By Sarah Opdahl

On Thursday, March 28, New Fairfield’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) had a charged discussion about the approval of the personnel report, a normally routine portion of each meeting. The report included the hiring of Mr. Matthew Schwartz for the position of Temporary Part-Time Director of Public Relations and Outreach. Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco took issue with  Schwartz’s resume, which largely consists of roles on Republican campaigns, rather than straight public relations experience. There were several public comments reflecting the concern many have about the potential communications flow from who they see as a “political operative.”

Del Monaco pointed out, “you cannot use taxpayer money for political purposes. Nor can you use taxpayer money to advocate one way or another for the budget. I am very concerned that this person does not have public relations experience, he has campaign and political consulting experience.” First Selectman Ms. Melissa Lindsey responded, “the reason I chose this person was his timeline fit the temporary position” better than other candidates and “his ideas were more now.”

In reaction to the Board of Finance’s (BOF) r equest to the BOS for p otential cuts to the budget, Lindsey listed a number of areas to trim. The list included cuts in technology, overtime funding in the Communication Center,  public works, and more. Del Monaco cautioned, “these lines are so thin to begin with” and there is “absolutely no contingency and that becomes problematic.” She fears compounded budget issues in the future. Lindsey said, though she wishes there was no need to cut areas in the budget, the exercise was in direct response to the BOF’s discussion.

Continuing to be at an impasse on the inclusion of funding for a part-time animal control assistant position, Del Monaco pointed out reasons to fund the position, while Lindsey responded to say that the issue is moot as that position’s funding is not in the budget.

With Selectmen who have fundamental differences in opinion regarding the budget’s aims, the conversation became tense. Selectman Mr. Tom Perkins said, “we can’t just keep ‘printing money’ by raising people’s taxes by double digits every year, the people cannot afford it.” He went on to say, “There’s a lot of people in this town that cannot afford these increases. We have to be responsive to them, as well as provide the best possible public services that we can.” Del Monaco said, “I am not saying I disagree with that,” but stressed that critical needs should be funded, one of which she sees as the animal control part-time assistant.

The BOS agreed to proceed with pursuing an intern for the community garden. A win-win, there are science programs at Western Connecticut State University that require students to accrue research hours in the field and their work is free to communities. The Community Garden Committee plans to offer an annual stew ardship to a graduate student in the Biological Diversity program. Possible projects could include planning for and increasing pollinators and controlling invasive species.

The next regular New Fairfield Board of Selectmen meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 7:30 p.m.