Letters Of

Endorsement

To the Editor:

My family and I have been residents of Newtown for the last eight years and although we are registered Republicans, we all enthusiastically support the reelection of Herb Rosenthal for first selectman. For us, elections should not be about whether or not someone is a Democrat or Republican or something else, but about honesty, integrity, good management, and the ability to get the job done in a manner that reflects the wishes of the majority of the voting public and taxpayers.

To this end the evidence is conclusive Herb and Joe [Bojnowski] have done a very credible job.

While all of the accomplishments of Herb and Joe are too numerous to list here in their entirety, we would like to offer some examples.

*They supported construction of Reed Intermediate School completed in 2003.

*Supported quality education improvements that grew the Board of Education spending from 60 percent to 69 percent of the town budget.

*Increased tax relief for seniors to approximately $1 million per year up from only $30,000 when Herb and Joe were elected.

*Provided pension benefits and some tax relief for fire and EMS volunteers.

*Worked to fund the new full-time paramedic service in 2006.

*Increased the authorized police officers from 37 to 47 thereby improving public safety.

*Increased Newtown’s bond rating twice in the last five years to AA2, which saved $750,000 of taxpayer’s dollars.

*Saved over $3.7 million in property taxes by obtaining state and federal grants for Edmond Town Hall handicap updates, Meadow Brook Mobile Home Park sewer installation, Sandy Hook Village streetscape project, Newtown Technology Park, and many more such projects.

*Open space projects that preserved over 1,000 acres to date.

*Economic Development, such as constructing Phase 1 of Hawleyville sewer installation for Liberty at Newtown, age-restricted housing, that provides us with $750,000 of annual tax revenue.

On the other hand the Republican candidate for first selectman does not offer us a history of good management achievements or good decisions for the town that would withstand an ethical test. In previous elections, Mr Borst supported all school budgets even though he was employed by our schools at the time and had an obvious conflict of personal interest. And he never asked pertinent questions to determine whether the items he was supporting made sound economic sense or simply just increased spending.

The bottom line is we are voting for Mr Rosenthal and his team because of his integrity, proven competency, and accomplishments and suggest that you too consider what Herb has to offer.

Daniel and Christel Kormanik and Family

85 Great Ring Road, Sandy Hook                       September 25, 2007