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10/10/2018 08:00 AMTheresa Ranciato-Viele is the Democratic challenger for the state representative seat currently held by Republican Dave Yaccarino. A North Haven native, Ranciato-Viele has served on the town Planning & Zoning Commission for 21 years.
She is currently a partner at consulting company Techmate, assisting wireless telecommunications companies with their zoning, leasing, permitting, and site acquisitions. Previously, she has worked for the Red Cross and CTRises to help with disaster recovery in the state after Hurricane Sandy. She is a longtime member of the North Haven Rotary Club.
“I’ve been involved with the town of North Haven, politically, for a long time. Especially, being on boards and commissions like Planning & Zoning, you get to hear a lot of what people are looking for,” Ranciato-Viele said. “I came to the conclusion that I think I can serve our town better up in Hartford because I have a lot of knowledge of what North Haven residents want and need.”
One of her primary concerns as a candidate is the protection of health care.
“I fear for some of our more vulnerable residents. Those would be our residents with pre-existing medical conditions as well as people who are in the lower economic levels for North Haven,” Ranciato-Viele said. “A lot of them are seniors and a lot of them are women.”
She worries about the removal of protection for citizens with pre-existing conditions on a national level and on a state level should an adverse gubernatorial candidate be elected.
“It’s a people issue, it’s a women’s issue, and we owe it to the people who live in this town to protect them,” she said.
Another of Ranciato-Viele’s priorities would be to “bring some revenue back to the state through tolls and through the legalization of marijuana,” she said.
With a plan modeled after states like Rhode Island, Ranciato-Viele supports tolling trucks before including all cars and commuters.
“Rhode Island started with trucks and it seems to be working out really well. I would expand it to all vehicles at some point, but we need to jumpstart it with something,” Ranciato-Viele said.
She says that the electronic system would enable the state to charge different drivers—like seniors or out-of-state drivers—different rates.
“We’re the only state on the eastern seaboard that does not [have tolls] and right now we’re the pass-through state,” Ranciato-Viele said. “So anyone going anywhere drives on our roads for free.”
“I believe… that toll money should just be used for infrastructure,” she said.
Just as toll money should be placed in a lockbox for transportation funding, Ranciato-Viele believes that the money earned from marijuana sales should be directed toward schools and for curing the opioid epidemic and treatment.
“People are not going to stop smoking pot just like prohibition didn’t stop people from drinking, so make it safer,” she said.
Ranciato-Viele believes in expanding regionalization, integrating more services, like some emergency services and school systems.
“Does every town need to have a superintendent that makes $200,000 a year?” she asked.
She believes consolidating services would save on costs by having towns within counties sharing responsibilities.
“I would…bring Connecticut into the 21st century,” Ranciato-Viele said.