To the Editor:
To the Editor:
Perhaps Iâm unique in this, but I donât understand the way our town works, and must presume there are others as confused as I am.
We have a Board of Selectman (BOS), a Board of Finance (BOF), a Fairfield Hills Authority (FFHA), a Board of Education (BOE), a Legislative Council (LC), a town attorney, Planning and Zoning, Public Building and Sites, and the list goes on.
Yet it takes people outside of these boards to question the Department of Public Works (thereâs another one) justification in deferring needed road work so they could do nonbudgeted work at Fairfield Hills, let alone documenting how much was spent.
Apparently, we have spent $3 million dollars taking down a building and creating parking. Things we, as taxpayers, never got to vote on. When asked, we were told it was a yearly operational cost to be budgeted, so no approval was required. Now we are being informed that they are going to bond the full expense.
When a member of the LC raised questions about the hourly wages being paid to workers, she was accused of working against our best interests. Isnât it the responsibility of our town attorney to tell us what is right, rather than how to skirt the legal requirements?
I have worked for a public company with facilities in four states and over a dozen countries. Yet I canât remember a single surprise. Every facet of our business was under tight control. Something this horseand-buggy town we live in canât seem to manage.
We must create a chain of command that can prevent a repeat of these things from happening. Checks and balances to make sure that everything is on plan and not falling through the cracks. In essence, someone or ones watching the store.
Soon, we are going to the polls, and I can only hope that new people are elected. People capable of setting up a system that works so that these things can never recur. People whose focus is on getting this town to function properly, as opposed to the ones we have now who are constantly attacking to cover up their mistakes.
For these reasons, my votes are going to Bruce Walczak and the other 16 IPN candidates because they represent the only chance we have to restore dignity, accountability and transparency in our townâs government.
Shouldnât yours?
Richard J. Cole
72 Main Street, Newtown                                          October 13, 2009