Troubling Incident on Villa Avenue
- Laura Devlin
- May 7
- 9 min read
Dear Fairfielders,
In this update:
Board of Finance Sets the Mill Rate Thursday, May 8th
Watch Thursday, May 8th at 7:30 pm when the Board of Finance sets the Mill Rate for the upcoming fiscal year after the Democrat-controlled RTM passed a budget with the highest tax increase in years.
What Happened in Villa Avenue Parking Lot? Budget Priorities and Administration's Decision About Public Safety Under Scrutiny
Fairfield’s newly passed municipal budget is raising eyebrows, not just for what it funds, but for what it doesn’t. In the wake of a chaotic public safety incident on Villa Avenue, concerns are mounting about the town’s decision to deny police staffing requests while allocating funds to expand administrative resources, including a $100,000 vehicle for a civilian COO David Becker. The incident and the administration's decisions have become a flashpoint in a broader debate over leadership priorities and public safety in Fairfield.
RTM Democrat Supermajority Passes Controversial Budget
On May 5th, the Democrat-controlled RTM passed the FY25 town budget over unanimous Republican opposition, prompting sharp criticism over rising administrative costs, questionable revenue assumptions, and a lack of transparency. GOP members warn that the budget prioritizes political convenience over fiscal responsibility, burdening taxpayers with a 2.12% increase while creating new departments and reorganizing others without clear plans or demonstrated return on investment.
Proposed Charter Change Risks Undermining Fairfield Volunteerism
A recommendation by Fairfield’s Charter Revision Commission to expand RTM control over all Town Board and Commission appointments is raising concerns about increased bureaucracy and reduced civic engagement. Critics warn the move could discourage volunteerism by adding unnecessary red tape to a system that has worked efficiently for over 50 years.
Democrat Speaks Out Regarding the Parking Authority Decision
In an Op-Ed, Greg Alprin, a Democrat, longtime Fairfield resident, and Parking Authority commissioner, exposes the misinformation, lack of transparency, and partisan spin behind the rushed dissolution of the Parking Authority led by Democrats Bill Gerber, David Becker, Liz Zezima, David Rock and Marcy Spolyar. He reminded us that public trust matters more than party politics.
Read more in detail below
BOARD OF FINANCE SETS THE MILL RATE
Watch Thursday, May 8th at 7:30 pm when the Board of Finance sets the Mill Rate for the upcoming fiscal year after the Democrat-controlled RTM passed a budget with the highest tax increase in years. You can find the meeting agenda and backup materials by clicking here.
BUDGET PRIORITIES AND PUBLIC SAFETY
What the Villa Avenue Incident Reveals About Fairfield’s Leadership
A municipal budget is more than just numbers on a page, it reflects values, priorities, and leadership. This week, Fairfield’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM) passed a budget that raises real concerns about where those priorities lie. Rather than fortifying public safety and investing in our town’s first responders, the approved budget reflects a choice to invest elsewhere in bolstering staffing and resources within the First Selectman's office.
That choice became more striking in light of a recent public safety incident just days earlier.
The Villa Avenue Incident
On Friday, May 2, at approximately 10:55 p.m., Fairfield Police observed a large-scale vehicle gathering in the parking lot of the Stop & Shop on Villa Avenue. These types of incidents, often referred to as "vehicle takeovers," are chaotic, dangerous, and can escalate quickly. According to the Fairfield Police Department’s public statement, the initial response was hampered by multiple simultaneous emergency calls, and officers had to delay a full-scale intervention. By the time backup arrived, many vehicles fled the scene, some recklessly. A report of fire at the scene also complicated matters, though it was later found to be extinguished.
There were no arrests, and officers were unable to pursue fleeing vehicles due to Connecticut’s strict vehicle pursuit policy. The investigation remains ongoing. The real takeaway, however, is clear: Fairfield needs more police officers. And the department asked for them.
Police Department Request for More Staff
This year, the Fairfield Police Department formally requested additional personnel to better address increasing demands on their time and resources. The request was denied by First Selectman Bill Gerber on the advice of Chief Operating Officer David Becker. Instead of immediate support, the administration offered a phased plan to add officers over multiple budget cycles.
That may sound fiscally cautious on paper, but it fails to meet Fairfield's urgent and growing safety needs. Delayed responses to incidents like Villa Avenue are not just bureaucratic issues; they are real public safety vulnerabilities.
