By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Six candidates hoping to be elected Nov. 8 to three seats representing Westport in the General Assembly met for a debate Tuesday at the Westport Library.

While the discussion was mostly civil and not as fractured on issues as other places nationwide appear to be, differences in opinion and a fair amount of distrust between the two major parties were evident.

The debate was co-sponsored by the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce and the Westport Library. The candidates with districts including Westport are:

• In the state Senate 26^th District, Democrat Ceci Maher of Wilton, and Republican Toni Boucher of Wilton, who also has the Independent Party line, are seeking election. Boucher held the seat eight years before losing to Democrat Will Haskell, who is not seeking re-election.

• In the 136rd House District, six-term incumbent Democrat Jonathan Steinberg of Westport is challenged by Republican Alma Sarelli of Westport.

• In the 143rd House District, Republican Nicole Hampton of Norwalk, who also has the Independent Party line, is opposed by Democrat Dominique E. Johnson of Norwalk, who also has the Working Families line. The district includes an eastern portion of Norwalk and a western slice of Westport. Stephanie Thomas, the Democratic incumbent, is running for secretary of the state this year.

The candidates each gave a one-minute introductory statement, then were asked by moderator Matthew Mandell, executive director and president of the chamber, if Connecticut is heading in the right direction when it comes to women’s health and reproductive rights.

Women’s reproductive rights: Best way to protect them?

Boucher said the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, “was very disturbing to many people, myself included.”

Boucher said she served 10 years in the state House of Representatives and eight in the Senate.

“During that time, there were many, many bills, one of them in particular was the morning-after pill, which I voted in favor of,” Boucher said. “And have always voted, and been on the record clearly, for women’s right to choose.

“The decisions between the woman’s body and the possibility of being pregnant should stay in the hands of the woman, government should not get involved in it.”

“I will continue, if I win, to be staunchly and fiercely pro-choice for women,” the Republican said.

Maher said she and Boucher agree on reproductive rights, but “at the baseline, she votes with the Republican Party 97 percent of the time.”

“So if, as we’ve seen, the Republican Party then puts forth, as they have over the years many amendments to change our bills, then how can we guarantee that she will not vote with them?” Maher asked.

Steinberg told the crowd that the state attorney general last week “made it clear that we are not yet safe in the state of Connecticut.”

He said the measures passed are only statutes.

“Unless we enshrine it in the state Constitution we are at risk,” he said. “You’ve seen what the Republicans will do … the decision about reproductive rights is between a woman and her healthcare provider and no one else.”

Hampton also weighed in.

“You know, the law is the law, right?” she said. “This is a question to divide the people.”

“A woman’s right to choose in Connecticut is not in jeopardy,” the Republican said, it’s in the state statutes.

“Everyone in the state has the right to choose their pathway.”

Sarelli, who said she was born in Albania and proud to become a US citizen, agreed women have a choice.

“I keep hearing this, over and over, the Republicans can vote against it, but I’m a mom, I have two daughters and I have two sons, I want to have free choice and in state of Connecticut abortion is codified. It will remain that way if I’m elected, I will not change it.”

Johnson asked the crowd to not believe candidates who say abortion rights is settled law.

“We are not safe in Connecticut,” she said. “If the federal Congress passes an abortion ban, we are not. Our safe harbor law is at risk.”

The Democrat urged voters to ask any candidate in Connecticut if they would support a state constitutional amendment to defend and strengthen Roe v. Wade.

Maher said that to put that in the state Constitution, “we must maintain our Democratic majority.”

“Do not presume that because someone says that they are going to vote for it, that they will once they get up there,” she said.

“When they say codified, it’s not meaningful,” Steinberg said. “It’s not settled until it’s a constitutional amendment … don’t let the Republicans fool you.”

“As a woman, as a mom with two daughters, two sons, I strongly stand by my words that I will not change the abortion [law],” Sarelli said. “I’m pro-choice, and women should have a choice.”

“You are taught your word is your bond when you go to Hartford,” Boucher said. “Of course, I will support a constitutional amendment to support women’s right to choose.”

Affordable housing: Should 8-30g be repealed or revised?

Mandell had several close-to-home questions for the candidates.

One regarded affordable housing, and the state statute regulating it — 8-30g — which gives considerable leeway to developers seeking to build in towns that lack the requisite percentage of units deemed affordable under a state formula.

“Local control has become a hot topic as legislators look to impose state mandates to find a solution,” Mandell said. “What will you do to help solve the housing crisis, yet keep towns in control of their own destiny?”

Steinberg said he was sure everyone in the community embraces the concept of diversity in housing, and the people in the community.

He noted 8-30g has been around about 30 years.

“While well-intentioned, it’s turned out to be more of a sledgehammer than a surgeon’s tool,” he said.

He gave credit to the Westport’s Planning and Zoning Commission for “encouraging the construction of multi-family housing in the right places.”

As for the statute, he said, “let’s replace it with something that’s fairer to communities like Westport where the formula actually sets objectives that are reasonable …”

“This is something that Westport does well, and I’d like to see Connecticut follow our example rather than impose their own solutions,” the Democrat said.

“Who better to decide what is best for our towns except the women and men who are locally elected to lead them?” Sarelli asked. “Progressives at Capitol think they know better how the town should be run. Favor the agendas of lobbyists and professional advocates over the concerns of citizens who say the majority’s party of progressive ideas on planning and zoning, taxation, and force state mandates of school and lack common sense.”

Maher also gave credit to Westport for creating hundreds of multi-family housing units.

“Westport has looked to the future and planned,” she said.

“We have no place for our college graduates to come back and live that’s affordable,” the Democrat said. “We have no place for our seniors to downsize out of their home and stay in their communities that they’ve contributed to for years.”

“We need to do more, and we need to do more across the state,” she said. “We cannot repeal 8-30g without impacting all the zoning laws, all the decisions, that have been put in place over the last 30 years by towns and communities.”

“We must look at it as to how we can fix it …” she said. “Without housing, we cannot attract businesses and grow our economy.”

Boucher wanted to eliminate the statue and replace it with something better.

“It’s obvious it has been manipulated and abused by wealthy developers, particularly in Westport and some of our surrounding towns,” the Republican said. “We need to take a more honest approach to it by actually including existing properties that meet income-based affordability standards and eliminate the requirement for deed restrictions for owner-occupied affordable housing, which restricts the ability to create home equity, and that’s important.”

Johnson said 8-30g should not be summarily dismissed.

“We have to think about all the laws and all the decisions that have been made over the last 30 years that align to it,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we cannot amend it, but we don’t repeal it.”

“Hartford should not mandate solution that may only serve the benefit of special interests such as contractors …” the Democrat said. “Hartford should not mandate over our towns.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Johnson said to those who wish to repeal the law.

“There are other proposals out from other parts of the state that would be far more extreme,” she said.

Maher said the law doesn’t benefit developers if the towns plan. “The towns have to plan …” the Democrat said. “If the town plans, the developer cannot come in.”

Hampton said affordable housing is very important, and that the statute has to be amended.

“A senior unit only counts as half a unit,” she said. “Since when was a senior one half of a person?”

“Units built so far, like 20 years ago, don’t even count,” the Republican said.

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.