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At a lively debate last week, Democratic State Rep. Lonnie Reed of Branford and her Republican opponent Chris Kelly made it clear that each has fundamentally different positions on the idea of towns sharing services, on how special education is funded and in playing the blame game.
Reed, who is seeking her fifth term in office as state representative of the 102nd District, and Kelly, who is new to politics, squared off in an hour-long debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
Kelly, who arrived in Branford with his wife and daughter 16 months ago, is a first-time candidate for public office. The debate, the only one scheduled between the candidates, was held at Fire Headquarters and drew about 45 people.
A week from today voters in Branford will go to the polls to elect local, state and federal candidates as well as the nation’s next president. In Branford State Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr., is running for a second term against Bruce K. Wilson, Jr. (Click here to read our story on their first debate.) State Rep. Sean Scanlon, who represents Guilford and two sections of Branford, is running unopposed. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
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Carol Reimers (standing behind podium), president of the League of Women Voters (LWV) East Shore and a Killingworth resident, was the moderator at the Reed-Kelly debate. “An informed electorate leads to a strong democracy,” Reimers said as she posed a series of questions prepared by the League.
Some questions dealt with the state’s budget crisis. Kelly blamed Reed for failing to tackle union concession issues this summer at a special legislative session. Reed noted that legislators have no direct say over union contracts. Reed said the lone summer session to handle Sikorsky’s decision to stay in the state was not the time to discuss pension terms initially agreed to during former Gov. John Rowland’s term.
Kelly insisted this was an opportunity to get back to the table. Reed agreed, but said union concessions should be on the agenda when the legislature resumes, not at an unusual summer session meeting.
Rowland, a Republican, signed a 20-year agreement with the state’s unions when he was governor. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he is open to discussing benefits concessions.
Kelly told the audience, “We have not brought back the union to the table since 2008. My opponent has been there since 2008 and nothing happened. She has been there since then and she hasn’t accomplished it,” adding his party, the minority party, has been “shut down.”
Reed told Kelly, “That is a simplistic way to look at it. … I don’t want to play the blame game. We have been trying. We have lost 6,000 to 8,000 employees. These were union contracts. They were negotiated by Gov. Rowland for a 20-year period. I agree they need to come back to the table. But the idea of doing it in the middle of summer is unrealistic. We were there to keep Sikorsky in Connecticut.”
Reed argued that Kelly offered few ideas or solutions. “I am hearing the script, the narrative of the campaign, but no specifics. I want to drill down. The truth is bipartisan. That is a model for how you do the job, in a bipartisan way and across the aisle.”
As co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee and a member of the powerful Finance Committee, Reed did not accept Kelly’s evaluation that she had done nothing over eight years. She boasted of bringing major bioscience businesses and major grants in the millions back to Branford.
Going Door-to Door
“Part of what I’m discovering going door to door, is that people don’t like blaming Republicans and Democrats. They want us to sit down and work on it. They want us to fix it. I am known for that in Hartford. All of my bills out of Energy committee and every bill I proposed have had Republican sponsors and Republican stakeholders in the outcome. I am proud to be one the few Democrats endorsed by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. And I am endorsed by the Realtors Association,” she noted.
Kelly is a part-time realtor. He also is one of the managers of Cohen’s Bagel Shop in Madison.
“I have a 95 percent voting score on environmental issues,” Reed told the audience. “I love this town and I am proud of what we have done for this town.”
Then she turned Kelly, who had praised the amenities he and his family had found in Branford.
“I am glad you are here, and I am glad you find this a great place to live, and I think those of us who are working hard to make it that way are glad to see that you recognize that,” she said smiling.
Town-Sharing Services
The two clashed over regionalization, specifically getting towns to share services, say for fire or school or public works services, in order to reduce taxpayer costs.
Connecticut is a state with 169 towns and cities. Consolidating some of Connecticut’s school districts just as the state’s probate courts were consolidated in 2009 would reduce school system bureaucracies and benefit the taxpayer who is the primary payer for the cost of public education, advocates artue In 2009, the state’s 117 probate districts were pared down to 54 in a strong effort to create a better regional based operation.
Reed said, “Simple common sense cooperation can go a long way toward saving money. I grew up in Woodbridge, and I went to Amity Regional High School,” where she said she received a first-class education. The high school served a region, not a town.
Kelly quickly replied, “I am not for it. I don’t think we should have increases of regional government or regional funding where we sacrifice the sovereignty of the decision makers of Branford. Branford is independent. It is what makes Branford great. I won’t surrender that. The answers are not more government.”
Reed said she was not talking about creating county government. “This is not a model of county government,” she said. She said this was a way for towns to combine resources. (Connecticut does not have a county government system.)
A number of LWV questions centered on education and the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, which was recently in the news when a state judge declared the state’s ECS formula unconstitutional. The state’s attorney general has appealed the finding to the state Supreme Court.
Branford has fought over the years, Reed said, to find a way for the state to pick up a school district’s special education costs. Reed and now-retired state Rep. Pat Widlitz, who attended the debate, sought state funding because special education is extremely expensive for a school district.
Special education, Reed said “is an unfunded state mandate,” meaning the town is required to provide it under state law even though the taxpayer is picking up the bill every year. Special education is a significant part of any school’s budget.
Reed said, “I will fight for funding for it. Picking up special ed bill would be so beneficial because so many children can benefit from special ed.” Costs for special education center on teachers, transportation to other schools, and sometimes sending some children to other schools.
Kelly said he does not think getting special ed funding from the state “is the answer. We need to hear from teachers and administrators.” The state, he said, is in such poor fiscal shape that he isn’t sure it could take on this responsibility.
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Afterwards, the candidates mingled with the crowd. The heads of the Republican and Democratic parties, Ray Ingraham (left in photo) and Mike Leone (right) exchanged greetings as well.
Click here to view the Reed-Kelly debate. Go to BCTV to listen to Kelly’s television interview with the Eagle and Reed’s television interview with the Eagle.
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