A Bag Of Assumptions For Santa

To the Editor:

As many of you know, I continue to follow Newtown politics from my present environs. My holiday wish for Newtown is that Santa place a big bag of assumptions on his sleigh and deliver relevant ones down appropriate chimneys of our residents.

Maybe some of those assumptions could be delivered as directives etched in coal, as follows:

1. ASSUME that elected, appointed and hired town officials operate with the best interests of the town at heart, not a desire to be naughty all year.

2. ASSUME that reasonable people can differ on the approach or solution to any particular problem, and that those who disagree with your own solution or approach are no more stubborn, pigheaded or ignorant than you are yourself.

3. ASSUME that in the democratic process, “vocal minorities” are always both.

4. ASSUME that while freedom of speech is a right worth defending, in the democratic process, there still comes a time to accept decisions you did not support and move into the New Year with good cheer.

5. ASSUME that if you have just recently turned your attention to a particular topic, it is possible that those who have devoted more attention to that topic, for a longer period of time, might wish to be treated with the respect that effort deserves, and that they will be much more likely to entertain your suggestions if the same are posed calmly and constructively, not combatively or superciliously.

6. ASSUME (and this from a lawyer) that dialogue, not litigation, is the preferred route for dissent, and less expensive to the taxpayer to (shiny black) boot.

7. ASSUME that informal, polite discourse is also cheaper to the taxpayers than FOIA requests, and don’t presume that a request that policy questions be directed to policy makers, not administrators, equates to a refusal to talk at all.

8. ASSUME that to be respected you have to attach your name to your positions, not hide behind purported “friendship,” “concerns,” or other maskings to be seriously considered, and that denying your affiliations will only lighten your gift bag.

9. ASSUME that naming volunteers personally in a lawsuit, absent any alleged egregious wrongdoing that conceivably creates any personal liability, is unnecessary, antagonistic and hurtful, not to mention especially insensitive as to one alone with a husband overseas.

10. ASSUME that Santa and all his helpers, whether they’re up at the North Pole or out in a sandbox, know who’s been naughty or nice.

I also hope Santa has room for a true goody for Newtown, a new town hall, previously authorized, that would both remedy a terrible space and decentralization problem for town offices, while also serving as an anchor tenant at Fairfield Hills, in conformity with the Master Plan previously adopted, bringing some commercial development while slowing the rate of our reliance on the residential tax base.

Finally, this helper hopes Santa will make it clear to all Newtowners that their thoughts, emails, care packages, and prayers have been most welcome, particularly at this time of year. Here’s hoping 2007 finds us all face to face again.

William F.L. Rodgers

Chairman, Legislative Council

208 Hattertown Road and Baghdad, Iraq          December 19, 2006