Officials Should Stand Behind

The Budget They Created

To the Editor:

The budget process in Newtown continues to be a study in government at its worst. A civics class should study the process and offer ideas to improve the process. After spending weeks and weeks, hundreds of man hours, countless e-mails, phone calls and public meetings it boils down to this: our elected officials were afraid to let the anyone know what it thought was best for the Town of Newtown before the budget vote on Tuesday.

What is exactly is the point of having a Board of Education, Board of Finance and Legislative Council deliberate and examine a budget, present it for a vote, and not then stand behind it? Shouldn’t our first selectman be out campaigning for the budget as vehemently as she was criticizing CL&P for the way they were restoring power? No, instead a budget is presented to the voters and everyone in government seems afraid to stand behind it. Close the eyes and hope it passes. If it does everyone will congratulate themselves on a job well done. And when it does not pass the hand wringing begins. Our elected officials, after a budget is defeated by a minority of voters, who really have no idea what is in it, then react. And how do they react? The next night a million dollars is slashed from an education budget. Why? Because that is the easy thing to do. It’s called the path of least resistance. Does anyone ask why the police budget has, on paper, a substantial increase from the year before? There may be a perfectly plausible explanation and it may have to do with how expenses are categorized. But we as residents expect our elected officials to scrutinize every part of the budget. Apparently all the meetings deliberations, studies, etc really don’t have to be done. All that needs to be done is to look up last year’s budget, get that number, and tell everyone there is no tax increase whatsoever and have everyone vote Yes. Maybe the town budget should be tied directly to the incomes of its residents. So, if a person doesn’t get a raise in a given year they should in fact not have to have a tax increase. Of course that means if someone gets a 10 percent raise in their income in a given year they would willingly pay the Town of Newtown 10 percent increase with no questions asked. And what would the chances of that happening?

A town budget has nothing to do with any one individual; it has to do with the needs of the town. Our elected officials need to remember this when making critical decisions. And they need to make those decisions based on the needs of the entire town which includes the thousands and thousands of its residents who are not even old enough to vote.

Mark Mockovak

3 Nelson Lane, Newtown                                                 April 26, 2012