Council At The Crossroads

To the Editor:

This letter was written just minutes after the second budget referendum results were announced. Earlier in the day, I sent the Legislative Council an email indicating I had voted No. I also promised the LC I would change my vote to a Yes in the next referendum if they would increase Board of Education budget.

Yes, I was convinced there would be a next referendum as I believed budget had very little chance to pass. I reached my conclusion on the budget’s chances after reading the survey results on The Bee’s website. These results, while not “scientific,” offer a window into the minds of some voters. The voters in Newtown are very fortunate the hometown newspaper cares enough about this community to find out what the voters are thinking. The Legislative Council would do well to follow this course.

And this Legislative Council is now at a crossroads. They can choose to ignore the facts; that a substantial amount of voters, enough to tip the scales, are voting No because they are not happy with the Board of Education budget. If we take the numbers from the Bee survey and cut them in half (percentage wise) it is more than enough to pass the budget, assuming the voters come out again. And I believe they will.

What this process has done this year is energize a group of voters (the education supporters) and given them hope. They can have a voice at the polls. The Legislative Council is now at a point where they must put aside partisan politics, and personal agendas — and show the voters of Newtown that they have the best interest of the community in their decisionmaking. They must increase the Board of Education budget and let the voters decide. If they choose to not do this, they are doing a gross disservice to the people they represent. And if they choose to cut the education budget in the next referendum they will merely bond the education supporters even tighter and the referendum will fail by even more votes.

There is a social definition of insanity attributed to Einstein, Ben Franklin and others (although no one is really sure of the origin) which states: insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Let’s hope the Legislative Council doesn’t go down this path by thinking another half point reduction in the tax increase will do the trick. The evidence is overwhelming it won’t. Give the schools back some funds. The voters have spoken — twice. In this case let’s hope the third try really is the charm.

Mark Mockovak

3 Nelson Lane, Newtown                                                  May 18, 2010