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An Insult to All Voters

Over the last month, many letters have been written supporting the Clinton education budget and to a lesser degree the town budget. Some letters, like Paul Gebauer’s April 19 “Support What It Takes” have demonized the Clinton Taxpayers Association (CTA), suggesting that advocating against budgets violates community values.

The results of the Clinton referendums suggest that the CTA is more aligned with community values and voter sentiment than is the PTA or the other organizations that promoted “Yes” votes with signs and social media, etc.

With more than 1,800 “No” votes, this was one of the largest numbers of voters rejecting proposed budgets in recent referendums. With only 1,536 of “Yes” votes, it was one of the lowest turnouts supporting the proposed budget in recent referendums.

The CTA could not possibly stir up this much resistance on its own if it wasn’t already there. The organized letter campaign to the Harbor News and the nasty online comments about the CTA and “No” voters in general may have backfired. I thank Clinton residents for making this clear with their votes on May 9.

After the votes were counted, the Board of Finance met and proceeded to cut one half of one percent from both budgets. That is a pittance considering the overwhelming defeat of these budgets. That is an insult to all voters who came out and cast their ballots thinking they had a real voice.

This means voters will have to come back again to vote on May 23. I encourage all who voted “No” on May 9 to come back and vote “No” again, not just to lower the budget, but to make clear how irresponsible and insensitive this minimal reduction is to taxpayers.

Joyce Allen

Clinton