End partisan leadership, vote Republican

Fairfield is blessed with a political tradition and system which enlists scores of volunteers to its elected and appointed boards and commissions.

These concerned citizens are usually affiliated with one of the two major parties, but for the most part are dedicated first and foremost to the town and not their party affiliation.

I believe this endemic spirit of non-partisanship stems from our non-centralized system of government, where power is diversely distributed among the Boards and Commissions. While not always the most efficient system I think it has served us well.

As First Selectmen, John Sullivan and Jacky Durrell led this town for over 30 consecutive years in this town-first, non-partisan manner. Sure, there were political rivalries and battles during these years, but that was the friendly yet competitive process at work that ultimately fostered what was best for the town.

Call it checks and balances, or just the democratic process, their political battles were always rooted in a mutual understanding that all, Democrats, Republicans and the unaffiliated, were seeking to do what best served the citizens of Fairfield.

I submit the current first selectman has not embraced this same spirit and tradition of his predecessors. Over the course of his 14 years on the Board of Selectmen, 10 of the last 12 years as first selectman, decisions rooted in party first and blind loyalty to the incumbent have seeped into the political culture, nurturing a brand of partisanship previously unknown in Fairfield.

Indeed, we now have the current Democratic chairman of the Board of Education’s 22-year-old son running for a seat on the same board. While literally depending on his mother’s own political lawn signs, does the Democratic leadership really think townspeople are so naïve as to believe that his will be an independent voice on this board which controls over 60% of Fairfield’s $247 million dollar budget?

Over the past two years, the Democratic controlled Representative Town Meeting has approved Mr. Flatto’s budget gimmickry and political agenda in near lockstep fashion. Most Republicans and a few independent-minded Democrats voiced opposition while raising legitimate questions and issues that challenged the otherwise unbridled actions of the First Selectman. Unfortunately, Mr. Flatto’s stronghold on the Democrat-controlled RTM has stifled purposeful debate and fostered a legislative and executive process that is anything but transparent; it has fomented and fostered partisanship for the sake of party and not for the sake of the Town.

I do not suggest that this relatively new and toxic political culture is one sided in the sense that it only comes from Democrats.

Quite the contrary, both parties are afflicted and so too, therefore, is the town. The question comes down to this: how do we return to the political playing field on which John and Jacky so gracefully competed?

I believe the answer rests with abandoning the current unbridled, one-sided governance. Without a Board of Selectmen race in this year’s municipal election means that a return to genuine checks and balances can only be accomplished by changing the majority party on the RTM.

We have recruited some of the best and brightest members of our community on the Republican ticket. As Chairman of the Republican Town Committee I ask that you vote to bring balance back to our town’s system of governance.

Vote to hold our first selectman accountable and foster a less partisan and more transparent budget process. On Nov. 3, vote for the Republican team on the top line (Row A).

James Baldwin

Chairman,

Republican Town

Committee