Woodbridge – Tuesday evening approximately sixty residents of the town gathered in The Center Gym to hear about the preliminary 2009-2010 budget. The meeting started off with First Selectman Ed Sheehy providing a quick update on the efforts of the town to purchase the Woodbridge Country Club. He spoke about appraisals of the property that value it at greater than what the town has offered, the process of signing letters of intent, lining up short term funding and securing and maintaining the property.

A summary of the budget was presented and then each department was mentioned and the attendees were given an opportunity to speak. Most items passed quickly by. There was one question about the amount of electricity that would be used in the old firehouse during the year.

When the Library budget was brought up, Aldonno Noto spoke up on behalf of the Library urging the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectman to consider funding a pilot program enabling the library to be open on Sunday afternoons. There was a brief discussion about the number of people that responded in a survey saying they would use the library, about how the Friends of The Library believed it would help in their fundraising, and about whether or not the library staff was supportive of the idea.

The board responded that the Library can chose which hours it will be open, but that the board did not intend to provide the additiona $3,000 that the library was suggesting.

The most contentious exchange was when Dr. William Silberberg spent a lot of time questioning details of the Woodbridge Board of Education budget. Board of Finance member Michael Luther was highly critical of the Board of Education for not getting him budget reports as quickly as he wished. Board of Education Chair Sheila McCreven spoke about the effort of cooperation that the Board had been fostering, noting the monthly meetings with representatives of both the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance. Members of these Boards acknowledge that they were having monthly meetings where they were receiving the information they needed.

I stood up, introduced myself and noted the turnout at the preliminary budget hearing. I contrasted it with the turnout at the Board of Education meetings, where I am usually one of the few people at the board meeting not there in an official capacity. I noted that much of the information that Dr. Silberberg and Mr. Luther were requesting had frequently been discussed at the Board of Education meetings, and if people are really concerned about having a budget that protects the taxpayers from increased taxes and from decreased property value that failing to properly fund education in Woodbridge would produce, then they really should attend the Board of Education meetings and have their say as the budgets are being drafted.

It has subsequently been pointed out to me that Mr. Luther voted to accept the budget recommendations at the March 19th Board of Finance meeting, that he spoke so strenuously against a month later.

It is sort of like what my mother always told me about voting, “if you don’t vote, then don’t complain about who gets elected.” If you don’t show up at meetings where the budget is being discussed and crafted, don’t show up at the meeting after the budgets have been approved by all the boards involved and start complaining.