To the editor:

The Wilton Democratic Town Committee is hosting its annual spring breakfast – Saturday May 3rd at Trackside, 15 Station Road at 9 a.m. Everyone is welcome.

Our featured speakers will be: Susan Bysiewicz, Secretary of State; Kim Fawcett, State Representative (Fairfield and Westport); John Hartwell, Candidate for State Senate; Jim Himes, Candidate for Congress and Peggy Reeves, Candidate for State Representative.

I also want to acknowledge Ted Hoffstatter and his recent election to the Democratic State Central Committee representing the 26th Senate District. Congratulations Ted.

Be sure you are registered to vote this November. This will be an historic election for local races with no incumbent in the 26th Senate race or the 143rd State Representative race.

Peggy Reeves, John Hartwell and Jim Himes all have my vote — come to our breakfast and get to know them. See for yourself why you should consider voting for them.

Deborah McFadden

Wilton

Save your gowns

To the editor:

On behalf of the Wilton Woman's Club and the Wilton high school student committee, I'd like to thank everyone for their support of our first PROMises prom dress event. Partnering with a group from Saint Paul's church in Fairfield, two giveaway days were held at Saint John's church in Bridgeport on Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5.

Over 150 girls found their perfect prom dress and were also able to choose shoes, jewelry, a purse and makeup. It was a fun and gratifying day for all of us and very exciting to see so many happy girls in beautiful dresses.

Many thanks to following for helping to make our collection days and our event a success: Storage Deluxe in Wilton, Wilton River Cleaners, the Wilton Playshop, Toquet Hall in Westport, Saint Michael's church in New Canaan and Ridgefield Parks and Recreation.

Save your gowns as we look forward to another successful event next year.

Genia Meinhold

Wilton Woman's Club Youth Programs Chair

Wilton

We need you

To the editor:

Of the many responsibilities we have as Wilton's Republican Town Committee, perhaps the most important is to ensure that each and every Wiltonian is represented by fair, responsible and thoughtful individuals; reflecting the make up of its' citizens, giving them a voice in their government. We do this by seeking out and vetting candidates to fill our share of the 100 plus volunteer positions that make up the boards and commissions that is Wilton Town Government. What this means is, we need you.

The very nature of volunteer government dictates that openings will occur on these Boards/Commissions, as individual family and professional responsibilities ebb and flow, and our dedicated citizen volunteers rise to meet those challenges. Toward that end, I would welcome any and all of you, Republican or Unaffiliated, to go to www.wiltonrtc.org and click on the Public Office link. Look at what your neighbors are doing and how they have risen to the challenge of helping each of us, helping you and I, by giving of themselves to ensure the quality of life that keeps us calling Wilton home. I then ask that you consider which of these positions you might want to raise your hand for, which of these you feel you can participate in to help yourselves, your neighbors and your Town.

If you find something that interests you, please feel free to contact me at 761-1040, or by email at mr.al.alper@gmail.com. Even if you have a question on what these position mean/do/require, or want to know more about the Republican Town Committee, I'd love to hear from you.

Al Alper, Chairman

Wilton Republican Town Committee

R.I.N.O.

To the editor:

Is it a surprise to anyone that Paul Hannah has crossed over to support a Democrat running for Toni Boucher's State Representative seat, if Toni, in fact, runs for the state senate?

Mr. Hannah is a typical liberal, tax and spend Democrat who exhibited that during his period of service to the Town of Wilton. His latest move, to cross party lines and support the Democrat party, further proves that he is and always has been "a wolf in sheep's clothing," better known in politics as a RINO — Republican In Name Only.

Do not let his endorsement influence you to cross party lines and vote for a Democrat if you want to continue to have a responsible person represent you in a Liberal Democrat state that has policies and laws that continue to chase people to other states where there are not the confiscatory fiscal roadblocks to growth we live with here (have you ever examined the ridiculous "cliff tax" structure of Connecticut's Estate Tax? If not, you should.).

Take a look at what a real — Republican William Brennan — can do when given the chance. Bill has been the most responsible and hard working First Selectman who has served Wilton during the 25+ years I have lived here. Let's continue to elect responsible people to work for us — not another liberal, tax and spend Democrat to join that cabal in Hartford.

