Referendum Drive is On

Two residents have asked the Town Clerk's Office for petitions to have a referendum that would restore money to the Board of Education's $145.68 million budget for fiscal year 2011-12.

Richard Joslin of Carriage Drive picked up a petition asking that $800,000 be restored and a petition asking that $500,000 be restored, and John Convertito of Oyster Road was scheduled to pick up a petition asking that $800,000 be restored.

Town Clerk Betsy Browne said 1,748 voters would have to sign the petitions for a referendum to take place. The petitions would be due in the Town Clerk's Office by 4:30 p.m. May 17, which is 14 days after the Representative Town Meeting voted to adopt a town budget for 2011-12. The RTM had cut $800,000 from the Board of Education's proposed budget, which already had been reduced by $2 million by the Board of Selectmen, which was a decision backed by the town's Board of Finance.

The Board of Education's budget now stands at $145.68 million, which is an increase of $4.1 million, or 2.9 percent, over its current budget of $141.6 million.

Convertito couldn't be reached, and Joslin wasn't available early Wednesday afternoon.

Board of Education Vice Chairman Pam Iacono said residents who want to have a referendum to restore money to the Board of Education's budget are following the Democratic process set up under the Town Charter. "I respect the fact they want to restore it as much as I would respect somebody who would want to cut it. That's their right," she said.

First Selectman Sherri Steeneck, who took over as the town's chief elected official at midnight due to former First Selectman Ken Flatto's resignation, had the same take on the attempted referendum as Iacono. "That's part of the process. They're allowed to do that, and, if that's what they would like to do, they should do it," she said.

Kate Daniello, co-founder of We the People of Fairfield, a taxpayers' advocacy group, said her group would mount a counter-referendum asking for an additional $400,000 cut to the Board of Education's budget if the signature-gathering effort to restore money gains steam. "We would only do that if these individuals start to ramp up a real effort," she said.

Daniello said she felt the RTM struck a balance between the needs of the Board of Education and the needs of senior citizens in Fairfield, many of whom are living on fixed incomes. The RTM initially considered a $1.2 million cut to the school board's proposed budget, but ended up settling on an $800,000 cut instead.

Daniello said she is concerned that parents may try to bring petitions into the schools and that she is looking into how that can be prevented. She said that would give an unfair advantage to residents who want money restored to the school board's budget.

Meanwhile, Iacono said Supt. of Schools David G. Title on May 12 will present recommended reductions totaling $2.8 million to the $148.5 million budget that the Board of Education adopted in January. Title is due to present those recommendations to the Board of Education's Finance, Budget & Community Relations Subcommittee at 5 p.m. that day in the Education Center, 501 Kings Highway East.