left in charge at the time as Acting First Selectman.

"I did not respond [to the email] because of my anger at the hypocrisy of the moment," Campbell said. "Since March, there have been no meetings of the mind; only grandstanding and 'gotcha' moments. I'm very willing to work with the minority party if they have constructive ideas."

"Jayme [Stevenson], Jerry [Nielsen], and I are doing this job strictly for all the people in Darien," he added. "I invite David and Callie to do the same. Cooperation and trust will go a long way in getting their views heard by the majority."

But the lack of cooperation and trust in the room became quickly apparent, as Bayne tried unsuccessfully to rebut Campbell's broadside.

"You can respond in my office, which is open all the time. My phone's on all the time. My BlackBerry's in my pocket. Just call me anytime you want. The town's seen enough of this," Campbell said.

"It has, Dave, but not every disagreement is a partisan disagreement," Bayne replied, as Campbell pounded the gavel twice to cut him off.

"You don't want to hear it. That's fine," Bayne said, tossing down his pen.

"No. Not tonight," Campbell responded.

"Or any night, I'm sure," Bayne countered.

"No, anytime. We can try again. We can start over, but not in public. We've got to start," Campbell answered.

"Well, you've just lambasted me and Callie for five minutes and I think that's very unfair," Bayne said. "And you don't want give us a chance to respond. ... That's the way this Board of Selectmen is running. That's very unfortunate."

"That's very nice, David," Campbell concluded before turning the floor over to Town Administrator Karl Kilduff.

The clash follows a period of rising partisan tensions on the board. For months, Bayne and Sullivan put up opposition to Campbell's three-way facilities shuffle of the Senior Center, the Board of Education, and 35 Leroy, but the Republican majority recently carried the measure at a Sept. 7 meeting.

At the same meeting, Bayne strongly criticized Campbell for not sharing a May 31 letter from developer Tom Golden, who is currently seeking zoning changes as part of a planned Noroton Heights commercial district overhaul.

Campbell has expressed interest in having Golden build a large water retention structure on the site to mitigate perennial Heights Road flooding issues, but in the letter, Golden expressed staunch opposition to that particular approach.

Bayne and Sullivan voiced similar transparency concerns last month when Patch revealed that the town's inclusionary zoning regulations had been under federal investigation since the spring—something Campbell had not mentioned to the board until contacted for the article.

In both cases, Campbell said that he didn't believe developments were significant enough to alert the board, but the political fissures have persisted.

Later in Monday's meeting, Sullivan explained her rationale for releasing designs of a purpose-built Edgerton Street senior center, describing it as a response to lingering questions about the three-way shuffle rather than a political gambit.

"The only reason that I brought my proposal to light was because my questions haven't been satisfactorily answered," Sullivan said.

"Since we are still in the conceptual stage—or we were at that point—I felt it my responsibility to put forward other concepts," she continued. "I think that making this personal and accusing one another of throwing sand or working to our own self-interests in very unfortunate."

"If we could work more closely to get all of the questions that we have answered to everyone's satisfaction, that's how you build consensus. And we're just not doing that," Sullivan added.

"I think we've spent a lot of time the past nine months going over different plans [and] concepts, and it's time to move this baby forward to a building committee," Nielsen responded.

In three party-line decisions, selectmen voted Monday to refer both component renovations of the building shuffle to the Planning & Zoning Commission and to establish a building committee for the overhaul of the current Board of Education facility.

Update, 2:40 p.m.: In a statement to Patch on Tuesday, Bayne called Campbell's remarks "astonishing."

"Unfortunately, the First Selectman appears unable to distinguish questions from criticism and dissent from personal attack," Bayne wrote. "His insistence on imputing partisan motives to every disagreement fails to acknowledge even the possibility that principled disagreement with his points of view is both possible and legitimate."

Bayne said that he had received no response to the Mar. 22 email until Monday night, when he learned that Campbell had been "harboring nothing but anger and resentment all these many months at my effort to open communications within the Board of Selectmen."

"Unfortunately, the First Selectman's remarks on Monday night seemed calculated more to inflame than to ameliorate passions. This is both unfortunate and unproductive. I will not respond in kind. I will, however, continue work to make this administration more transparent by pressing for it to explain to the people of Darien its views, its conduct and how it proposes to spend their hard earned tax dollars," he added.

Update, 7:08 p.m.: "We all heard Dave Cambell's anger and frustration last night, and hope that venting was cathartic for him," Sullivan wrote in a separate statement to Patch.

"I have been elected twice to this board, and have one mission: to represent and keep safe the people of Darien in the most fiscally prudent manner possible," she added. "Trust can come, but only if we work together, improve communications, and answer all the important questions."

See video of Campbell and Bayne's exchange and of Sullivan's response (courtesy of TV79), as well as a complete transcript of the former.