Serra Appointed Co-Chair Of Alzheimer's Task Force

From the State House Democrats.
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House Speaker Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) is pleased to announce that he has appointed House Chair of the Aging Committee Representative Joe Serra (D-Middletown) to Co-Chair the Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.

"Rep. Serra's experience as Co-chair of the legislature’s Aging Committee as well as his work leading the Aging in Place task force makes Joe the perfect choice for this important new assignment," Speaker Sharkey said. "Joe’s long tenure of working to improve the lives of seniors in Connecticut is well known, and I am confident he will take on this role with that same dedication."

City's Legislative Delegation Receives Mixed Ratings On Environmental Votes

The bipartisan Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) released its annual scorecard of legislative votes on Monday. Two of our State Representatives, Democrats Gail Hamm and Matt Lesser, and one of our State Senators, Republican Len Suzio, received a perfect score from the environment watchdog. Lesser has received a perfect rating each of the 4 years he has served in Hartford.

The CTLCV scored legislators' votes on 21 bills in the 2011 session. Some of these votes were in committees, so not all legislators voted on all of those bills. The full report of the CTLCV is available HERE.

Paul Doyle (D, Senate 9th) 82%
Doyle took what the CTLCV considers the pro-environment position on each of the 8 bills that reached the Senate floor. However, in the Judiciary Committee, he voted in favor of the Environmental Protection Act Rollback (SB343), which would have made it much more difficult for the public to oppose development applications (the bill passed the Judiciary Committee but died on the Senate calendar). He also voted in the General Law Committee against the Safe Pharmaceutical Disposal Act (SB92), which would have required state and local police to maintain lockboxes for anonymous disposal of unused and expired pharmaceutical drugs (The bill died in the General Law Committee).

Len Suzio (R, Senate 13th) 100%
Suzio took what the CTLCV considers the pro-environment position on each of the 8 bills that reached the Senate floor. He did not serve on any of the committees that considered other bills.

Joe Serra (D, House 33rd) 88%
Serra took what the CTLCV considers the pro-environment position on each of the 5 bills that reached the House floor. However, in the House Judiciary Committee, he voted in favor of the Environmental Protection Act Rollback (SB343), which would have made it much more difficult for the public to oppose development applications (the bill passed the Judiciary Committee but died on the Senate calendar).

Matt Lesser (D, House 100th) 100%
Lesser took what the CTLCV considers the pro-environment position on each of the 5 bills that reached the House floor. He also took pro-environment positions on two bills that he voted on in committee, the Water Conservation Bill (SB415) in the Energy and Technology Committee (this bill passed the House but failed in the Senate), and the Chemicals of High Concern for Children Bill (SB274) in the Public Health Committee (this bill died on the Senate calendar).

Gail Hamm (D, House 34th) 100%
Hamm took what the CTLCV considers the pro-environment position on each of the 5 bills that reached the House floor. She did not serve on any of the committees that considered other bills.

Christie Carpino (R, House 32nd) 88%
Carpino took what the CTLCV considers the pro-environment position on each of the 5 bills that reached the House floor. However, in the House Judiciary Committee, she voted in favor of the Environmental Protection Act Rollback (SB343), which would have made it much more difficult for the public to oppose development applications (the bill passed the Judiciary Committee but died on the Senate calendar).

Middletown's Legislative Delegation Has Mixed Record On Environmental Protection

The bipartisan Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) released its annual scorecard of legislative votes. One of our State Representatives, Democrat Matt Lesser, and one of our State Senators, Republican Len Suzio, voted on all environmentally important legislation and received a perfect score from the environment watchdog.

The CTLCV scored legislators' votes on 12 bills in the 2011 session. Some of these votes were in committees, so not all legislators voted on all of those bills. The full report of the CTLCV is available HERE.

