2012 Candidates Forum—

Assembly Contenders Weigh In On Economy, Promote Qualifications

By John Voket

A packed stage of assembly district candidates had an opportunity to present themselves and their ideas about three of the most important issues facing Newtown and Connecticut voters on November 6 during a forum presented by The Newtown Bee at Edmond Town Hall theater on October 16. The forum also marked the first time representatives from the Second Legislative District were presented in a local public event.

After redistricting in 2011, a small area of Hawleyville and Dodgingtown with about 1,000 residents was taken from the 106th District and placed in the Second District, which also includes parts of Danbury, Bethel, and Redding.

Newtown’s two incumbent Republican legislators, DebraLee Hovey of the 112th District and Dan Carter of the Second District, were joined by GOP 106th District hopeful Mitch Bolinsky for the forum. The Democratic contenders — all relative newcomers to the state political scene — included Lisa Romano in the 106th, Steven DeMoura in the Second, and Robert Dombroski in the 112th.

The planned timeline for the forum was shortened somewhat after numerous requests were made to wrap up the forum to leave enough time for participants and audience members to get home to see the second Presidential debate, which aired at 9 pm.

Moderator and Newtown Bee Editor Curtiss Clark solicited each candidate’s thoughts about how they would help spur job growth in the state; how they would address a state deficit without imposing undue cuts in services or tax increases; and what Connecticut could do to address its unenviable student achievement gap.

(An audio recording of the forum can be downloaded or listened to at newtownbee.com.)

A coin toss won by Ms Romano provided her a choice of whether to begin or end the event, and she chose to provide the last remarks of the evening. That left her opponent Mr Bolinsky to provide opening remarks.

The GOP contender for the 106th came out of the gate proclaiming himself “Newtown’s best choice” to represent the assembly district. He said he was proud to be flanked by the Republican incumbents along with Senator John McKinney.

“We’re faced with very clear choices here in 2012,” Mr Bolinsky said. “On the state and federal level we have big government, and an insatiable hunger for more and more of our money, raising taxes, stifling job creation, and limiting personal choice.”

Common Sense Policies

Mr Bolinsky praised First Selectman Pat Llodra and the fiscal policies developed during her tenure, as well as efficiencies that have been recognized and are in the process of being implemented.

“That’s common sense,” he said. “Spend no more than you take in; and borrow only what you can afford to pay back. Now it’s time for Newtown voters to send a common sense representative to Hartford.”

Ms Romano said she’s been asked why she is running for office, and she said she has seen the effects of the “global economic downturn that has effected everyone on every level.”

She said as she was volunteering for a congressional campaign, she learned that current Representative Chris Lyddy was not going to run again, “and I thought I could really bring a lot to the table.”

“I believe we don’t just need common sense, as my opponent has said — I really do believe we need some uncommonly good sense in Hartford,” Ms Romano said. “We really do need to maintain our funding for the town, and we really need some fresh and new ideas especially in the areas of education and economic development. I believe I will be the candidate who will come up with new ideas, and work collaboratively on both sides of the aisle.”

Rep Hovey said she was proud to be an advocate for the resident of the 112th District in Hartford. But during her decade in service, “state spending has increased 55 percent, [while] your individual income has only grown 21 percent — and that’s only if you still have a job.”

The GOP lawmaker touted her voting record, as well as her ability to balance her personal, political, and public duties effectively. Rep Hovey said in the past year her office handled constituent services for more than 700 residents, “and I have never represented one town more than the other.

“Even though I represent a fraction of Newtown, I have always represented the whole town,” she added. “I’ve consistently voted for balanced budgets, reduction of government, transparency and accountability on the state’s part for spending your dollars.”

Mr Dombroski held up a dollar bill, telling the audience that he has come out of retirement because “some of these are yours and they’re missing.”

