Our Vision For Newtown

To the Editor:

We voted No yesterday [June 26] as we have for each one of the referendums. For avoidance of doubt, the intention of our votes was that we do not want a budget increase.

After the first referendum, the editor of this paper asked each of us to think about our vision for Newtown.

In our household over the past four years, there is a person who lost their job after 25 years and has been unable to find a new job. The other person has kept their job, but is working over 60 hours per week to maintain that job for fear of losing it. There were also long periods during that time where there were no raises received. We are very grateful that one of us still has their job and statistically, this is a small sample size of only one household. But, we believe that this is not out of the ordinary and that many in Newtown are facing similar and likely worse situations.

Our vision of Newtown is a town that reflects the good times and bad times of what is going on locally and nationally. Clearly the last few years have not been the good times. But there are certain groups in the town — and in the State of Connecticut overall — that feel an entitlement of getting increases every year regardless of what is gong on around them. No wonder there is such extreme polarization in the town on this issue.

Hopefully referendum number 5 will be where we vote on a zero increase budget.

Respectfully,

Carol and Guy Serra

7 Laurel Road, Newtown                                        June 27, 2012