Overall, the CTLV concludes that state lawmakers got caught up in the effort to weaken environmental protections that swept the nation this year. However, there were 38 lawmakers with perfect scores, and they led the effort for environmental protection. CTLV Co-Chair David Bingham said:

Connecticut’s core group of legislators who understand the necessity of a healthy environment to sustain a healthy economy were sorely tested this year. Despite the pressures of economic distress, they upheld policies that are critical to providing clean air and water and make Connecticut an inviting state to do business. But holding the line is insufficient. There is much still to do, much still at risk.

Here is how members of our city's delegation were scored:

Paul Doyle (D, Senate 9th) 83%
Doyle voted on all 6 of the scored bills which he was able to vote on. One of his votes was not considered the environmentally responsible one: he voted in favor of the Haddam land swap, which passed.

Len Suzio (R, Senate 13th) 100%
Suzio voted on all 5 of the scored bills which he was able to vote on.

Joe Serra (D, House 33rd) 71%
Serra voted on all 7 of the scored bills which he was able to vote on. On 2 of those, his vote was not considered the environmentally responsible one. He voted in favor of the Haddam Land swap, which passed. He also voted in favor of a bill which would have mandated ATV trails on State Land without providing any money to care for them, this bill did not pass.

Matt Lesser (D, House 100th) 100%
Lesser voted on all 6 of the scored bills which he was able to vote on.

Gail Hamm (D, House 34th) 100%
Hamm did not vote much on environmentally important issues, casting a vote on only 1 of the scored bills she was able to vote on.

Christie Carpino (R, House 32nd) 67%
Carpino voted on all 6 of the scored bills which she was able to vote on. She voted against a bill banning BPA in thermal paper receipts, which passed. She also voted in favor of the Haddam land swap.

From 2002 and 2003: Kleen Energy

Every week or so I look in the archives of various newspapers for an article about Middletown that might illustrate something about daily life in former times, or provide a contemporary account of an event with historical significance. While researching the archives for this Sunday's "This Date in History" Middletown Eye feature, I came across about a dozen articles that seemed of interest in light of the accident at Kleen Energy. I have chosen three to reproduce, all were written by Josh Kovner, who is this week providing excellent coverage of the accident.

The first article is the earliest reporting I can find about the Kleen Energy proposal. The second covers the Common Council approval of the tax abatement given to Kleen Energy in early 2003, and the third article is about the early days of the ultimately successful reelection campaign of Mayor Domenique Thornton later that same year.

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1. This article was published in the Hartford Courant, on January 15th, 2002. It was written by Josh Kovner.
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Concern Eases Over Threat to Maromas

Environmentalists were nervous when trash hauler Phil Armetta last year proposed a $200 million energy plant for the Maromas section -- a treasured tract of mostly undeveloped forest and quarries that slopes to the Connecticut River.

They were enraged when five-term Democratic State Rep. Joseph Serra in June obtained a waiver of a more in-depth environmental study of a separate Maromas project -- the construction of a sewer line under River Road. The line would extend to the Pratt & Whitney manufacturing plant, but could also open up a wider portion of Maromas to development.

Much of the concern revolved around the two key figures. People wondered about Armetta's background. The founder of Dainty Rubbish Service Inc., one of central Connecticut's largest trash haulers, had been assessed penalties totaling nearly $355,000 by the state in 1995 for violations at his Newfield Street landfill. And when Serra last summer was able to tack the waiver on to the bottom of an unrelated House bill, some environmentalists thought an unsavory alliance was taking shape between Armetta and Serra, particularly because the sewer line would benefit Armetta's energy plant.

Records of Serra's successful 2000 state House campaign show he received $2,150 in contributions -- or 6 percent of the $33,748 total raised -- from construction professionals and companies who were, or would be, associated with Armetta's power-plant project.

For example, Armetta, his point man on the energy project, William Corvo, his future partner, O&G Industries Inc., and his future architect and engineer on the proposed project all contributed, as did the consulting engineering firm on the sewer project.

"For a $250 contribution, I'd go for a waiver that I wouldn't have sought otherwise? C'mon," said Serra, who dismissed any notion that he was influenced by the contributions. He noted that the waiver had the support of Middletown Mayor Domenique Thornton and local business leaders, and that House leaders could have blocked the measure, had they seen fit.

