Time To Act On The Charter Is Now

To the Editor:

The time to act is now. A year ago we were 12 people named to a Charter Revision Commission. Today we are several thousand strong – united in our effort to position Newtown for the 21st Century.

Newtown is a jewel in Fairfield County, a vibrant but still pastoral town of diverse people, beautiful homes, fine schools…a town with its own newspaper and an active community spirit…a town of 25,000 people supporting a budget of $70 million. Our population is growing and so are the town budget and our needs. To meet these changes head-on, we have provided our town officials with a charter that helps manage these transitions.

Presently we are faced with some timing issues. We, the members of the 2000 and 2001 Charter Revision Commission, originally anticipated a different implementation process for the changes we recommended. However, the fact that these changes will occur more rapidly means the benefits will be realized sooner.

To quote last week’s editorial in The Bee, “So much time and effort has been expended in bringing the charter proposals to the public for decision that it would be a shame to discard them for reasons that have nothing to do with their content or possible benefits for the town. The Charter Revision Commission worked for a year researching local governance and reached a consensus on changes that it believed would help Newtown’s leaders better serve residents. The Legislative Council endured a difficult and divisive debate on charter-related issues, and townspeople themselves petitioned the changes onto the ballot. After all that, are we to dismiss the substance of this most difficult and arduous process because of a clerical mistake?”

Of course not. Also, the suggestion that a new charter revision panel be named to review and replicate all the work of the past year is unrealistic for any number of reasons.

The time to act is now. Approval of the charter revisions will bring two immediate changes in December – creation of a Board of Finance and elimination of the Board of Selectmen. Initially, a Board of Finance would be appointed by the first selectman to serve until the next election. Subsequently, these six members would be elected at-large. We have every confidence that whoever is elected first selectman will appoint qualified individuals to serve the town in this interim capacity.

Clearly, any perceived issues related to an earlier implementation process are far outweighed by the benefits to this town and to each of us from the charter changes being presented to the voters on November 6.

Please join us now in voting YES on all five ballot questions. And thank you for supporting our efforts to serve the town we love.

Members of the 2000-2001 Charter Revision Commission

Ken Bigham, George Caracciolo

Al Cramer, Michael Floros

Joe Hemingway, Edward Kelleher

Kevin O’Neill, Jack Rosethal

Jane Sharpe, Bill Sheluck, Harry Waterbury

Underhill Road, Sandy Hook                                       October 16, 2001