To The Editor:

I am writing today to endorse Neil Chaudhary for the Police Commission. Neil is running as a member of the Forward Party and faces an uphill battle because he appears on line four of your ballot, and most people only pay close attention to the first two lines. Neil has chosen this path because he is an independent thinker who always acts in the self-interest of our community, regardless of party politics, which is something in very short supply in recent years. Many of our candidates are encouraging you to vote for all Republicans, or all Democrats, with one candidate going so far as to call that “critical thinking.”

Critical Thinking is just the opposite — look at each candidate individually and choose the ones that best fit the need and most closely align with your personal beliefs. Neil is unique in that party politics never enter into his decision-making process. He is fair, open-minded, and thoughtful. His career in both state and national public safety, with experience of over 20 years working with police departments, makes him uniquely qualified to be a member of our Police Commission, which serves as our Town’s Traffic Authority.

I personally served with Neil on the Legislative Council and looked to him for well-balanced comments on the many challenging issues we faced. As a volunteer with the Newtown Rotary Club, Newtown Emergency Response Team, and former member of the Police Commission AND Newtown’s Public Safety Committee, Neil knows and understands many of the public safety issues we are facing today.

Please join me in voting for Neil Chaudhary on Tuesday, November 4.

Mary Ann Jacob

Sandy Hook