Showing posts with label 85th Assembly District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 85th Assembly District. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2014
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
‘Most people like what the two Marys are doing’ - Mushinsky and Fritz are in for the long haul
As published in the Record Journal Saturday November 10, 2012
By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ
WALLINGFORD - Democrat Mary Mushinsky is poised to tie for longest-serving state representative in the records of the Connecticut State Library.
If she completes the two-year term in the 85th District that she was elected to Tuesday, she will have served in the house for 34 years — as long as Richard O. Belden, a Republican who represented Shelton from 1975 until his death in 2007 at age 73. The library’s database goes back to 1849 for House members.
“I don’t go looking that stuff up, but I know I’ve been there a long time,” Mushinsky, 60, said last week after being told about the record.
“It’s interesting; I never would’ve thought it — I didn’t get into politics intentionally,” said Mushinsky, a former activist who one day decided she might make more of an impact as a legislator.
Apparently a town of steady habits, Wallingford has a couple more high profile, longtime incumbents in 28 year state Rep. Mary Fritz, 74, a fellow Democrat who also won re-election in her 90th District this week, and Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., 64, the Republican who has been in power for 31 years and is the second-longest serving mayor in the state now in the role. Prospect’s Mayor Bob Chatfield, who was first elected in 1978, is the only mayor now in office who has served longer.
The analysts and those involved in town politics who were interviewed say they don’t think the interest in reelecting incumbents necessarily has to do with the community; rather, it’s the strength of the candidates themselves.
“If they do a good job, and people like the job they’re doing, they’ll get re-elected,” said Republican Town Chairman Bob Prentice, whose two Republican candidates, Greg Bachand and Guy Darter, were beaten Tuesday by Mushinsky and Fritz. “Most people like what the two Marys are doing. I don’t always agree with what they do — but I’ve only got one vote.”
His counterpart, Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone, credited Fritz and Mushinsky’s repeated wins to their hard work in office.
“They’re just what representatives should be. They’re in touch with their constituents, they return phone calls — they help to solve problems and they’re sincere,” he said. About Dickinson and the Republican majority on the Town Council, he said, “It’s been very hard to defeat the mayor — he has a coattail effect.” But Avallone said he believes his party is strengthening in local elections.
Sacred Heart University government and politics professor Gary Rose, who lives in Cheshire, said incumbents often have an advantage on Election Day.
“Once these people get in office ... and they have their staffs up in Hartford, they know who all the voters are,” Rose said. “They are almost like little machines. They really are part of the community — they know exactly how to work the community.”
Though there’s an inherent advantage, Rose, too, credits the work and attitude of individual politicians with their own career longevity. As for why these politicians, despite their success, would not seek higher office, he said these people tend to believe the adage that all politics is local and would like to stay where they are.
“The people that run for higher office tend to be of a different type of ilk — more money, higher aspirations,” Rose said, whereas long-term incumbents find themselves with seniority and clout in the legislature. “It’s a gamble when you start to do that.”
Fritz said she never sought to move up because she liked the close contact with her constituents as a state representative and wanted to be around for her family.
“It’s because I really like what I do — and because it’s a (population) of about 22,000. I’m not that far removed from them. And at the same time, we raised six children ...” Fritz said.
Mushinsky, who has two sons with her husband, Martin J. Waters, said she has been asked, but the timing to run for a higher role was never right for her family.
“If you lose ... and you don’t have something else lined up and you’re not independently wealthy — and I’m not — it’s a big gamble,” Mushinsky said. “I think that what I work at now is what I’m good at.”
As for new blood bringing fresh ideas, something Bachand hammered away at in his campaign, the incumbents interviewed said their years of experience were invaluable.
“Experience is important. Government is becoming ever more complex, experience does play a role,” Dickinson said. “Having a feel for what’s needed, what the laws provide, what changes in law may be having an effect.”
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
WALLINGFORD - Fur flies at forum for 85th, 90th
As published in the Record Journal, Friday October 19, 2012
By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ
WALLINGFORD — Republican Greg Bachand says state spending has grown 700 percent during the 32 years his opponent, Democratic state Rep. Mary M. Mushinsky, has held office.
“Her voting record speaks so loudly, it doesn’t matter what she said here tonight,” he said.
But Mushinsky called Bachand a “tea party aficionado” and said with the cuts he proposes, he’s putting dollars before people.
“There’s a clear choice between the two of us,” she said. “He looks at numbers, not people.”
