Political foes are easy pickin's

Anyone who watches the annual budget process in Winsted knows there is a dedicated contingent of townspeople who rally consistently each year in opposition to the budget, peppering the air with rhetoric about skyrocketing property taxes and unsustainable school-budget increases. But this year, there are some new faces in the mix.

If you haven’t noticed yet, it’s local Republicans who are making noise about the budget this year, particularly Selectman (and former mayor) Kenneth Fracasso, who has complained loudly at recent meetings that the school budget is out of control, that the administration is greedy and incompetent and, most recently, that Board of Education members ought to be held liable for any expenses that exceed the school-budget line item.

The anti-schools message represents a change for Republican leaders, who have a history of supporting budget increases, both in the kindergarten to grade eight school system and at The Gilbert School, not to mention on the municipal side of the budget. So what is the noise all about?

Yes, it appears Fracasso is already campaigning for the 2010 town election, identifying the school system as an easy target during a lean budget year. Fracasso essentially called Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno a liar Monday night when he said he expects the superintendent to spend “every last dime� of federal stimulus funds that Salerno offered to return to the town. He also suggested that the Board of Selectmen should consider suing individual members of the school board personally for overspending this year’s budget.

Town Manager Wayne Dove reminded Fracasso that an audit had been done on this year’s school budget and that school officials have provided their best estimate of where the budget will be at the end of the year. It was a gentle reminder to Fracasso to show school officials a bit more respect.

But when it comes to suing the school board, selectmen would be wise to consider the fact that they are ultimately responsible for all of the town’s finances and could easily find themselves the defendants in a countersuit if they chose such obnoxious legal recourse.

Fracasso is a businessman, and he knows nobody is suing anybody, but it’s clear he’s comfortable berating the school system to score political points. The source of the former mayor’s anger is more likely the sting of his party’s defeat last year at the polls.

It would serve townspeople well to recall that recent problems in Winsted’s schools, including an exodus of affluent taxpayers, began back in the 1990s when — you guessed it — people started attacking the school budget.