When the people of Newtown get to vote April 22 on a $38.8 million plan to renovate and expand Newtown High School, they are likely to be as divided on the issue as the town and school officials who put the proposal before them. The frenetic choreography that has danced toward the referendum on the project just over two weeks from now not only had different governmental bodies spinning in different directions, the boards themselves have been split on the wisdom of forging ahead with this particular expansion plan. In the end, they decided to pass the issue on to the voters without sorting out their differences. When a town is asked to spend more money than it has ever spent before on a single project, it would be nice if it at least had the reassurance of seeing consensus among town leaders on the issue. There is no consensus, however, and that should be counted as a failure no matter how the eventual vote goes.

We do not expect all of our elected officials to agree with each other. They represent an electorate that itself is divided on the particulars of how their tax dollars should be spent, and each brings to the public debate a view influenced by personal experiences and individual perceptions of what makes a good town better. We do expect our elected officials, however, to work with each other, to freely share information, to pose questions, to answer questions, and to leave enough flexibility in their schedules and openness in their disagreements for consensus to grow. What we have gotten in these remaining days before the town votes is not flexibility and openness, but a rigid deadline for action and hardening positions on a plan that is apparently still under review.

We will not lay blame here — a temptation that increasing numbers of people seem unable to resist. The Board of Education, the Board of Selectmen, the Legislative Council, the Board of Finance, and even The Bee, have all been criticized and characterized as culprits responsible for the inelegant unfolding of a project that should be a source of great pride for all of Newtown. This inelegance is the symptom of an underlying lack of coordination that afflicts Newtown’s government, which in the day-to-day operation of the town may go unnoticed. Yet for a project of the scale and expense of the high school addition, concerted effort and coordination make all the difference between an enterprise that tears a town apart and one that brings a town together.

The contentious local election of 2007 left a residue of distrust and resentment both among elected officials and the voters they represent. As we go forward, that distrust and resentment must be left behind. Those who wish to carry these sentiments into the future for the sake of political leverage need to be reminded that they are trading in a currency that only gains in value when Newtown falters; it loses value when Newtown succeeds. We will wait to see what April 22 brings for Newtown. Whatever happens, let’s make that day the birth date of a new, more united, Newtown.