Serra said the line is important to Pratt & Whitney, which can scrap its aging water treatment plant if it can tie into the sewer. Without the waiver, said Serra, the project could have been delayed for months.

Armetta and Corvo, a former Republican councilman in Middletown and part of Armetta's Kleen Energy, which was formed in the summer, said their contributions were simply meant to show support for an effective politician. They said they wanted nothing, and received nothing, in return.

Corvo, a power-plant consultant, is a longtime friend and political supporter of Serra's, and several of the other Armetta associates who made donations are perennial contributors who supported other candidates as well.

Some of the edginess over Armetta and Serra's involvement remains, but the environmentalists' primary fear -- that a green light had been given for unrestrained development of Maromas -- has eased considerably. The state on Dec. 21 granted preliminary approval to the $8.8 million, state-funded sewer line, in large part because the city has placed limits on the size of the area to be served by it. The area includes space for recreation, possibly a golf course.

State officials overseeing the sewer construction proposal said they're confident that the project meets environmental standards. They cited two reasons: Before the Serra-led waiver, some of the environmental concerns about the sewer line's impact had been addressed by the state, and the city still had to clear all the regulatory hurdles before getting preliminary approval for the sewer line.

All state-funded projects are required by law to undergo an environmental review, unless the process is waived or shortened by the legislature. Such waivers are becoming increasingly common, and lawmakers and environmentalists agree that the process should be streamlined.

Armetta's proposal for a gas-fired electric plant, set for a public hearing Wednesday night before the Middletown Planning and Zoning Commission, comes at a time when state regulators -- who ultimately must approve the proposal -- are encouraging the construction of the more efficient gas-fired plants to gradually replace dirtier, oil-burning plants.

One of those plants, a member of the state's so-called sooty six list of older facilities, is off River Road on the banks of the Connecticut River, not far from the proposed site of Armetta's plant.

Environmentalist David Titus, who was initially troubled by the two development proposals, said he now believes both are sound.

Titus, a Wesleyan University professor and president of the Mattabeseck Audubon Society, said he was particularly heartened by Armetta's decision to build the plant on the most degraded portion of Armetta's 185-acre slice of Maromas. It's the former site of a feldspar mining operation that left the land deeply gouged and littered with piles of shredded rock.

For his part, Armetta says he is dogged by certain perceptions.

"Because I'm in the garbage business, people think that whatever I'm doing is going to be dirty or dangerous. But the opposite is true," said Armetta. When he was penalized $103,000 and directed to spend another $252,000 on an environmental project to settle the 1995 violations, the size of the assessment branded him as one of the state's largest polluters of that year -- a tag he adamantly rejects. Records show no significant violations before or since the 1995 case.

Armetta also acknowledges "lucking out" at the prospect of tying into the proposed sewer line, but said he had nothing to do with Serra's pursuit of a waiver and was unaware when he bought the Maromas property in 1999 that a sewer line would be built.

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2. This article was published on April 9, 2003, it was written by Josh Kovner.
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Armetta Defends Tax Deal; The Agreement is Designed to Allow Armetta's Partnership to Line up Investors, Secure Financing and Ultimately Sell Electricity More Cheaply

Phil Armetta, who wants to build a $220 million power plant in the Maromas section, defended a tax deal approved Tuesday by the common council, saying the gradually increasing payments help him now and the city later.

"We're the only dance hall that's open," Armetta, owner of Dainty Rubbish Inc., said of the scorched, post-Enron landscape that has eliminated most of the rest of the power-plant proposals in New England. "And we need this agreement to be able to dance."

He meant that the 25-year deal, which will start with Kleen Energy LLC paying the city $922,000 annually in the first several years and culminate with yearly payments around $2.5 million, is designed to allow the Armetta-led partnership to line up investors, secure financing and sell electricity more cheaply.

That, he said, would help Kleen Energy hold up its end of the deal. Construction on the power plant, planned for the site of an old feldspar mine high on a hill above the Connecticut River, would begin next year and take a year to complete.

