Waiting To Learn

The Truth

To the Editor:

I read and enjoyed your Editorial Inkdrops column last week titled “Talking About The Future Here And Now.” I agree wholeheartedly with your conclusion that ultimately, the success of long-term strategic planning in Newtown depends on how well it reflects the will of the community. That statement says it all.

However, when you provided the seven-year development of Fairfield Hills as your example, you described our town being divided and our politics seasoned with negativity because of “details of the development that filled in over the course of seven years.”

That statement overlooks three pivotal events that I believe are responsible for creating the hostile conditions related to the project that exist today. First, in an effort to convince voters during the 2001 town meeting to approve the $21.8 million bond issue for the purchase and development of the Fairfield Hills campus, our previous first selectman, Herb Rosenthal, promised voters that they would get to vote on the master plan before it was approved. Obviously, the voters took him at his word because they quickly moved to support the bond issue and it was approved by a large margin.

The second event took place in 2003, and I’m still not sure why taxpayers throughout Newtown didn’t take to the streets in protest. After the voters rejected the master plan at the townwide referendum, the same town officials who asked the public to approve the $21.8 million bond in 2001 decided to ignore the referendum results and move ahead with their own master plan, despite the first selectman’s promise to the public.

Just recently, the third pivotal event occurred soon after Joe Borst was elected as the new first selectman. As I would expect any responsible new first selectman to do, Joe announced that he wanted his new administration to review the controversial master plan before allowing the town to move ahead on any new commitments.

Somehow, to the amazement of nearly everyone in the room, Joe’s request was defeated 2-1 when he was outvoted by his fellow Selectmen Herb Rosenthal and Paul Mangiafico. It’s unimaginable to me that any town official would refuse to allow the new first selectman and the new administration the opportunity to review a troubled $21.8 million project. And now we know why. If the recent letters to the editor are any guide, the project is about to hit a brick wall.

When it comes to long-term strategic planning, it’s not the people of Newtown who create the conditions that make the process difficult, unpleasant, or hazardous. As in the case of Fairfield Hills, the fault lies with town officials and members of those commissions, committees, and councils who look the other way when the public trust is violated and the will of the community is ignored. It’s sad that no public official or decisionmaking committee refused to endorse the master plan until it was legally approved by the voters as was promised.

Finally, I don’t really believe that Newtown is divided over Fairfield Hills. I just think that there are still a lot of taxpayers who are still waiting to learn the truth.

Kevin Fitzgerald

24 Old Farm Hill Road, Newtown                                    June 5, 2008