Misplaced Spending? A $100,000 Vehicle for the COO
In a year when the police department's staffing request was turned down, taxpayers funded the purchase of a $100,000 Chevrolet Tahoe for COO Becker. Gerber has defended the expense by claiming that Becker also serves as Emergency Management Director and needs the vehicle to fulfill that role.
But this explanation raises more questions than it answers.
Traditionally, the Emergency Management Director role has been held by the Fire Chief, a sworn public safety official who has a vehicle provided as part of their contract. Becker, by contrast, is a civilian, and while he is a volunteer firefighter, should not be authorized under Connecticut law to respond to active emergency scenes using blue lights. The nature of emergency management, focused on long-term disaster response coordination, not real-time emergency response, does not justify the need for a fully outfitted emergency vehicle.
One might reasonably ask: Why does Fairfield’s COO need a $100,000 emergency response vehicle while our police department struggles with staffing? Why not use those funds for another patrol officer or two, considering starting salaries hover around $75,000?
A Pattern of Centralized Power?
This is not an isolated concern. The Gerber administration has sidelined the current Fire Chief by placing him on administrative leave without public explanation. The Deputy Chief was promoted to Acting Chief, and Gerber replaced a single Deputy Chief position with two new ones. All while COO Becker, a civilian, continues to accumulate responsibilities and visibility.
Whether intentional or not, it looks like an effort to centralize control under the First Selectman’s office, at the expense of experienced public safety leaders.
Time to Ask Tough Questions
As your tax bill rises on July 1st, consider what your dollars are funding and what they’re not. We should all be asking: Why is Fairfield investing in vehicles for civilian administrators instead of the officers who keep our neighborhoods safe? Why are qualified public safety officials being pushed aside? And most importantly, what message are we sending to those tasked with protecting us?
RTM ADOPTS TOWN BUDGET
On Monday, May 5th, the Democrat-controlled Representative Town Meeting (RTM) approved the Gerber administration’s FY25 Town Budget over the unanimous objections of the Republican Caucus. The Caucus united in voting against a poorly conceived and fiscally irresponsible budget.
While the budget contains a few worthwhile elements, the final product favors bureaucracy, unsustainable spending, and political convenience over sound fiscal policy and transparent governance.
Key concerns with the budget include:
Surging administrative costs, particularly within the First Selectman’s office
Budgeting premature revenue, such as speed camera fines, before ordinance approval and without a timeline for installation
Failure to provide meaningful tax relief to Fairfield’s families and seniors
The budget also includes a new department and major departmental reorganizations, such as the consolidation of Parks & Recreation and Health & Human Services, without presenting clear plans, job descriptions, or updated organizational charts.
The budget relies on $1 million in anticipated revenue from speed cameras, despite first finalizing the ordinance or providing a firm timeline for their installation. This is a continued troubling pattern where First Selectman Gerber, RTM Majority Leader Liz Zezima (D-4), and the Democrat majority are budgeting based on assumptions and political leverage rather than facts and process.
A similar issue arose with the hasty dissolution of the Parking Authority, whose funds were redirected to cover budget gaps.
Throughout the budget process, Republican RTM members worked diligently to:
Protect essential education funding
Safeguard fiscal transparency, especially around restricted and dedicated funds
Support public safety by fully funding police staffing
Control excessive bureaucracy through targeted cuts in Town Hall spending
Despite those efforts, the final budget includes a 2.12% tax increase and more than $10 million in financial shell games, including the depletion of reserves, the redirection of fill pile cleanup funds, and increased borrowing. All of these things threaten Fairfield’s long-term financial health and burden future taxpayers.
We thank our Republican RTM members under the leadership of Minority Leader Jeff Steele (R-3) for their integrity and principled stand on behalf of the residents they serve.
Proposed Charter Change Could Discourage Volunteerism in Fairfield
The Charter Revision Commission (CRC) has been meeting to consider changes to how our town government works. One of their recommendations would add more bureaucracy to the process of appointing residents to Fairfield’s Boards and Commissions.
This change may sound minor, but it isn’t.
For over 50 years, Fairfield has had a simple, effective, and efficient system for appointing volunteers to these important roles, mainly by the Board of Selectmen. It works. It encourages people from all walks of life to step up and serve our town without jumping through unnecessary hoops.
Now, the CRC is considering a proposal that would give the RTM greater control over every appointment. That might sound like oversight, but in practice, it’s red tape. More steps. More scrutiny. More delays. Fewer people willing to volunteer their time and expertise.
