Appointments Committee Meeting - January 28, 2026
Appointments Committee Meeting - January 28, 2026
The Appointments Committee of the Stamford City Council met on January 28, 2026, at 6:33 PM to interview candidates for the Stanford Golf Authority and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Co-Chair Gardner called the meeting to order with a quorum present. The committee interviewed three applicants and will vote as a group later that evening before forwarding recommendations to the full board on the following Monday.
Stanford Golf Authority Appointment
- Applicant (identified as Mr. Rapigno in the transcript) expressed strong interest in serving on the Stanford Golf Authority, specifically for Sterling Farms, where he worked as a teenager. He currently serves on the E. Gaynor Brennan board but is stepping aside.
- He identified the primary area for improvement as the tee time reservation system, describing the software as dated and not user-friendly, and advocated for modernization including contactless payment options to attract younger golfers.
- He acknowledged the challenge of balancing demand, noting Sterling Farms is a highly rated municipal course with significant out-of-town play. He suggested potentially limiting out-of-town tee times or increasing their fees, but recognized the financial benefit of non-resident revenue.
- He emphasized patience and the slower pace of government decision-making, learned from his service on the E. Gaynor Brennan board.
- Committee members questioned him about the software issue, pricing balance, and the responsibilities of a public course versus a private club.
Zoning Board of Appeals Appointment (Alan Venzinkin)
- Alan Venzinkin, a first-time applicant, stated his motivation to make government more efficient and responsive. He has a background in physics and technology, and founded a successful remote startup in Stamford.
- He read the city's master plan and zoning guidelines, and expressed comfort with the zoning board of appeals' role in granting variances based on hardships.
- He emphasized logical, data-driven decision-making and the ability to balance business, personal, and community interests. He noted the opportunity to repurpose empty corporate buildings for residential use.
- Committee members asked about his qualifications and approach to difficult decisions with competing merits.
Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate Reappointment (Ernest Manrosso)
- Ernest Manrosso, an alternate since 2003, reapplied to continue in that role. He purposely chose the alternate position to maintain flexibility while attending meetings regularly once a month.
- He described the board as one of Stanford's best, making decisions apolitically based on zoning hardships. He noted the emotional nature of many hearings, from both homeowners and corporate entities represented by law firms.
- He explained his approach to balancing competing interests, particularly between homeowners and neighbors, by considering all presentations independently and not setting precedents.
- Committee members praised his experience and conflict-resolution skills, and he expressed continued satisfaction with his service.
Key Outcomes
- The committee will vote on all three appointments later that evening. Recommendations will be forwarded to the full board for a vote on the following Monday.
- No public comments or objections were made during the meeting.
Meeting Transcript
It's 6 33. The 28th of January. This is the appointments committee. And uh call this meeting to uh order. We have a quorum. Uh we have uh representative Hyatt, Representative Hill, Representative Wangbury, uh Co-Chair Uh Gardner, uh Representative Caparelli, I'm sorry. Uh and uh Representative Walson has joined us. So as President Shaw. Uh oh, as oh, and President Shaw, yes. So uh anyway, I'd like to welcome everybody. This is uh our our first uh meetings uh gathering together as a group uh and and doing our actual business. So I just like to acknowledge that uh all of our applicants are just like us, uh volunteers, and uh they volunteer their time, and uh they're doing that in pursuit of stuff that uh reflects both their personal interest and their civic mindedness. So for that we thank everybody, and uh let's please get started with uh item number A32-003, Stanford Golf Authority. Uh Mr. Rapigno. You're welcome. Uh does anybody have any questions for Mr. Pegasus? I can start. Okay. Now uh this is for the Stanford Golf Authority. Yes, this is primarily uh for Sterling. Yeah, I I've been currently on the board at E Gainer Brennan, but I've been stepping aside, so I get I really want to be on Sterling Farms because I worked there when I was a kid. I grew up there, um, worked there for six, seven years. Started off at a cart barn, up to cashier, up the starter. I still know people that uh work there, like golf there. I I love the place. You reported to Kenny, yeah, the Andrea. So yeah. Yeah, I actually was working there before Kenny was working. Yes, I predate Kenny. You look good for your age. Thank you. Well, I'm only 15, but I was there as a teenager in high school and college. But I I love the place. I love golf. And I always say it would be great if I could like start off working there as a teenager, come back and be in a position to make actual decisions on the golf course. I thought that would be awesome. Well, it's well, in a perfect world. Where would you start with that? An improvement to this early. Um in the perfect world. And the perfect world, I mean, the course itself is beautiful. I mean, it's always been the better of the two. I mean, I sat uh on e-Gayner Brendan's board, and I see there's challenges there, money-wise. Um, and I mean, there's just aesthetics, stuff you can make just look better, cleaner. Um, I think getting tea times, um what we use uh as software, um, I think needs to be improved drastically. I think um getting tea times is what everybody complains about, just a website. It looks dated, it feels dated when you use it. Um I know there's a cost behind running it with everything, um, but I think we need to kind of modernize a little bit when it comes to that because the course itself is beautiful.
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