Circulates First Two ‘White Papers’—

Local GOP Highlights

New Candidates

By John Voket

The Newtown Republican Town Committee announced September 21 that Phil Carroll will replace Ben Spragg as a Legislative Council candidate in District 3. Mr Spragg informed the RTC earlier this week that he intended to withdraw his candidacy so he would be free to do some traveling.

Mr Spragg said he intended to fulfill his term on the council, but would not seek reelection for another term. RTC Chairman Dennis Bloom said he was sorry to see his colleague go.

“We’ll miss his experience and knowledge, but at least he’s promised to stay active in town as opportunities present themselves and, because he’s completing his current Legislative Council term, council is left whole,” Mr Bloom said in a release. “He’s a class guy.”

The GOP’s choice to fill the open ballot spot, Mr Carroll is a longtime Newtown resident who Mr Bloom called, “An outstanding, positive choice who brings a ton of enthusiasm and concern for Newtown’s families to the party.”

Mr Carroll grew up in Newtown and attended Newtown schools, as did his own grown children. In his own words: “I believe Newtown’s leadership, town and school officials need to be more responsive to voters and more accountable to the first selectman. All town officials should open their eyes to her example of how town business can be done — with accessibility, transparency, honesty, and fairness.”

The newly named candidate said he is not really a political person, but has always been fiscally conservative. He said First Selectman Pat Llodra and her team “has put Newtown on a responsible financial track by looking into new ways to control costs through sharing services, self-insuring and the like.”

In other ballot news, the RTC announced that, in the race for Zoning Board of Appeals alternate, Ed Bryan has stepped up to replace Ed Schierloh, who had withdrawn earlier. Mr Bryan, of Sandy Hook, is most recently known for his service to Newtown’s Inland Wetlands Commission and his involvement as one of Connecticut’s Ambassadors to the Alzheimer’s Association, lobbying Congressmen on behalf of the association.

New Improved Website

The RTC has also overhauled its website (newtownrepublicans.org), providing links to follow party activities and commentary on FaceBook, as well as links to voter information, bios of both its members currently serving in office, and its slate of contenders for the November election.

Visitors can also peruse the RTC by-laws and sign up for e-mail blasts from the party, or link to state or national Republican sites.

The Newsletters tab also brings visitors to past and current position statements or “white papers.” The first of two recently issued publications is titled, “Why Bother With The Facts,” and points to how the party’s elected and appointed officials are optimizing services and programs for Newtown’s citizens demonstrates good governance.

“This is especially important while we live through this time of shrinking resources,” the position paper states. “Structural change cannot be accomplished without careful analysis of relevant, accurate, and timely data. In the vernacular of the times, this is called data-driven decisionmaking.”

The paper states that commitment to and the disciplined practice of data-driven decisionmaking is a hallmark of Newtown’s current government, including the Board of Finance, the Legislative Council, and the Board of Selectmen.

“These efforts are led, for the most part, by our first selectman, Pat Llodra and finance director, Bob Tait,” the statement continues. “Their use of current and relevant data is connected to many of the significant structural changes already achieved and those planned for the near future. In each case, specific, relevant, and timely data is collected and analyzed to determine if a service or function could be modified to provide the same or better outcomes at less cost.”

The report goes on to cite how town leaders are updating town financial policies, examining the current organizational structure of certain town departments, reviews how town employee benefits were restructured to achieve taxpayer savings, and details the town’s latest model for road and bridge improvement.

Sensible Fiscal Policies

The second white paper delves more deeply into the subject of what the local GOP describes as “common sense fiscal polices.” It looks back on promises made by GOP candidates in the last local election, and reviews how well those promises were kept.

The newsletter explains GOP officials’ intentions behind seeking a “AAA” or top bond rating from the nation’s two leading municipal bond rating agencies, and how town leaders are accomplishing that goal.

“We have a defined debt cap policy, a defined fund balance policy, and a goal to reach a ‘AAA’ Town bond rating,” the paper states. “All of these policies are related. If we have strong policies for both the debt cap and fund balance with strong fiscal restraint regarding our operating expenses, this will lead to a continuation of raising our bond ratings. Raising our bond rating lowers our interest rates for borrowing which ultimately saves every taxpayer in town money.”

The position statement also explains why other neighboring communities have suffered rating downgrades, and how local GOP officials have delivered on lowering governmental operations fixed costs by more than $2 million in recent years, and its tactics to continue to maximize the opportunity for future taxpayer savings.