Our Choice For First Selectman

When a town faces a crisis, as Newtown did this week, many people rise to the occasion, do remarkable things, and demonstrate competence and abilities perfectly suited to the task at hand. When one of those people is in the last week of a reelection campaign for the office in which she already so publicly excels, this unexpected showcase of competence and ability seems a little unfair to her earnest but outmatched opponent. If there ever were any doubts that First Selectman Pat Llodra deserves another two-year term, this week should have put them to rest.

Even without the dual challenges of last weekend’s great pre-Halloween snowstorm and Tropical Storm Irene in August, Mrs Llodra’s leadership skills were manifest in the big debates over town finances, Fairfield Hills, and economic development and in the small administrative details of managing a local government with many departments and many missions, each competing for scarce resources. Mrs Llodra has mastered both the process and the politics of balancing high expectations for town services with low tolerance for property tax increases. Her secret? Invite everyone to the table.

Mrs Llodra’s opponent this year is incumbent Selectman William Furrier, who is heading the ticket for the Independent Party of Newtown. (Sadly, Newtown Democrats did not field a first selectman candidate this year.) He has sought to distinguish himself by promising to reduce spending by five percent over two years, using a “Track, Score, and Report” accounting system. While promising specifics on this plan in the campaign, his explanations have been vague and pointedly nonspecific, lacking the kind of detail essential for the budget fight Mr Furrier apparently intends to pick.

We urge the voters of Newtown to reelect Pat Llodra for two more years as first selectman.