RTM approves Dell'Abate to parks board seat

Gary Dell'Abate, aka "Baba Booey", waits to see if the RTM will approve him for the town parks board at Central Middle School, on Monday, March 14, 2011. Gary Dell'Abate, aka "Baba Booey", waits to see if the RTM will approve him for the town parks board at Central Middle School, on Monday, March 14, 2011. Photo: Helen Neafsey Photo: Helen Neafsey Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close RTM approves Dell'Abate to parks board seat 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Howard Stern might not want to call Greenwich a bunch of prudes anymore.

Gary Dell'Abate, 50, the shock jock's longtime producer and sidekick on his broadcasts, was approved by an almost 2-to-1 margin Monday night for a seat on the town's Board of Parks and Recreation.

The Representative Town Meeting voted 119--64 in favor of Dell'Abate with seven abstentions, ending a two-month confirmation process that became as much a referendum on Stern's brand of humor as the state of Greenwich's parks system.

"Maybe what we need is a sense of humor," said Christine Edwards, a RTM member from District 8/Cos Cob "Does anyone know that there's a Bimbo Bakery in Greenwich?"

Edwards, who was referring to the parent company of Arnold bakery on Hamilton Avenue, was one of 14 speakers who urged the citizen legislature to support Dell'Abate's appointment.

"Baba Booey," as Dell'Abate is known to his legion of listeners on Sirius Satellite Radio, made an impassioned personal appeal to the RTM in which he thanked his supporters for sticking by him.

"I feel like I'm sitting in the back of my funeral, but I'm not dead yet," said Dell'Abate, who not only celebrated his confirmation but his 50th birthday Monday.

A resident of Old Greenwich for the past 16 years who is married with two sons, Dell'Abate was unanimously nominated in January by the selectmen for the parks board. But Dell'Abate's nomination later became entangled in controversy, with RTM members raising red flags about the radio show's treatment of women.

"Howard Stern is a misogynist bully who uses his broadcast as a bully pulpit to disparage and attack those with whom he disagrees," said Robert Brady, an RTM member from District 5/Riverside and chairman of the Education Committee.

One of Dell'Abate's critics -- Coline Jenkins, the great-great-granddaughter of suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton and an RTM Appointments Committee member -- became the target of a prank last month when she received a plastic bag of feces in her mailbox.

"The toxic atmosphere of the Appointments Committee and again the Parks and Recreation Committee is again a foretaste of what may become a carnival," said John Harkins, an RTM member from Old Greenwich.

Harkins went so far as to call on Dell'Abate to withdraw himself from consideration.

"I respectfully decline," Dell'Abate said. "I've come too far to turn back right now."

Playing an advisory role in town government, the nine-member board has been a springboard for everything from beach-access policies and playground projects to park fees and a master inventory of available playing fields. Terms run for three years.

Dell'Abate is part of the coaching staff of the North Mianus Bulldogs, of the Greenwich Youth Football League, a position he has held for the past nine years.

"He's not a crook. He's a family man. He coaches kids," said Tom Conelias, a supporter of Dell'Abate in the RTM from District 3/Chickahominy.

Dell'Abate has also coached baseball for the Old Greenwich-Riverside Community Center, as well as Cal Ripken and Junior Babe Ruth leagues in town.

The eldest of Dell'Abate's two sons, who are 16 and 13, plays football at Greenwich High School.

Public intrigue in Dell'Abate's nomination was so high that attendance at the meeting at Central Middle School surpassed that of budget deliberations held by the RTM in May.

"Mr. Dell'Abate is a role model for me and the other boys he works with," said Nick Bancroft, a Greenwich High School student who coaches the Bulldogs.

Staff writer Neil Vigdor can be reached at neil.vigdor@scni.com or at 203-625-4436.