William Corvo, a former city councilman and a partner in Kleen Energy, told the council members Tuesday night that they should not confuse the agreement with a tax abatement. He said the city would be getting all of the taxes it was owed -- only spread out over a 25- year period. The state legislature approved these "tax stabilization" agreements in 2001 to encourage the building of new, clean-running power plants. Under the new rules, cities and power plants are able to set mutually beneficial tax and assessment rates.

The Democrat-controlled common council passed the agreement by a 10-2 vote, with Republicans Earle Roberts and Francis Patnaude dissenting. Roberts thought it outrageous that no representative of Robinson & Cole, the Hartford law firm to which the city paid $15,000 to negotiate the deal, showed up Tuesday night to explain it.

That job fell exclusively to Corvo and Kleen Energy's lawyer, Marjorie Wilder of Pullman & Comely.

"This was almost surreal, with Bill Corvo vouching for the work of the city's lawyer," said David Bowers, a former candidate for state representative in Middletown's 33rd District. "Where has the city been? Who's on my side as a resident? Should it have fallen to the development team, the team getting the deal, to present all the facts?"

Democrat Gerald Daley acknowledged that it was a mistake for some council members to have engaged Corvo and Wilder in a dialogue after the public portion of the meeting had ended, but he said that should not take any of the gloss off the tax agreement. He noted that under the deal, payments to the city would keep rising even as the equipment at the power plant lost value, instead of the other way around.

In the absence of anyone from Robinson & Cole, Democrat Ronald Klattenberg asked Mayor Domenique Thornton if the law firm stood behind the agreement.

"Yes, they believe it's fair," said Thornton, adding that she didn't ask a lawyer from the firm to come Tuesday night because she didn't want to add to the legal bill.

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3. The article below was published in the Hartford Courant on July 15, 2003, it was written by Josh Kovner.
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Mayor Gets a Head Start; Domenique Thornton, in Her Fourth Bid for Mayor Has Raised More Money Than Her Republican Opponent Sebastian Giuliano

Mayor Domenique Thornton has jumped out to a huge fund-raising lead over her opponent, collecting nearly $12,000 in campaign donations through July 3, compared to $400 raised by Republican Sebastian Giuliano.

Giuliano has not begun to solicit funds, opting instead to wait until after his party's nominating convention next Monday. The first of his six planned fund-raisers is tentatively set for July 28.

"Seb wanted to wait until the Republican slate was in place; he wants to work and win as a team, not as an individual," Giuliano's campaign manager, James Marhevka, said Monday.

Thornton, the three-term Democrat, logged her first fund-raiser on May 4 and her second on June 23.

"It's never pleasant asking for money, but I got a sense from the people in the room that they're excited about what's happening in Middletown, and it inspires me to want to continue the work I'm doing," Thornton said in an interview earlier this month.

Thornton raised $11,790 from April 4 to July 3, according to her latest campaign finance report, filed with the city clerk. About 44 percent of the donations came from people and political committees based outside Middletown.

Her top contributor was Robinson & Cole, a Hartford-based law firm representing the city in negotiations with Kleen Energy LLC, a partnership headed by developer Phil Armetta that is gearing up to build a $200 million power plant in the Maromas section.

Robinson & Cole's statewide political action committee donated the maximum of $1,000 and Robinson & Cole LLP -- the firm itself -- contributed $250.

Armetta and Associates LLC, based in Middletown, donated $250, and the two Wallingford-based principals of an engineering firm that is doing work on Kleen Energy's project contributed a total of $190, and the company contributed an additional $250.

Thornton received $160 in contributions from two associates of the Hamden-based architectural firm of DeCarlo & Doll, which won the contract to design the new $79.9 million Middletown High School. The company's president, Raymond M. Roberts of Wallingford, contributed $85 and architect Dennis J. Rioux of Cheshire contributed $75.

Three members of the Milardo family, perennial supporters of Thornton, contributed a total of $575. Michael Milardo, supervisor of the city's 911 center, donated $400; his brother, Michael, supervisor of the alarm division, donated $90; and Josephine Milardo donated $85.

