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Dereliction of Duty

In a Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting on the morning of April 6, Selectman Bruce Wilson proposed that the board pass a resolution that opposes state takeover of our local zoning, as well as other state mandates that are being rammed through the General Assembly in Hartford.

With a noble goal of providing a better spread of diversity in our towns, the Democratic legislators have distributed overlapping mechanisms into 12 different bills to implement bad policy that will destroy our local control, preclude public hearings, risk environmental impact, and change the nature of our downtown area. Leveraging their supermajorities in the House and Senate, they are ramming the bills through pell-mell.

One goal is to wipe out local zoning control within a half mile of transit stations, such that a developer could install up to 15 units per acre with no parking.

But when Wilson offered the resolution opposing such takeover, First Selectman Peggy Lyons refused, saying it’s not her job to worry about what the state legislature does. “Stay in our lane,” she retorted. But fighting the state government imposition of mandates and taxes truly is part of that job. Her various predecessors worked tirelessly with the Council of Small Towns and they successfully fought bills that were harmful to the town’s local control or funding.

That is her job. Standing by and watching the state run roughshod over us is dereliction of duty. I urge the BOS to pass this resolution!

Dennis Crowe

Madison