IPN Candidates Pledge To Dismantle

FFH Authority, Fight ‘High Density Housing’

By John Voket

Offering “Real Choice and True Leadership,” Independent Party of Newtown first selectman candidate William Furrier, who is a current selectman, and former Legislative Council representative Po Murray, a candidate for Board of Selectmen, have issued their first position paper of the local campaign season. (The document may be found online in the Source Files section at NewtownBee.com.)

“Our vision of town government gives Newtown an important choice; one we think will make Newtown a better community,” the statement begins. “Since IPN’s inception, guided by our core principles and convictions, we have not been afraid to speak out for what we believe. As selectmen you can count on us to say what we mean, and do what we say.”

If elected, the IPN candidates pledge to spend less, provide better accounting of town spending, stop any plans for housing at Fairfield Hills, and offer more empowerment. The IPN contenders propose to foster that empowerment by promoting a bifurcated or split budget between the town and school district, promote the repeal of the Fairfield Hills Authority ordinance, and improve planning.

Without offering any specifics, Mr Furrier and Ms Murray aim to reduce town spending by five percent over the next two years, approximately the same rate that it has increased for many years.

“Today’s economy has many people asking their government to spend less of their money,” their statement reads. “We believe government must live within these economic realities. We think that effective leadership should prepare for future challenges by adjusting current spending now.”

The IPN candidates also propose introducing an accounting method called “Track, Score and Report,” which will provide to the taxpayers much greater details of how their money is spent and the value that it produces. 

“We currently track many things internally, but we don’t score total costs of public tasks and we do a poor job of communicating to the taxpayers what their money is getting for them,” the candidate statement says. “Track, Score and Report will put us on a better footing to improve the efficiency of the services we deliver. Determining the true cost and value of the services we provide is an important component to our plan to reduce spending.”

Mr Furrier and Ms Murray also believe that “high density housing development at FFH is a clear and present danger to our way of life.”

“Having always been strongly and vocally opposed to the idea, we pledge to continue opposing any such plan with all our efforts,” the candidates said. “Affordable housing is an important issue to be addressed. It does not belong as part of the core plan for Fairfield Hills.”

They also believe that local government functions best when every member of the community is enabled to participate in the actions and outcomes of their community’s governance.

“We want the people of Newtown to hold more power over the spending and planning decisions that have long lasting effects in our community,” they stated, highlighting their three strategic thrusts “to provide our community with much greater empowerment.”

The candidates believe that allowing taxpayers to vote individually on the town and school budgets, combined with offering meaningful advisory questions, gives individuals more power over their tax dollars.

“We believe that combining bifurcation with Track, Score and Report is a game changer for accountability, transparency and voter empowerment,” their position paper states. 

The pair supported a proposal, also raised by First Selectman Pat Llodra, that would eventually reassigning all management functions at Fairfield Hills to various town departments, versus the Fairfield Hills Authority.

Mr Furrier and Ms Murray believe that the community does not need an authority to manage nonexistent commercial development at the town-owned campus.

“Our own exclusive realtor has confirmed that it is not economically viable to restore any of the existing buildings for commercial redevelopment,” the candidates stated. “The recent real estate boom, one of the biggest of all time, did not provide a single commercial redevelopment opportunity.”

As a result, the IPN team believes “it’s time to begin planning for how to pay for the demolition of those buildings.”

If elected, they pledge to push for a repeal of the Fairfield Hills Authority ordinance, which they say will ultimately give the people of Newtown final power of approval over any and all leases at Fairfield Hills.

“We also fully support a binding vote on any master plan of development, which to date has been a power denied to this community,” they stated, although according to Newtown Planning & Zoning Commission Chair Lilla Dean, such a vote is apparently not permitted under current state law.

In closing, Mr Furrier and Ms Murray agree that long-range planning requires establishing a vision for Newtown’s future that will “help guide our leaders in determining the priorities and making the decisions that shape us as a town.”

“Success depends on firmly establishing consent from the community for the overall plan, and for the prioritization of its parts,” the position paper states. “Our current planning process lacks a cohesive vision and it does not obtain consensus from the community. Instead, what currently serves as a long-range plan changes each year with the whim of our elected officials.”

The IPN candidates instead say they will support a long-range planning process that prioritizes the biggest capital expenditures with the help of annual advisory questions offered at the budget referendum.