Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity is going to do everything possible to make the return of a pedestrian foot bridge over the Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook Center happen.
Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week is an observance in this country that pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty.
By Shannon Hicks
Published: May 14, 2024 08:49 AM
Registered Newtown voters are heading to the polls today, for the second attempt by the Board of Education to get a budget for the 2024-25 academic year passed.
BOE Referendum, Round Two, UnderwayRegistered Newtown voters are heading to the polls today, for the second attempt by the Board of Education to get a budget for the 2024-25 academic year passed.Registered Newtown voters are heading to the polls today, for the second attempt by the Board of Education to get a budget for the 2024-25 academic year passed.All voting is again taking place at Newtown Middle School, 11 Queen Street. Polls opened at 6 am and will remain open until 8 pm.Following a rejection of the school budget by 507 votes at a referendum on April 23, the Legislative Council at its April 29 meeting slashed $1,408,307 from the Board of Education’s proposed 2024-25 budget.The reduction was unanimously approved by all 12 councilmen, in contrast to a previous, pre-referendum meeting on March 27, where no bottom line for the school budget drew more than a simple majority of seven votes.The new bottom line of $87,409,066 is a $2,339,415 or 2.75% spending increase over the 2023-24 budget, which places it in line with the municipal budget, which was passed by voters.The previous proposed 2024-25 BOE budget rejected by voters was $88,817,373, which would have been a $3,747,722 or 4.4% spending increase.The education budget failed, 1,701 No votes to 1,194 Yes votes.On the secondary question to the education budget — If the proposed sum for the Board of Education is not approved, should the revised budget be higher? — the responses were 727 Yes and 2,071 No.The Registrar of Voters reported 15.1% of Newtown’s registered voters participated in the April 23 referendum, with 2,952 people showing up at the middle school to vote and another 47 turning in absentee ballots.
Rejecting or approving town budgets has nothing to do with 'smart' growth. These budgets are expected to grow appropriately as cost of services increases.
The status quo is clearly not appealing to voters who rejected the school budget at first and only narrowly approved the town's budget. Smart growth is the name of the game here. That would be growth that respects our past, retains and ensures our vibrancy, and simultaneously widens our tax base.
The Newtown Conservation Coalition is basically a NIMBY snake oil salesman. They jump from cause to cause with the sole goal of making sure nothing changes. It is only a matter of time before they lower their threshold, get to acres, and want an accessory building, not in "their" town. They will bust out a new poster of a bulldozer tramping over a "historic" stone wall and protest in front of any town meeting.