A letter to the editor from Jim Gaston. Thanks for the shout-out, Jim. And good points all around! To the Editor: I read with a chuckle last week’s Newtown Bee interview of the Republican Town Committee (RTC). As you might recall, the RTC credited itself with everything from taxes, roads and education. Interestingly, taxes need to be worked on, roads could be better and it would be nice to restore our high school to blue ribbon status. Some of us remember those days, a time when there was a Republican- Democrat balance on the Board of Education and the Legislative Council. No doubt we have had some successes, but these successes were collaborative, many even championed by elected Democrats. Here are some examples: Hawleyville economic development commenced with rezoning – Newtown Zoning Chair, Lilla Dean, Democrat. The consolidation of human resources of town and school district, and computer resource work originated from Democrat, Dan Amaral’s idea of a facilities committee. Democrat, Paul Lundquist co-chaired that committee. The initiating champion of lowering the debt service from 10 percent to 9 percent – Board of Finance member Michael Portnoy, a Democrat. I could go on, but I think you get the point. These are trying times and we need a breadth of ideas and energy in addressing the prevailing tasks. No one party has all the answers, or any one person. If our ideas are narrow, or grooved into a same old, same old we are losing that greater ability to do better. We can be even better. We need to be better. By restoring balance to a more even Republican-Democrat Board of Education and Legislative Council we are taking a page from past successes. This election we are extremely fortunate to have an all-star selection of Democratic candidates. Space permits me to only mention a few, but I hope you will go to the Newtown Democratic Town Committee website, newtownctdemocrats.org to read about all the candidates. Ann LoBosco Benore – Town Clerk! Ann is a UConn graduate, has had vast experience as an assistant town clerk, is certified as a clerk, is the borough clerk (a feat in itself) and presently works in social services. She knows the job of town clerk, well, and knows its importance. Michelle Embree Ku - Board of Education! Michelle has an undergraduate and master’s degree from Brown University, was an instructor at Brown, served on the Charter Review Commission, and has long been involved local education issues. She has children in the school system, and it was Michelle’s idea to publish in The Bee the full page ad of elected officials supporting the budget. This is the out of the box thinking we need. Laura Main - Board of Education! Laura has a master’s in education and is a school principal in a nearby town. Not only is she well educated, but like John Vouros, has the hands-on experience with what works in teaching and administration. She is highly knowledgeable in special ed. I hope my personal representations help shed some light in the November election. Thank you, Jim Gaston 18 Main Street, Newtown October 16, 2013
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 21:35:13 +0000