Winsted needs renewed leadership

Just a month into 2013, members of the Winchester Board of Selectmen are facing some of the town’s most crucial fiscal problems in years, and townspeople are growing increasingly frustrated with the notion that the school system has come close to seeing its electricity shut off or that the town’s Water and Sewer Commission may be nearly $2 million short on cash.These jarring revelations have been underscored by the firing of the town’s longtime finance director, Henry Centrella, who was in office when large sums of money went missing from town accounts, further complicating Winsted’s fiscal situation and causing many to lose faith in management at town hall. Suffice it to say there is plenty of blame to go around, and it is up to the Board of Selectmen to investigate financial problems and come up with some answers.To date, very little has been done by the board, other than to identify problems and complain that the town may be drowning in as much as $4 million in red ink. That’s a lot of money for any one person to ponder, but to put it into better perspective, the entire town budget for the year is $30 million. If $4 million is suddenly missing, someone should have known about it sooner.With an interim finance director now working to dig through current and past budgets to determine the town’s ultimate fiscal outlook, selectmen are seeking regular reports from Town Hall regarding the current state of affairs. Board members should take their time to ask detailed questions about the budget at their next meeting on Feb. 4, and they should relay information to the community in every way they can. That includes talking to the press, getting on local public-access television and offering clear explanations during their regular televised meetings.Without clear factual information, certain members of the community tend to run rampant with misinformation, muddying the dialogue and confusing residents. The time has come for the Board of Selectmen to be more open and honest with constituents by publicly examining the town’s financial situation and clearly explaining how necessary solutions will be implemented.Anything less than a complete explanation from the current leadership on the board will be considered another sign of mismanagement and incompetence at the highest levels of local government. Now, particularly, is the time for board members to step up and deliver an honest assessment of Winsted’s financial situation.