To the Editor:

Community matters. Coming to Newtown 20 years ago, my wife and I were amazed at the family feel and breadth of services and support the town provided. We continue to experience that family “feel” even though the town has had more challenges than one would expect or want.

Even with challenges, we have been able to grow together. These last four years have been some of our most successful with steady growth, while maintaining tight control on expenses. This success is a team effort from the selectperson to Board of Education, Board of Finance, and all of the town employees and committees, both elected and volunteered.

From my Legislative Council experience the last four years, I see the little things make a difference; from the simple requests on a line item of a budget, or a suggestion on an ordinance that changes how we do things. Two specific examples highlight this importance.

The first comes from a few years ago when the BOE requested a $100,000 contingency line item for Special Education. If you don’t know, the state requirements for special education students has increased substantially over the years. Those requirements cost money and can be substantial, sometimes as much as $250,000 for one student per year. The 2020 Budget for Special Ed was $11.8 million for 595 students. So a request for a $100,000 contingency item made a lot of sense and was something that I fully supported. When it came up for vote, every Republican voted against it. The schools needed that contingency that year and I often think of the challenges they would have faced if that wasn’t voted in.

Another example is the current Ordinance Committee review to ban “open carry” of firearms on town property. Yes, you read that correctly. Currently anyone can carry a permitted firearm on town property in full sight no matter how that might scare anyone or make others uncomfortable. While it is a challenging topic nationally, it should not be in Newtown. The question of “should” we ban this in Newtown is not a question in my opinion. The ordinance committee is doing due diligence on this topic and will have several public meetings in the coming month. However, timing is not good for a vote. Given the level of due diligence the committee has to go through, the ability to bring this up for a vote to the current Legislative Council will not happen until the next council is in place. If the Democrats do not win the majority on November 2, I have strong fears that this particular ordinance will not pass. That would be extremely unfortunate for our town.

I feel we can continue to grow together. As Legislative Council members we provide key checks and balances and have shown we can bring progressive leadership while also maintaining a watchful eye on expenses. I hope to continue that work. We all have a part in making our town better and I look forward to contributing what I can to make that happen. E-mail me at chrissmith.newtown@gmail.com.

Chris T. Smith

Newtown