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10/14/2014 12:00 AMAs the Republican Town Committee’s endorsed candidate for Branford’s 102nd District State Representative, Paul Cianci says he wants to “bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm” for positive change in the legislature, and give Branford taxpayers a voice in Hartford. He says he wants to help fix Connecticut’s “broken” state government in which politicians spend too much, tax too much and regulate small businesses too much.
As a structural forensic engineer with a Connecticut firm, Cianci recognizes he and his wife have been fortunate to find jobs in the current economy. Cianci wants to make Connecticut a place where young people can find careers and the opportunity to pursue their dreams; while helping middle income families as well as senior citizens on fixed incomes live here affordably.
As noted at www.cianciforbranford.com , Cianci would work to cut taxes to grow the economy and help small businesses create jobs in the community; reduce state spending and work for “honest budgets” that balance without new taxes, borrowing and “gimmicks.” He’ll work closely with local officials to achieve local goals to improve life in Branford; and get to work in Hartford to bring more hard-earned tax dollars back to Branford.
“Specifically, when I talk about bringing more resources of our hard-earned dollars back to Branford, one example I tell people a lot of times is education,” says Cianci. “It really becomes more of an economic issue. Fifty percent of our town budget is the school budget. The more (state) taxes Branford gets back, it starts to allow our local officials to do a ton of other things.”
Cianci says one way to get some assistance from the state with school funding is to fight for Branford’s true share of tax money returned through Education Cost Sharing (ECS).
“There are different ways of going about the Education Cost Sharing formula. Right now, we get less on a per capita basis than any other town with similar demographics,” says Cianci.
Cianci says the way the state goes about getting the data to determine ECS for Branford is incorrect with a lot of assumptions. Claims that Branford recently received “more” ECS money need to be clarified, he adds.
“The representatives we have now at the state level, they’ll tell you that we’re getting more money. While technically it might be correct, it’s not really true,” says Cianci. “All they did was make the whole system underfunded by a little less, so everyone got ‘more.’”
Cianci moved to Branford in 2009. He and his wife, Angela, hope to start a family here.
“One of initial reasons I thought about running in first place is because a lot of people my age are struggling and are not as fortunate as me and wife,” says Cianci, 28. “It shouldn’t be ‘…Paul and Angela are lucky to have jobs.’ I want to bring it back to the norm. Obviously I’m a young candidate -- I tell people I’m your kid’s generation; and for some, I’m your grandkid’s generation. One of reasons I’m running is to try to drum up statistics among the younger demographic. Eventually, we’re going to be the primary taxpaying generation and we’re going to have to know what’s going on, so getting excitement from the younger demographic is important, no matter what. I’m also a big believer that all these platforms I’m talking about will especially help our future. We want things to traject upwards for next half century. We’re going to have to work hard to make that happen.”
Knocking on doors in the district has given him insight to residents’ concerns and how he can help.
“People are concerned about taxes and whether they can afford local property taxes. Their state representative has a big effect on that through the money they bring back. State taxes have brought record tax increases in the last year and a lot of people are feeling that; in particular, seniors,” he says. “They’ve been telling me they’ve lived in Branford 30, 40, 50 years and might have to retire somewhere else. There is frustration also at the other end of spectrum. I’ve met young people, or residents with a son or daughter maybe five years younger than me; they’ve graduated and now are struggling to find jobs; they have student loans, and things are not as stable as they were years ago.”
Cianci says he understands the concerns of those raising their families here who are also saddled with worries about whether they can afford rising property taxes offsetting municipal funding once supplied through the state budget.
“From the doors I’ve knocked on and the people I’ve met, the vibe around my district is this economy has not rebounded the way it says it has. Yes, the stock market has rebounded … but for overwhelming majority of middle class families, they have not felt things recovering -- and it’s been six years.”
Cianci says he’s also met many in the 102nd district who want to discuss the state’s impact on education here.
“I’ve met a quite a few teachers and quite a few moms and dads, and when it comes to school the biggest issue is bringing more resources back to Branford’s kids. Also, Common Core is obviously a highly contested topic.”
With regard to Connecticut’s adoption of the Common Core educational standards, “…I’ve really tried to understand the issue from both sides of the line.” says Cianci. “I can say that the overwhelming majority of teachers and parents I’ve talked to do not like Common Core the way it stands. They don’t think it’s good for Branford. I think there were good intentions initially behind it; but too many people got their hands on it and twisted it. And the final product forced on Branford does not make the overwhelming majority of our residents happy.”
Cianci says his training as an engineer has taught him to be a good problem solver who can put that talent to work as a legislator.
“I do think in a lot of things I can bring that pragmatic, analytical way to approach a problem. Engineers typically, I believe, are good problem solvers who understand the problem, understand the options and find what’s best out of all the realistic solutions.”
One such solution he sees is focusing on encouraging jobs by encouraging diverse industry here and offering small and medium businesses more support at the state level.
“There are a lot of initiatives where government is trying to pick winners and losers. It really has to be more broad based and looking at every industry. We need companies from every industry coming back here,” says Cianci. “Another big issue is regulations. When you work for a small business, you really feel the impact.”
Cianci says small and medium sized businesses need support from the state because they create a lot of economic growth. He says companies aren’t interested in moving to Connecticut because of its reputation of being unfriendly to business in areas ranging from taxes to regulations.
“One of things I’ve learned being a candidate for office is that government hasn’t done a good job of getting out to the way of some folks; and the perception is, ‘don’t come to Connecticut.’ We’re really starting to see the perception become a reality. “
When it comes to handling the state budget, Cianci says it needs to be balanced in a transparent way with real accountability.
“In terms of getting our budget balanced, it’s not an economic issue; it’s a moral issue. To walk around saying we had a surplus last year is almost a little bit of a slap in the face. It’s misleading, it’s added to our debt; our unfunded pension liability continues to grow and these problems are not being be addressed to the extent that I would like to see them being addressed. With one-party rule in Hartford right now, there’s really not much of a discussion.”
Cianci says running in his first political race against an incumbent opponent has brought many opportunities.
“I’ve been working very hard getting my name out there; and I’m not only getting it out there, I’m getting positive responses,” says Cianci, who was cross-endorsed by the Branford’s Independent Party in August. “Another advantage to running against an incumbent is that, at the end of the day, votes on bills speak louder than any words on the campaign trail. And any vote or any bill passed that I believe hurts the economy, hurts Branford. That’s very easy to show you weren’t looking out for Branford.”
If Cianci has been in office last session, he says, “I would not have voted for this budget. I think it hurts the whole state. I always say I won’t vote for economic bills that don’t increase economic resources to Branford. To me that’s black and white. I won’t make a vote for any of those unless they help Branford more than Branford is being helped now; because we deserve more.”
Cianci adds, “…in terms of taxes, there have been a number of tax increases that the one-party rule in Hartford has put through – a record amount. A lot of bills proposed by the minority party to reduce or slow down taxes; just about all their bills were shut down by the majority party. I’ll look at every bill one by one on a case by case basis.”
As for his time campaigning, Cianci says, “…this is my first time running for office and I’ve loved it. So far, the best advice I’ve gotten from anybody is stay true to who I am, stay honest and work hard, do your best and listen to the people you talk to. Those are the focuses I’ve been trying to follow. It’s been a great experience. I try to keep my campaign positive and talk positively about the approach I want to take and the positive changes I want to make.”