November 3rd is fast approaching, and early voting this year means voting can begin as early as October 2, just 15 days from now.
Once again The Greenwich Sentinel offers its endorsement of the local candidates we feel best deserve your vote. We do this in the spirit of providing information that will be helpful to voters as they decide who would best serve our collective common interests in the state legislature.
As we described in an earlier editorial, we’ve approached this exercise differently this year by organizing an Endorsement Board to independently arrive at our endorsement decisions. The Board was comprised of six Greenwich residents, chosen for their dedication to Greenwich, their individual acumen, their varying demographics, varying backgrounds and spectrum of political philosophies. The Endorsement Board includes two Republicans, two Democrats, and two Independent/Unaffiliated voters.
They gathered and reviewed a variety of sources about all the candidates including education, responsibilities, and accomplishments in the public and private sectors, news articles, op-eds by the candidates, voting records, candidate profiles by third parties from previous elections, campaign websites and social media pages and campaign literature. The Board also prepared a list of questions for the candidates and conducted socially distanced interviews with those individual candidates who chose to participate.
The Board met (virtually) multiple times over the period from August 26 through September 14. The ground rules were that the endorsements were to be made on people, not party, and by unanimous consensus or at least supermajority (i.e., 5 out of 6). Members brought open minds, thoughtful questions, insightful analysis, and a light touch of humor to the task. The Endorsement Board was a small group of people coming together with complementary knowledge, skills, and experience – a real team.
All of the following endorsement decisions were made by the Board either unanimously or by supermajority vote, and each member of the Board fully supports them all. While it may seem cliché to say that all the candidates are exemplary, the Board felt that they truly are.
State Senate, District 36
Ryan Fazio (Republican)
Ryan Fazio is running to unseat one-term incumbent Democrat Alex Kasser for the position of State Senator representing the 36th District, which includes all of Greenwich, most of north Stamford and a portion of New Canaan.
Fazio is a newcomer to the political world, but not to Greenwich. A lifelong native and graduate of Greenwich High School, Fazio has worked in the shipping, agriculture and renewable energy industries, mostly in Stamford. He is a member of RTM District 12 and a volunteer for Greenwich United Way and Meals on Wheels. Fazio has a special interest in education; he has been an inner-city school tutor for seven years and serves on the leadership committee of the Associate Council of the KIPP Schools. He is a prolific writer and author of multiple published pieces on public policy and economic issues and the need for change in Connecticut state government. His campaign slogan is “Change Hartford, Save Connecticut.” He is very clear in articulating his priorities: “Connecticut’s fiscal insolvency is the single most important long-term issue facing the state. Without solving it, every other problem gets worse.”
Fazio took the time to respond to the endorsement board’s questions with detailed, thoughtful and constructive answers, upon which he expanded further in a virtual interview with the board. The board was impressed with his analysis of the challenges facing our state, and the proposals he offered. His thoughts on the issue of pension reform were nuanced and compelling. In his opinion, “What needs to happen is for the state government to alter existing state employee contracts on the margin to make them sustainable to the state budget and economy. That does not mean the state should break contracts in a gratuitous way. It means that there should be lower cost of living adjustments, higher employee contributions to pensions and health benefits, no overtime spiking of pensions, defined contribution plans, and, potentially, employee buyouts. This is the only right way to solve the problem politically and economically.” He adds: “This is the generational challenge of our state. It can be solved, but it will take the right perspective and leadership to achieve it in the face of enormous opposition.”
He is in favor of term limits for state legislators and “would likely vote in favor of amending the state constitution to create a five-term [10 years] limit in the General Assembly.”
Fazio summarized his priorities and proposed actions as follows:
“To improve the economy, we need to slash income tax rates and simplify the tax code. We need regulatory reform and spending discipline that will welcome job creation and investment. To improve education, we should ensure academic rigor, reduce state mandates on local districts, and oppose regionalization efforts. And to keep people safe, we need balanced public health and policing strategies that protect civil liberties but also preserve public safety.”
The endorsement board was impressed with Fazio’s grasp of the issues facing our state, his articulation of clear priorities and concrete, thoughtful solutions, and his energy, enthusiasm, vision and passion for turning our state around. Remarkably so, given that Fazio is only in his early 30s. But the board actually considered his relative youth an asset. As Fazio himself noted, fiscal instability is a generational challenge for our state. Fazio would bring the perspectives, concerns, ideas, energy and enthusiasm of his generation to Hartford. It would not be the first time that the contributions of thirty-somethings made political history (check out: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/08/how-old-were-the-founding-fathers-the-leaders-of-the-american-revolution-were-younger-than-we-imagine.html).
Fazio’s opponent, incumbent Alex Kasser, made history when she became the first Democrat to win the 36th Senate District since 1930, defeating a five-term incumbent by a little more than 600 votes. Notwithstanding that promising start, and the advantages of a Democrat controlled House and Senate, and a Democrat governor, it was not clear to the endorsement board, based on information it reviewed, exactly what accomplishments she has made, or what specific actions she has taken, personally, to address the serious issues facing our state identified and discussed above; a missed opportunity that in these dire times cannot be repeated.
For these reasons, The Greenwich Sentinel endorses Ryan Fazio for election as State Senator representing the 36th District.
An informed citizenry is best equipped to secure its future. Whatever your personal political point of view may be, The Greenwich Sentinel encourages you to exercise your right to vote.
Endorsement Board Members
Anthony Turner, Co-Chair
Daniel FitzPatrick, Co-Chair
Stephanie Dunn Ashley
Emma Whitney Barhydt
Patricia Chadwick
Peter C. Negrea
