To the Editor:

We’re fortunate in Newtown. We have a two-party system that (for the most part) lacks the partisanship that has crippled our national and state governments. And we see progress: roads are getting paved, our high school graduates go on to do great things, and our tax rate is stable.

I want to keep it that way. I’m running for the Board of Finance for this and a host of other reasons. I am a staunch advocate for strong and properly funded public schools, but we need to manage this expense and our many other priorities carefully. I will bring fresh eyes to the budget process in Newtown. I will look for efficiencies in how we spend. As a former journalist, I was twice honored by New England’s largest press organization for uncovering wasteful spending in municipal government.

I am a lifelong Newtown resident and work in communications at Yale School of Medicine. I have served on the Borough of Newtown Board of Burgesses for nearly six years. This fiscal year, our board, through careful management of our budget, reduced the Borough tax rate by one-third.

I am Newtown’s “Keeper of the Flagpole,” in charge of maintaining our town’s iconic Main Street flagpole. I am the former Chairman of the Board of Newtown Youth and Family Services and have coached youth softball, baseball, and soccer.

My wife, Kath, is a speech-language pathologist. We have two children: Andrew, 18, a freshman studying business at the University of New Hampshire; and Caroline, 14, a freshman at Newtown High School.

I am completely invested in Newtown. I ask for your vote on November 5 so that we can keep Newtown affordable to all demographics while we properly fund our collective priorities.

Respectfully,

Chris Gardner

4 Mt Pleasant Terrace, Newtown September 20, 2019