To the editor:

Please allow this to serve as a response to the letter campaign launched by Mr. Bill Reed concerning the upcoming vote for the new school building for Westport.

Mr. Reed writes about transparency which I agree is very important when discussing any issue. However, if the concern is transparency, why has Mr. Reed not disclosed his affiliation with the Westport Taxpayers Association? He has authored these types of letters to the editors in the newspapers on their behalf in the past. Why not pull back the curtain and declare his affiliation with the Westport Taxpayers Association?

In its Organization Statement, the Westport Taxpayers Association has claimed to be an “independent organization,” without affiliation nationally or geographically with others. It claims that it was formed to educate, inform, analyze and monitor residents of Westport on matters pertaining to taxes, public spending, public debt, public administration and public policy on taxation and spending.

Despite its stated purposes, no one who claimed to be a member of the Westport Taxpayers Association had volunteered to participate in the planning and development of the proposal for Westport’s new school over the past three years.

Some of Mr. Reed’s numerous letters imply that the citizens of Westport were unaware of what was being done. For someone who is concerned with taxpayer issues in Westport, it is highly unusual and suspect to claim that this vote is based upon a knee jerk decision and that there has been a lack of opportunity for discussion.

Where was the Westport Taxpayers Association when the School Building Committee was organized? This committee is comprised of volunteers from all different backgrounds in our community. This would have provided the Westport Taxpayers Association a front row seat throughout the entire process. Could it be that the decision was made to vote “no” regardless of details?

Where was the Westport Taxpayers Association at the numerous school building committee meetings or public forums, where the same questions raised in Mr. Reed’s letters have been answered on numerous occasions?

The Westport Taxpayers Association and its cloistered membership have conveniently decided to inject themselves into this conversation just before the vote. This is customarily how they have done things when addressing issues of taxation. However, the failure to participate over the past three years only illustrates the underlying motivation, which is to just say “no.”

The Westport Taxpayers Association will surely, through Mr. Reed, continue to flood the local newspapers with letters to the editors and top it all off with a glossy mailer filled with distorted facts to the residents of Westport before we vote. Please include in your flyer that a “no vote” will inevitably cause this community to pay 100% of the cost to build a school for Westport’s junior/senior high school students, including demolition of the middle school.

This community should no longer endure the lack of transparency and motive, particularly on an issue that has the support of the Westport Board of Selectmen, the Finance Committee and School Committee, Representative Paul Schmid and Senator Michael Rodrigues; as well as the editorials in the Herald News, Standard Times and Shorelines. They all support a yes vote.

The proposed plan for Westport is not only cost efficient but necessary in order to address the fiscal challenges of our aging and dysfunctional educational facilities, Westport’s children – and all of us – deserve better. This is an issue for the entire community that will not disappear and can no longer be pushed down the road. The state is willing to pay over 40% of the cost. This $38 million coupon expires if we do not use it now.

Nancy C. Stanton-Cross

Westport