Letters: 'How on Earth Did We Get to This?'

How on Earth did we get to this?

Plan A: 

1. After renovating and expanding on the Board of Education space at town hall, shuffle the seniors to there. 
2. Push out the board of ed offices, happily content in town hall, to the old library site — which, by the way, is too large for the board’s needs and will need extensive retooling of those large open rooms into the small, private offices that they utilize. 
3. And then force something (we don’t know what) on Edgerton Street residents, who have been cohabitating very nicely with the seniors, who really wanted to stay right where they were.

Plan B: 

1. Sell property of old library and create tax revenue for town.
2. Build a senior center at Edgerton Street with money from the old library sale.
3. Leave the board of ed alone. (Did they want to move?)

Dave Campbell, Jayme Stevenson and Jerry Neilsen’s Plan A is pretty far down the road. It could become a reality. How on Earth did we get to this? 

Vote John Lundeen, Vickie Riccardo, and David Bayne. They are trying hard to make Plan B happen.

Laura Woodward Cavers

221 Middlesex Road

Stevenson makes Darien exceptional

To the Editor:

Soon Governor Dannel Malloy’s tax increases (the largest in state history) will take effect, a sad reality that will hit us hard into the end of a tough year. With 9.1 percent unemployment, CT ranks amongst the worst in our country. 

By most counts, however, we in Darien should count ourselves fortunate. We have excellent schools and lower property taxes than most of our neighboring towns. And we have very competent leadership in the current team of selectmen. Next month, we will have a choice to continue that leadership with Jayme Stevenson.

It’s easy to stand aside, to say local elections don’t matter much. But it’s not the case. Darien is run by a small group of individuals, both elected and volunteers, who dedicate their time and effort into making the town great. We as a country desperately need rational, intelligent people at all levels of government, whose moral compass and common sense reflect the will of the people. We have such a candidate right here in our town. 

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” That one vote can make a difference. Support Jayme on Nov. 8. 

Chris La Jaunie 

Old Kings Highway North

Democrats will restore civility to Board of Selectmen

To the Editor:

I plan to vote for the Democrats in the upcoming local election.

I’m counting on that slate of John Lundeen, Vickie Riccardo and David Bayne to bring us back to the days when Ann Mandel, Ruth Shattuck, Max McCreery, and Gil Lefferts were in office — a time when selectmen were political and also civil and cordial.

Local Republicans everywhere are responsible for the type of Republicans who we see performing in Congress these days. The current group who hold such  national office (with few shining exceptions) as well as the majority of Republican candidates who dream of being president seem to me to be heedless, extreme, intemperate, and belligerent. Worst of all, most are and will be unproductive.

Why vote locally for a crowd which undergirds such national leaders?

Ann Ferris

30 Hale Lane

Darien is a better place thanks to Dave, Jayme, and Jerry

To the Editor:

In their run for the Board of Selectmen two years ago, I wrote a letter of support and made a donation to the campaign for the We Are United team of Dave Campbell, Jayme Stevenson, and Jerry Nielsen. Our Town is a better place because of their tireless dedication and leadership that always has a common theme of “what is best for Darien."

Our appreciation for all they have done and what they can accomplish in the next two years can best be expressed by voting Nov. 8 for Jayme, Dave, and Jerry. It’s not a vote against other candidates — it’s a vote for Darien.

David K. Hawes

2269 Boston Post Road