A Well Prepared First Selectman Kevin Christie Provides Superb State Of The Town Presentation
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
After only 76 days as Westport’s new First Selectman, Kevin Christie showed superb preparation and excellent, in-depth knowledge of all things Westport in his first State Of The Town event. Christie opened by thanking event sponsors Westport Rotary and Westport Sunrise Rotary, next Selectwoman Amy Wistreich and Selectman Don O’Day and then the host, The Westport Library. Christie began his presentation by saying, “When I thought about how to approach my first State of the Town, I kept coming back to one simple idea: Westport thrives because of its people...the community. And local government exists to support that community.”
Opening the program (l. to r.), Peter Helt President of Westport Rotary and Mark Soboslai, President of Westport Sunrise Rotary speak about their organizations and their sponsorship of the State Of The Town. At right is RTM moderator Jeff Weiser who emceed the event.
Next, Christie gave the audience some insight into the effectiveness in the activities of various branches of town government, remarking “Every day, across this entire community, our town staff are delivering services at a scale that’s easy to take for granted until you see it all at once. When I talk about the scale of town government, I mean what residents’ tax dollars actually support, every day.”
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Christie’s slide presentation began with an beautiful aerial view of the outstanding renovation of the Compo Beach Playground provided by WestportLocalPress: Comp Beach Playground Opening Day. Next, Christie highlighted the activities of our first responders who work tirelessly to keep us safe, telling the audience, “In 2025, the Police Department handled over 27,000 calls, including more than 5,500 traffic stops. Our Fire Department responded to over 4,000 incidents, with an average response time under four minutes.”
Mr. Christie also spoke about community services saying, “the departments that support residents day to day, across age, ability, and circumstance. Parks and Recreation supported 10,895 program registrations, about 1.2 million beach visits, and 40,000 rounds of golf adding, “Through Human Services and the Senior Center, the Town provides over 24,000 congregate and home-delivered meals annually and has administered $2.9 million in housing and community grants over the last two years”, adding, “And of course, speaking of community services, here we are inside our state’s only 5-star library.”
Above, clock wise: Audience members included Westport Police Chief David Farrell, RTM member Andrew Collabella (blue hoodie), former RTM member Harris Faulk (hat), newly elected RTM member Victoria Wylie (white) and two other audience members.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Christie also credited “teams that shape how Westport grows, evolves, and protects what makes this town special: Planning and Zoning, Conservation, and the Historic District Commission. In 2025, the Planning and Zoning office issued over 430 administrative zoning permits, processed 42 applications to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and 75 applications to the Zoning Board of Appeals.”
Mr. Christie closed his remarks by saying, “Finally, I want to recognize teams in administration that keep our town and staff running every day. Many of you know we recently completed a state-mandated property revaluation, the first since COVID, and after the notices were mailed, our Assessor’s Office met with over 1,000 property owners through informal hearings. Our Tax Collector delivered over a 99% collection rate. Our Town Clerk’s office recorded 464 property transfers and assists residents every day, both in person and online. Our Information Technology team provides the foundational and improving digital infrastructure that facilitates the town’s work and allows residents to engage with the town online.”
He added, “I also want to thank our teams in finance, personnel, the Town Attorney’s Office, and of course the Selectman’s Office, for the vital support they provide to ensure our town functions smoothly. That scale is possible because of how people work together.”
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Opening for Mr. Christie was Board of Education member Abby Tolan who was filling in for Board Chair Lee Goldstein who was out of town at a previously schedule conference. Ms. Tolan had a full plate of both achievements of the Westport Education system and it’s outstanding student body and important administrative issues addressed in recent years. Tolan commented, “First and foremost, our district remains dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming environment that both supports and challenges all students.”
Ms. Tolan spoke at length about budgetary issues, including capital improvement plans including substantial Staples Auditorium renovation and other projects including a new Staples girls locker room, WiFi access at Staples athletic fields and a new concession stand with bathrooms.
She made note of technology issues including “AI usage, with objectives being focused on; using AI with integrity and purpose; preparing students to think, adapt and lead with AI; inspired teaching that is human led, AI empowered. Shaping a thoughtful, adaptive and empowered community.”
Tolan lauded a number of students who had achieved tremendous academic successes and the outstanding athletics department. She provided a long list of students from multiple schools who have achieved success in a wide variety of academic endeavors and contests in a Science Olympiad including global environmental issues and four gold medals for Bedford Middle School students. Staples award winning chool newspaper, Inklings and the Staples media department were also praised by Tolan. Issues such as Long Lots school and Coleytown school were addressed as well.
Athletic achievements stood out as well, with Staples basketball team winning the first FCIAC Championship since 1963 (WestportLocal, Staples FCIAC championship) and Wreckers State Title in Lacrosse (Staples LAX Defeats Darien For State Championship) and Boys Soccer’s 13th state title as well as a victory by the new Staples Fencing team.
Following the presentations by Christie and Tolan was an audience Q and A session, with more questions than the time allotted would allow. Issues such as traffic congestion, a problem in search of a solution for many years including state DOT involvement on projects such as the Merritt exit 21 (formerly exit 42) daily traffic jam. The Hamet situation and ongoing legislation was discussed along with the controversial Hiawatha Lane project and the hot button issue of the Community Garden relocation. An important issue, sustainability was also queried by audience members as was the gigantic piles of snow, Mt. Woog or Mt. Christie as they were laughingly termed, which drew some attention before their removal following the recent blizzard.
Above, Westport Rotary volunteers gathered questions from the audience, which also included (at right) Cynthia and Carl Muller, Gloria Gourveia (sunglasses) and former RTM member Sal Liccione (black cap).
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.