By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Sheri Gordon is stepping down as Board of Finance chairwoman.

She made the announcement near the end of Wednesday night’s meeting in Town Hall. She will remain on the board, and a new chair will be voted in at the December meeting.

Gordon is one of four Democrats on the board. Republicans have three members. 

“I have decided to resign — step down, not resign — as chair for the Board of Finance,” Gordon said.

“It’s come to my attention that there are other people on the board who have a hankering for taking over as chair and I’ve decided, after a year of successful results for the Board of Finance, a few of which I’d like to mention …”

Gordon went on to detail a list of the board’s accomplishments over the last year.

Her announcement appeared to be no bombshell for other members.

Those in-person at the meeting, Jay DesMarteau, Lee Caney and Brian Stern, looked at their laptop screens during Gordon’s remarks, and moved on to the next agenda item, the possibility of enacting bylaws for the board, without comment.

But the ensuing discussion about bylaws appeared to show tension between Gordon and Caney, including a “let-me-finish” moment from Gordon. View the meeting here.

“We had issues that we needed to address, because our board is not functioning,” Caney told Gordon. “That’s what I’m addressing here.”

“My goal here was to get us working well again, so we’re not arguing about what should be on the agenda, what the role of the vice chair and the chairperson are and whether or not our meetings are public or not public,” Caney said.

“These are things we’ve spent hours and hours arguing with each other about and takes away from our time arguing about real issues that we should be arguing about and debating about, which are town issues,” Caney said.

“If people don’t think we need bylaws, we shouldn’t do it,” Caney said. “But if people think we do need bylaws we’ll have to figure out a way to move forward on it.”

Jim Foster, the board vice chairman, attended the meeting via telephone.

“I would encourage us to take a deep breath,” he said. “And sit on it for 30 days, what we’ve discussed tonight, before we choose to do anything further.”

“We’re going to rush to create something we might not need to create,” Foster said of the bylaws.

Gordon, earlier in the meeting, said that during her year as chair, the board had many successes, including union negotiations resulting in wage increases “below 3 percent for the police, for the Department of Public Works, for the Westport Public Schools administrators,” she said.

“Most importantly, through these negotiations, the Board of Finance forged very strong relationships with the union representatives for each,” Gordon said. “They wrote hand-written notes and gave me phone calls thanking us for the care and concern that we brought to the negotiations. The administrators in particular were really struck by it. And the public works guys were really fantastic, and now know me by name which is really lovely.”

“I think last year was the smoothest town budget process in my memory, in the seven years that I’ve been involved,” she said. “And without question, the best relationship the Board of Finance has ever had with the Board of Ed and the administration.”

“Maintenance has finally come to the forefront,” Gordon said. “Some may remember back in 2015 when I first ran for the board, that was one of my major platforms, that we have this fantastic educational system, but our buildings just don’t live up to the education that we’re delivering to our kids, and that we need to do more for maintenance. It’s taken seven years, but we’re finally getting there. The door’s really open to finally, seriously addressing it, and I couldn’t be more pleased that it’s really come to the forefront.”

“Planning for our parks has finally begun,” Gordon said. “We’ve been talking for years about how we really haven’t had a plan and that’s under way, I’m truly very excited about that.”

“Fire and police have been working together really closely, under the first selectman’s guidance, I think Chief Foti staying on has been very beneficial for helping Chief Kronick transition to the role, and I think we’re going to see some really exciting developments come out of that collaboration. And I couldn’t be more proud.”

And, Gordon said, “I’m really proud to have been at the vanguard of an almost all-female leadership team in Westport. So, I feel really good about the time that I’ve spent here, and I look forward to seeing what happens in the future.”

She also discussed pensions, defined contributions and other matters.

“So, thank you everybody for your support,” Gordon concluded.

 At the end of the meeting, First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker thanked Gordon, “for embarking on the rookie year with me.”

“This year was all brand new for me, and you were an absolute pleasure to work with as chair,” Tooker said. “Thank you for everything you have done in that seat. I am thrilled you’re staying on the board, and on behalf of the town, we really thank you very much for your leadership here.”

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.