Roles And Responsibilities

To the Editor:

Over the last few months, there’s been a great deal of confusion about the roles and responsibilities of the town’s elected boards. On the eve of this election, we Republicans thought it might be helpful to give the voters a brief description of the main boards that you will be casting your vote for.

First Selectman: This is the CEO of our town and is an elected and paid position. This person runs the day-to-day operations on the municipal side. This person is an ex-officio member of all boards. A candidate must run specifically for this position in order to be elected first selectman.

Board of Selectman: Three elected people, one of which is the first selectman. The two remaining Board of Selectmen positions are filled by those who receive the most votes of all of the first selectman and the selectman candidates. Only two members of the same political party may serve at the same time. The Board of Selectmen is charged with creating and managing the budget for the municipal side and is the ultimate fiscal authority for the town. This group is the only group that can authorize debt on behalf of the town.

Board of Education: Seven elected people who are charged with approving a budget for the school district. Mainly a policy setting board by which the school district operates. For this election, there are four available spots — at most, three can be from one political party.

Board of Finance: Six elected people who are our financial advisors. After the Board of Selectman and Board of Education approve their separate budgets, it is the responsibility of the Board of Finance to assess if the budget is reasonable and affordable. The second main function of the Board of Finance is to see if the capital projects proposed separately by the Board of Selectman and the Board of Education are affordable in the time frame requested. They also set all of our day-to-day financial policies in town. All six Board of Finance members are up for reelection this year.

Legislative Council: Twelve elected people — four for each of our three districts. This is a political body that should know the pulse of the town. Their two major yearly functions are to approve both the Capital Improvement Plan and the yearly budget, which they receive from the Board of Finance. They are the last step prior to the voters getting to have their say on the budget.

You can also go to the following web location where there are links to all of the boards and commissions in town: www.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_BComm/index

Our town charter, the rules by which the town operates, is available at hwww.newtown-ct.gov/Public_Documents/NewtownCT_Charter/toc.

What do Republicans think?

We Republicans think an informed voter is more empowered. All of our candidate biographies can be found at www.newtownrepublicans.org. We feel that our team of leaders is the right team for Newtown.

Robin Buchanan

On behalf of the Executive Board

The Republican Town Committee

15 Little Brook Lane, Newtown                               October 19, 2009