Taxpayers

Want Accountability

To the Editor:

I have heard several people comment that the budget defeat is “retribution,” I assume for the owner-operator debacle.

This is not retribution. This is the voters and taxpayers saying “Something is seriously wrong” with the school administration. We are saying we are tired of not having any clear idea of what the money is being used for. Our questions are not being answered, and we are made to feel as though we have no right to be asking these questions.

It is not only our right, but our obligation as taxpayers and residents of Newtown to question where our tax dollars are going. We know that the money should be going to educate our children, but apparently more administrators are more important than teachers. Apparently, accountability is not important.

Exactly how much money was paid for the PR consultant (you remember her, the one that was hired to assist with communications, but that the school administration chose not to tell anyone about)? Will the aides be left on the special needs buses or not? Janet Robinson has chosen, at least twice, not to answer that question.

As far as the owner-operators are concerned, in my opinion, the bidding process was handled improperly. The fact that All-Star filled out the wrong paperwork should have caused their bid to be rejected immediately. I don’t care what Mr Bienkowski keeps saying about “unit prices.” The question of how they used the wrong paperwork while everybody else used the correct forms shows me either something fishy is going on or sloppy work on All-Star’s part. Either way, this is not a company we need to be working with.

I, and every taxpayer I’ve spoken to, want accountability. We want to know where 70 million dollars of our hard-earned tax money is going. Until that happens, I will vote No on any future budget referendums.

Mom always told me not to buy a pig in a poke.

Wanting answers,

Bridget Seaman

Hanover Road, Newtown                                                     May 2, 2012