The Silence Is Deafening

To the Editor:

Four weeks ago I wrote a letter to The Bee asking for some clarity from the town on the assertion that the cost of whistleblowing at FFH was close to $1 million. I wish I could say I was disappointed that the town has had no comment, but disappointment is a feeling reserved for things that may actually happen.

Recently there have been many accusations published in The Bee that actions taken by this town government were unethical, illegal, or not in the best interest of the taxpayer. I would have thought that the targets of these comments would respond and provide the people of Newtown the reassurance that the comments of a few are wrong and that its government is working well.

It is clear that the town misled its residents by claiming that the cost of whistleblowing at FFH was close to $1 million as published in The Newtown Bee. The fact is that the Connecticut Department of Labor determined that the town was not following the prevailing wage law. We can argue that the town made a mistake or that the Department of Labor is incorrect. What we cannot do is imply that the person that made the inquiry to the state is the reason for its finding and subsequently Newtown’s increased cost to comply with the law.

Several weeks ago the Board of Finance (BOF) came under fire for its perceived lack of oversight on the spending by the Fairfield Hills Authority. I do not know if the BOF is responsible in any way for the spending at FFH. However I think that the BOF must comment of the FFH Authority using lease money from buildings as part of their operating budget. The revenue from any property owned by this town belongs to the taxpayer. I cannot understand how it is legal for the FFH Authority to take future streams of lease revenue and discount them to present day value and then spend it as part of their budget. Are there any lawyers in town that know the answer? Does the taxpayer understand that we cannot use the lease income from these buildings for future town budgets?

I realize that some will take this small cry for information as an attack on the establishment and be forced to respond with a letter to The Bee. The response should be informative and not critical of my knowledge of the facts. The only facts I get are culled from the pages of The Bee and the Cliff Notes version of town meeting minutes as published on the town website. I am not part of the town government and my inquiry should be embraced with the spirit that our form of government requires. After all Connecticut is the “Constitution State.”

I can be wrong in everything I have just written, but I will never know because the silence is deafening.

Larry Garner

6 Forest View Drive, Sandy Hook                             August 19, 2009