Candidates running in the Nov. 8 elections were asked by the Westport Journal to provide information for readers about their background and position on several major issues.

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BIOGRAPHY: I am so lucky to call the 143rd District home. As a proud Cranbury resident, my family and I found a home like the one where I was raised with the values of working hard and giving back to our community. I hold a Ph.D. in Education and am a graduate of Stanford University. A Norwalk resident for almost 10 years, I volunteered for community organizations before joining the Norwalk Common Council in 2020 as an At-Large member where I proudly represent each resident in every neighborhood. As Chair of the Community Services Committee, I use my experience in education and working with nonprofits to improve the quality of life for all of Norwalk’s residents in collaboration with the City and its community partners. Among my initiatives, I led on increasing our funding for mental health services in our schools and community and supported innovative uses of funding for public library improvements to help Norwalkers from all walks of life. I am an advocate for Women’s and LGBTQ+ rights and support equity in education, promoting common-sense gun reforms, and protecting our environment. It would be a privilege to be a dedicated representative of and voice for Westport in Hartford.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: What is the obligation of the communities you seek to represent to provide affordable housing? If you agree more needs to be done, what is the best way to accomplish that goal? Would repeal of the 8-30g law help or hinder those efforts? 

We must address the cost of living and affordability in our state and upgrade our infrastructure while combating increased traffic in our communities. I support affordable housing so our workforce has an opportunity to live in the communities they serve as teachers and first responders if they so choose. I support amending 8-30g in order to improve on a law that is over 30 years old based on what we know now has worked and what has not. Westport has what has been called one of the best affordable housing plans in the state. And as a Council member I have been involved in conversations about our affordable housing plan in Norwalk and I support the provision that municipalities revisit their plan every five years. We need to take into account all of the factors on the ground while promoting innovative best practices like cottage communities and allowing for ADUs in our zoning code. We should be able to build green affordable housing that reduces utility bills for residents and our climate impacts as a community and I will advocate  for this.

TAXES: The state has amassed record surpluses in the last few years. What are your priorities for state finances — cut taxes, fund new programs or pay down long-term debt? 

I believe we can provide meaningful tax relief for our most vulnerable families, fund new programs where we can leverage relationships between industries and educational institutions, and make smart drawdowns on our surplus to pay down our long-term pension debt. The quality of life our families experience is the best indicator of whether CT’s economic expansion will be successful. I strongly believe that we need to focus on making sure people can continue to get back to work and that our youngest residents have what they need through investments in workforce housing, workforce development, and child care access. We can do this by: Continuing to pay down long term pension liabilities; Making continued investments in childcare and working to expand childcare access, especially for women who disproportionately stopped out of their jobs during the pandemic; Expanding Husky eligibility; Investing in mental health supports especially for our youth and veterans; And, creating more opportunities for young adults, career changers, and veterans of all ages to thrive by supporting free college tuition, small business incentive programs, and skilled trades apprenticeships.

TRAFFIC/TRANSPORTATION: Traffic on state highways through the region, as well as local roads, continues to grow more congested. At the same time, ridership levels on public transit alternatives, such as Metro-North Railroad and buses, have yet to recover from losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. What do you suggest to help alleviate these problems, which have a negative impact on everyday life and the region’s prosperity?

I absolutely see sustainable public transportation expanding and improving the quality of life for residents of the 143rd District. In Norwalk for example, we recently were successful in advocating for our local transit authority to keep a shuttle operating for our local community college students to be able to access campus. Some of our fleet uses natural gas as fuel, but we need to electrify our entire public bus fleet to ensure we reduce our carbon emissions effectively. Making complete streets a reality in our District will also create more sustainable public transit options for residents in addition to encouraging walking and biking. We can focus on promoting infrastructure projects that would benefit people and reduce traffic congestion in the 143rd District including: building out our intercity bike trails, specifically one in between Norwalk and Westport; commit to completing the last mile of commuting infrastructure for our residents from the Metro-North train stations; and further advocating to repair and build additional sidewalks in the District so residents can more safely walk and bike and provide transportation alternatives that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

PUBLIC HEALTH: In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, what measures might better prepare the state to mitigate the impact of a similar public health emergency in the future, particularly in critical areas such as education and employment? 

The recession affecting working women in particular, the so-called “she-cession”, will be a major focus in my legislative agenda. I am guided by the belief that when we lift up women and families we lift up us all. I will fight so that they have the support they need to get back to work and thrive, knowing that it will take several years longer to return to pre-pandemic levels of employment. I strongly believe that we need to focus on improving quality of life for our youngest residents by making continued investments in childcare and working to expand childcare access especially for women who disproportionately stopped out of their jobs during the pandemic. We also should focus on expanding Husky eligibility, investing in mental health supports for our youth, and creating more opportunities for young adults to thrive by supporting free college tuition and skilled trades apprenticeships. 

ETC.: Are there any specific issues on which you particularly plan to focus if elected?

My priority in Hartford is to help build a CT that works for everyone, especially our children and the next generations. I believe we do this by focusing on education, jobs, and defending and strengthening reproductive freedom, This is why it is important for every candidate to publicly state whether they will defend reproductive freedom by supporting a state constitutional amendment to defend and strengthen Roe in Connecticut. I will absolutely support this state constitutional amendment and will co-sponsor it as your next state representative. In order to have safer communities and schools, I believe it is also important for all candidates to answer whether they will defend and strengthen our state’s gun sense laws, particularly our Sandy Hook era legislation. Specifically, will candidates commit to not support any attempt to chip away at them in the General Assembly? I will fight any attempts to chip away at our gun sense laws and I will actively work with gun sense advocates to strengthen our gun sense laws in CT by sponsoring and supporting violence prevention and gun-sense laws as your next state representative.