Needs Change,

Part II

To the Editor:

Jay Gill, elected official, Board of Managers Edmond Town Hall, has missed the point. That was then, this is now. He commends the Legislative Council for having the courage to support the selectmen’s efforts to move projects forward at Fairfield Hills. It would be greatly appreciated if he could point out which of those projects have moved forward. Our needs have changed. You may remember, Mr Gill, that ball fields were part of that bond appropriation. Have you seen all the planned ball fields? You say the town offices are overcrowded. So are our schools. Perhaps you remember why the state put us on probation. As far as keeping records goes, that problem was solved years ago. You’ll be happy to know that computers and microdocumentation will solve the space storage problems.

Ross Carley, appointed to the Commission On Aging, was witness to a shameful display by a handful of misguided people that he suggests are “neocons.” By definition, a neoconservative (neocon) is somebody who, during the mid-1980s, began to support conservatism in society, and in politics in particular, as a reaction to the social freedoms sought throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Oh, if only we had a few neocons in our government! He goes on to liken those who spoke up to those who brought us a war. How he gets to parents wanting the town to reassess their priorities to those who brought us a war is far beyond me. He continues in his accusatory manner to state several disjointed and somewhat meaningless facts. The one that struck me as particularly bias was his third fact and I quote: “The Board of Education gets, are you ready, $0.69 of every dollar collected in taxes.” Now what do I do with that fact? Do I ask parents with kids to move out of town to reduce our cost per student? Should we increase the number of students per class and fire as many teachers as we can? Or perhaps we should scatter thousands of our students all over town so that we can consolidate hundreds of town employees. The future, believe it or not Mr Carley, lies in our educating our students in the best possible environment and we all, including you and your family, will be the beneficiaries. He goes on to make several more irresponsible statements not worth mentioning.

Typical of what we have heard in the past are accusations that those who oppose the decision made by our government are working with half-truths, false facts, even made-up facts, however it would be significantly helpful if these supposed misstatements were supported by case and point. Finally, it appears that those who have been published in The Bee opposing Mr Rosenthal’s decisions have caused him to stimulate those who are associated with our government in one way or another to write letters to the editor. Isn’t democracy wonderful!

Nancy Roznicki

169 Hanover Road, Newtown                                  February 19, 2007