Monica McNally was unanimously chosen by the Board of Selectmen to be Darien’s newest member of the board, filling in the seat left empty by Christa McNamara — who, as the new town clerk, administered the oath of office to McNally.
Image from Darien TV79
Monica McNally, with raised hand and accompanied by her husband, Mark Filanowski, takes the oath of office, administered by Town Clerk Christa McNamara.
About 11 other people attended the meeting, including her husband and members of the Representative Town Meeting.
“I’m truly honored to be selected for this position,” McNally said in a soft voice after the swearing-in. “I recognize, from my work on the RTM how much the Board of Selectmen does, and I’m really looking forward to working with this team of great people.
“On the other hand —” at this point, apparently overcome with emotion, she turned around and put her hand up for a couple of seconds, then quickly turned back around and said, “You can cut that, Jim,” referring to Jim Cameron, apparently operating the Darien TV79 camera recording the meeting. (Cameron, or anyone else at TV79, isn’t allowed to edit out parts of meetings.)
Image from Darien TV79
McNally turns away for a moment.
She then resumed: “I have had so much — fun — working on the RTM with all of you, and the fact that you came out today, really, I’m obviously very touched, but it’s really, really nice. You’ve been great team members and good friends. So I’m happy to say that I’ll be still around, and I’m hoping to interact a lot with you in the future, so thank you for coming.”
She then turned to Stevenson and added, “and thank you for this opportunity.” Stevenson then asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting, and McNally cast her first vote as a selectman.
Image from Darien TV79
McNally turns toward Stevenson (lower left) to say thanks for being selected.
At about 11:20 a.m., the Board of Selectmen was convened for a special meeting (a meeting not part of the schedule of meetings laid out earlier in the year), and went into executive session for perhaps 15 minutes before the board went into its open meeting, Cameron said.
In opening the meeting, Stevenson thanked people for coming. “I think it’s a testament to Monica and what she means to her family, her friends and to the Town of Darien [for people] to be here for this moment.”
Image from Darien TV79
Besides the Board of Selectmen itself, about a dozen people attended the morning meeting to see McNally voted in.
McNally, who will be the third Republican on the board, was nominated by Democrat David Martin and his motion was seconded by Republican Kip Koons. McNally will be a selectman until her term ends on Nov. 8 this year, just after the town elections.
“I can’t thank her enough for stepping forward and offering her expertise and experience to the Board of Selectmen,” Stevenson said of McNally.
The entire meeting, including the swearing-in, took six minutes.
McNally lives on Arrowhead Way in the Tokeneke section of town with her husband, Mark Filanowski, who stood next to her as she took the oath of office.
On the RTM, McNally most recently served as chair of the Public Works Committee of the RTM and the Rules Committee, and served on the Technology Committee. She had been a member of several other RTM committees, including Public Health and Safety, Planning, Zoning & Housing, and Ethics.
McNally also gathered information, held public hearings and crafted a proposal to ban most plastic bags for customers in town stores, an ordinance that passed the RTM in an 86-to-2 vote, with two members abstaining. At the time of the June 2019 vote, McNally stressed that the proposal was a compromise between those who wanted stricter regulations and others who wanted looser ones.
Before joining the RTM, McNally was the Darien YWCA Women’s Club president.
The Board of Selectmen acted days after the Darien Republican Town Committee announced that it had nominated McNally for the position. (The town committee had made its decision on Monday, May 24.)
Board of Selectmen 6-1-21 from Darien TV79 on Vimeo.
If a deadlock resulted from the split between two Democrats and two Republicans on the Board of Selectmen after McNamara, a Republican, resigned to become town clerk, then 30 days later the town clerk is authorized by the Town Charter to pick a panel of members of the same party as the former selectman to vote on a replacement. If that didn’t happen, an election would be held for the seat.
While Stevenson has been first selectman, the board has typically voted in unison, seldom following party lines. Stevenson has told board members that she wanted to work cooperatively with all members and get a consensus when possible. In previous years, it wasn’t unusual for the parties to clash, sometimes with raised voices.
SEE ALSO:
— Monica McNally Gets GOP Nomination to Fill Soon-To-Be Vacant Seat on Board of Selectman (May 28)
— Selectman Christa McNamara Named Town Clerk, Starts June 1 (May 17)