Punishing The Taxpayer

To the Editor:

It didn’t take long for those who gorge themselves at the public trough to start scolding the taxpaying public about the supposed budget “cuts.”  In fact, it was the first day of school when Diane Sherlock, middle school principal, told the News-Times that “when voters vote ‘no’ we have to make cuts, and this is what happens.” Then, in a letter to The Bee last week, we were warned to remember the current busing problems next year when the budget comes up for a vote. The last time I checked the numbers the school budget for 2002–2003 was $45,917,218 and for 2003–2004 the budget was $49,407,147. That is a $3,489,928 increase!

Newtown has a big problem, and it’s not just ballooning budgets or rising taxes; it is a crisis of character. We have an administration and Board of Education that operate within a culture of arrogance and self-interest. I attended the school board meeting on September 9 to hear their explanation for the bus debacle. Imagine my surprise when not one member of the board, administration, or transportation department had the courage to stand up and say we made a mistake and we will fix it. Instead, the blame was passed around the room like a hot potato. Any reasonable person reviewing the bus schedule before school opened could see the routes were untenable. Yet no changes were made. Why?

I believe this was a deliberate attempt to “punish” the taxpayers for having the audacity to question, much less vote down, any proposed budgets. We don’t need this kind of mean-spiritedness and vindictiveness. We need leaders who are willing to put the education of our children first; men and women with the moral fiber to make tough decisions regardless of their own political agendas or personal relationships. Countless neighbors are struggling with unemployment or reduced wages. Our leaders need to face these realities and have the compassion to find ways of doing more with less.

In the middle of last spring’s budget votes, the administration announced the appointment of a new director of pupil personnel services at a salary of $112,300 per year. That is $4,320 more than his predecessor made. It turns out our new “six-figure man” taught at a previous school with our own Dr Pitkoff. It is so nice to know that the big guys on top are being taken care of while the little guys are riding buses for over an hour, taking shuttle buses around town, and flat out being left behind! And the school board just rubber stamps it all. I accept my own responsibility. I should have done a better job finding out who was spending my tax dollars. I have learned my lesson. Not as Ms Sherlock and others would like. I won’t be bullied into blindly passing future budgets. Rather, I will do all I can to break the culture of cronyism and unrestrained spending that permeates the existing administration and school board. I will try to make sure tax dollars go where they belong –– to our children. Don’t let these heavy-handed tactics cower us into submission. Let us be vigilant in choosing the right people to lead this town. And let the current administration be haunted by the words of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto after the bombing of Pearl Harbor: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

John Moulder

Hattertown Road, Newtown                                 September 17, 2003