Choice Is A Beautiful Thing

To the Editor:

Choice is a beautiful thing. Our democracy is based on it — it is a “fundamental truth” in our daily lives. Our choices lead to who we become and can have a profound impact on our family and community. In November, we are allowed to choose who will represent us in our local government. Those elected in prior years by us have made choices that impact everyone in our community — sometimes the impact is a small as a single resident and sometimes as large as the whole town. Every week this newspaper brings you reports and discussion of these choices, portraying them as either good choices or bad choices, but always trying to relay to you the impact of your choice in previous elections.

I made a personal choice a few years ago to increase my involvement in the education of my children. I joined the board of directors of the preschool they attended and spent seven years as president of that board. Time, and the children, moved on and I spent more time with the Hawley PTA advocating for the school and eventually the school district’s budget. Having watched the process from the outside, I chose to become more involved and volunteered to serve on the Board of Education. My political party submitted my name to replace Lisa Schwartz and the Board of Education chose to appoint me to the board. While on the board, I made several choices. I became a member of the technology subcommittee to help craft a vision of how we will use technology to improve our school district. I joined the team to work on our school district strategic plan, which we are now weaving into our schools. I helped minimize our district’s expenses while maximizing the quality of the education we provide to our community’s children. My choice during the busing contract saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars and kept MTM as a transportation provider for the next five years. All of the Board of Education’s actions are a result of our choices as individual members.

Your choice makes a difference. Start with the choice to vote in this year’s election. Don’t get confused by the Democrats on the Republican line and the Republicans on the Democrat line. The Independent Party of Newtown is offering Newtown a real choice. You can find out more by choosing to visit our website at www.IPN2009.org.

I hope your choice is to keep me on the Board of Education. You will find the incumbent Board of Education members on the Independent line of the ballot, along with the other very qualified group of candidates supported by IPN.

Richard Gaines

IPN Candidate for Board of Education

51 Black Bridge Road, Sandy Hook                         October 14, 2009