It’s Time For Cooperation

To the Editor:

This letter is my personal opinion only.

As many do, I try to keep informed on town and school-related issues that I deem important. There are never enough hours in the day, and I have high regard for those who volunteer and work to make things run smoothly. I heard something last week that made sense. It is not an original idea, and I suspect that many of you have had it yourselves. What I heard, brought up at the High School Space Needs Committee meeting, was agreed upon by all committee members present that night. In a nutshell, this is what I heard: That the time has come to look upon our municipal and school needs together and to develop a plan to address our needs for the next several decades. A simple statement whose time has come.

Some may say “we already have that, we have a CIP [capital improvement plan].” And yes we do have a CIP and kudos for all the work that goes in to that. Some may say “we already do that.” And yes I do hear that rhetoric and see hard work put forth to that end. But what we are doing isn’t exactly working. This is not a personal insult to anyone but a general statement, and I believe we are all responsible to bring something productive to the table to support efforts in this direction. This is the most important issue we face and nothing else matters until we make some headway on it. If we want this to happen we have to make it happen.

We need to put aside pettiness and intimidation and ego and instead pour energy into collaboration and unity. I ask every person to take a broader view and to put aside their own personal and political issues. We need to define a vision that has something to offer all facets of our population, something sensible and sustainable given that our town will continue to grow in numbers and needs. Everyone has to give a little: it’s called compromise. Short-sightedness and 20/20 hindsight has grown wearisome and expensive. Why don’t we opt for foresight instead? It still costs money but in the long run it may not cost as much and we may get much more in return. We need a realistic perspective and plan to move forward.

How do we do this?  Can we form an ad-hoc committee with true equal representation? What about a series of facilitated town meetings? Surveys? Expert guests? How? When? What are the answers to this? Does anyone know? I look to hear from you. In my book, you are either part of a solution or you are not. And if you are not, then you don’t have a right to complain.

Oh, and another thing, let’s not take another three to five years to figure this out. Let’s put this public crisis to good and let it be the impetus for real progress. It’s time.

Sarah Beier

7 Yogananda Street, Sandy Hook                           November 2, 2005