“We’re talking about five trillion of these that disappeared from your household, your pocketbook, your paycheck. Try and get your mind around that if you can,” he said. “We have to find out how that happened, and we’ve got to solve this problem because it’s affecting each one of us.”

A ‘Life Of Service’

Rep Carter said he always espoused a “life of service,” and reminded the audience about his military career and active duty in Operation Desert Storm, and during the conflict in Bosnia.

“Two years ago I saw what was happening…to businesses in Connecticut,” Rep Carter said. “We overregulate, we overtax, we raise fees on everything you imagine, and then we’d spend the revenue.”

He said in his first term in Hartford, he voted with Democrats 76 percent of the time while supporting a budget that did not raise spending or taxes.

“But that 24 percent — that’s what we’re going to talk about tonight,” the GOP lawmaker concluded.

Mr DeMoura talked about his lifelong residency in the Second District, and with a baby on the way, he said “we need to ensure prosperity for our future in this community,” and to help “make sure our future is bright.”

The Democratic challenger said, “We need to make Connecticut a great place to have a business,” and as the son of two educators, “I will absolutely ensure adequate funding for education.”

Noting that the state’s economy may need until 2018 to recover all the 120,000 jobs it lost in the economic downturn, Mr Clark asked each candidate what they would do, if elected, to spur job growth.

Ms Romano said Connecticut is not unique in facing economic challenges, and that the state government is working on rebuilding the work force.

“I think that’s a good start to try and create incentives for companies to hire and train workers,” she said, adding that the state needs to make it easier on small businesses regarding the amount of paperwork they have to file to do business in Connecticut.

“I think we need to provide some direction, incentives, recognize strengths, and help get the economy going again,” Ms Romano said.

Mr Bolinsky agreed that small business is the economic heart and soul, and economic engine of the state and nation. And he talked about in the formation of his own limited liability corporation, he found it was seven more times as expensive to file all his business paperwork in Connecticut than it would have in Texas, where he previously lived.

“We are choking small businesses, and we are not allowing those existing businesses to have the stability of knowing what their economic situation is going to be, what their state mandates are going to be, and what the cost of doing business is going to be in the future,” Mr Bolinsky said. “Therefore, they don’t hire. We have got to get the government out of the way.”

Part Of The Problem

Rep Hovey said she has seen how government is contributing to the problem, including instituting a retroactive tax to compensate for unchecked spending. And she said small businesses needs greater access to loans and other incentives.

The GOP lawmaker also railed against the “Democratic majority” in Hartford who took a bipartisan job bill and “tied to mess with it.

“Instead of it being all about small businesses of 50 employees or less, they tried to bend the rules to have it include medium-sized businesses as well,” she said.

Mr Dombroski said “bribing” people to keep businesses in Connecticut is unwise.

“We’re never going to bring back the manufacturing jobs that filled those plants in Bridgeport, the Valley and the larger cities,” he said. “We’re never going to able to compete with not only Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and so on, but China and Mexico.”

He suggested that education is the key, to not only keep a top quality workforce available for the jobs in Connecticut, but to attract “good, high quality jobs to Connecticut.”

Mr DeMoura said his extended family members are small business owners, but he said the state also needs to attract jobs in areas like bioscience. He said he would go to Hartford to work with business leaders and schools, and to be sure the state begins with early childhood education.

“We have to start simple and start early,” Mr DeMoura said.

Rep Carter said the state’s stagnant job growth can be blamed on the majority ruling party in the statehouse.

“But overall, there’s been a stranglehold on businesses,” he said.

Rep Carter said the next time he sees a bill to create project labor agreements that guarantee jobs to unions representing 20 percent of the workforce, he is “not going to go for that anymore.”

He also pointed out that the Family Leave Act prevents hiring and small business growth because “any business that has 49 employees don’t want to go above 50 because they will be subject to the Family Leave Act.”

The event was filmed for Charter’s CommunityVision 12 public access channel and is scheduled to be aired in its entirety October 28 and November 4 at noon and 8 pm.