Thornton's largest individual donation of $1,000 came from Robert S. Marino of Middletown, president of Marino Brothers of New England Inc., a highway and street contractor. The company also made a contribution of $250.

Maromas: Land of Opportunities. Part I

The water for CVH originates from reservoirs east of Training Hill and Reservoir Roads, in the Maromas section of Middletown. The watershed area which protects these reservoirs includes land owned by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), Middlesex Community College, private landowners, and the City. The watershed land totals over 500 acres, and is a region of largely unspoiled forests, streams, and rocky outcroppings overlooking beautiful reservoirs.

This is the first installment of a 4-part series on recent city and state actions which have the potential to impact the use of land in Maromas. Parts 1, 2, and 3 are about land owned mostly by Connecticut Valley Hospital, and part 4 is about city-owned land adjacent to CVH.

Protecting Maromas and Middletown
Towards the end of the 1990s, concerned residents as well as city officials began to focus on ways to protect land in Middletown from being developed by the State or by private developers. One of the events which motivated them was the unilateral decision by the State to build a $53M Juvenile Detention Facility on state-owned land in Maromas, overlooking the Connecticut River. Despite enormous pressure from residents, neither the mayor (Domenique Thornton), nor the state delegation (led by Joe Serra) stopped this project.

Concerned residents, led by Katchen Coley, Linda Bowers, and Ellen Lukens, formed a group called the Advocates for a Maromas Plan (AMP). This group was especially concerned about the re-zoning of portions of Maromas to industrial and they resisted efforts, backed by Joe Serra in the legislature, to extend sewer service into Maromas. In recent years, one of AMP's major efforts has been to add legal environmental protection to the land owned by the State.

The City Planning Department also wanted to make it more difficult for the State to again dump another facility in Middletown. The Planning Department felt that if the State land were under a conservation easement owned by the Department of Environmental Protection, far more transparency would be required at the State level before a new facility could be imposed on Middletown. Such an easement would minimally require extensive hearings and assessments to determine the environmental impact of a new facility, or it would require an act of the Legislature to give the easements to the agency wishing to build a new facility.

State representative Gail Hamm, who represents most of the Maromas section of Middletown (as well as Haddam), took up the effort on behalf of the city and its residents. In 2009 she wrote language for a bill which would have resulted in the transfer of conservation easements from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Department of Children and Families, the City, and Middlesex Community College to the Department of Environmental Protection.

However, the bill ran into an unexpected roadblock when it reached the Mayor's office this past May. Just a week before the Legislature was to vote, Mayor Sebastian Giuliano blocked the bill by telling Representative Hamm that the city was adamantly opposed to the transfer of conservation easements.

Background to House Bill 6695
Any easement conveyance is a complicated affair, but especially when it involves multiple different State agencies. During the 2007 Legislative session, preliminary discussions among interested parties took place, but there was

insufficient time in that session to bring forward any bills. However, Representative Hamm did arrange for the DEP to fund a survey of the watershed property boundaries (see map image, which comes from the Middletown Planning Department).

At the beginning of the 2009 Legislative session, the effort to introduce a conveyance bill intensified. The efforts led to a meeting to discuss the conveyance, on March 24th, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. This meeting included representatives from all of the involved parties, including the City's Planning Department, Representative Hamm, Senator Doyle, and representatives of the DEP, DMHAS, DCF, and Middlesex Community College. According to three people present at that meeting, both the City Planning office and the DMHAS supported the conveyance of the conservation easements around the reservoirs. Middlesex Community College and the DCF were also in favor.

With the support of Middletown Planning Department and the various state agencies, Representative Hamm arranged for the following language to be inserted into Bill 6695 ("AN ACT CONCERNING THE CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN PARCELS OF STATE LAND"):

Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, the Departments of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Children and Families and the city of Middletown and Middlesex Community College shall each grant to the Department of Environmental Protection conservation easements over certain parcels of land that are the subject of the "Land Title Report, Southerly Watershed Properties, Connecticut Valley Hospital 1866-2007", as prepared by Attorney John E. Hudson. Such easements shall be granted for the purpose of preserving the reservoirs, watershed, aquifers and other water supply lands, located on or abutting the grounds and buildings comprising the Connecticut Valley Hospital in the city of Middletown.

