Disgust and Distrust in Winsted

It seems that several of the Town of Winchester’s selectmen are feeling "frustrated" over the annual budget approval process. But the talk around town indicates that the people are doubly frustrated. They have lost all confidence in most of the selectmen. For example, we expected a referendum regarding the purchase of Lambert-Kay. What did we get but lies?

The people had recently voted down the purchase of Lambert-Kay for the Alternate School only to have it shoved in our faces again, but this time without an expected referendum. This was done under the guise that it would cost us only $1. How much have we already spent for lawyers' fees? Since the town now intends to use the building for a "safety complex," we are going to be stuck with pollution cleanup. We want to know how much this is going to cost. And how about the cost of liability? Will police, firefighters, maintainers, etc. soon be filing medical bills and health lawsuits?

Now these wily selectmen have taken it into their heads to try to kill the town’s new budget approval procedure. They evidently feel the people have too much power. What they are really angry about is that the people used the combination of town meeting followed automatically by town-wide referendum to reduce a too-fat proposed annual budget. But even more embarrassing for the selectmen was that the people exposed the games the selectmen were playing with line items in the budget. These expenditures—to the tune of $500,000—were so loosely described that the selectmen could have used the money for paying pollution costs at Lambert-Kay and for the construction or purchase of a new Alternate School without going to referendum.

Knowing about this tendency for game-playing and the elitist, we-know-what’s-best-for-you views of those who called for the new Charter Revision Commission, we townspeople need to look very carefully at any recommendations that come forth from this Commission. Vigilance and resistance are the price we must be willing to pay to preserve our freedom and rights!