To the Editor:
Nonpartisan analysis shows that unless this state reverses course soon we will continue to have deficits of almost $3 billion in the next two fiscal years, meaning another huge tax incr...
To the Editor:The Newtown Bee, the Charter Commissions and our elected officials do not feel the elimination of the town meeting is a big deal, nor controversial. Perhaps that's because it takes the f...
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Trinity Youth Group, I would like to thank Caraluzzi's for their support of the Great Pumpkin Challenge. They generously donated pumpkins for this year's pumpkin carvin...
To the Editor:
I know how hard it is to have a small business and make it grow. I know how hard unfunded mandates affect a budget. I have seen how the failure of the state to fully fund its special ed...
To the Editor:The Newtown Bee that with the additional seventh Board of Education member the maximum number of members from one political party was four. The Newtown Charter question did not say other...
To the Editor:
I am writing to raise awareness that allowing Sharon Wicks Dornfeld to become probate judge would be a disastrous step along the path toward corruption of government and the degradation...
To the Editor:
Last year I came off my parent's health insurance. My employer did not offer health insurance that was affordable. Eva Zimmerman came to my home and helped me figure out my health care....
To The Editor:The Bee, she claimed I put our school's construction "at risk." That's a lie. Our beautiful new school was conceived as a fast-track project like no other school in Connecticut history, ...
To the Editor:
We write to urge Newtown voters to vote to return State Senator Tony Hwang to his 28th District seat.
While a loyal Republican, committed to both limited government and fiscal responsib...
To the Editor:
I am writing in support of the candidacy of Attorney Dan O'Grady to be the next regional Judge of Probate.
Last year I had the occasion to work with Attorney O'Grady regarding the care ...
CT primaries are closed to voters not registered with the party's designation. Dems can't vote in Rep. primaries and, vice versa. Unaffiliated and Independent voters cannot vote in them. Keep primaries closed!
Bruce, welcome to the conversation.
Your recent statement after the storm — admitting that you should have communicated “faster, more completely, and more personally” — was fine as far as it went. But this is not just about one storm. It is about a pattern. You ran on openness, responsiveness, and transparency, even saying that “evasive answers or silence are unacceptable in government.”
The problem is that Newtown residents have been dealing with exactly that silence from you since you were elected.
Newtown’s Emergency Management page says the town, together with the Office of the First Selectman, provides “critical public information and warning” during emergencies. The town also rolled out CodeRED cellphone registration on March 24, 2022 so residents could receive emergency information directly.
So where were you when police were searching for missing 23-year-old Kateri Doty in January? Where were you during the brush fires near the Newtown town line in April? Where were you on April 22, when state police and Newtown police were searching for two people who fled an I-84 crash and a canine search moved into the Church Hill Road area?
Residents should not be hearing about a missing person, wildfire conditions, or police tracking dogs moving through backyards from Facebook, neighbors, or kids in town. They should be hearing from their town government.
This is not really about whether you personally press the CodeRED button. Or how many task forces you have created. It is about leadership. You are the First Selectman. You are responsible for making sure the town communicates clearly, quickly, and visibly when public safety is involved.
So yes, it is nice that you have finally acknowledged the problem. But the public did not need this storm to figure it out. We have been saying it for a long time.
Bruce, you were missing when the town needed to hear from you. The question now is whether this storm finally woke you up, or whether this is just another late apology followed by more silence.
The topic may be the same but the narratives every other week differ and I appreciate the installments. Rebuttals on factual content rather than focusing on form would improve the discourse.
Congrats to all the 275 graduates.
For context...class of 2005 had 360 students, the number of graduating seniors seemed to cap out in the late 2000's in the low 400's.
