Former Legislative Liaison Challenging 112th District Incumbent

By John Voket

Democratic challenger Michele Mount is facing three-term incumbent Republican DebraLee Hovey for the 112th District statehouse seat, which encompasses all of Monroe, as well as several thousand households in Newtown’s 3-2 voting district.

Ms Mount said she has plans to help boost the state’s retention and recruitment of new industry, to see more money flowing toward local education through property tax reform, and to advocate for surgical cuts to any state office or department exhibiting inefficiencies. Over the course of her campaign, Ms Mount has picked up some high-profile endorsements.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal endorsed Ms Mount, noting his history of working with her in the past. “I have worked with Michele since 1992, watching her as an intern, attorney, and then legislative advocate, develop extraordinary skills and judgment,” Mr Blumenthal said “She has strong intellect and integrity to lead by example and produce bipartisan solutions and benefits.”

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Ms Mount’s background is a big plus.

“Michele Mount will look out for the best interests of the residents of Monroe and Newtown,” said Ms Bysiewicz. “She has a proven track record as a legislative advocate and as a director of legislative affairs, spearheading key legislative initiatives. Michele is a problem-solver and a consensus-builder and will work tirelessly to find long-term solutions to the issues that confront area residents.”

Connecticut Comptroller Nancy Wyman urged Newtown residents to support Ms Mount’s candidacy.

“Michele Mount has exactly what our state needs in a policymaker: knowledge, commitment, and the willingness to listen to her constituents,” Ms Wyman said. “As the state’s chief fiscal guardian, I have spent my entire public career fighting for the citizens of our state on issues important to our working families, including the economy, health care, and education. Michele is a proven champion of property tax reform; access to affordable, accessible health care; and adequate funding for education.”

Other local endorsements included Newtown’s Democratic selectman and former first selectman Herb Rosenthal.

Mr Rosenthal said Ms Mount possesses a “clear understanding of the needs facing our two towns and those throughout the state.”

“When you look at the facts, Michele will be a more effective representative of your interests and welfare,” Mr Rosenthal said. “I am convinced that Michele Mount will be [Newtown’s] voice in Hartford, and will bring results-oriented leadership for the needs of the District.”

In addition, Ms Mount has picked up the endorsement of the Connecticut Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Ms Mount referred to her tenure working as Bridgeport’s legislative liaison, saying that position offered her a measure of experience interacting with both legislative and municipal representatives toward a common good.

“In my last position as director of legislative affairs I was appointed to work with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities,” Ms Mount said. “I was able to work with area mayors and first selectmen, and from around the state, in a bipartisan fashion to help stop rising property taxes by lowering costs to municipalities, increasing state aid to municipalities for education, stop unfunded mandates, and encouraging incentives for smart economic growth.”

The state House challenger was born and raised in Connecticut and left to attend college in California. After graduating with honors she worked in television as a producer, director, writer, and executive in Los Angeles, Honolulu, and New Orleans.

Ms Mount returned to Connecticut in 1990 to attend law school and has practiced labor, employment, and real estate law locally for more than a decade. Besides her recent work for Bridgeport as director of legislative affairs, she continued working as an adjunct law professor at Quinnipiac Law School.

She said her father, Carl Ajello, provided a foundation and role model for the interests of fellow citizens.

“My father was a Connecticut State Legislator for 12 years, House Majority Leader for six years, and Attorney General for eight years,” she said. “I witnessed firsthand the challenges, rewards, and obligations of elected public office. I learned the duty to represent effectively is an honor that should never be clouded by personal interests and self-promotion.”

Ms Mount says she favors a smart, responsible plan for economic development in the 112th District to reduce property taxes while preserving rural character. Working hand-in-hand with property tax reform, she believes responsible development will reduce the pressure to grow the Grand List to raise revenue for the most basic of services. In addition, she says the 112th District needs strategic investment in preservation of open space.

