To the Editor:

Efficiency and collaboration - many do not equate that with town agencies.

There are many things that are not seen by the public. Many jobs are done by the highway and school maintenance departments, behind the scenes.

They assist the Registrar of Voters Office regularly. The highway department puts out and takes in the reminder signs, they help move the equipment to and from the polling places. The maintenance department at the school lets us in at 5 am and locks up at the end of the night. They assist with any problems during the day.

A few years ago, we were required to have closer handicapped [parking] spots. We had some grant money for equipment in our budget so we bought the asphalt and the school maintenance department installed the parking in front of the middle school gym. It solved problems for both of us and saved the town a lot of money.

Recently we had an issue at our storage spot. Everything had to be emptied and floors bleached. The highway department helped empty and reload the storage room. I called Gino, head of school maintenance, to see if I could borrow his floor scrubber, so I wouldn't have to bring in a cleaning company. Instead, Gino sent a few of his guys, and 90 minutes later my floor was scrubbed and rinsed. We found a plug had blown and he sent the electrician to fix it. Four hours later, the room was reloaded. Our office works with the transition program in the high school, so I will be working with a student as we sort and organize everything to get back in order.

This is just a small sample of the collaboration being done between departments to stretch our budgets. There are many other things we do not even think about - they are just done. Our office appreciates this collaboration and the employees in these departments. Other towns hire a moving company and rent spaces for their polling places. They spend thousands of dollars for these things - without this collaboration we would also be spending this money.

So thank you, we appreciate you.

LeReine Frampton, Registrar of Voters

3 Primrose Street, Newtown         June 7, 2017