Creating A Unified Newtown

To the Editor:

While I am pleased that the Legislative Council added money back to the education budget, I am afraid that the campaign to do so only highlighted the divide in our town. I think that most of us will agree that “Education” and “Taxes” were the budget issues during the past referendums. The pro-education people were ever-present at meetings, spoke loudly and clearly of their wishes, while opposing factions remained relatively silent. The Bee in an attempt to get a handle on what people were thinking instituted several online polls. These polls, being small in number. identified, however, the opposing positions very clearly and to a greater extent predicted the outcome of the third referendum.

It is government’s responsibility to create an environment that considers not only the majority of the voters, but also those who have expressed positions in opposition to the majority. The Legislative Council, faced with this situation just prior to the third referendum finally recognized that balancing the needs of all the people was a daunting task. To a large extent they did accomplish some balance: they reduced a tax increase from 3.0 percent down to 2.5 percent while increasing the school budget by $200,000.

Even though this budget was passed, including an unprecedented increase of funds to the education budget, it is still not clear to me which of the opposing positions represents the majority. As a result, it is apparent that some revision to our charter is necessary if we are to avoid this potentially recurring situation. I am a firm believer in executing the will of the people; however, in order to create a unified community we will need to address the needs of all the people. The prevailing question then is: can we invest in education while decreasing property taxes (without cutting municipal services)?

We have a very comprehensive Plan of Conservation and Development, however it is not a complete long-range plan that considers the issues that have been highlighted in this most recent referendum. We want premium schools and lower taxes, but these diametrically opposed financial positions will not just happen without a concentrated effort to accomplish them. Revising our charter and developing a long-range plan will not be an instant solution; however, it is an absolute requirement if we are going to avoid the dynamic we have been witnessing these past few years. It will be an on-going process requiring dedicated people, a committed government, adjustments and constant revision, but without it we will continue to be divided, if for no other reason than our disregard of other’s needs; majority or otherwise. If we put the requirements of our people first, forget what political party we belong to, stop countering each other’s political positions, work toward solving the issues that face us, we will have inadvertently unified Newtown in a very painless manner. I firmly believe, with a great deal of work, we can restore our schools to Blue Ribbon status and reduce our taxes.

Sincerely,

A.P. Roznicki

169 Hanover Road, Newtown                                            June 9, 2010