To the Editor:

This past Monday the Legislative Council unanimously passed a new proposed Board of Education Budget to send to the voters for a second referendum. The message from voters is clear that affordability is paramount at this time when so many residents are struggling. Working together with the Board of Finance we were able to arrive at a lower number that hopefully will be viewed as acceptable by the voters, something that the minority members of the Council had previously advocated for. We appreciate the Democrat majority working with us in ultimately proposing the 2.75% increase, which was a step in the right direction from the original 4.41 % increase to the Board of Education budget.

We want all voters to know that these decisions are never easy for members of any board, and while there are many unanimous votes we make, we realize there are going to be some issues such as this one that people are going to feel strongly about supporting, and there will be those who are in opposition.

We appreciate the significant increase in voter turnout from the previous year. We hope that those of you who voted the first time will come out again on May 14th and vote again, and those of you who didn’t will consider coming out and making your vote count. It is only then that we will know if we did our job. In the meantime, we will continue talking to voters and creating awareness about the upcoming vote.

Our comments are our own as individuals and not on behalf of the Legislative Council, of which we are members.

Jennifer Nicoletti, Legislative Council Representative District 2

Derek Pisani, LC District 1

John Zachos, LC District 3

Ben Ruben, LC District 3