State Representative Jonathan Hecht's Endorsement

I find it interesting that State Representative Jonathan Hecht has elected to enter the local election by endorsing certain incumbents versus the field of a number of outstanding candidates for Town Councilors at Large. 

Representative Hecht cites a dysfunctional Council in the past that one can view on YouTube.  (I assume he is describing me as being inept.)  I guess that he has forgotten that despite the contentiousness on the Council during his heyday and my tenure, we accomplished more than the Council of the past four years has accomplished.

We witness now a disconnect with the voters and in general anyone in the community who does not have the ear of those in power.  There is a hue and cry that the Council is unwilling to listen to their concerns.  

Further their is a disconnect between the Schools, the administration and the parents that we have not seen since 1990 when we had the march on Town Hall and the Slogan was "Save our Schools".  The Town Manager was sitting on money that he declared that he did not have.  I am mindful of the fact that this did not occur under my dysfunctional leadership.

Forgotten is the improvements that we made in our schools, parks and library which I believe is a state of the arts building.

Debate is healthy and is the democratic way.  If you wish to have a nation of sheep, one should live in an autocratic country.

The state formula for funding local education is outdated and I wish our local state elected leaders would place more emphasis on this issue because upon examination one will find that there is a bias unfavorable toward Watertown's interest.

Under my presidency we also established the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Subcommittee and I appointed then Councilor Hecht as its first chairman.

I do not wish to be so critical; however, this is a very important election.  All of the candidates stated this past Sunday that Watertown is at a crossroad. 

It is imperative that Watertown move in a different direction and reelecting all of the incumbent does not lead to the transparency demanded by all of the residents.

In closing, I do not know who Representative Hecht is talking to; however, I think it is important that he broaden the scope/diversity of the Watertown Residents that he is enlisting comments from. 

We have many problems in this community that are not being addressed and they do not require an override of Proposition 2 1/2.  It requires a common sense approach to our problems.