More Dialogue,

Not Less

To the Editor:

My reaction to Dr Pitkoff’s note home to parents on the budget was markedly different from those of many of our elected officials stated in last week’s article [Town Officials Critical Of School Superintendent’s ‘Budget Update’].

I was less concerned about who paid for copies or the political posturing over whether the note was appropriate.

I was thrilled that there was an attempt to provide perspective on what the budget cuts recommended by the Board of Finance meant to the proposed school budget. Someone proposed the town do something similar, and I think that is a great idea.

We need more dialogue and transparency in our government, not less. I applaud Dr Pitkoff and any Newtown official striving to shed more light on issues in our community.

To the detriment of the voters, our town leaders many times spend more time fighting than coming together to work toward creating a budget process that is clear, concise, and provides the information necessary so that voters feel confident that their public officials have created an annual budget worthy of being approved upon the initial public referendum.

Rather then attacking the superintendent for sending out information to educate parents on the budget issues, I would like to see our town leaders spend more time critically analyzing the operating budget with increased emphasis on oversight of both the education and town-side budgets, creatively strategizing to improve the revenue stream, reprioritizing existing expenditures to come up with a plan to fund the operating budget while minimizing tax increases, and better communicating these decisions to the taxpayers.

The Bee can play a critical role in the endeavor. Rather than worry about who wrote a note to parents or repeating political accusations, I would urge The Bee to determine if how our elected leaders present the annual budget is accurate, and, as Dr Pitkoff tried to do, provide us with an analytical perspective that gives us context to what the budget numbers mean to our daily lives.

Gary Davis

WeCAN

23 Charter Ridge Drive, Sandy Hook                         March 28, 2007