Bysiewicz Connects With Seniors

After college, two of her three kids received their most attractive job offers not in Connecticut but in New York City, and so have moved there.

That’s why, Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Susan Bysiewicz said, she wakes up every morning of her campaign thinking about what she can do to keep young people in Connecticut.

That rang a bell with 97-year-old Sylvia Rifkin, who also has children — make that grandchildren — who likewise have moved to New York to begin their careers.

The interchange – and sharing of economic and education ideas of how to keep kids on the Connecticut farm – unfolded Tuesday afternoon at The Towers senior living complex, where Bysiewicz, the endorsed Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor sharing the ticket with Ned Lamont, dropped by to chat and drum up votes in the run-up to the Aug. 14 primary.

Before laying out the bullet points of her campaign, Bysiewicz — the party-endorsed candidate in an Aug. 14 Democratic primary against Eva Bermudez Zimmerman — greeted each person as they entered The Towers first-floor meeting room.

The seniors were well informed and alert to the issues — especially underfunded state pensions, the prospect of tolls to generate desperately needed income, and the decline of the state as a magnet for businesses. The seniors peppered the candidate about these issues and others after her formal remarks.

The daughter of a 96-year-old World War Two bombardier and a 97-year-old aunt who served in the Coast Guard, Bysiewicz particularly connected with veterans like Stanley Swimmer and Norman Feitelson. She reminded them how as secretary of the state in 2009 she had toured Connecticut passing out formal certificates of appreciation to vets.

Bysiewicz laid out what she sees as the state’s challenges: Fixing the out-of-whack and always late budget, attending to crumbling infrastructure, and doing all that not by raising taxes but by growing businesses — especially small businesses — and creating an educational pipeline to get Nutmeg young people trained in the jobs that businesses needs. Then she fielded questions.

Terri Berger asked Bysiewicz if she thinks how she and Ned Lamont, the front-running Democratic gubernatorial candidate with whom she’s running, will deal with underfunded state pensions.

“I’m a Democrat, I’m pro-labor, but we also have to get rid of abuses,” Bysiewicz responded. She cited the practice of using the last three years of pay on the job to calculate pensions, often reflecting overtime. The average over a career should be the basis for pension calculations, she said.

She also recommended using lottery proceeds as security for teachers pensions, with the goal of making them 72 percent funded. The current figure is 56 percent.

What about bringing highway tolls back? asked Sylvia Rifkin. Bysiewicz said she’d support new electronic tolls only if the state passes a ​“lockbox” that guarantees the revenue will flow to transportation improvements. She and Lamont also propose limiting the tolls to large commercial trucks, following the example of Rhode Island. She described the current situation with trucks on the road as a ​“multi-state charity,” with a third of traffic on the Connecticut roads going through

“If we pass tolls, we should also lower the gas tax,” she added.

The only questions to which Bysiewicz gave less than detailed answers were about the status of her campaign. They occurred when Norm Feitelson asked, pointedly: ​“Aug. 14 is around the corner, 21 days away. How’s your campaign doing in Bridgeport, the largest [concentration of] Democratic voters?”

“I’m being well received. The polls look good. I’m going door to door,” Bysiewicz responded, adding that what will matter most in the election is turnout. Bysiewicz has focused a lot of her campaigning in suburbs and small towns. Her opponent, and Lamont’s opponent— Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who’s running for governor — are seeking a base in cities.

“And will Ganim and company back your ticket” if they lose the primary? Feitelson pressed Bysiewicz.

“If people go to the polls, I believe we will be successful,” she answered. Lamont has publicly refused to say if he’d back Ganim if Ganim wins the primary.

Asked how she’s responding to Bermudez Zimmerman, the upstart labor organizer from Newtown who received enough support at the convention to be on the ballot to challenge Bysiewicz for the lieutenant governor job, she said, ​“Everyone in a primary has a challenger. I’m working very hard to get my message out.”

Sylvia Rifkin said she liked everything she had heard from the candidate, and that she had already applied for her absentee ballot.

TowersLife Engagement Coordinator Susan Skalka said she had previously had the registrar of voters come to the senior complex and that office would make another appearance next week to assist those not already registered. (Click here to read about a visit Lamont made to the Tower.)

The Towers houses 320 residents, about 80 percent of whom are Democrats,” Skalka estimated.