The Bill was approved by the Government Administrations and Elections Committee on March 30th, and scheduled for a vote in the full House and Senate. [The CVH easement conveyance was only one of many unrelated conveyances in the bill. For example, two small houses on Wadsworth Street, formerly owned by DCF as part of the Long Lane Correctional Facility, were also to be conveyed to the city in the same bill (many properties in other towns were also in the bill).]

Mayor kills bill
However, the CVH watershed conservation easement conveyance went no further. As is customary, prior to voting on a bill which would impact land in the City, Representative Hamm faxed a copy of its language to Mayor Giuliano, sending it to his office on the Friday before Memorial Day. Mayor Giuliano's response was swift and certain -- on Tuesday he phoned Hamm's office and according to the intern who fielded his call, said, "The city administration and me absolutely oppose this bill."

In an interview with The Eye, Mayor Giuliano said that he supported the preservation of land in Maromas, but that there was not enough time for him to analyze the effects of this particular bill. He said the bill came to his attention, "at the 59th minute of the 11th hour." Giuliano said he consulted with Representative Joe Serra, with Ralph Wilson, an attorney who lives in Maromas, and with Larry McHugh, president of the Chamber of Commerce. He did not apparently consult with Representative Hamm or with AMP.

After these consultations, Giuliano said he was simply unsure of the effects that HB6695 would have on the interests of the City. He said he needed more time to analyze the bill than he was provided, "It may be the greatest deal in the world, but I had no way of knowing that at the time."

With very clear instructions from the Mayor to block the bill, Hamm had no choice but to oppose the language regarding the Middletown land conveyance. When Bill 6695 was raised on the floor of the House June 3rd, an amendment which stripped the relevant paragraph was introduced and passed. With that language removed, the Bill was passed by the House, and then the Senate.

Speculations about the failure of this bill
In speaking with city workers, citizen activists in AMP, Rep. Hamm's office, and others about this story, one of the persistent questions that came up was, "Why did the Mayor kill this bill?" To me it seems that there are two broad categories of explanations for his action.

The first possible reason for the Mayor's "veto" is that it resulted from a series of failures by elected and unelected government officials. Communication between the Department of Planning and the Mayor's office was incomplete, and the communication between Rep. Hamm and Rep. Serra may also have been less than it should have been for a topic of such importance to the city they both represent. In addition, it seems clear that Rep. Hamm did not notify Mayor Giuliano until the very last possible moment, after a time when it would have been possible to arrange a meeting. The language of the bill was filed on April 16th, and yet Hamm did not share it with the Mayor until May 22nd. In addition, the conveyance is without question complicated, some of the meetings involved 30 different people, with each agency bringing their director, a finance person, and other staff. This legislation may have moved forward if there had simply been better communication and better coordination between agencies, the city, and the politicians. If this explanation is correct, a renewed effort in the next legislative session may yield a different result.

Alternatively, it may be that any conveyance of a conservation easement on any land in Middletown to the DEP is doomed to fail, no matter how much communication there is. It may be that some elected officials, or the people that they consult with on important issues, would block any attempt to restrict the use of land in Middletown, no matter how it was handled. This may reflect a belief that the City government is the best entity for determining the use and preservation of land in Middletown.

I repeatedly contacted Rep. Hamm, to get her insights into these possibilities. However, her legislative assistant, Rosemarie Hice, told me that Hamm would not be available to answer any of my questions about HB6695.

Epilogue to HB6695: In July, Governor Rell vetoed the bill, so even if Mayor Giuliano had not blocked the Maromas passage, its future would have been uncertain. I will discuss this and more in Part III of this series. Part II will cover a proposed change in the CVH water supply.

Dems Show Support for Mental Health and Developmental Education

The symbolism was irresistible.

