Technology Aids Referendum Effort

Gone apparently are the days of standing outside a supermarket to collect signatures to force a townwide referendum.

In the case of residents who want to restore $800,000 that was cut from the Board of Education's proposed 2011-12 budget, the effort is as simple as going to a website and printing and signing a copy of a petition.

Richard Joslin, one of the residents who picked up a petition at the Town Clerk's Office on Wednesday, said Monday that he had checked with Town Attorney Richard Saxl and Town Clerk Betsy Browne and that one person can both be a signer and a circulator of a petition to have a referendum. That means one resident can print out a copy of a petition from the Internet, sign it and hand it in to the Town Clerk's Office.

Joslin, though, said residents, after they print out a petition, also can go to their neighbors and have them sign the petition. "What I've been trying to do is find people who are gathering them," he said. "I don't have a whole crew of people. I'm just kind of doing it word of mouth. It's a little less in your face. I don't want to be yelled at; it's not pleasant being yelled at. I'm trying to do it low-key."

Joslin said he is trying to save Board of Education employees' jobs and that he hopes members of unions that represent school board employees are active in gathering signatures as well.

Supt. of Schools David G. Title said at the May 2 Representative Town Meeting that an $800,000 cut - on top of a $2 million cut approved by the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance - would likely result in a total of 30 to 35 certified and non-certified staff being laid off. Title is scheduled on Thursday to present his recommended areas to cut from the $148.5 million budget adopted by the Board of Education in January. The school board's subcommittee meeting is scheduled at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Education Center, 501 Kings Highway East.

"I've got to believe the union is pretty energized," Joslin said. He added that his interest in gathering signatures would wane if Title is able to find $2.8 million worth of savings without laying people off.

To residents who believe that the Board of Education is top heavy with administrators, Joslin said he figures if that were the case, school board employees with the most to lose would be sounding the alarm. "I have to believe the union who has the most to lose would be the most vociferous in saying, 'Yeah, there's fat to cut.' " An operational audit of the Board of Education's current budget had recommended that the school district add 2.5 administrators, according to school board Chairman John Mitola.

Joslin said the target of referendum supporters is to collect 3,000 signatures by the deadline of 4:30 p.m. May 17. Having a referendum requires at least 1,748 signatures, which is the equivalent of 5 percent of Fairfield voters, but Joslin said he's aiming higher in case some signatures aren't valid.

John Convertito, an attorney who also picked up a petition at the Town Clerk's Office on Wednesday, wasn't available early Monday afternoon to comment on his signature-gathering efforts.

Kate Daniello, co-founder of We the People of Fairfield, a taxpayers' advocacy group, wasn't available early Monday afternoon to say if her group planned a "counter-referendum" that seeks to cut $400,000 from the $145.68 million school board budget that was approved by the RTM on May 2 after the RTM cut $800,000. Daniello said last week that her group would launch a counter-referendum effort if she thought the effort to restore money to the school board's budget picked up steam. Assistant Town Clerk Ann Roche said Monday that she wasn't aware of anyone pulling petitions to cut more money from the school board's $145.68 million budget.

Joslin said 40 percent of households in town have children under the age of 18 and that constitutes the largest voting block in Fairfield. "I'm not trying to discount older people, but I was surprised at the large number of families. There's a lot of migration in. I think it's important people realize that. There's a lot more kids and parents than people think," he said.

Joslin said some people are viewing the drive to have a referendum on the $800,000 cut as a "litmus test," meaning if the referendum effort is unsuccessful it means "the parents are weak and can be rolled over next year."

Joslin on Wednesday had picked up a petition to restore $800,000 and a petition to restore $500,000, but it seemed like $800,000 was the amount that would be on the ballot if at least 1,748 signatures are submitted to the Town Clerk's Office by 4:30 p.m. May 17 and are deemed to be valid. "I wanted to get a sense of what the appetite was," Joslin said of his decision to request petitions with both amounts, "and most people said, 'Let's go with $800,000.' "

The $800,000 cut works out to about $32 a year in savings for the average taxpayer, according to Town Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller.