To the Editor:

Please join me in supporting Moira B. Rodgers for probate judge in next Tuesday’s Republican Primary. Before I detail the reasons why I believe you should support Moira, let me first pass on some information about the race and Newtown’s importance to it.

The consolidated district will include Newtown, Redding, Bethel, and Ridgefield. Many do not realize that only one judge will run the new court, overseeing the consolidation of judges, staffs, and records. The new district will service a population of about 78,000 people. The judge’s compensation will shift from fee-based to salaried, at more than $100,000.

The Republican candidate to run for the office in the fall general election will be selected at the August 10 Republican primary.

Newtown has the largest population in the district, but only by a few thousand. It is crucial to Moira’s chances for Newtowners to vote, therefore, to take full advantage of this demographic fact. Incidentally, the Democratic candidate is also from Newtown, so choosing Moira will set up an all Newtown contest in the general election, which can only benefit the town.

Moira’s best for the job for a number of reasons. First, she’s the only Republican candidate who has firmly vowed to never practice law on the side for she believes the job will require exclusive focus. She is the best to gauge the effort required because she presently runs the busiest court in the district by far. Next, she has indicated she will hold hearings in Newtown, sparing us the burden of traveling to the new central court office in Bethel. Finally, and most important of all, she is the most well-rounded individual in the race.

As our prior probate judge, Margot Hall, noted in her endorsement of Moira in last week’s Letter Hive, the legal work a probate judge performs is governed by state statute, meaning that once that body of law is mastered, you have the legally based judicial experience needed. Moira has acquired that experience. More relevant, again as Judge Hall observed, are the general characteristics and experience that make one skilled at evaluating the facts and parties before the court in each individual case, particularly family cases. Moira’s background makes her the most experienced in this sense. She’s not only an attorney, but a wife, mother, and recent user of probate courts in the processing of relatives’ estates. Her experience makes her run her court with compassion, fairness, and approachability.

Please help me keep Moira as the probate judge who will service Newtown.

Robin L. Buchanan

15 Little Brook Lane, Newtown                                   August 3, 2010