An IPN Response On

Zero-Based Budgeting

To the Editor:

It would have been more ideal to use this last opportunity in the Letter Hive to appeal to the voters to make a case for why the Independent Party of Newtown candidates should be seriously considered to run our town government. Instead I am forced to respond to Mr Lyddy and Mr Gaston’s attempt to divert attention away from IPN’s genuine efforts to provide a real choice for the voters on Election Day. It has not been easy to pull together a group of concerned Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliateds to offer an alternative to the status quo form of government. We have worked diligently to provide the voters with a platform worthy of consideration.

Mr Lyddy and Mr Gaston are attempting to confuse the voters by inaccurately portraying one of our platform positions. The official IPN platform has always stated: “Require that each of the town’s departments and the Board of Education submit an annual budget that is not simply extrapolated from the previous year’s expenditures, but must be justified individually each year. Departments will no longer be given an ‘entitlement’ from the previous year’s budget with a guaranteed increase for the current year, but will instead be asked to justify every line item.”

I am confused by Mr Lyddy and Mr Gaston’s message. Are they suggesting that the current budgeting system is the best budgeting system with a proven success rate? Given that it required four budget referenda for voter approval this year, we believe the current budget system requires critical review and if it is determined that another budgeting methodology is warranted, we are in favor of utilizing such methodology whether it is called Zero-Base Budgeting, Modified Zero-Base, Performance-Based, Bottoms-Up or any other terminology. The terminology is irrelevant. What is relevant is our goal of creating a better budget system that requires greater scrutiny and provides the taxpayers with confidence that their taxes will be well spent.

We are not advocating any type of system remotely resembling the type of draconian budgeting system being discussed by our detractors. None of us have. In fact, we gave Mr Lyddy and Mr Gaston the opportunity to meet with us to discuss our differences off the Letter Hive pages, but they never accepted our invitation. We enjoy a good, honest discussion any time, but this whole issue has become seriously disingenuous.

There are no smoke and mirrors here. If members of the community share our goal of creating a better, more transparent budget system for our town, we welcome your support on Election Day.

Dear Voters, Please do not allow this diversion to minimize the efforts of IPN to provide you with a real choice on Election Day. I am hoping that you will come out in force to provide the candidates with the support and guidance necessary to shape the future of Newtown. IPN candidates are ready and willing to serve. Please vote for IPN.

Po Murray

Legislative Council Candidate

District Two

Independent Party of Newtown

38 Charter Ridge Drive, Sandy Hook              October 31, 2007