The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-03-07

the board of education the funds ac- cumulated from the mandatory tax for school construction.
 Tn short. the entire responsibility for the education of the young, in- cluding the construction and equip ment of the necessary buildings, is placed squarely upon your shoulders
 Yet, in spite of this, believe it to be my duty as chief executive of- ficer of the city, to exert every pos- sible effort to urge upon this board a complete and radical change in the policy, or lack of policy, which has characterized their actions in the immediate past.
 The specific instances to which refer seem to have originated in the proposal to secure 8 site and build ing for a grade school in the Fair lawn district.
 The immediate need for school in this section has never been clear ly demonstrated. In fact, your school house committee few months ago assured the board of finance that no school would be need ed there for several years to come. Members of the same committee re- , gently declared in the public press that total of but 92 children would
 be served by such 8 school. It is, perhaps, significant that the same faction of your board had previously
 impressed upon the board the need for school in this section and were, if I am correctly informed, a rather potent factor in causing the people of fairlawn to feel the need perhaps more keenly than conditions justi- fled.
 11n n,>I tnd Nn decision that such school was needed, and the boards of aldermen and finance, lowing to what they be- lieved to be your specialized knowl- edge of school conditions, granted your request for the necessary ap- propriation.
 The same faction of your board had quietly secured options on cer- tain pieces of property which we may perhaps call site A. After they had expended considerable time and effort along these lines, this faction suddenly discarded site A and pro- ceeded to present for the considera- ton of your board another site which we will call site B. At that point, the opposing faction in your body presented the original site A, which, after long and far from ele- vating discussion, was finally ac- cepted by majority of one vote.
 am concerned now not with any question of the relative merits or costs of the two sites. desire rather to point out to you the fact that ffcation in the apparent belief that private interest rather than the pub lie welfare was evident in the whole unseemly business.
 This belief may well be strength
 ened by the additional fact that the corporation counsel, to whom the
 question was referred according to law, found clouds upon the title
 which would we'll deter prudent businesss minds from continuing the project without at least subjecting it to much closer investigation. In spite of the fact that the corporation 1 counsel spoke as a public official and gave to your board a sound opinion based upon recognized legal ability and experience, your board, again by the same small margin,
 voted to overrule this opinion and
 to complete the transaction.
 ! The final step in what we might call comedy were 1t not that a very
 serious matter is involved took place | at your last regular meeting. Ignor- ing the school house committee.
 which by your own rules is charged
 with this duty, your board met as 0
 so-called Committee of the Whole" |" at which five of your members were
 present, and voted to employ an ar- chitect to proceed with the plans
 and specifications of this building.
 '.- It is again significant that the
 press, in reporting your meeting,
 made no mention of this action. I am informed that Your Com mittea