Legislation without representation

To the Editor:

While I have never considered myself a political activist, recent events in Hartford and Fairfield County have morphed me from an “engaged and informed volunteer” to an “enraged constituent” of our elected officials who are supposedly representing the interests of Fairfield County voters. In particular, Senator Bob Duff. The first event that got me heated up was a “legislative update” hosted by the Darien Board of Selectmen on April 6 and attended by Senators Duff and Leone and Representative Terrie Wood. If you haven’t heard about how our State Senators stumbled through this information session, it was all recorded by public access station Channel 79. To watch this Bob Duff debacle, you can go to https://vimeo.com/124453242 . The discussion on the pertinent proposed legislation begins at the 21:00 minute mark and the stumbling continues with a “discussion” on Senate Bill 1 begins at the 57:00 minute mark.

Soon after this meeting and realizing the importance and potential financial impact of SB 1 and SB 946 (the State Budget), the Chair of Darien’s Board of Finance, Liz Mao, invited Senator Duff to come to our meeting on May 19 to provide more details and articulate any changes to the legislation. Having had no reply to our invitation, I sent an email to Senator Duff. Below is my email and his office’s response:

From: Bruce Orr
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2015 2:11 PM
To: Sen. Duff, Bob
Cc: Sen. Leone, Carlo; Rep. Tong, William; Rep. Wood, Terrie
Subject: Invitation to meet with Darien BOF – May 19th

Bob,

By way of introduction, I am a constituent and a member of the Darien Board of Finance. I additionally served for eight years on the Darien RTM and chaired the Finance and Budget Committee.

I understand that or Chair, Liz Mao, has extended an invitation to you to meet with the BOF at our regular meeting on May 19th to provide us additional background and details on SB 1, of which you are a co-sponsor. As elected officials, who have been entrusted by the voters with managing the Town’s financial affairs, this Bill – as we currently understand it – causes us tremendous concern for the future financial health of our Town. It would be great if you could enlighten us on the details of this legislation; from what we know now, it appears that it have only negative consequences for towns like Darien and Norwalk. If for some reason you cannot attend a meeting with concerned and highly engaged constituents in your district, perhaps you could ask Senator Leone to stand in for you. It’s at 7:30 PM in room 206 of the Darien Town Hall.

We would also like to hear more about the budget Bill, SB 946. From what we understand now, it includes $1.8 billion in tax increases, from raising the personal income tax rate to a variety of miscellaneous sales and use fees increases. Is this true? We’d like to learn more about it. As it stands now, this budget looks to be a “train wreck” that will further drive people and businesses out of the State… hard to understand how this fits with your stated position as a “tireless advocate for job creation in Connecticut”. In Darien, the BOF  members – from both parties – work our collective butts off every year to keep annual tax increases at reasonable and understandable levels. Just last night, the Darien RTM passed our approved ’15/’16 budget with a 2.3% mill rate increase. In light of a +3% increase in contracted teacher’s wage increase, a less than 3% overall increase was a huge challenge for us and many departments in Town. Facing an 8% increase in State expenditures in the Governor’s proposed budget feels like a punch in the gut, particularly after finding creative and thoughtful avenues to keep spending in-check and taxes low at the municipal level.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Respectfully,

Bruce Orr

From: OBrien, Dean <Dean.OBrien@cga.ct.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2015 5:47 PM
To: Bruce Orr
Subject: Invitation to meet with Darien BOF – May 19th

 Dear Mr. Orr,

Thank you for reaching out.  In response to similar requests, the Senate will be in session that day so as a result Sen. Duff and other members will be required to be in Hartford for votes.

As I am sure you are aware, last week, our office offered an invitation for Darien officials to come to the Capitol during session to be briefed on important changes to Senate Bill 1.

Sincerely,

Dean, Executive Assistant, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff

Several other emails followed, including my offer to meet on another day or evening and his office still comes back with “come to Hartford”. Senator Duff should start rethinking how he informs his constituents and be a lot more transparent on some of the most important State legislation in years. When it’s election time again, I certainly hope that Darien and Norwalk voters will remember how he stumbled through this legislative session and basically ignored the needs of his constituents.

Bruce Orr

Darien