Letters: Republican Selectmen Are 'Fiscal Watchdogs'

Fiscal criticisms of Republican selectmen unfounded

To the Editor:

With a chuckle, I read campaign criticism of Jayme Stevenson, Dave Campbell, and Jerry Nielsen as driving the mill rate increases of Darien. As former Chairman of the Board of Finance, I feel obligated to comment and help educate on the budgetary picture.

First and foremost, the selectmen never vote on the mill rate, and do not even propose one. The mill rate is adopted by the Board of Finance and approved by the RTM.

Second, the part of the budget under that control of the selectmen is only 26% of the total Darien budget. Debt service is 8%, and the Board of Education represents 66%. The continued increases in school enrollment and special education expenditures have driven the largest part of mill rate increases over the past couple years.

Third, the existing selectmen have adopted tight budgets over the past two years, which have included headcount reductions and restructured operations.

If the Democratic candidates for Board of Selectmen wish to make material changes to mill rates, I would suggest that they run for the Board of Finance or the Board of Education. I, however, am very happy having Jayme, Dave, and Jerry as the fiscal watchdogs of the selectmen operations.

Murry Stegelmann

31 Briar Brae Road

The author is a former chairman of the Board of Finance.

Support Stevenson, Nielsen, Campbell for reelection

To the Editor:

Please join me in supporting Jayme Stevenson, Jerry Nielsen, and David Campbell for reelection as Darien selectmen. I’m impressed with them as individuals and as a team and am appreciative of the job they've done as selectmen. 

I served on the Darien High School Parents Association when Jayme was president, served on the Darien Library building committee when Dave was co-chair, and am currently serving on the police building committee with Jerry. Thus, I've worked with each of the selectmen on important issues for the town and have the utmost respect for each of them.  

Dot Kelly