Written by Justin Reynolds   

There are three four-year terms for the Board of Finance that are up for grabs on Nov. 3. There are four Wiltonians who want those seats.

In order to familiarize the public with the four candidates’ stances on certain issues, the League of Women Voters hosted a debate among them — current Board of Finance Chairman Warren Serenbetz, a Republican; current board member Andy Pforzheimer, a Democrat; and two newcomers to Wilton elected town government, Chris Stroup, a registered independent endorsed by the Democrats, and Gail Lavielle, a Republican — in a packed Brubeck Room at the Wilton Library Tuesday night.

This being the only contested race in this year’s election, about 75 Wiltonians came out as Catharine Kempson, LWV president, alternated asking submitted questions and allowing the audience to question the candidates themselves

Ms. Kempson asked the candidates what they thought was the most useful indicator of gauging the town’s priorities.

“We read letters, we talk to neighbors, we look at what other towns’ priorities are,” Mr. Pforzheimer said. “We balance the needs of the town and the wants of the town,” and balancing the wants of the town is the hardest part of the job, he said.

Mr. Pforzheimer, who owns and operates the Barcelona restaurant chain, said he goes to as many public meetings and hearings as he can.

“There’s no substitute for a deep immersion in the town,” he said.

Mr. Serenbetz, the president of Radcliff Group Incorporated, a company overseeing more than $100 million in investments, said the most important thing is listening to all Wiltonians and then balancing what he hears.


“We balance between competing interests,” he said, adding he feels the financiers did a great job on the current fiscal year’s final budget “because nobody was happy,” meaning nobody got exactly what they wanted, but everybody got something they wanted.

Mr. Stroup, who is the chairman and CEO of Wilton Re, a Wilton-based life insurance group formed in 2004 that manages about $6 billion in investments, said that if elected, he will “need to listen and listen well” to what the town needs. The Board of Finance’s job, he said, is to “give the town the tools it needs to make a decision on how to raise revenue and spend revenue.”

For Ms. Lavielle, who had a 26-year career in investment banking and marketing, including a stint as senior vice president of Suez, a French company and world leader in energy, elected officials need to actively seek out their constituents’ opinions.

“I spent the last three months meeting with more than 1,000 people in this town,” she said, adding many people have opinions but don’t have time to express them in venues like public meetings. “I think it’s also part of our job to go to them to make it easy for them to tell us what’s important to them.” Selectman Hal Clark asked what specific kinds of communication strategies the candidates had to address their constituents.

Part of the reason the Republican Town Committee nominated Ms. Lavielle is “because she has a background in communication,” Mr. Serenbetz said.

Mr. Pforzheimer said that fellow Democrat financier Jim Meinhold put together a Board of Finance Web site that allows Wiltonians to contact board members with the click of a mouse.

“We got a significant increase in communication,” he said.

Ms. Kempson asked the candidates their thoughts on the town’s needs-based tax relief for the elderly and disabled, which some citizens say should also be based on age.

Mr. Pforzheimer pointed out that there was a committee charged with looking to improving the current system, and that he wanted that committee to make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen on how to improve it. He said he wasn’t in favor of age-based tax relief.

Mr. Serenbetz thanked the committee members for their “yeoman’s work” and said he was proud that during the current budget, the line for relief was increased to $800,000.

Mr. Stroup said at a meeting last spring, he recommended the then $650,000 set aside for relief be tripled to $1.8 million.

Ms. Lavielle said tax relief is something “a great deal of people feel passionate about” and that once a solution is found that addresses the issue, the town must “be able to afford it.”

Marilyn Gould asked the candidates if any one of them was willing to pledge that there’d be no tax increase this year. (Preliminary models have shown that even with a zero percent budget increase, there would likely be a sizable mill rate increase.)

“If I could I would love to, without compromising the quality of schools and town services,” Ms. Lavielle said.

Mr. Pforzheimer responded directly, “I’m not going to.”

It would be “imprudent” to take that pledge, Mr. Stroup said.

Ms. Kempson asked the candidates whether they were in favor of the revision in the proposed town charter that would allow the Board of Selectmen, with four votes out of five, to override the Board of Finance’s line item ability.

Mr. Stroup said he thought that assuming the Board of Selectmen was acting in good faith to override the financiers, he thought it was a good idea.

Mr. Pforzheimer, Mr. Serenbetz and Ms. Lavielle said that while they didn’t see a reason to make the change in the first place, the charter revisions as a whole are good and they would respect the Charter Commission’s decision.

Michael Graupner asked the candidates what they could do to heal a “rift” between young people, who want to spend more money on schools, and older people, who want to spend less.

Mr. Serenbetz said he thinks the recent 1.4% tax increase did a good job at balancing the town’s priorities.

Mr. Pforzheimer said he doesn’t think that rift exists in its entirety.

“When we as a town start saying I don’t use it so I don’t want to pay for it — I would not wade deep” in those waters,” he said.

Deborah McFadden asked the four why they are the best candidate.

Mr. Serenbetz pointed to his three and a half years on the board, and said re-electing him would bring continuity, as he’s been chairman for a year and vice-chairman for a year before that.

“I have a deep understanding of the town,” Mr. Pforzheimer said, adding Mr. Stroup “probably has forgotten more about finances than I’ve learned in my life” before the audience laughed. Mr. Pforzheimer said he’s bipartisan.

Ms. Lavielle and Mr. Stroup turned to their experience in the financial world.

“I would represent an independent voice on the Board of Finance,” Mr. Stroup said