Playing Politics

To the Editor:

Herb Rosenthal is playing politics with our children and the much-needed high school expansion.

Mr Rosenthal has been suggesting that his new “grand town hall” has been perfectly managed while the well examined high school project has not.

Let’s look at the facts.

High School Expansion: The Board of Education, the Building Committee, the Board of Finance, and the Board of Selectman have studied the high school expansion project for years and have looked at every alternative imaginable. The voters received voluminous information on the project and had the opportunity to vote on the expenditure. The construction bids are fixed in costs and cannot increase once they are signed. Voters can be sure that what they vote for on October 7 is what the final bill will be. Voters understand we need the space to accommodate a growing body of students.

New Grand Town Hall: Voters have no idea what’s going on, have not been able to vote on the expenditure, have no idea what’s happening to the old town hall, and have not been told what the final all-inclusive costs will be. To make matters worse the voters aren’t even sure we need a grand town hall given our current space on Main Street, Town Hall South and the town building on Peck’s Lane.

The new grand town hall project did not come in on budget as Mr Rosenthal has suggested. They cut the contingency fund in half and are using a 67-year-old roof to protect our investment. The bid price does not include many necessities such as backup generators, connections, and many required utilities. And of course Mr Rosenthal doesn’t want to mention the $3.5 million parking lot which the voters didn’t get to vote on that was added to the Fairfield Hills lease. Unlike the high school project, none of the other boards and commissions have been allowed to study the detailed expenses.

I challenge any town official to tell the voters exactly what has been spent so far including bonded money, diverted town employees, grants, operating costs, secret lease deals, and guaranteed usage fees and then to tell us what will be required to get Fairfield Hills close to a completed project.

Costs have gone up for the grand town hall, the high school, and other projects across the state. No one is happy about that, especially in this economy. However, to try to confuse the public and play politics with our children is inexcusable. The need for the high school expansion is well understood and the fact that the construction costs for projects have increased does not change that need. If we wait or delay the project we will simply be faced with even high costs.

Your vote on October 7 is not a competition between Mr Rosenthal’s new grand town hall and the high school expansion. It’s a vote for a quality school facility to educate the future leaders of our country.

Bruce Walczak

12 Glover Avenue, Newtown                                September 24, 2008