Opinion

New Canaan residents share their thoughts and raise issues of importance to our community, on matters touching local residents—property and business owners, taxpayers, students, nonprofit leaders and caregivers. This is a space for New Canaanites to recognize good works that may otherwise go unnoticed or to raise questions and concerns for public vetting. To submit a letter to the editor, email editor@newcanaanite.com.

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Recent Articles

Letter: Corbet Endorses Rob Fryer for Town Treasurer

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New Canaan is blessed with many resources and I can think of no one better than Rob Fryer—a CPA and experienced finance and accounting professional—for the role of town treasurer. As a former member of the Board of Finance, candidate for town treasurer in 2011 and soon-to-be former town councilman, I know firsthand that New Canaan would greatly benefit from Rob’s experience as a retired partner at a Big Four accounting firm and as an effective member of the New Canaan Community Foundation and the New Canaan Land Trust. Rob’s expertise in the oversight and implementation of financial controls—coupled with his availability and time commitment—offers New Canaan a tremendous opportunity to help steer the right course in cash management and bond financings and will provide the town’s senior leadership, boards and commissions with invaluable consultation in financial matters. As a nearly 30-year resident of New Canaan, Rob is above all a great man of integrity and character—nothing rattles him—which is why he is often sought for his thoughtful views on many different issues. To learn more about Rob and his plans as town treasurer take a look at his website at www.robfryer.com. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Opinion, Election 2017, Kathleen Corbet, Rob Fryer

Letter: In Support of Rich Townsend for New Canaan Town Council

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Five percent. Almost any organization has at least 5 percent of its budget it can cut. In fact, it can usually do an even better job with the remaining leaner organization. That is one of the many reasons why I support Rich Townsend for New Canaan Town Council. He is focused on protecting our property values through fiscal discipline, including a 5 percent spending cut as a baseline for government spending. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Opinion, Election 2017, Rich Townsend

Letter: New Canaan DTC Chair Thanks Dignitaries, Attendees at Annual Barbecue

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Editor:

On behalf of the New Canaan Democratic Town Committee, I extend my thanks to all who attended the DTC Annual Barbecue at Kiwanis Park on Sunday.  We were especially honored to have our two US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy and US Congressman Jim Himes with us and we are grateful for their inspirational remarks and their time that they spent one-on-one with the enthusiastic crowd. In addition, we welcomed CT Secretary of State Denise Merrill, Attorney General George Jepsen, General Assembly Representative William Tong and Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim. Throughout the event, the speakers offered their strong support for all of our local candidates who are running for elected office. Six of our candidates—Kit Devereaux for First Selectwoman, Rob Fryer for Town Treasurer, Sheri West for Board of Education, Liz Gores Donovan, Sven Englund and Colm Dobbyn for Town Council each spoke about their vision and commitment to New Canaan and were energized by the turnout and encouragement they each received from the dignitaries and the crowd in attendance. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Opinion

Op-Ed: Troubled by Withholding of Cost Overrun Information for NCHS Fields, Track Project

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I was discouraged to read the article about the New Canaan High School fields projects. As the past chair of the Town Council’s subcommittee on the Lakeview Avenue Bridge overruns, I had hopes that our days of “surprise” cost overruns were behind us—that we had come to understand the importance of process, communication, and transparency. The idea that the information about pending cost overruns was available in June but not made public until September is deeply disappointing. Had the town’s governing bodies known of the true costs of the projects, those projects might have been configured differently. By not making the information public, that prerogative was preempted. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Opinion, Election 2017, Kit Devereaux