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What Government Should Be

We are residents of Short Beach, a Branford shoreline neighborhood that wraps around a lovely, quiet cove on Long Island Sound. We are writing to support State Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-12) and State Representative Lonnie Reed (D-102) in this election.

In summer of 2015, a large and particularly noisy hydraulic clamming vessel began working every day in our cove. We have long had local clamming operations, but this was much more intense and intrusive than we had experienced ever before. In Short Beach, summers revolve around the water, and the clamming operation rapidly became a focus of community concern. It interfered with the tranquility of our natural habitat, and also with summer sailing camps, kayaking, swimming, and fishing.

As a community, we were not entirely sure what to do—but we knew exactly where to turn to get help. We reached out to Ted and Lonnie, who guided us into a series of productive and informative meetings with representatives of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, and the owner and operator of the clamming operation. In these meetings we were able to consider both the neighborhood’s interest in preserving our waters and our collective interest in and support for sustainable aquaculture in Connecticut. We ultimately came to a very amicable and mutually respectful resolution.

Both clamming and recreational activities continue in Short Beach Cove today, to the benefit of all of us.

Ted and Lonnie are responsive, incredibly hardworking, and gracious. We are so grateful for their service to our community and our state. This is what our government should be—no grandstanding, no unattainable promises, no mean-spiritedness.

We strongly support both of these candidates for re-election.

Alinor Sterling

Susan Bryson

Larry Nadel

Branford