To the Editor:

As the last days before the election unfold, candidates from all parties continue to do an outstanding job of letting voters know what they stand for and sharing their visions for Newtown. Unfortunately, inappropriate actions also seem to continue, not from candidates, but from some in Newtown and perhaps even from outside our town. While I want to believe it’s nicer in Newtown, what’s happening is on par with the ugliness taking place in pockets of our nation.

There are repeated reports of property destruction and public verbal harassment of candidates. Intimidation and bullying of local businesses over an expression of a point of view continue. Public participation in town meetings has strayed from the topics at hand over into hostile commentary directed at those who aspire to serve. Some social media postings resort to personal disparagement rather than constructive difference of opinion in an effort to influence voters. While town meeting leaders and website moderators do their best, it is nearly impossible for them to curtail this untoward comportment.

Regrettably, our once respectful norms of conduct have eroded like never before during this election cycle. The situation is so bad that it has driven some candidates to withdraw from public events designed to inform the electorate. These departures are no reflection on the event organizers or meeting leaders who, like the candidates, have worked long and hard to help voters. Rather, they are a recognition that maintaining decorum and a fair and balanced environment is extraordinarily difficult in these times.

I hope any belligerence toward candidates, regardless of their affiliation, will subside over these last days of campaigning.

Please vote on November 2.

Dennis Brestovansky, Chair Newtown Republican Town Committee

Newtown