Compounding The Cumbersome

To the Editor:

There are two proposed changes to the town charter that I would like to address: veto power for the first selectman and a proposed Board of Finance.

Having been involved in the presentation of ten departmental operating budgets to the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council, the current system works. We do not need another layer of bureaucracy to compound an already cumbersome system. The Legislative Council is the board of finance for the town. As a flyer distributed by the members of the Charter Revision points out, the town should have a strategic plan that prepares us for the future. That is true and it can be accomplished within the current structure of town government. We have had a Capital Improvement Plan in the town charter for many years. In years of tight budgets, funding for the plan gets cut and providing for capital improvements are put off for another time. Plans without financial support are nothing more than good intentions.

If the voters decide to eliminate the Board of Selectmen, in favor of a single selectman, the first selectman should not have veto power. In my judgment, veto power would set the stage for potential deal making that has not been a problem in our town government. We elect the members of the Legislative Council to establish and monitor the finances of the town and we should not change the system. The system is not particularly efficient and it is sometimes exasperating. Always, the voters have the last word as to how much we are taxed and where our money is going to be spent.

Change is inevitable, we should embrace it and make the most of it. The two proposed charter changes that I have addressed are not in the best interests of good town government. I agree with the proposals to eliminate the Board of Selectmen and the Town Meeting. With the dismal voter turnout at most town meetings, this quaint and archaic vestige of town government deserves to become a fond memory of a simpler life in days gone bye.

Richard L. Sturdevant

6 Westwood Terrace, Newtown                                   October 30, 2001