Paul Daimler

Wilton

Vote no

To the editor:

According to the Legal Notice appearing in your newspaper, the board of selectman's (BOS) operating budget increases from $25,645,765 as adopted for '08 to $27,152,340 for '09. This is an increase of 5.8 percent well above inflation (if that is the benchmark). Of additional concern is the reported fact that the budget to run the first selectman's office increases an extraordinary 15.9 percent (from $286,566 to $332,134 or $45,568). I am guessing the average tax on a home in Town is $11,000 and if so, it takes 30 households just to pay for the first selectman's office. Seems extravagant. Recall Brennan cut the Library budget by $50,000 to extend hours.

Compare and contrast this increase to the reported and understandable increase to Town Wide Utilities which is 9.5 percent.($234,603 to $257,027). If I am reading this correctly, it costs much less to run lights, heat, AC etc than it does to run the first selectman's office and the selectman's increase is mor e than 50 percent greater.

I am also concerned that the legal notice excludes information on what was 'actually' spent and presents only guesses of what is to be spent in '08 and '09. So in answer to Faye Stilly's question from last week, we are being asked to vote on a comparison of one guess to another guess. How odd.

We are not given enough intelligent information to evaluate what is going on. I think it's important for the board of finance (BOF) to get on top of these issues, to challenge the Selectmen's budget, to start reporting 'actual' costs, to separate the vote on the BOS budget from the vote on the board of education budget to enable citizens to vote on each group separately.

The BOF would readily adopt these proposals if it sincerely wants to hear the voice of the folks in Town and if the Republican Town Committee wants to remain in control. Surely, they will be voted out of office if extravagance continues.

Accordingly, I plan to vote against the budget until it's fixed and transparent. I urge others (Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike) to do so.

P.S. — I also notice there is a new revenue line item called "Alarm Registration Fees and Penalties" which clarifies, for me, the other reason why it's obvious flaws won't be fixed. $20,000 in anticipated revenue at $25 a pop.

Ed Papp

Wilton

Cleanup success

To the editor:

I would like to thank all of the volunteers who enthusiastically participated in the Townwide Community Cleanup day held last Saturday, April 26, 2008.

I would like to particularly mention the outstanding efforts from Trout Unlimited and the Bittersweet Brigade whose members joined Wilton's Conservation Commissioners and other Town officials in making Wilton's 30th Cleanup Day a success.

These groups and many individuals were able to collect a substantial amount of litter from our streets, parks and riverbanks and filled up a dumpster provided by the Wilton Public Works Department.

Over 45 volunteers targeted specific areas around town and many more volunteers cleaned up their own neighborhoods. Support for this event is proof that when Wilton pulls together in efforts like the annual cleanup, great things happen.

Dave Hapke

Chairman

Wilton Conservation Commission

The FAA's plan

To the editor:

If the FAA's selected IA-ICC Airspace Redesign option is implemented as planned, this is what some of the updated information indicates that this new plan may mean to us in New Canaan:

* At least a trippling of noise. The FAA admits that we will be exposed to increases in aircraft noise ranging from 4.5 to 5.9 decibels DNL. Due to the logarithmical nature of decibel measurement impact, a 3 decibel increase is equivalent to a doubling of noise and a 6 decibel increase is equal to a quadrupling of noise. (FAA's own FEIS report and Environmental Scientist)

* A more than doubling (this new routing makes it closer to a tripling) of the number of planes that fly over us each day. (FAA's Track Analysis submitted to Sen. Joseph Lieberman on Feb. 26, 2008)

* 75 percent of these flights will only be 2000 to 4000 feet above our heads and only 3 miles apart versus the current safer 5 miles separation distance. (FAA's own FEIS report). Prepare to possibly smell the jet fuel and see/feel the soot as engine exhaust from planes flying at these low levels impact the quality of the air we breathe and ergo can cause/aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, in particular asthma, COPD and lung cancer. (NASA Fact Book on Aviation Emissions; EPA (1999 study) and Harvard School of Public Health )