Bachand and Mushinsky, who are vying for Wallingford’s 85th state House district, were the first of four pairs of candidates to face off in candidate forums sponsored by the Wallingford Community Women at Town Hall Wednesday and Thursday night. The forums were taped and will be rebroadcast on Wallingford Government TV.
On an issue that has financial implications in the millions, Bachand and Mushinsky also disagreed. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection adopted a phosphorus reduction strategy in response to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and compliance with the current standards will cost Wallingford $19 million.
Mushinsky, who has been a longtime environmental advocate, said the legislature passed a bill to give municipalities more time to comply with the standards and to receive up to 30 percent of the cost of the upgrades from state grants.
“I think more time and good technology should allow us to solve this problem at a reasonable cost,” she said.
But Bachand said unfunded mandates are “not sensible.”
103rd House District: Parts of Wallingford, Cheshire and Southington
Democrat Elizabeth Linehan agreed with her opponent, Republican state Rep. Al Adinolfi, on several issues throughout the forum. Both candidates said they supported reducing state government spending and suspending the Risk Reduction Earned Credits Program, which allows inmates to take courses and earn time off their sentences.
“It’s too inefficient on who they allowed to be released early,” Adinolfi said.
“I may be a Democrat but I am tough on crime,” Linehan said. “I have kids who live in this community ... I’m not messing around.”
But Linehan, a mother of two, said she felt she was more in touch with the concerns of residents in the 103rd District, which includes portions of Wallingford, Cheshire and Southington.
“Mr. Adinolfi, as nice as he is, does not fully represent the values of our district,” she said. Adinolfi said he has been elected five times, and votes based on what he hears from his constituents.
“I know what’s going on up there and I know what needs to get done,” he said.
90th House District: Parts of Wallingford and Cheshire
In one of the sharper exchanges of the night, Republican Guy Darter criticized the record of his opponent, Democratic state Rep. Mary Fritz. Darter said Fritz has been part of Democratic leadership that, through increased spending and taxes, “has driven the state into the ground.”
“Sometimes I wonder how you sleep at night,” he said.
But Fritz defended her record, saying she voted against the state income tax when it was proposed in the early 1990s and also voted against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s most recent budget, which included $1.8 billion in new taxes.
When Darter called for spending cuts, Fritz pointed out that his company, Darter Specialties, has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in state contracts.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have spent that money,” she said.
Darter countered that he would be in favor of eliminating his own contract — which covers pens, pencils, coffee mugs and other promotional material for the state.
“It’s one of many of the frivolous ways we’re spending money,” he said.
34th Senate District: Wallingford, East Haven and parts of North Haven and Durham
Democrat Steve Fontana, a former state representative from North Haven, criticized Republican state Sen. Len Fasano for not working hard enough to support the middle class.
“He’s become too close to millionaires and corporations,” Fontana said. “On issue after issue Len sides with millionaires and corporations. What we really need ... are people that side with the middle class.”
But Fasano said that Democrats had supported a budget that increased the sales tax and made clothing purchases under $50 and over-the-counter drugs taxable.
“That hurts the average person.”
He agreed with Fontana that the middle class is in trouble, but said Democrats were to blame.
“We’ve had 26 years of one party rule. ... It wasn’t me, it wasn’t my party that got us here.”
Fontana, who served in the General Assembly from 1997 to 2011, was defeated by Republican David Yaccarino for the 87th state House District seat in 2010. He said in the two years since, he has learned to reconnect with his community. “Too often when you’re at the Capitol, you live in a bubble,” he said.
This year is the first time Fasano has had an opponent since he joined the state Senate in 2002, but the Republican said he wasn’t changing his message or his campaign strategy.
“I want my kids to stay in the state of Connecticut,” he said. “I have to make this place desirable for them to live here.”
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Cost of website gets candidate’s attention
As published in the Record Journal Thursday May 10, 2012
By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
WALLINGFORD — When Greg Bachand heard the state planned to spend up to $180,000 on a website to highlight the route that the French general Rochambeau followed across Connecticut during the American Revolution, he decided to give it a try. Bachand, a Republican candidate for the 85th district state House seat, built a website using GoDaddy.com that links to the Wikipedia article about Rochambeau’s route. The total cost: $59.05.
“This $180,000 is the epitome of what’s wrong with the Connecticut legislature,” he said.
