To the Editor:

During my tenure on the Legislative Council, I have enjoyed the times when we have been focused on local issues, times when we are Newtowners first, and partisans second.

However, the far-Left national agenda has crept into our local politics. This is evidenced by the Democrat-majority Legislative Council (LC) that, along party lines, passed a bag ordinances telling local retailers how they must run their businesses, what they must charge, and what they may or may not give customers. This seemed to many Newtowners that the LC believes they know better than you in your choice of bags, and doesn’t trust that you’ll follow existing litter laws.

Democrats on the Legislative Council are pressing to pass an open-carry gun control ordinance in Newtown, a solution in search of a problem, in an attempt to undermine the state’s precedence of preemption whereby the state (not towns) regulates firearms. This will likely lead to Newtown having to defend itself in court, and could lead to lawfully permitted individuals potentially losing their gun permits and even their jobs.

Nationally, perhaps their most insidious action is the indoctrination of students and dismissal of parental rights. Particularly concerning is teaching children to see everything through the prism of race, and that they’re endowed with certain characteristics based solely on the color of their skin — exactly the opposite of what Martin Luther King, Jr, preached.

Parents of all backgrounds across the nation are raising legitimate concerns with these policies at Board of Education meetings. In response, the Biden Administration has unleashed the FBI to investigate these parents. This has a chilling effect on free speech.

The Republican party believes in protecting your individual liberties while today’s Democratic party believes in authoritarian government control over your daily activities, your speech, and your children. Come Election Day, which will you choose for Newtown?

Sincerely,

Cathy Reiss