“What are the most pressing issues facing the state of Connecticut?”
This is one of the many questions members of the Candidate Forum, hosted by Fairfield University on October 9 discussed.
The panel was made up of two candidates for state Senate, Sen. Tony Hwang (R), and Rob Blanchard (D). To the right were five candidates for state representatives, Melissa Longo (R), from District 134, Sarah Keitt (D) from District 134, Cristin McCarthy (D) from District 133, Alexis Harrison (R) from District 132, and Jennifer Leeper (D) from district 132.
Associate Professor of Politics and Director of the Master of Public Administration program, Dr. Gayle Alberda PhD. served as the moderator for the forum, opening the event by thanking the panelists for their time and briefly referencing the Jesuit principle of shaping informed citizens; a tradition St. Ignatius himself started over five hundred years ago as a leading civic figure in his time.
Each panelist was given one minute to answer each question without time rolling over. After the prepared questions, the panelists had ten rapid-fire questions from students, which they only had thirty seconds to answer.
Dr. Alberda read the first question. “What do you consider to be one of the most pressing issues facing the state? And if elected, how do you plan on addressing it?” Starting with the candidates for Senate and working down to the state representatives, each candidate agreed that affordability is the most important issue facing Connecticut families today.
The consensus between both Republicans and Democrats was that housing prices are too high which is driving out retired residents and discouraging new ones. Rob Blanchard (D) shared his first-hand experience with high prices, advocating for more affordable housing.
“My wife and I came to Fairfield, where she grew up, because it has a great education system and schools, but we couldn’t afford today the home she grew up in. And so we rent an apartment with our two dogs and infant. And that’s why we need to address the housing crisis.”
Sen. Tony Hwang (R), spoke on his time as a Senator and his record of voting in favor of equity and opportunity for residents of Connecticut.
“Affordability is critical, inflation, health care costs, insurance costs, all of those are critical factors, and I’ve had ten years as a state senator to fight this issue, and I hope I’ll continue to be able to.”
Cristin McCarthy (D) from District 133, agreed that affordability is a major issue and geared the conversation towards affordable healthcare, calling it an enormous issue in Connecticut today. “As a public health co-chair, I worked on legislation to help address costs specifically related to prescription drug costs.”
The second question read, “What would you do if elected to address affordable housing and the retention of workforce talent?”
Starting with the state representatives, Jennifer Leeper (D) opened by addressing how Connecticut has one of the worst housing markets in the nation, pledging to reform the overdevelopment in luxury housing.
Alexis Harrison (R) opened by addressing the affordability crisis and the homeless problem in Connecticut.
“In addition to the housing crisis, we have about 40,000 homeless people and 90,000 to 100,000 people that are cost-burdened.”
Harrison advocated for diversity in housing and listened to people in each community to work together to solve the housing crisis.
Dr. Alberda then moved on to questions written by politics students at Fairfield. One such question hit close to home for Senate candidate Rob Blanchard (D), who was involved in a drunk driving accident four years prior. The question read, “What is one thing the legislature can do to keep our roads safe?”
“We need to educate people. We also need people who are battling substance abuse to get the help they need, said Blanchard”
Melissa Longo (R) advocated for stricter penalties for driving under the influence and reforming the traffic sign system in Connecticut, making signals and signs more visible at night.
Alexis Harrison (R) responded by advocating for more local transportation, explaining the ability to “kill two birds with one stone” by lowering congestion and offering another form of transportation.
Another student asked a question that brought up the urgent issue of mental health. “What specific issue would you like the legislature to focus on in the upcoming session related to mental health?”
Sarah Keitt (D) focused on the importance of insurance and mental health professionals in the school.
“We need more school-based healthcare, school-based home services, but we also have to look at our Medicaid reimbursement rates for our mental health providers,” said Keitt.
Alexis Harrison (R) shared her personal family experience with mental illness, having grandparents suffer, and spoke about people’s need to talk about it. She highlighted the importance of support groups and the need for support from the government for such groups.
Fairfield senior and politics major, James Johnson, shared his thoughts after the forum.
“As a senior, I’m starting to plan for life after college. I thought the most important thing they addressed tonight was the housing crisis in Connecticut. I’d like to stay in Connecticut after school, so that’s really something I wanted to hear them talk about.”
Overall, the night ran smoothly with each conversation being productive and respectful with key issues that resonate with the residents of Fairfield and Fairfield students.
