Tesei Opposes Plan to Merge SWRPA, MPO

A proposal to merge two regional inter-governmental agencies — the South Western Regional Planning Agency and the South Western Region Metropolitan Planning Organization — into a single regional governing council is reportedly seeing opposition from some municipal leaders including Peter Tesei.

According to a report in the Greenwich Time, Tesei said he would not support the move to merge the two organizations, comprised of local officials, into a single council, as he fears it could be a step toward resurrecting county government, which the State Assembly abolished in 1960. He pointed out that the Greenwich RTM was reluctant to even let the Town join SWRPA in the 1970s, according to the Greenwich Time report.

The 22-member SWRPA board oversees regional planning for eight municipalities in lower Fairfield County, including Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, Weston, Westport and Wilton. It operates using a mix of federal, state and local funding. It was founded in 1962 “when representatives of five municipalities recognized the need for regional cooperation and coordination, believing that many community issues extend beyond municipal boundaries and require joint action,” according to its website.

The MPO was formed as a result of the 1973 Federal-Aid Highway Act and is mainly focused on urban transportation in the region. The fed-funded body serves as a "forum for cooperative decision-making by 'principal elected officials of general purpose local governments,'" according to SWRPA’s website.