The 36th Assembly District needs a responsible advocate in Hartford now more than ever, as the state’s budget deficit grows ever larger and people are leaving the area at an almost unsustainable rate. State Representative Bob Siegrist (R-26), a Haddam resident since childhood and an Haddam-Killingworth High School graduate, is exactly that advocate. When I met Bob two years ago I realized almost immediately that Bob has only one goal in mind as a state representative: improving our small towns and making sure they always remain great places to raise a family.

Although he’s certainly aware of the state’s issues at large, and he’s worked hard over the past two years to rein in the state’s budget deficit and keep businesses from leaving, if you ask Bob of what accomplishments he is most proud, he will always point to his work with our local issues. From his efforts to obtain a $5 million grant to bring clean water to Tylerville, to the supply drives he sponsored for the Region 4 schools, to his work on building an extension for the Kirtland Commons elderly housing facility (where my grandmother lives), Bob has responded tirelessly to our local needs.

Bob’s attention to our local community is what the 36th District needs moving forward. Rather than promoting a national partisan ideology, Bob simply strives to do what’s best for the community that he’s lived in for almost his entire life, because he realizes that we’re a community worth fighting for. I encourage everyone to vote for him on Nov. 6 so he can continue the work he’s started.

Matthew O’Keefe

Deep River