By John Schwing

WESTPORT — A new tapestry-like logo for TEAM Westport highlighting the “intersectionality” of the committee’s advocacy on race, gender, ethnicity and religious issues was unveiled at Thursday morning’s meeting.

Minutes later, however, a tense discussion unfolded when member Andy Frankel raised questions about the transparency and procedures of carrying out the advisory committee’s mission.

In response, Frankel’s commitment to TEAM Westport’s mission was challenged, and during a particularly heated exchange, Harold Bailey Jr., the committee’s longtime chairman, accused Frankel of lying.

Frankel, appointed to the committee last year, used the introduction of the new logo — and its addition to the TEAM website — to question Bailey about how decisions on matters like website content, broader initiatives or hosting speakers are made.

Frankel is one of five members appointed to the panel in August after a challenge to the political composition of TEAM was lodged in January 2022. At the request of First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, Town Attorney Ira Bloom later found the committee’s super-majority of registered Democrats and non-resident members did, in fact, fail to conform with Town Charter rules.

On Thursday, Frankel noted TEAM Westport’s monthly meeting agendas are always the same — a standing list of reports from town officials and community groups — but never include specific items or positions that the full committee membership is asked to formally review or vote on.

That, he said, not only reflects a lack of transparency, but also might run afoul of the state’s Freedom of Information rules for public meetings.

TEAM, he said, hears from a regular lineup of officials and organizations at its meetings, but “what’s absent is any process to have these kinds of discussions about what should the website look like, what should it contain, what are some new initiatives, and those sort of issues are never on the monthly agendas, monthly agendas never change …”

By continuing that practice, Frankel said, the panel lacks the “benefit of hearing the perspectives of all committee members, which at this point are not always aligned in every respect.

“We make better decisions when different viewpoints are heard and discussed and vetted,” he added.

Bailey: TEAM acts transparently in partnership with others

Bailey, clearly irritated, told Frankel even though he has been on the committee a relatively short time, “You have decided we haven’t had the kind of interaction we need to be transparent.”

“I wholeheartedly disagree,” the chairman said. “The strength of the group is the way we are connected to the rest of town … that’s the reason we have these kinds of meetings every month” with a standing agenda of reports.

Bailey described TEAM Westport’s role in town as “a partnership” with allied organizations and “not what we cook up ourselves necessarily.”

“The whole point here is the way in which we are interactive, interacting with the fabric of the whole town,” such as partnering with the Westport Library on the annual Teen Diversity Essay Contest, and with the Interfaith Council, Westport Country Playhouse and library on each year’s Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration.

TEAM has “an impact that way,” he added.

And, Bailey said, “I don’t want us to become the RTM,” in response to Frankel’s concerns about adhering to meeting procedures required for other town boards and commissions.

Bailey also said he is concerned TEAM’s “direction” could be changed as a result of a “legal threat that might be there from folks that are outside.”

Frankel’s commitment to TEAM’s mission questioned

Member Catherine Lewis, addressing Frankel, said, “It seems to me that since you joined that you do have a problem with our general mission … you don’t agree with the mission on focusing on traditionally marginalized communities.”

Some of Frankel’s questions, Lewis added, apparently have arisen because “you want to change the mission. So then that feels complicated to me.”

Frankel denied that he wants to change TEAM Westport’s mission, but would like broad committee agreement on what its mission “was intended to be from the outset.”

And, he agreed, “I do have a little bit of a different perspective. I think that TEAM should not only focus on issues of race and gender, I think more broadly … we should be a committee that helps the town feels like everybody is included …”

Bailey calls Frankel statements “a lie”

The back-and-forth between Frankel and Bailey grew fiery in an exchange over a meeting on the Teen Diversity Essay Contest — which Frankel was unable to attend. Bailey said some of Frankel’s concerns about all committee members never having a say on its projects were addressed at that lengthy session, prompting Frankel to say Bailey scheduled the meeting “unilaterally” even though he had told the chairman he would not be able to attend that day.

Bailey responded, “You’ve been making statements like we don’t do that … we haven’t had any discussions,” cutting off Frankel when he interjected, “We don’t.”

“Well, that’s a lie,” Bailey exclaimed. “It’s just not true. It’s not true that we haven’t had a discussion — you weren’t there for it,” he said to Frankel.

As tempers cooled, the committee agreed to hold a work session in the future — where the public can attend, but not comment — to focus on questions about its mission, transparency and procedures.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.