Changes That Would Serve Us Well

To the Editor:

As the selectmen debate the pros and cons of the current town departments’ proposals for next fiscal year’s budget, the banter has gone to the same old pattern of making small changes and passing it on to the Legislative Council, and eventually the electorate. This process over the last several years has been demoralizing to town employees as they are given no encouragement to come up with new programs and initiatives that will be acted upon. Instead of giving lip service to these initiatives, perhaps it is time for our elected representatives to think outside the box!

In the recent election the town voted a change in the administration. It is time for our elected officials (old and new) to accept that vote and come up with new initiatives that will effectively move our town forward in the right direction.

I can think of several changes that can serve us well. Many involve new hires at respectable salaries:

Hire a professional engineer/manager to have an exclusive assignment of managing, leasing. and designing Fairfield Hills with intimate knowledge of town needs. Make the position nonpolitical. Cut out the consultants’ fees.

Employ a full-time economic development officer with prior development experience and good relationships with businesses. Set realistic goals to bring up our commercial tax base.

Hire an independent education czar who can independently work on improving the level of education in our schools. Charge that person with trying to get away from a “bricks and mortar solution” and encourage him/her to work on core educational problems.

Bring in an experienced land use professional to plan the remaining available commercial, residential and government development and let that person interface with the proposed Fairfield Hills new manager. Encourage him/her to work with our new economic development officer to provide housing which can be used for people without families to broaden our diversity in housing and raise our tax collections.

Revamp the Public Works Department. Talk to the union and change work rules so that we don’t go on this collision course of outsourcing much of the work with the attendant overlap and nonresponsiveness that occurs without the desired results. Speak to the union during the contract, not only when it’s up for renewal.

Hire a town-dedicated employee who will monitor and oversee all contractors working on public works projects on a daily basis so projects come in on budget and are built correctly. We need to avoid disasters. It goes beyond having insurance for those disasters.

Our selectmen have the option to spend money meaningfully to bring on change or they can choose to make this current government a transition government waiting on the next election. It’s their choice.

Gary Tannenbaum

Pond Brook Road, Newtown                                      January 30, 2008