Good government requires resident participation. Good government also requires that elected officials listen when residents speak. Too often, as taxpayers, we are ignored, instead being subjected to an arrogant attitude of "I know better" from people who actually should, but don't!
Unfortunately it is my belief that in Killingworth these days, top elected officials are not really listening. Maybe if they did, more than a dozen people would show up at a town public hearing! Sure, taxpayers bear some responsibility to show up, but it is also the role of elected officials to set the tone showing they want to listen and perhaps occasionally take meaningful action based on residents' input.
I have lived in Killingworth for 40 years and I own a successful business
in here. I have significant land holdings in town, my family has been
part of the fabric of this town for many years and I offer my professional
and personal expertise willingly as a volunteer. I am so disappointed
how Killingworth is being governed and how our collective tax dollars
are being spent. I am dissatisfied that my volunteer role results in
so little. Are so many Americans today correct in accepting that we really
don't and can't make a difference as taxpayers or volunteers?
First Selectman Marty Klein calls for more "new faces, new people" on
boards and commissions. Good luck with that! They don't even vote,
why bother to volunteer? There are so many examples of volunteers serving,
only to have results ignored. I have firsthand experience. Sure, I understand
that not every finding meets with total approval. But it sure could bring
more volunteers, more effective services, and maybe even lower taxes
if selectmen would show that they actually seem to care about service
more than fighting among themselves and governing by what often seems "the
seat of their pants."
As a member of the Pay As You Throw Committee (PAYT), it is beyond rational thinking that selectmen continue to allow Transfer Station use by unauthorized people. Vehicles without stickers continue to use the facility. They come often; they dump their trash and leave, all without showing a valid sticker. If town employees don't ask and selectmen don't require stickers, who really is to blame? PAYT has documented the chronic misuse and lack of enforcement, yet selectmen refuse to take action.
Bulky waste is out of control at the Transfer Station, we at PAYT have tried to start a conversation on how to address this, and yet again, selectmen have made it clear they have no interest. Bulky waste containers continue to overflow, in large part a result of contractor and resident abuse. Our top elected officials seem more comfortable paying more of your tax dollars rather than engage in meaningful discussion about a serious problem.
If you like using the Transfer Station late on Thursday evening in the summer, forget about it this year. Despite documentation that residents want and use the facility then, selectmen again have decided to ignore actual car counts supporting significant use, opting to instead go along with Transfer Station personnel who claim, but can't actually provide any data that nobody is using the facility Thursday evenings in the summer.
But my personal favorite is how selectmen forgo tens of thousands of dollars in revenue for metal discarded at the Transfer Station. Selectmen would rather accept $75 per ton for discarded metal sold to outside vendors rather than twice that amount, which has been offered. And yes, we pay $ 165 per trip for the outside vendor to haul our under priced metal, rather than using the $145 thousand dollar new town truck which town officials claimed that we had to have! It seems to me to be so financially irresponsible. Why don't our elected officials see what so many others see so clearly? After all, isn't it their money also that is being wasted? Maybe if they listened just a little closer, they would realize that it really is their money too.
How much longer are we going to waste people and financial resources in Killingworth? I guess if our town leaders don't make changes, we can make our own changes for them. After all November elections are not far away. Let's hope that our choices are not just more of the same!
Peter Venuti