She says the state still does not provide full funding of the Education Cost Sharing grant, so defining a clear timetable for the state to live up to its commitments must be a top priority. She added that the state must continue to provide adequate funding for special education and early childhood education, as investments in these areas pay large dividends in the long run and will likely save the towns she is prepared to serve money throughout students’ educational careers.

Incumbent DebraLee Hovey

Rep Hovey most recently noted that examples of capital projects and budget items — from $1.7 million in printing costs, to expensive statues, $255,000 in new signage, and wasteful special legislative sessions — should be eliminated because of a looming $300 million state budget deficit. She called for the legislature to act immediately on a bipartisan basis to close a budget gap of slightly less than two percent in the state’s $18 billion budget, and not wait for more hearings or studies.

The Office of Legislative Management has requested a 7.9 percent spending increase for its operating budget, and Rep Hovey wants to rescind that request and flat-fund the budget for 2009–11. In an October 17 release, Rep Hovey also cited several examples of recent government spending including:

*A special legislative session last December 5 that cost taxpayers $1,000 per minute could have been replaced with a technical session at virtually no cost;

*One hundred yards of European black marble is being replaced in the Legislative Office Building for $200,000, even though there is no safety issue;

*$255,000 in new signs throughout the building;

*Brand-new liquid crystal display screens have just been installed in hearing rooms replacing old televisions that Republicans said they never used in the first place;

*The State of Connecticut spends nearly $300,000 on pagers despite technology that has rendered them obsolete;

*Sixty-five separate local projects for House and Senate Democrats handed out by the Senate president and House speaker for members totaling more than $2.3 million compared to zero Republican projects.

According to her state bio, Rep Hovey was originally elected to the state Legislature in 2003. Since she was first elected, the local representative has been the invited speaker for several national conferences and in January 2008 was the guest speaker at the European Cervical Cancer Summit meeting held in Brussels, Belgium. At this event Rep Hovey spoke on “Politics and Cancer Prevention in the US” before the European Parliament.

Recognizing Rep Hovey for her leadership qualities and her record of achievements, House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-142nd District, appointed her as House Ranking Member (Republican leader) on the General Assembly’s Education Committee for the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions.

According to her state bio, Rep Hovey’s legislative priorities include reforming the state’s Education Cost Sharing program to make it more equitable to suburban communities and increasing the state’s share of the cost of special education to towns.

Rep Hovey also serves as a member of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee and Judiciary Committee. In 2007, Governor M. Jodi Rell appointed Rep Hovey to the state’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (JJACA). In addition, she has been appointed to serve concurrently as Connecticut’s representative to the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice (FACJJ).

Rep Hovey serves as a member of the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation’s (CSLF) board of directors. In 2008, the Women in Government organization elected Rep Hovey its secretary.

The Girl Scouts of the Housatonic Council Inc named her a 2007 Woman of Distinction.

Rep Hovey is a member of the state Advisory Council for Special Education and serves on the Milford Rape Crisis Center’s Board of Directors. She is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Council for Exceptional Children, the Association of Educational and Psychological Consultants and the Endangered Lands Coalition.

Rep Hovey, who was born in Houlton, Maine, served as vice chairperson and chief negotiator for the Freeport School Board and a member of the Board of Directors of the Preble Street Resource Center for the Homeless. She also was active with the Junior League of Portland, Maine.

Rep Hovey graduated from the University of Maine in 1976 with a bachelor of science degree in education of the learning disabled, K–12, and elementary education, K–8; and from the University of Southern Maine in 1988 with a master of science degree in exceptionality, concentration in gifted child education and education of the learning disabled.

She also trained at the University of Hawaii in 1981, in educational psychology, curriculum for young gifted children; at the University of Texas at Austin in 1990, as a trainer of school consultation; and at the SOI Insitute of Vida, Oregon, in 1997, where she became an advanced trainer in the structure of intellect theory.

As an active member of the Fairfield County legislative delegation, Rep Hovey played a major role in securing additional funding for the purchase of more railcars for Metro North. She is married to Paul J. Balsano, a Bridgeport firefighter, and they reside in Monroe with her son Christopher, and his daughters Ashley and Jessica.