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The Race is On in the 12th District

The televisions and front lawns of residents across the 12th District may currently be crowded with advertisements and signs for the Aug. 14 primary, but for the 12th District State Senate Seat, the candidates are already decided and the race is officially on. On Aug. 9, Democrat Christine Cohen and Republican Adam Greenberg attended the Madison Economic Development Commission (EDC) meeting to introduce themselves to the commission, talk a bit about their vision, and answer questions.

The 12th District Senate Seat, which encompasses Branford, Guilford, Madison, North Branford, Durham, and Killingworth, came up for grabs early this spring when current State Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D) announced he would not seek a third term.

The Republican and Democratic conventions for the 12th District Senate Seat took place this past May and challenging candidates were unable to collect enough signatures to petition, so the two party-endorsed candidates, Cohen and Greenberg, will face each other in November.

At the EDC meeting, Chair Ryan Duques spoke to the two candidates about the history of the EDC and what the commission has tried to accomplish over the past few years. Duques said having the two candidates there for an informal debate/discussion was a bit unconventional, but he said considering the economic challenges that lie ahead, a little unconventional might not be a bad idea.

“We all chose to live here and do business here and raise our families here, and I think we all are on a lot of common ground when it comes to that,” he said. “We have had very good relationships over the years with both our state representative and our state senator and that role is very important to us. We wanted to take this opportunity for you to get to know us a little bit and for us to get to know you.”

Candidates were given five minutes each to introduce themselves and give rough idea of their vision for the district before commission members posed questions.

Cohen, a Guilford resident and a member of the Guilford Board of Education (BOE), is a small business owner. She started Cohen’s Bagel Company in Madison 15 years ago and said she sees this seat as an opportunity to help small businesses grow, which she said will help the state grow as a whole.

“Why we are all here is because we want to remove barriers to growth for small business and we want to provide opportunity for new business to come into the state,” she said. “We are at a point where it’s very difficult to tax or cut our way out of the fiscal situation we’re in. We really have no choice but to grow our way out, and I believe that small business development is the way to do that. Small businesses are job generators and they entice people to come to this state and stay in this state because they like the businesses that are here and they like the environment that is here.”

Greenberg, who grew up in Guilford and now lives in Branford, was a former major league baseball player and in 2010 founded Lurong Living, a nationwide health and wellness company. Greenberg said there is a lot of opportunity in this area and wants to work hard in this seat to pool talent and come up with solutions.

“For me, this is all about collaboration,” he said. “It’s not for me to come in and talk to you guys who have done a phenomenal job and say this is what I am going to do. My job is to sit down with each one of you individually, listen and learn, and take your ideas, collaborate with you, and take that to Hartford.”

Why Run?

Commissioners asked about each candidate’s motivation to run and what they hope to deliver for the people in the district if they are successful.

Both candidates spoke about their children and love of the community as key drivers to run, though both pointed to different financial methods to serve the community.

Greenberg said in this role he hopes to help reel in state spending.

“If people keep talking about revenue and ‘We need to get more money,’ then we are missing the boat,” he said. “We are missing the problem of spending, because spending is out of control. I have talked to too many state workers that are pointing out unbelievable specifics about the deals we have struck, the bids we are accepting, and so for me I feel there is a huge opportunity to bring it back in and control the spending.”

Cohen said because of her time on the Guilford BOE, she knows how painful state education cuts can be to towns and wants to work to protect municipalities from those losses. Additionally she said she wants to be a part of the conversation that shifts priorities in the state when it comes to business.

“I am a small business owner and I feel the avenue to growth for Connecticut is small business development,” she said. “We need to stop spending millions of dollars on these large corporations that turn around and pick up and leave the state. We need to start focusing our energy on these 500-and-lower-employee sized businesses.”

How Do You Stop the Flood?

The average age of residents in Connecticut is on the rise and people are leaving the state at a rapid pace for a variety of reasons, including affordability. Commissioners asked how each candidate would look to keep people—seniors and also young talent—in the state.

Cohen said there’s no silver bullet to getting people to stay. She said the state needs to protect education to keep young families, get smart about transit-oriented development so residents and businesses can have an easier time getting about, and look at maintaining attractions like the booming brewery industry, biotech firms, arts, and the environment because people, but especially people with families, move to areas that have those kinds of attractions.

“You need a comprehensive plan,” she said. “It’s not just one thing that is going to bring people back to Connecticut. I think Connecticut has been guilty for a long time of saying, ‘We are going to fix this, but then oops we just realized we had this affect on three other things’. We are not recognizing the simple law of physics that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”

Greenberg said he knows what won’t keep people in the state—tolls and taxes. He said too many seniors are being forced out of their homes and businesses are being forced out by taxes and regulations.

“As a business owner, I know if I sell my product to a customer, my job is to wrap my arms around that customer and tell them how much I love them,” he said. “Tell them I know they can go other places to get similar stuff. Connecticut is no different. Connecticut is a business owner…if we don’t wrap our arms around those people, we are going to force them out. We have to humanize this and get out of the balance sheets.”

Tolls

The conversation came to a close with both candidates being asked for their opinion on what is likely to be one of the most popular and controversial topics of this election season: tolls.

The conversation around possibly bringing electronic tolling into the state has gained a lot of steam over the last year, as current revenue sources are seemingly unable to keep up with the rapid deterioration of the state’s infrastructure. In the last legislative session, there was a debate over studying the potential of tolls and on the ballot this year there will be a special question regarding the Special Transportation Fund (STF). The fund is used to pay for infrastructure upgrades and other transportation projects. As the fund is rapidly running out of money, the question on the ballot would theoretically ensure that fund, filled by any potential toll money, would be locked and used only for transportation projects.

Greenberg pointed out that the state doesn’t have a great track record with lockboxes and putting money where it is supposed to go, giving the example that lottery funds were supposed to be for education. He said he also wants to look at other options before burdening the taxpayers with tolls.

“We can’t just say we need more revenue because of roads are collapsing,” he said. “Let’s get our spending in order and let’s find how much we can save in the annual budget with zero-base budgeting before we burden the taxpayers.”

Cohen said Connecticut is the only state in the surrounding area that doesn’t have tolls and the state needs to start capturing some of that revenue. She said at this point, while no one wants to have tolls, it’s the way the state needs to go.

“Do we need to ensure that Connecticut drivers are deeply discounted?” she said. “Absolutely we do. Can we look at tax credits? Absolutely we can. Can we look at incentives to get people driving at different times of the day? Absolutely and I think we need to do this in a smart way that doesn’t burden residents to the extent that some say it might.”