Hoping That Third Times

Will Be A Charm

To the Editor:

Mark your calendar. The third referendum is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22, at the Middle School 6 am to 8 pm. You know the drill. Or do you? Why don’t more voters come out to show their support for their town and schools? There are over 3,500 children in our public school system yet we barely get that many voters to come out. We should have almost twice that number of voters if all two-parent families would vote. We need everyone to come out to vote and get this budget passed. We need moms and dads, school and town employees especially, for whom this budget affects directly. You don’t have to be registered to vote. You just have to be a US citizen and a property owner in Newtown.

Why don’t more people vote? The process is easy. It takes less than a minute to show your license, mark an “X” in the box and feed your paper into the machine. It takes you longer to park and walk into the middle school building than it does to cast your vote. The absentee ballot process is just as easy but maybe it takes two minutes because you have to show your license, they type up an envelope, you mark an “X” in a box, sign your name twice and lick the envelope. Think about it now.

When will I vote? Put it in your Palm Pilot or BlackBerry or mark it on your refrigerator calendar. May 22 – vote at NMS 6 am  to 8 pm. Whatever works. If you cannot make it to the middle school on Tuesday, May 22, then please go to the town hall and file an absentee ballot at the town clerk’s office (first door on your left as you enter town hall). They are open May 18 and 21, Friday and Monday, 8 to 4:30, and Saturday morning May 19 from 9 to  12. Take your kids to the town hall on the way to soccer, baseball, lacrosse, etc, on Saturday morning and vote.

Three times a charm, Newtown. The budget has been cut three times and we are headed back to the polls for the third time. Our children and our town will feel the pain now from these cuts. Come out to support our town and our children. Vote Yes on May 22.

Tracey Tenney

48 Charter Ridge Drive                                                     May 16, 2007