Rumblings! 25 Things We Learned at the Candidate's Forum

25 Things We Learned at the Westfield Residents Assoc. Middletown Canidates’ Forum.

1.       Jennifer Mahr, chairwoman & host/moderator should have her own morning show. Bubbly & professional giving equal opportunity to all with great poise all the while moderating a very contentious room. Thank you Ms. Mahr. 

2.       Most in attendance were part of the entourage of the participating candidates. Candidate with the largest entourage: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro with 11 henchpersons.

3.       Rep. Joe Serra (D) (33rd District) introduced himself and mentioned he is on the Aging Committee, Prostate & Judiciary Committee, and Alzheimer's Committee.

4.       One Westfield resident was very concerned about Euthanasia or Youth In Asia we couldn’t tell. Every candidate was asked. Seriously, excellent question.

5.       Candidate Linda Szynkowicz (R) (33^rd District) if elected wants to develop a program to cut government waste & redundancy, without cutting state jobs, but by encouraging incentives for state employees to find ways to save their departments money. Szynkowicz's program would reward them with rebates. Rep. Serra said believes state government is running just fine the way it has been for the last 22 years he has been in office & there is no waste. Status Quo, keep her’go!

6.       Candidate Earle Roberts (R) (9^th District) is very upset about the shooting in Shady Brook Connecticut that took the lives of elementary school children; he is very in tuned with what is going on.

7.       Candidate Senator Dante Bartolomeo (D) (13^th District) feels she is “a good navigator for parents dealing with agencies such as DDS, DSS, DCF etc. because these agencies are so confusing”, as she attests to. Bartolomeo states there is so much red tape, (instead of solving this seeing as she is one the Children & Families Committee and all) it is much easier &amp &she enjoys it when all these parents must call her & go through her for help.

8.       Dan Russo, former Democratic Town Chair, has no need to end questions with actual inquiries to candidates & how dare anyone (cough) question this.

9.       Rep. Paul Doyle (D) (9th District) admitted Common Core is flawed & needs looking into. The most honest and simple statement of the evening. Well played sir.

10.   Candidate for Congress James Brown debunked all the false statements of DeLauro’s speech before she gave it, clairvoyant & awesomely entertaining. A math teacher, Mr. Brown resigned to run & is kicking butt. He also gave a great break down of the over-spending occurring in Hartford. Advice: please bring a chalk board. Unfortunately with the exception of Doyle, the other D's failed to acknowledge Connecticut is poised for a deficit at all. Must be that Common Core math...

11.   Rep. Matt Lesser (100^th District) had no idea Middletown purchased a decommissioned M-CAT tank for its’ police force. Lesser also denies that state’s have the ability to regulate what the federal government gives them as far as equipment. Isn’t like you could just not take it right? What’s going on we thought you and Lil Dan were bff’s?

12.   When asked by a citizen why it was taking so long (22 years to be exact) for the lights on Route 9 and the Route 17 on ramp issue to be dealt with Rep. Joe Serra (D) (33^rd District) had a unique response. “ Its very complicated. And expensive.” Said Serra. Guess it will take him another 22 years in office to actually do something. Ain’t like he is head of the Highway & Transportation Committee or anything right? Oh wait….
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13.   Speaking of, Serra went on to remark “No one has died, at the Route 17 on ramp, its’s only fender benders.” Right,that makes it ok. He also added the lights on Route 9 were “not going away.” Now how many fatalities have occurred because of these?

14.   When asked what she would do about the highway debacle downtown, Candidate Syznkowicz commented that perhaps if she had been in the position, say on the Highway & Transportation Committee negotiations for the $567 Million “Bus way to No-where”, she would have used support as leverage to get fixing Middletown’s treacherous highway stretches fixed. Syznkowicz also concluded better still for someone hypothetically in her opponents position, vote no to the bus way and advocate for improvements to existing infrastructure like the city highway’s to be a priority!  Wow! 

15.   It should be noted that at the Middlesex Chamber candidate forum when asked about high CT gas taxes, Rep. Serra told the audience “If you don’t like Ct’s high gas taxes, then leave your car parked in your driveway.”

16.   Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro wore a leather dress. Ok, aside from that, does anyone notice how she talks in a whisper-yell trying to engage the audience? Despite the Equal Wage Act, Red Rosa says women who work less than their male counterparts earn less, less skilled labor earn less than skilled labor, everyone should be equally paid no matter what they do, minimum wage needs to be like $20 an hour, rich people suck, free tampons, mammograms & diapers for all,  the government makes jobs, you didn't build that, what’s yours should be everyone else’s double, she is so proud of Obamacare she could just explode, men suck, woman rule, just not those who support themselves, feel guilty if you earn a living, blah blah blah.. COMMUNISM COMMUNISM COMMUNISM!

17.   Not one Soylent Green reference was made when the euthanasia question was asked. Not one.

18.   Candidate Angel Fernandez knows a lot about Common Core & the testing. Lesser doesn't think Common Core includes more testing or teaching to the test. Pass the dutchie Matty.

19.   A great quote of the night by Candidate Len Suzio (13^th District) “I learned after I got in office that the power you have is not you. It’s in the people who elected you. You give them a voice. If elected again you will have a voice.” This is from the guy who got 5,000 signatures to cap the gas tax after holding over 20 rallies around the state in less than 6 months to get it done! And what an awesome voice it is going to be when Suzio is back in office! Get your ear plugs ready Legislature!

20.   Rep. Paul Doyle (D) (9) admitted there will be a gabillion dollar state deficit. The second most honest and simple statement of the evening. The other Democratic candidates are still in denial about this.  Seriously whatever was passed around in the car on the way over, Doyle was not privy to. Mr. Doyle remained firming planted in reality as opposed to his colleagues. Wonder if they made him walk home for saying this?

21.   Suzio, a banking  professional, says he is the ONLY candidate to be campaigning with a proposal for a step in closing the states projected several billion dollar deficit – Suzio proposes debt service consolidation which will save $1 billion annually in fees. This alone can be reinvested the state’s small businesses via grants and loans.  Suzio says he also plans to continue tackling the suspension of the state’s laws which allow the early release of violent criminals, focus on job growth, and education. Does he sleep?

22.   Bartolomeo completely forgot when asked her reasoning that she advocated for SB. 374 which was widely criticized for state mandated mental health screenings for home-schooled & public schooled children. This received national attention from opponents concerned over privacy & government getting a hold of psych profiles of minors. Has MKUltra gotten to Bartolomeo??

23.   Bartolomeo stated she advocated for more supportive, half-way & subsidized housing in Middletown, something she is proud of. GEE, THANKS!

24.   Congresswoman DeLauro says before 2018 tweaks to Obamacare can be made, It isn't perfect, but she isn't really worried as she will be 6,520 by then, the age which elves leave Rivendell & ascend over the Sea to the Undying Lands.

25.   When asked about Ebola by a citizen, DeLauro told everyone that we should  be spending more money to stop the global health crisis in West Africa. With Obamacare & modern medicine, we shouldn't worry at all about Ebola in the United States.