Democratic Response To Political Attack Letter
To The Editor:
In his letter to The Bee last week, Mr Pisani calls the Democrats on the Legislative Council “uncaring” and says we are not concerned if people can’t pay their taxes and “need to get out of Newtown.” Mr Pisani is flat out wrong.
We remind Mr Pisani that he voted in favor of the municipal budget which contributed to this year’s tax increase. He supported his Republican colleagues in a blind cut to the education budget, despite the wishes of dozens of residents who pleaded with the Council not to further reduce education spending. Twenty-eight school positions had already been removed by the superintendent, and the cuts Mr Pisani and his Republican colleagues wanted would have forced mass teacher layoffs and larger class sizes. We Democrats were not willing to do that.
Mr Pisani doesn’t even know how the Board of Education spends its money. In 2024, he admitted he didn’t open the education budget book but somehow knew there was wasteful spending. He then waved around an old news article as proof that school budgets were bloated. His suggestions in 2025 were no better as he brought back the same news article.
The Board of Education budget was passed in a bipartisan fashion by the Board of Education the last two years. The budgets also passed the Board of Finance with Republican support. While these budgets raised taxes more than in years past, Mr Pisani fails to mention this was largely due to massive reductions in state aid and massive increases in health insurance premiums.
Mr Pisani never offered solutions to raise revenues to counteract the national trend of increasing prices. He could not tell us what services he would eliminate to reduce the spending increase. Would he want to lay off teachers and town employees? Close the library a few days a week? Stop mowing baseball and soccer fields? Doubtful.
Instead of attacking us, Mr Pisani would be better served to roll up his sleeves, open the budget books, and suggest ways to reduce spending that don’t impact residents. We’ve been waiting for two years for something substantive from him.
Eric Paradis
Chris Gardner
Democratic Members, Legislative Council
It sounds like I hit a nerve!
So let’s set the record straight, shall we…
True – I did vote in favor of the municipal budget, which was a very reasonable 2.75%.
Regarding not opening the BOE budget book in 2024, again, true.
But what Chris & Eric failed to point out is that while I listened to all the predictable line items followed by predictable questions followed by predictable answers, and the Democrats predictably voting to give the BOE everything they asked for, I was the only LC member that concentrated on the side of the equation where 700 people in Newtown can’t pay their taxes, 400 rely upon the food pantry to put food on their table, and there are 115 homes that are in foreclosure. And while I am not on the BOE subcommittee, unlike my democratic friends, I made it a point to meet with the superintendent(s) both budget seasons face to face. So, to accuse me of “blindly” cutting the BOE budget is a blatant and despicable lie.
What else did they lie about? Twenty-eight school positions were removed; the positions were never filled and the world survived. What else did they lie about? BOE passed in a bipartisan fashion? Half-lie: in 2024 they again tried to jam a 5% BOE tax increase through only to have it rejected at referendum. I proposed a 2.75% compromise that ultimately passed. What else did they lie about? My failure to mention the reduction in state aid and the increase in insurance premiums? Newtown needs to be run like an efficient company to be successful. I am not against education; I just want the school administration to make the most out of every dollar. Right now, $.66 out of every tax collected goes towards the BOE budget.
And finally, my failure to offer solutions to raise revenue? I proposed a “Tanglewood model” compromise for 6 Commerce Road that could potentially generate in millions of dollars in revenue for the town. I proposed and am still in favor of an ordinance for peaceful protesting that would save the town potentially $225k in police overtime. My Democratic friends didn’t even want to consider that.
And what solutions have C&E offered? Eric wanted to ADD $300K to the BOE budget for a kindergarten class that had no impact on learning Spanish! And Chis wanted the parents to pick up the tab for extracurricular activities THAT THEY ALREADY pay for. Don’t throw rocks if you live in glass houses.
One of our main responsibilities on the Legislative Council is advocating taxpayers’ dollars in the best interests of the Town and trying to make it more affordable without degrading services. Unfortunately, the Democrats can’t run on “affordability” since they already jammed the residents of Newtown with a huge tax increase last year, but I still can.
I am humbly asking for your support on or before Nov 4th.
Thanks to C&E to giving me the opportunity to respond and clear everything up.