A bill passed by the state Senate requires the state Department of Economic and Community Development to create the website before January 2013 and include the trail, monuments, an interactive calendar and links to other websites featuring the trail. Half of the money would come from a state manufacturing grant fund and half from a matching grant from the National Park Service.
Bachand acknowledged that his creation – RomchabeauTrail.com – wasn’t an adequate substitute for a professional website, but said he doesn’t know where the state got such a high dollar amount.
According to the bill, the “actual cost will depend upon the complexity of the website, ranging from a minimal cost for a basic website, up to $180,000 for a complex interactive website.”
Mary Mushinsky, the Democratic incumbent in the 85th district who Bachand is challenging, said that the funding mechanism for the bill was changed on the Senate floor. The House has not yet voted on it.
“It was originally coming from historic preservation money,” she said. “And it was changed to come from manufacturing assistance.”
Mushinsky said she supported the idea behind the legislation, and that the website would help market businesses and restaurants along the route, but opposed using the manufacturing funds. “Tourism money is for tourism, but manufacturing money should be for manufacturing,” she said.
State Sen. Len Fasano, R-North Haven, whose district includes Wallingford, was one of four senators to oppose the legislation.
“$180,000 for a website when we’re running a $200 million deficit, it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I respect the history and the legacy, but I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Fasano said he also opposed taking the funds from manufacturing money. Since Bachand announced the creation of his website in a press release Tuesday, he’s gotten a lot of feedback. “I think this hit a nerve with the public,” he said. Bachand is also challenged by fellow Republican Shauna Simon-Glidden. A Republican caucus to elect the party’s nominee for the seat will be held on May 24 at 6 p.m. at Brothers Restaurant, 33 N. Cherry St. It is open to all Republicans who live in the district. Both Simon-Glidden and Bachand are making their first run for elected office. Mushinsky has held the seat since 1981.
The Rochambeau trail begins in Newport, R.I., where the French general and his more than 5,000 troops landed. After crossing Connecticut, it continues south through New York, where the French met up with George Washington and the Continental Army, and then through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland into Virginia, where combined American and French troops forced British General Cornwallis to surrender in October 1781 at the battle of Yorktown.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Fishbein redistricted out of 85th
By Dan Ivers
Record-Journal staff
divers@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2275
WALLINGFORD — The recent remapping of state House and Senate districts has left local Republicans without a clear choice to oppose longtime Democratic representative Mary Mushinsky in next year’s election.
Craig Fishbein, a second term town councilor, had indicated an interest in running for state office, but the new districts place his Grieb Road home out of Mushinsky’s 85th District. He is now a resident of the 90th District, which also includes portions of Cheshire and is represented by Democrat Mary Fritz.
Republican Town Committee Chairman Bob Prentice said he was disappointed Fishbein would not be able to challenge Mushinsky, who has held the 85th District seat since 1981.
“It’s unfortunate, because I know he was talking pretty heavily about it. We’re not sure how it’s all going to pan out at this point,” said Prentice.
Mike Vitali, who opposed Mushinsky in 2008 and 2010, has also been moved out of the district, although Prentice said Vitali had informed committee members that he was unlikely to seek the nomination again next year.
Last month, Fishbein told the Record-Journal that he would be open to possibly running for state office in the future, fueling speculation he would challenge Mushinsky next year. However, Fishbein said he never committed to a run and had yet to take any steps to prepare a campaign.
“I have thought about running for state rep,” he said. “But I can tell you categorically that I have not asked anyone to be on my team for any run in 2012.”
Fishbein indicated that the prospect of ousting a longtime incumbent such as Mushinsky is not a primary factor in his plans, and that he would not be opposed to challenging Fritz if he runs.
“That’s not the way I do things. If I was to run, it wouldn’t necessarily be because of potentially unseating someone. It would be because I think I would do a good job,” he said.
Cheshire resident Richard Abbate has already indicated that he plans to oppose Fritz this year, according to Prentice, but official discussions on nominations will not begin until early next year.
Mushinsky, who has announced her intention to seek a 16th term, called Fishbein a “very active councilor.” Despite being members of rival parties, they recently found common ground in their opposition to a plan to upgrade the Simpson Court parking lot using $500,000 of taxpayer dollars. Fishbein broke with other Republicans on the Town Council in opposing the deal.
Mushinsky has gone through the redistricting process three times since being elected, and said the 85th District has undergone at least a minor shift each time. This year, its borders moved slightly to the south and the west, toward Cheshire.
“There generally is some kind of boundary moving every time redistricting happens,” she said.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)