SPECIAL RTM ELECTIONS ARE
KEPT A SECRET TO THE LAST MINUTE
Town Clerk Carmella C. Budkins
Is Once Again Involved In Another Shady Special Election Scheme
That Would Give Potential RTM Canidates
Less Than 100 Hours To Run For Vacant Legislative Seats.
Byram District 4 RTM Chairman Robert J. McKnight Jr., a retired landscaper has sent emails to James and John Wabba's Champion Development email account asking them to resign thier repective legislative seats.
McKnight claims he has gotten a responce indicating that the sons of the powerful Byram developer will resign from the RTM in disgrace. The Wahba brothers have multiple parcels of land on South Water Street and have built a luxury condo complex on the property.
Just before last nights RTM meeting Robert McKnight dispatched RTM District 4 Vice Chairman and Parks employee Thomas Greco to Town Clerk Carmella C. Budkins office to see if she had posted a last minute notice of a special election in the newspaper, so that McKnight could get two of his buddies on the Representative Town Meeting.
Ms. Budkis told Tom Greco that she was unable to put the last minute legal notice in the newspaper, because the Wabba brothers were standing up against McKnight and insisting on retaining their legislative seats and not sending in their resignations to the town clerk's office.
In fact, Ms. Budkis is well known in Greenwich and the state of Connecticut for these last minute "Wham Bam Thank You M'am" special ellections that are designed to limit full community partisipation in the electorial and legislative process.
PLEASE SEE:
In fact, according to town clerk documents, the Wabba brothers were placed on the Byram RTM Board in a McKnight / Budkis "Wham Bam Thank You M'am" so-called special election just last January. Apparently, the Wabba brother had to resign from their legislative seats. The word on the streets of Byram is that there were some election irregularities and the Wabba brothers were quietly told to resign by the Town's Republican party and not to worry because McKnight and Budkis would arrange on of those last minute special elections they are so famous for.
What Greenwich Town Clerk Carmella C. Budkins Fails To Realize Is That She Is Corrupting The Electorial Process With These Quickie Special Elections That Fail To Give Potential Resident A Reasonable Of Notice.
There should be at least one months notice of a RTM special election so that all citizens have an equal chance to partisipate. The game should not be rigged for political insiders on a legislative body that is supposed to be non-political.
However, there may not be a special election in Byram after all.
Apparently, the Wabba brothers have reconsidered resigning from the RTM and are insisting on finishing out the remainder of the legislative term. However, some Byram RTM members privately said that John and James Wabba are little two weak boys that were born with little silver spoons in their mouths and they will eventually obey the ruogh and tough Robert McKnight.
The Wabba brothers should be forewaned that McKnight is hell bent on getting his new "insiders" in the Wabba's RTM seats. For the last two meetings he has had two mystery canidates waiting in the wings and in the RTM audiance in hopes of getting them elected in a quickie "Wham Bam Thank You M'am" special election.
Unfortunately, Republican Chairman McKnight is not giving others in Byram who might like to serve the community a fair chance of learning about and applying to fill the seats that he is trying to force the Wabba Brothers to vacate in shame.
But, the Wabba Brothers just might beat McKnight after all, they have not came to the last couple of meetings and technically are not required to attend any meeting for the rest of their terms. In fact, they can stand up to McKnight's power play and prevent his quickie special election without ever leaving their homes.
Apperently there was a great deal of email traffic between certain Byram RTM members and others about getting the Wabba Brothers to vacate their legislative seats. These emails are now public documents and can be obtained by filing a freedom of information request in Town Clerk Carmella C. Budkins' office. Later, Greenwich Roundup will publish the emails here so that citizens will know the rest of the story about these quicky special election.
Person's involved in producing or receiving these emails should not delete them, as of today unless the wish to liable to face litigation.
In the recent past, the Wabba's father owned land that housed a heating oil company on Water Street that received shipments by water, and that part of Byram, just south of the bridge going into downtown Port Chester, still have a gritty feel to it. At a nearby marina, boats are stacked high, there is a lumber business and there's was an empty lot where the heating oil company used to be.
James Wahba, 29, who, with his brother, John, 25, owns Champion Development in Greenwich claimed to be trying to bring up the value of the Byram neighborhood. But RTM District Chairman McKnight said recently in a public meeting that the Wabba's father had lied to him about sidewalks and public access to the Byram waterfront.
Chairman McKight mocked the Wabba's recent plans for a building that would house a bank and a pharmacy, that he claimed would be a CVS. According to RTM Chairman McKnight both the bank and CVS would each have a drive in windows making an "unsafe" and ridiculous traffic situation".
McKnight also said the Wabba's hotel proposal has been severly cut back and is all but dead on the Byram waterfront.
Robert McKnight and other Byram legislators openedly joked about the what he called "the overpriced" Greenwich Landing Project saying that no one has even bought one unit to date. One Byram legislator said there was a big "In Contract" sign in a couple of the units windows, to which McKnight shot back, "Yeah, that means they got no money and can't get a loan."
This caused the temporary RTM meeting room in the Western Junior Middle School to break out in laughter at John and James Wabba.
Both Wabba brothers grew up in Byram and claim that they are trying to put in top-notch quality project in Byram and really bring it up to the state of the rest of Greenwich.
McKnight has been very critical of Diane Fox the town planner in the past.
He has been especially perturbed that the town has hired Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge L.L.C. of Boston, a landscape architecture, planning and design consultancy , to study options and costs of various ideas for improving the public infrastructure in Byram, including sidewalks, vest-pocket parks, new parking, speed bumps and even burying utility lines for some of the blocks in the downtown area in order to make it more attractive to shoppers.
The Byram RTM Chairman has repeatedly claimed in public meetings that there work has been substandard and grossly incomplete and he has blamed Ms. Fox who he claims has a conflict of interest.
PLEASE SEE:
Many Byram residents are starting to say that Byram Republican Robert McKnight's big fat mouth often chases developers and philanthropists away from Byram as he has opined and made remaks about the financial viability of Greenwich selectwoman Lin Lavery's private public partnership to build a new public pool in Byram.
PLEASE ALSO SEE:
Byram residents are begining to grumble that the 240-acre community in the southwest corner of town and sits across the Byram River from Port Chester, has gotten progressively worse and worse since McKnight took over the reigns of the District 4 RTM.
In fact, the little village has been a horriffic tail spin of drugs, gangs, graffitti and violence as Mcknight and other ineffective leaders like Michael Bocchino, the chairman of the Byram Neighborhood Association have failed to move Byram forward.
PLEASE ALSO SEE:
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