Marcia Chambers Photo
With a week to go before the Republican primary for governor, state Senate leader John McKinney arrived in Branford yesterday to hear the issues facing local merchants and to promote tax relief for small business owners and their workers.
McKinney, 50, of Fairfield, is running for governor in an Aug. 12 Republican primary against endorsed candidate Tom Foley.
He arrived in town on a warm, sunny day and was met by Ray Ingraham, the chair of the Republican Town Committee. Ingraham said the RTC does not endorse candidates in a primary race because the RTC represents different views within the party. However, he noted that at the Republican convention in May, all 11 RTC delegates from Branford endorsed McKinney. McKinney, a member of the state Senate for 15 years, has been the minority leader for the past seven years.
Outside the Shoreline Café at 1247 Main St., McKinney shook Ingraham’s hand and then chatted with Wilson and Dena Jara, the restaurant’s owners. They have owned the popular restaurant for five years. (They are pictured in the top photo.)
When asked by the Eagle if he had ever run a small business, McKinney said that, in fact, he has.
“Many years ago my father-in-law, who has since passed away, and I started a small gourmet food business up in Litchfield. I know how hard this is. Both my in-laws have since passed away. My mother-in-law was a Branford girl, in fact. Born and raised.” (His mother-in-law was Susan Clancy, whose father, Stuart Clancy, was a son of Will Clancy who founded the Clancy Funeral home in 1900.)
Running A Restaurant
McKinney asked Mrs. Jara about the daily operation of the Shoreline Café.
McKinney: “What are your hours here?”
Mrs. Jara: “7 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. daily and to 5 p.m. on Sunday”
McKinney: “Seven days a week?”
Mrs. Jara: “Yes.”
McKinney: “You guys ever have a day when you are not here?”
Mrs. Jara: “No.”
McKinney: “And a vacation?”
Mrs. Jara: “My kids don’t know what that means,” she said. The couple has five children.
Marcia Chambers Photo
As he left the Shoreline Café, McKinney met Joe Pagliaro (pictured), who is a co-owner of the Grand Paint and Floor in New Haven and Joe’s Paint and Floor store at 145 North Main St. in Branford. Both men spoke while on the sidewalk outside the Shoreline Café.
“Are the national guys near you?” McKinney asked Pagliaro.
“Oh yeah, they are all around us. Home Depot is not far,” Pagliaro replied.
McKinney said: “I know you give customers services and in towns like this customers appreciate that.”
“Yes,” he said.
Corporate Surcharge
“We were just talking about small businesses and the state,” he said referring to an Eagle question a few minutes before. “You know the 10 percent corporate surcharge doesn’t hurt big companies, but it can hurt you, especially when it is retroactive.”
“Absolutely,” replied Pagliaro.
“As I have been traveling around the state, you see the statistics, but you really don’t see it until you get out to places and talk to people. What I see around the state is that we are a state that is dependent upon you. That state is really built around you guys,” McKinney said of the small business owners. “Now GE has its world corporate headquarters in Fairfield and it is an amazing company, but we are here to talk about you guys.
“You are the guys who see an increase in sales tax, corporate tax, the big guys are okay. They survive.”
“Absolutely,” Pagliaro replied. “It is different for the small business owner.”
Children at the Borders
McKinney then walked over to Common Grounds, a coffee shop the Jaras opened 10 years ago. He walked with Paul Cianci, the Republican candidate for state representative in the 102nd District. He is running against Democratic incumbent Lonnie Reed. Inside McKinney greeted customers and talked about issues beyond Connecticut, including the role of the state in handling the influx of thousands of children from Central America.
McKinney said he was critical of the quickness with which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made the decision not to admit 2,000 children into a state facility.
“I thought it was based on politics,” he said.
Now he is looking at the broader picture, he said in an interview. He made his comments after Congress left for summer break, without taking any action on the border crisis. The House failed to act on emergency border funding. Whatever the House eventually passes is likely to face opposition in the Senate and a veto threat by the White House.
“I think the various governors have an opportunity to say to the Congress and to the president: You are asking us to take this on, to help kids we all want to help but there are people in Connecticut who are already struggling and who are hungry. So to do this, let us know there is a plan, and then we will help.
“There needs to be pressure. Right now both parties are using the immigration issue for politics instead of sitting down and working it out.”
He said states needed to know “just what the federal government is asking, how many kids are involved, what are the burdens and for how long.”
McKinney said he thinks the federal government has to resolve the issue before the states go forward. “So now you are asking the people of Connecticut and other states to bear the burden of their (the federal government’s) unwillingness to sit down and resolve the issue. And this is an opportunity for the states to say, ‘No we are not going to do it unless you solve the issue,’” he said.
Marcia Chambers Photo
His next stop was G Cafe Bakery, where he went with an almond croissant for a quick lunch with staff. McKinney is pictured here with Cianci.
Onto Guilford
After he left Branford, McKinney headed to Guilford where he met with merchants from the Guilford Food Market and Ella’s, a dress shop, both located across from the Guilford Green.
He said afterward that small businesses “are feeling squeezed between high taxes and regulations. They are struggling to survive in a down economy.” He repeated a pledge that if elected his administration will offer tax relief for anyone making $75,000 a year or less.
“Many small business owners will immediately feel relief – as will their workers,” he said.
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