Letter to the Editor: Stick to Republicans on Westport BOF

Stewardship of Westport under Selectman Jim Marpe and a Republican‐led Board of Finance (BOF) has brought our town and finances back to the standard we all expect. Continuing with this successful formula leads me encourage all of Westport to vote for Mike Rea, Clarissa Moore and Ian Bruce for the Board of Finance.

Since shifting to Republican leadership, the BOF has worked with the Selectman’s office to improve the quality of our lives. To name a few real impacts, town roads are being repaved and maintained at an aggressive rate, downtown improvements is revitalizing our community, boating marinas upgrades reflect our water assets, and the Longshore golf course is setting a high standard compared to our neighboring towns. All of this and more only increasing our operating budget by 2.1% while we have met our contractual expenses and pension obligations that easily outpace this increase. Additionally, our average mill rate has increased only 0.01% while other communities have seen their taxes surge. I hear across the spectrum from newly relocated, young families to our senior citizens that life feels a bit more affordable.

This BOF has delivered for Westport but they are not leaning back they are leaning forward. They have communicated their desire to work with other town departments to drive improvements at Compo Beach, improve coordination with the BOE and continue the reform of our OPEB obligations while looking for incremental revenue opportunities from assets like our town‐owned cell tower locations. The Republican‐lead BOF approach is even more important in light of recent announcement by Governor Malloy’s budget director that Westport will lose more than $400,000 of state committed funds this year alone and future state budgets hold more red ink that will only negatively impact the people of our town.

For these reasons, the ticket of Bruce, Moore and Rea along with Jen Tooker have the integrity, temperament, experience and understanding of Westport. Collectively, they represent the best option to preserve our town while securing a prosperous future for Westport. Please join me in voting for Mike Rea, Clarissa Moore and Ian Bruce.

Steve Obsitnik