To The Editor:

There is a clear distinction between the First Selectman candidates this year — experience. Jeff Capeci has been serving Newtown for over 20 years and has been on the major boards that run the town.

Bruce Walczak on the other hand has run for office several times for different local and even state positions and the people of Newtown only elected him once as a member of the Police Commission many years ago. While Bruce may be a nice person who has volunteered his time with different organizations in town, he does not have the experience to serve in the top spot.

The people of Newtown, however, have elected Jeff Capeci as First Selectman and also to the Board of Selectman two times and Legislative Council five times with him being chosen by his peers to be Chairman three of those terms. He was even appointed to serve as the Chairman of the Charter Revision Commission twice.

That is eight elections where the people of Newtown chose our current First Selectman to serve them and there is a good reason. Over his 20+ years of service Jeff has gained the experience and the knowledge to understand and craft budgets, come up with creative solutions to problems, make the difficult decisions that the rest of us do not want to make and guide Newtown through good times and bad. His experience is unmatched, and the number of elections Jeff has won shows the trust the people in Newtown have in him. The choice is clear — re-elect Jeff Capeci as First Selectman.

Jim Bernardi

Newtown