As both a resident and a registered Republican in Stonington, I am impressed by the cooperative spirit demonstrated within the budget process this year. 

To be sure there are competing needs for finite dollars, but, the needs of our seniors, our disabled, our stressed and well-taxed workers, our young families, and our children seem to have been reconciled into a budget that is satisfactory to most, if not all.

Of course, unmet needs remain but the balance of satisfying most at an acceptable level of sacrifice seems to be at hand. It appears that we are at last looking at a budget for the future and perhaps even growth of the town and not a testimony to the acrimony of the past. I urge voters to pass the budget May 12.

James J. Kelley

Stonington