On the one hand, our Republican governor, desperate to deliver a balanced budget in the face of a $8 billion deficit, expresses the need to cut funding for Family Resource Centers at elementary schools in Connecticut, and to close Riverview Hospital, the only Connecticut State Hospital which treats children and teens with severe mental health issues.

On the other hand, Democratic legislators anxious to pass their own version of a budget which replaces draconian cuts with new taxes on millionaires, coming to the rescue of the children and families who use Family Resource Centers and the families whose children suffer from debilitating mental health issues.

On Wednesday, Democratic legislators, including Speaker of the House Chris Donovan, and State Representatives Joe Serra and Matt Lesser met with doctors, staff and administrators of Riverview Hospital, then caravaned across town to Farm Hill Elementary School and addressed a roomful of parents, kids, teachers, Family Resource Center staff and school administrators.

The rallies were designed to show Democratic support for these two programs and institutions, both conveniently represented in Middletown.

At Farm Hill, Matt Lesser introduced his colleagues.

"The governor has proposed cutting the Family Resource Centers," Lesser said. "And we think it's a terrible mistake."

"I come from a family of educators," Joe Serra added. "So I know the value of starting education early."

Family Resource Center advocates and participants explained how the centers act as a transitional program for families and children, especially for those individuals who might not otherwise develop a mutually-supportive relationship with schools.

After the meeting Lesser explained that valuable programs like these should not be on the chopping block, even though the legislator and the governor are locked in a protracted, and difficult set of budget negotiations.

"At the end of the day, we'll have to raise taxes," Lesser admitted. "But I think it's unconscionable that the governor asked us to close the Family Resource Centers. If you say we'll have to raise taxes for Connecticut residents who make more than a million dollars to keep the Family Resource Centers open, then that's how it will have to be. We've made our own set of cuts, and have gotten $70 million in concessions from state unions. But some cuts just don't work."

Catherine Johnson - Response to Eye Election Questionnaire

Candidate: Catherine Johnson, challenger state representative 33th district.
Opponent: Joe Serra, incumbent Democratic state representative, 33th district.

The economy is the most important, and most frightening issue facing the voting populace. What will you do to help individuals, and municipalities deal with the realities of a failing economy?

Building a commuter rail line along the CT River could be the economic
generator we need. A train from Middletown to Hartford could give our cities greater access and appeal. A train could access underutilized urban land along these lines, which would be ideal locations for new industry and housing. New development not only would grow the tax base in each of these cities, it would attract more people to central CT, where many towns actually suffer from population deficits.


Elected officials are famous for talking about the value of a good education? How would you address issues in education like equity across municipal lines, student achievement, teacher compensation, student opportunity. What practical and realistic steps would you take?

I support state funding to make pre-K programs universal, which research has demonstrated are effective at giving kids a solid head start on education. I favor K-12 state education
standards and testing requirements. Increasing teacher salaries (via a step-pay system) is one positive step in attaining these standards. I believe establishing and then funding state standards is more effective than federal standards and testing requirements (per No Child...).

I favor state funded incentives for financial aid to make college more affordable for everyone, and favor permitting illegal immigrants who graduated from CT high schools to pay in-state
tuition.

Giving students choices must include the full range of academic and non-academic opportunities. This would include exposure to music and art, two programs often to be the first cut in curricula.

This state has spent billions building highways, but precious little developing a mass transit infrastructure. How will you redirect state goals away from more and bigger roads and towards energy-efficient mass transit?

Here are the suggestions that I submitted to the legislative Smart Growth Economic Dev’t committee for inclusion in the 2009 session for what we can do right away:

• Remove subsidies to companies for travel by car: gasoline, parking, insurance. Substitute a Transit subsidy instead: pre-tax transit passes. Provide incentives for all state and municipal employees to commute ($2,000 tax credit)

• Fund and create immediately a CT Transit Website that shows all bus routes, rail, etc in the whole state plus NY and MA connections. Website would be overseen by a top-notch communication firm and be graphically based (not word-based). Information telephone 20/7 with human beings answering the calls.