* Assuming these flights primarily occur between 6 a.m. and midnight, based on projected averages, this new plan will average 30 flights per hour over our town. That's approximately a flight every other minute (of course the distribution/constancy will vary with peak vs off-peak times)

* Potential student test score decreases in reading comprehension as well as decreases in short-term and long-term memory and cognitive function. (Journal of Psychological Science; Heathrow study)

* Possible significant increases in blood pressure and stress hormones in children (epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol). (Cornell's 1998 Munich study of 3rd and 4th graders)

* Negative Public Health impacts — even while asleep — of increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and adrenaline levels along with sleep disturbance and decreased restorative REM sleep. Boosts in these stress hormones are linked to life-threatening adult illnesses, including high blood pressure, elevated lipids and cholesterol, heart disease and a reduction in the body's supply of disease-fighting immune cells. (National Institutes of Health: World Heath Organization and The Nordic Scientific Group for Noise Effects)

* Likely diminished property values amidst a nationwide crisis. (ask any realtor)

* A plan that did not prudently involve Senior Air Traffic Controllers in key design changes (Congressman John Hall, NY) nor wait for the new NextGen Air traffic system's Precision-Guided Technology to be implemented before reducing safe distance between aircraft. (FAA NextGen Implementation Plan Schedule)

* Forgoing alternatives such as capacity restraints, congestion pricing, auctioning of slots, opening up military airspace and developing Newburgh's Stewart airport as a major hub. Or further examining the FAA's "Modifications to current Airspace" alternative option, which is superior to the chosen IA-ICC plan in reducing complexity (thus enhancing safety), expediting arrivals and departures and lowering fuel usage. (Table 2.6 of the FAA's R.O.D.)

This plan does not solve flight delay and it is set to be implemented before critical safety components are installed in the control tower, on the ground and in the cockpit. As the numerous pending lawsuits note, the FAA did not follow due process in developing its redesign plan and it violated the fundamental federal charter governing environmental review, as well as its own environmental review procedures.

For further information you can access the 14 town alliance; The Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning (AfSAP) on their Web site www.sensibleairspace.org as well as OurAirspace www.OurAirSpace.org http://ourairspace.org. The FAA's R.O.D. is available at www.faa.gov.

By way of disclosure, I am neither associated with the airline industry nor am I a pilot with vested profit interest. I am merely a New Canaan citizen who does not want to see the quality of life here greatly diminished.

Lily Gruver

New Canaan

Town Meeting Means Me

To the editors:

Several years ago, I purchased a children's book at the Wilton Library's annual book sale. Town Meeting Means Me, written in 1951 by Mina Turner and illustrated by Lloyd Coe, recounted the story of an imaginary town called "Wilport". It was described as the quintessential New England town with the simplest form of democratic government – the town meeting. Detailing the responsibilities of the people who live in such a town, including attending the annual town meeting, the author closed with this last sentence: "The town belongs to you and it is your job to help run it."

We urge all eligible voters to attend the Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Middlebrook School Auditorium. The vote takes place by machine ballot (optical scan machine) immediately following the adjournment of the meeting. The vote continues on Saturday, May 10 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Middlebrook School Gymnasium.

Who is eligible to vote at a town meeting?

1. All registered voters, regardless of whether they own property in town, are eligible to vote at the Town Meeting.

2. If you are not registered to vote, but you are a U.S. citizen liable to the town for taxes (real property or motor vehicle) on an assessment of at least $1,000 on the Oct. 1, 2007 Grand List, you are also eligible to vote. This applies to nonresidents who own property in town, as well as to those residents who are not registered to vote but are listed on the Grand List. Please note that in all cases you must be a U.S. citizen. If you own property in town but are not a citizen, you are not eligible to vote. Also, if you purchased property in Wilton after Oct. 1, 2007 (the date of the last-completed grand list), your name will not be on the grand list and you must be registered to vote.

You may register at our offices Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or call us to request a mail-in application.

Peggy Reeves

Tina Gardner

Registrars of Voters

Wilton Town Hall