Letter to the Editor

TO THE EDITOR:

Given the current coronavirus crisis, I would like to respond to its likely impact on local issues, Weston real estate values, personal and family income, and residents’ expectations of Town leaders in the midst of an evolving pandemic with unknown outcomes and still no foreseeable end.

I can sum up my concerns with two recommendations to the three Weston town boards, the Boards of Selectmen, Education, and Finance. They are to hold tight to a hiring freeze for all departments and resubmit a flat, or reduced and recalibrated budget, for both school and town for the coming fiscal year.

Why? I can’t see the budget increases now under consideration by the Weston Board of Finance going to an ATBM Referendum in a few weeks. We need to postpone the vote, both to avoid a public gathering and to give all boards and administrations the opportunity to revise their projected spending next year. The Governor can adjust the municipal budget approval calendar, just as he suspended state requirements for a 180 day school year, due to the health emergency.

To continue to propose a FY 2020-21 budget request to our residents that is not mindful of local, state, national and global reality is nothing short of foolishness. The pandemic, and its impact on so many families, clearly require emergency actions to cope with the damage, not only to our health and civic life, but also to our pocket books.

— Nina Daniel
Former Weston First Selectman

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