Do The Right Thing

To the Editor:

Dear town government officials — Please take note of last night’s defeat of yet another budget, making it four in a row. Many of us are sick to death of you diddling around with minor changes and resubmitting virtually the same budget to us time after time after time. Especially egregious is the act of adding back money after three defeats in a row. We need to shed 0.91 percent in order to pass this budget, so lets get to work.

We have an established declining enrollment in the Newtown school system, which is the result of a declining birth rate due to the longest recession since the 1930s. We have hundreds fewer students than we had just five years ago. This should be accompanied by a real reduction in nominal spending on the school side (that means a lower number). For those of you currently negotiating the teachers’ union contract, take note that if you build in big increases the only sensible course of action will be layoffs that will be much larger than they have to be. You are trying to get a good deal for us, remember?

By not doing your jobs for the last three referenda you have cost the town dearly in dollars, angst, and faith in local government. Now do the right thing, put forward a zero increase budget.

Sincerely,

Eric M. Steinkraus

22 Walker Hill Road, Sandy Hook                           June 27, 2012