The Art of Demolition by Neglect

How Sherman Bought a $42.8 Million Crisis

Demolition by Neglect - Sherman School

How does a town sitting on a multi-million dollar surplus suddenly find itself with a school so broken it requires a $42.8 million blank check to fix?

First Selectman Don Lowe recently took to the press to boast about his financial stewardship, pointing to a town surplus that has swelled to over $5.6 million. He calls it a "Rainy-Day Fund." But for the parents and taxpayers funding the Sherman School, it has been raining for years.

The Playbook: Demolition by Neglect

In the world of developers and municipal politics, there is a recognized tactic called "Demolition by Neglect." It happens when leadership deliberately starves a building of basic maintenance until it reaches a catastrophic state. By letting the roof leak, the HVAC fail, and the safety codes expire, the leadership eliminates the option of affordable, annual repairs. They force the taxpayers into a corner where the only remaining option is a monumental, tear-it-down renovation.

The 2017 Blueprint

To understand how Sherman ended up with a $42.8 million crisis, you have to read First Selectman Don Lowe’s original 2017 campaign manifesto. Running on a promise to keep budgets "as lean as possible," Lowe boasted about driving down town costs.

But you cannot "lean" your way out of a decaying building. Lowe is not a newcomer who inherited a mess. He was serving as a Selectman in 2015 when the school's K-Wing became so toxic it had to be shut down due to environmental health and safety concerns. He took over as First Selectman in 2018 and presided over a near-complete starvation of the school's capital maintenance budget.

By fulfilling his political promise to slash budgets and hoard a surplus, he quietly condemned the Sherman School to a decade of starvation. The $5.6 million surplus he brags about today isn't a testament to financial genius; it is the exact money that should have been used to maintain the school.

The Hostage Negotiation

By 2023, the bill for that inaction finally came due. When a staggering $40 million-plus renovation price tag was first presented to voters, the town recognized the bloat and voted it down 2-to-1.

But the administration couldn't take "no" for an answer. So, the narrative shifted from an educational need to a fiscal hostage situation. A shadow campaign flooded the town, warning taxpayers that if the massive budget didn't pass, the school would close and residential property values would plummet by 25%.

Demolition by neglect only works if you can panic the voters at the very end. The taxpayers weren't asked to fund a school; they were held hostage to protect their own equity. Exactly one year later, a panicked town flipped its vote, swallowing a $42.8 million "Renovate-as-New" pill.

The Bleeding Has Already Begun

A massive surplus built on the back of a crumbling school isn't fiscal conservatism. It is a manufactured crisis. And the bleeding hasn't stopped.

As the "Change Orders" on this new $42.8 million project already begin to stack up, the town was recently forced to authorize an additional $2.5 million bailout tied to the project's oversight.

As Sherman taxpayers watch the town scramble to fix unshielded construction lights with blue tarps over holiday weekends, they have to ask: What good is a $5.6 million umbrella if the First Selectman refuses to open it while the taxpayers are getting soaked?