Some Boards and Commissions, like the Ethics Commission, already require RTM approval. That system is working fine. However, extending that process to all appointments is simply not needed.
Let’s Keep What Works
We’re asking residents to speak up. Tell the CRC to keep the current system for appointing people to Boards and Commissions. It’s straightforward and has served us well for over fifty years. Don’t let red tape drive good people away from public service.
The following letter appeared in the CT Examiner on May 5th.
Enough Already, This is Embarrassing Fairfield
My name is Greg Alprin, I’m a Democrat, 20+ year resident of Fairfield, and current member of the Fairfield Parking Authority Board of Commissioners, a position I have held for close to 10 years. I would like to clear up some rhetoric and misinformation around the recent dissolving of the Parking Authority led by the First Selectman and the Democratic super majority on the Fairfield RTM.
Speaking for myself, I do not have a public position if changing the structure of the Parking Authority from an independent authority to a town department is good or bad. I hope, for the sake of the commuters, it’s a transition that has no visible effects and the Town carries on all the good work all we have done to better the commuting experience. My displeasure with the situation solely lies with the lack of transparency, manipulation of facts, and the misinformation shared by the administration. The Town of Fairfield deserves better from their elected officials, and it must start and end with the public trust. Trust which has now been compromised.
I initiated the petition for a referendum on the vote for dissolve. While the Republicans took the lead on gaining signatures and filing the actual petition since I was not available to, it was a BIPARTISAN effort. As a Democrat, I am embarrassed by the attacks levied against the Republican RTM members. I apologize on behalf of the nonpartisan Democrats in Fairfield to the Republicans on the RTM and applaud your efforts.
To not rehash the entire situation there are a few points I would like to clarify, as recent public communications from the Democrat Town Committee, RTM member Dave Rock, RTM leadership Marcy Spolyar and Liz Zezima, and First Selectmen William Gerber, have included inaccurate information.
First, the Parking Authority and State Dept of DOT were never involved in a single conversation with the administration about their intentions to dissolve the Parking Authority. The Parking Authority only found out about their effort on Friday, February 14, one business day before the RTM began the dissolution process. The DOT Commissioner found out on Wednesday, March 26, three business days before the dissolution was finalized.
Second, the claim that the Parking Authority refused to pay its lease payment is unequivocally false. While there hasn’t been a lease in force since 2018, during the turnover of administrations many of our correspondence to the administration went unanswered. After listening to the commentary by COO David Becker about the Parking Authority and its employees, and inaccurate statements made at the July 16th and September 3rd 2024 Board of Finance meetings, I requested a meeting with Mr. Becker and Mr. Gerber in September of 2024 to settle the payment on the spot. In that meeting they refused to take the payment, stating it was too late to hit the 2024 books. Ultimately, as shown in the Town and PA’s 2024 books in the form of a payable and receivable, the Parking Authority made the cash payment as reflected in Dec 2024.
Third, First Selectman Gerber has been standing behind a narrative that his office has received overwhelming amounts of complaints regarding garbage at the stations. In the last five years the Parking Authority has received one complaint regarding garbage. In an effort to understand his position I made an FOI request last month to be furnished all the complaints to his office, Fairfield Police Department, DPW etc. regarding the parking lots or the stations. In all documentation provided to me by the town to satisfy my FOI request, there were ZERO garbage complaints dating back to 2020. ZERO.
Lastly, In Dave Rock’s (RTM District 2) recent Opt Ed published in the Patch in April 2025, he claimed the PA terminated a lease without notice with the Southport Conservancy. That’s unequivocally false. The Southport Conservancy was notified in October of 2019 their lease would not be renewed. It’s well documented with their past President, the State DOT, and local officials.
To my fellow Democrats, it is important to remember, that in local elections every single vote counts. While I am deeply troubled by the actions, commentary and tact by the Democrats on the RTM and the administration, I intend on being steadfast in holding our elected Democrat officials accountable for their decisions and actions going forward. While I know that may disappoint many, I do not subscribe to purely partisan antics as that is the quickest way to failure and destroying the town I fell in love with 22 years ago. That is the very least I can do as a member of the party who values our platform, transparency, and responsible governance.
Greg Alprin
Fairfield, CT
We hope you find this information helpful. Please contact us at rtc@fairfieldrtc.com with any questions, we always welcome hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Laura M. Devlin
RTC Chair
Mike Grant
RTC Vice Chair
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