• Sponsor classes educating the general public about transit-oriented development and anti-sprawl development (traditional neighborhoods).

• Hold a state-wide transit & design study with best US experts to identify best transit corridors. DOT can't do this (too entrenched). Must have community planning approach involving public planning workshops.

• Install streetcars into the 10 major cities within 5 years. Pay for installation with tax-increment financing (TIFF).

Currently Middletown does not receive it's full promised PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) allotment. What will you do to remedy that?

26% of the land in the city cannot be taxed, and falls under this program. The burden of paying for services with all the vicissitudes of the economy and market is being borne by residential
taxpayers. Perhaps the answer is a regional sales tax sharing to offset this burden, or setting up a credit bank where every town pays into (or extracts from) as needed.

Our governments spend millions in a futile war on drugs which consumes the time and attention of police, courts, counselors, correctional institutions. What is your opinion on the decriminalization of marijuana?

I believe we should legalize it. Two members of my family in their 80’s support this idea, much to my amazement, for use as a pain reliever. Among the benefits for changing things, I think it would reduce a certain segment on the prison population and we can spend our money on better things.

All government, but particularly state government is confusing and out-of-reach for most citizens. What can you do toward promoting open government and assuring the voting populace that they can know about legislation, and have a say in the laws that are passed? What will you do towards promoting an atmosphere of open government?

In this electronic age, there is little excuse to not be transparent and share information. I will host a weekly journal, have informational cable spots, hold round table and town hall discussions, and conduct on-line surveys (Survey Monkey.com) to cull opinions about issues before us.

The state currently spends millions in an attempt to get film business to work in Connecticut. How will you create a program to encourage new, green permanent manufacturers to locate in Connecticut?

You can’t create jobs, but you can create the environment that fosters an ideal setting for them. Building upon the idea that transit can play a primary role, I would favor a competition for
the first building sites along the new transit lines, so the Dept of Economic Dev’t can pick the cream of the crop. Read more in this week’s Place: “Connecting Central CT by Rail.”

What is your position on preserving a clean and viable environment in Connecticut? How will you help preserve open space and farmland? What will you do revive the Connecticut River?

River? How can we prevent further suburban sprawl? Build compact, walk-able, mixed-use neighborhoods with well-defined neighborhood centers. Offer within each a wide range of housing types and sizes in order to promote diversity and keep the neighborhood vital.
Create an interconnected network of streets. Offer a range of park and other natural land for recreation and the enjoyment of the human habitat.
Offer transportation options like rail, bus, bikepaths, sidewalks.
Set aside land with prime soil for agricultural use.
Explore options for growing industry. Every city has unique traits no other has: let’s exploit them through job creation.
River clean-up: we need to change how we treat our trash, and start a pick-litter-up-when-you-see it-approach.
River education for the public and industry alike.

Middletown has experienced a renaissance in the past 10 years. What will you do to help promote and extend that renaissance?

First: let’s discover what is physically possible. I would first develop a (graphic) Master Plan illustrating the development potential for the many empty spaces downtown. I would hold a competition for the 5 top sites and advertise the winning entries. I would invite the most
talented classicist architects to design one typical building and offer the designs for free to builders (lots 50’ wide or less). I would create incentives for the renovation of upper stories over
the stores for housing and offices. I would buy sexier buses and promote bus travel.

Second: what can downtown be like as a place of activity? How can we make it a more livable neighborhood?
I think we need to demonstrate that our social capital is as valued as monetary capital.
We have a lot of talent in this city, but no nexus. Small-scale groups are looking into ways to connect better, but I would like to see this taking place at a more significant scale. We need to
encourage innovation and collaboration so Middletown truly blossoms, as many of us know it could.

Does a two party political system still work?

In order to offer wider options for voters, we need a THIRD party. I salute the several parties attempting to establish themselves in Connecticut. I am among those who seek something other than Republican or Democrat. Democracy is thwarted because each of the two established parties works hard to keep the status quo for themselves instead of creating ways to find the best candidate.