Letters Of Endorsement

By CURT CLARK

Published: Oct 31, 2008 12:00 am

To the Editor:

Please join me in supporting Chris Lyddy on November 4.

Newtown voters desired change during last yearâs municipal election. A group of Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliateds joined together as the Independent Party of Newtown to attempt to create change by providing choices for the Newtown voters. IPN challenged the establishment with a solid platform of change, accountability, checks and balances, and transparency. IPN forced the other town political committees to provide more choices for Newtown voters as well. District One voters elected the enthusiastic newcomer Chris Lyddy, a Democrat, for the Legislative Council by an overwhelming margin.

I made a personal decision to step up to challenge the establishment because I truly believed that a sweeping change was necessary for Newtown after witnessing significant lack of accountability, checks and balances, and transparency in government. Newtown does not have a strategic long-term plan and the Band-aid approach of managing the long list of capital projects has resulted in significant tax increases. Our [once] blue ribbon high school is now on warning from NEASC. Seniors and low-income residents are having difficulty with escalating taxes.

Upon being elected, Gary Davis and I have put forth initiatives for the Legislative Council to be more accountable to its people, to provide more checks and balances, and to be more transparent. We have fought for more transparent meeting minutes, more accountability over the budget/capital improvement process including more oversight of the FFH finances and redevelopment, and allowing voters to decide the fate of the high school expansion project and future FFH leases.

Of all the council members, Chris Lyddy has been the most supportive of our initiatives. Chris does not superficially claim to support education. Chris has sat on the Legislative Council Education Subcommittee to fully review the education budget and he has supported the high school expansion project. Chris is also working on the Legislative Council Ad-hoc Communications Committee to televise town meetings. He was the only council member to support Gary Davis and my proposal for the Legislative Council Ordinance Subcommittee to review the Fairfield Hills Authority ordinance.

Newtown will require leadership at the state level to aggressively pursue smart-growth economic development strategies, affordable housing, transportation, open space acquisition, education funding, and energy policies. We will also need state and federal financial assistance to deal with the environmental issues on FFH. Newtown taxpayers alone should not be burdened with funding the FFH master plan.

Chris has spent the last two years going door-to-door speaking to Newtown residents to truly understand their issues. Chris understands that property tax reform is required to reduce the municipal tax burden. Chris listens to all constituents and Chris understands the by the people, for the people governing principles that will guide him in Hartford. Chris Lyddy is the right man to represent my family and all Newtown families in Hartford.

Please vote for a change by electing Chris Lyddy.

Po Murray

38 Charter Ridge, Sandy HookÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â October 29, 2008

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Reservoir Rd. does indeed appear to have an interesting history that I often ponder as I hike the Rochambeau Trail. Early on it was apparently part of a main route from the center of the Borough to Taunton, which went up Mt. Pleasant Rd. and then roughly followed a watershed boundary from Mount Pleasant to Taunton Hill. When the current switchback road was built from West St. to Castle Hill in the 1800s, replacing the indirect route through the campground that Rochambeau used, the part of that original route to Taunton now known as Reservoir Rd. became redundant. But on an 1868 town map and topographic maps from 1892 and 1915, it looks like both routes were still maintained as roads. By the time of the 1934 aerial survey of CT, the connection to Mount Pleasant Rd. (maybe called Reservoir Rd. by then since the reservoir is visible) even had two outlets onto Castle Hill Rd. Since it is only shown as a partial dashed line on a 1953 topographic map, it may have stopped being maintained as a passable through road by then. But on a 1963 topographic map, where the section down to Knollwood Dr. had become a normal road again, the other end is shown as a dashed-line road, still with two connections to Castle Hill Rd., and a structure on the east side where one can still find remnants of a house today. Maybe a longtime resident can add comments about what it looked like in the 1950s and 1960s?

Clarity on Reservoir Road and the Rochambeau Trail

Please stop referring to your fellow Newtowners as the Mob. I was at the Legislative Council meeting where Mr. Pisani insulted the intelligence of a room full of Newtown voters; twice, and not in a satirical way. Plenty of new projects have been given the green light - the repurposing of the Taunton Press property is a welcome addition to Town, a new retail center is under construction on Church Hill Rd there are ongoing plans for the existing Fairfield Hills campus. Newtown is a wonderful place to live. Kudos to the Town officials who have managed to grow Newtown and maintain a small town feel, which may mean saying no to development more often than you would like. There will always be two sides to any proposal - different points of view are welcome and essential - name calling adds nothing to the conversation.

Who is Calling Newtowners Stupid?

Appreciate your perspective. Rather than litiate all of your opinions expressed here, here....I would like correct your opinion about the BOS having the final authority on road discontinuance decisions. State statute (CT GS 13a-49), requires the BOS' decision to be approvate by a majority vote at a regular or special town meeting (just like the one Newtown had a few years back to decide to spend the money to build an addition onto the High School). In towns that no longer have any town meetings, that responsibility would fall on the town's representaive government, or legislative body....in Newtown's case, our Legislative Council. Failure to follow this statutory process is but one of the reasons the town/the BOS is being sued.

There are many private roads in Newtown where they property owner owns right to the center line, for example this is often true in the lake communities. Many of these roads predate and do not conform to the Town's roads standard and therefore the Town never accepted them into the Town road system. Does the Town actually own this road?

It’s important to clarify the tone and context of Derek Pisani’s remarks, particularly the satirical line about suing Newtown for "Gross Stupidity." This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek jab at the exhausting culture of legal threats that’s become a staple on the local Facebook Group forums. It was a reflection of frustration over endless regulatory hurdles and obstructionism, and the desire to avoid common sense solutions not an insult aimed at residents. Satire, is meant to provoke thought and highlight the absurdities. If we are unable to distinguish between satire and literal threats, perhaps the comment hit closer to the truth than we’d like to admit. Rather than focusing on Pisanis style, we should be discussing the substance of what he’s pointing out: that Newtown’s progress is being routinely blocked by a small but vocal contingent who seem intent on saying “no” at every turn. They are saying no to any development, no to common sense solutions to crowd control, etc. Newtown deserves leaders who are willing to call things as they see them, even if their language ruffles feathers. That doesn’t mean they lack respect for constituents—it means they care enough to challenge the Mob and push for solutions. Isn't that what we elect people to do? I applaud Pisani's dedication, he certainly has earned my vote. Regardless, let’s not reduce conversation to tone-policing and outrage. Let’s focus on the issues that matter.

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