Show What Newtown Thinks

To the Editor:

I am in favor of awarding the current transportation RFP (request for purchase) to MTM Transportation. I have attended many of the recent Board of Education meetings and have heard from numerous parents, retired townspeople, owner/operators, and special needs parents who have overwhelmingly indicated that this is a contract that they would like to keep with MTM.

MTM Transportation has served Newtown for the past six years. They work with the owner/operators and assist each other when needed. The drivers live in Newtown, and know the crazy roads in Newtown. These people send their own children to Newtown schools, they know our children, and see them regularly in stores and around the town. Many of these drivers are second generation drivers. They pay taxes to Newtown on their homes and buses. When there are emergencies in town or on our local highways, these are the people that are available to respond promptly. As I understand, MTM also assists All-Star Transportation to fulfill special needs and team transportation requirements in local towns.

All-Star Transportation is a family business. However, that family is not based in Newtown. They are based in the northern part of the state. Mr Dufour, one of the owners of All-Star, has indicated that he was not interested in entering the RFP in Newtown, but was approached by the town and encouraged to do so. Mr Dufour has offered to set up a location to store and possibly repair buses in Newtown. Will the bus taxes be paid to this satellite location in Newtown or to the home office in Torrington?

MTM does not have the financial statements that All-Star has. They are a six-year-old company and All-Star has been in business for many more years. They are also much smaller than All-Star, because they went into business to serve Newtown. MTM buses may not be brand new, but they have a repair shop in town and have buses that can be utilized as backups. In addition, I am not aware of any significant performance issues with the existing MTM buses. MTM is planning to purchase new buses to comply with the RFP, and their financials have been questioned publicly. All-Star is planning to purchase all new buses, however their financials have not been publicly scrutinized.

This is a tough year for budgets and many of us are interested in saving money. At the last Board of Education meeting, MTM offered to match the RFP submitted by All-Star. That should indicate the level of commitment that MTM has to our town. We must ask why, if the RFPs are equal, would we want to put a local business out of business?

Please plan to attend the next Board of Education meeting on May 19 at 7 pm in the Reed Library and let the Board of Education know what Newtown thinks!

Sincerely,

Betsy Kraushaar

Silver City Road, Newtown                                              May 13, 2009