Letter: Barrington resident and Times need to check facts

Posted 4/20/17

To the editor:

After reading a letter to the editor from Paul O’Brien , I need to respond to all the non-facts Paul published. 

Mr. O’Brien blames the Committee on …

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Letter: Barrington resident and Times need to check facts

Posted

To the editor:

After reading a letter to the editor from Paul O’Brien, I need to respond to all the non-facts Paul published. 

Mr. O’Brien blames the Committee on Appropriations (COA) for making cuts to the school budget. He fails to mention they also make cuts to the municipal budget.  

Paul, you state in your letter the COA is cutting programs, teachers, learning coaches, sports and transportation — none of that was ever talked about except transportation and that is to cut one bus. 

So again you are not telling the facts. 

The COA has a difficult task. They look at both the municipal and the school budgets and have to make recommendations based on what they feel will be an appropriate increase. The town cannot increase our budget by more than 9.1 percent based on the new tax cap put forth by the state (the bond is about 4.5 percent which means the rest of the budget can be no more than a 4.6 percent increase). 

With the town and school budget where they are at the time of writing this we exceed this cap. Cuts have to be made. I applaud them for looking out for all the taxpayers and making sure that Barrington remains in good financial standing. Longtime residents of this town greatly appreciate how this town has been run. 

If Mr. O’Brien doesn’t like how the town conducts business then he should consider moving. As for my relationship with members of the COA, I only know that Mr. Mollica is on the COA. Mr. Mollica has his own opinions separate from mine. 

I have spoken out against the bond issue because I did not agree with how the process was done. I felt there should have been a budget made ahead of time, one the town council and COA thought would work for our taxpayers. 

I am all for teachers and back them 100 percent. A major concern with the later start times is that the discussion never involved one classroom teacher or building administrator. 

As for the turf field, I am still in favor of this project. The difference is that private citizens were willing to give $1 million toward the project to completely rebuild the stadium field so it will be more beneficial to the whole town. The 6-to-8 know cancer causing chemicals seems high, considering that we all drink out of plastic bottles, use cell phones, microwaves, fly in airplanes etc. There is a newer filler for turf that uses sand and coconut fibers for the infill. That was an option along with virgin rubber for the turf that the group was looking into.

RIACT has nothing to do with turf field or the taxpayers of Barrington. They are a group that gives the truths to the problem of later start times. 

Paul, your group that keeps putting out the start times and trying to shove it down everyone’s throats in town including Dr. Douglas is also full of mis-knowns. Your group puts out certain facts, there are many studies and facts that are coming out against moving start times later. Weigh out the differences, there is only so much money to be spent, Paul.

I am looking out for everyone, especially the people that have lived in this town for years. We all suffer because people like Mr. O’Brien move in and move out within 15 to 20 years, leaving the high tax rate for the rest of us.

As for myself and the town, we have always been supportive of the schools for many years, that is how our school district has become number 1 for all these years. That is why we are a blue ribbon school.  

I would suggest you do a better job checking your facts before you publish your next letter along with the Barrington Times researching the facts also.

Tom Rimoshytus

Barrington

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