Independent Party Endorsement for Paul Crisci May Offer Positive Change for Branford 102nd Race

Hello, Branford.
I wanted to share some good news with you, and something I hope you will weigh when you make your decision this election. That decision is closer than most people realize. Early voting begins in October. Last week I received the endorsement of the Independent Party. I want to explain what that means, because an endorsement can sound like nothing more than a second line on a ballot. It is more than that. The Independent Party did not look at the letter next to my name. They looked at the person. They sat down with me, asked questions, went through my platform and my resume, and decided that what I stand for lines up with the values of the people of Connecticut, and most of all of Branford. They decided I was worthy of representing their members, not as a party, but as a person with the right ideas for the job. That tells you something about them, and I hope it tells you something about me. It also tells you that a lot of people here are done sorting candidates by party. They are looking at the job and asking who can do it. That is the entire idea behind facts, not feelings.

It is not a tagline

People assume that line is a slogan somebody workshopped for me. It is not. It is how I am asking you to hire me. You are my employer. That is not flattery; it is the arrangement. You are conducting a job interview with two applicants, and my job is to give you what you need to make a good decision, not to make you angry at somebody. Here is what I mean. Take a step back and look at Branford from ten thousand feet, and then at the Connecticut it sits in. Then ask an honest question. Are the votes being cast in Hartford about this town and this state? Or are they about how we feel about the man in the White House? While we spend our energy on Washington, there is a long list of things right here in Branford that need representation. Taxes on your home and your car. Housing a young family can afford. Overdevelopment and who decides how this town grows. Schools, seniors, veterans, and our shoreline. Businesses deciding whether Connecticut is worth staying in. Our kids finishing school and leaving. None of that gets fixed by a fight over a president. All of it gets decided in Hartford, by someone who is supposed to be speaking for this town.

This one is not on you

Here’s what I’ve come to believe after watching Hartford for years: we’ve lost our balance, which now is spilling into our town. People say conservatism and liberalism can’t coexist. I say they have to. A healthy government, like a healthy diet, is about balance. Anyone can love chocolate cake, but eat nothing else and you’ll crash.

That’s exactly what happens in politics when one side holds too much power for too long. It loses touch with reality and ends up representing, at best, half the people. Good intentions turn into extremes. The danger isn’t that one side cares about what it cares about, the danger is when there’s no one at the table to say, “wait let’s look at this a little closer and a little more reasonably.”

You cast your votes with the information you are given, and I am not going to blame you for how that goes. I put this on the politicians.

Both sides figured out anger is easier to raise money on than agreement. So they provoke you. They keep you upset enough that the decision gets made on feelings instead of facts, and along the way they forgot what they were hired for. The title is State Representative. Not activist. Not party spokesman. Representative.

You are hired to represent all the people, without bias. Not half of them. Not the slice that agrees with you. Not a small group of special interests with a good lobbyist. All of them.

You expect your first selectman to put the town first. A state representative is the same job, one level up, carrying Branford’s issues into a building where 150 other people are carrying theirs. That is what the Independent Party saw. Somebody who wants to represent his town first, who sees Branford’s place in Connecticut’s future, and who is not there for a photo op but to back real bills for the residents who chose this place to live.

What your tax dollars actually are

Your taxes are not a fee. They are a payment into a system, and you are entitled to a return on it. That return looks like protected shorelines, better schools, and real help for our veterans and seniors. And real affordable housing, not a development wearing those words as a disguise to get around local zoning and leave the town with the traffic, the classrooms, and the sewer bill. I have said it many times, and I will keep saying it. Local elections should be based on a resume, not a political affiliation. When I am elected, I intend to represent the people who disagree with me as carefully as the people who agree with me. My job is not to take a side. It is to bring the best information, the best policy, and the best opportunities back to Branford.

A few questions

My opponent has had eight years. So, I have a few questions for you when it comes to Robin Comey. I am not asking you to answer them for me. Answer them to yourself. Can you name one bill she has proposed that was for all of Branford, and not for a special interest? Can you point to one time she voted against her own party because it was the right thing for this town? Can you show where she has stood up for our police and our law enforcement? And can you find a single vote she has cast on affordable housing that came out in Branford’s favor? If you can answer those, then you have what you need, and you should vote accordingly. I mean that. If you cannot, then look closely at my platform, look just as closely at hers, and ask the simplest question there is. If Branford were your business, which one of us would you hire to run it? That is all I want. Not your anger at anybody. Your attention. Facts, not feelings, is not a slogan. It is a request. Do not let how you feel about Washington decide who represents your street. I am honored and humbled to be endorsed by the Independent Party, and I do not take it lightly. I hope to say the same to you on November 3rd, as your next State Representative.