Godfrey says he is impressed with Alves’ commitment to education

By Scott Benjamin

DANBURY – If Bob Godfrey was a vice president with the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce more than 40 years ago. . . If he was initially elected to the state House of Representatives when Bill O’Neill was governor. . . If he currently has the title of Deputy House Speaker Pro-Tempore. . . Then why did it take 22 years for the unidentified high-ranking government officials – the ones who live across the street from the house that is decorated with posters of Bob Dylan – to grant him a visa to enter the mayor’s office at Danbury City Hall.

His last visit was sometime before Democratic former Mayor Gene Eriquez finished his 12-year tenure in November 2001. Since then, there have been three Republican administrations.

Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury met the week before Christmas with Democrat Roberto Alves, who was elected mayor in November.

“I like the openness,” he said of Alves, a former Danbury City Council member who was narrowly defeated in the 2021 mayoral election by Republican Dean Esposito. “I like the way he thinks and the way he acts about the schools.”

In some recent years Danbury has ranked last in the state in education spending and there have been complaints about overcrowding in the schools in one of the few cities in Connecticut where the population has grown considerably over the recent years.

In June 2022 voters at referendum approved spending $164 million for the Career Academy on the former site of Cartus, a relocation company. The state-of-the-art school will educate a combined 1,400 high school and middle school students.

Cartus, one of Danbury’s largest employers has a work force that now largely operates from their homes.

However, Alves has said that based on two appraisals, the city spent $21 million too much on property costs at the Apple Ridge Road parcel.

Esposito wrote in an e-mail interview with Patch.com last year that, “We evaluated the purchase price through four different appraisals and very aggressively negotiated the final price with the seller.”

“The opportunity was once in a lifetime – the city was able to purchase an educational campus for our students for generations to come,” the former mayor wrote. “We were able to acquire a 270,000 square foot premier commercial space that sits on 26-plus acres with the first right of refusal on the additional buildings on the campus.”

In an interview with Patch.com, Godfrey said that during the 2023 session he sought to acquire $20 million in state funds to cover part of the additional acquisition costs for the former Cartus property.

He said as the bond package was being developed, some legislators balked, saying that, “Danbury has the worst-funded school system in the state and we’re not going to bail it out.”

“We got $10 million with a pledge to go back for another $10 million in 2024,” Godfrey commented.

“The state has continually stepped up to the plate to provide additional school funding,” he declared. “Ultimately, the city of Danbury did not. There has been underfunding for 22 years.”

He said that the Danbury public schools are in need of capital repairs – most notably, science laboratories that have defective sinks and drains. Godfrey said that Alves promised to provide a list of needed repairs before the start of the regular session of the General Assembly on February 7 so that it could be considered in the state bond package.

While serving as mayor, Esposito was a proponent of the proposed charter school in Danbury, which was approved by state officials nearly six years ago but has remained unfunded.

Jessika Harkay of CT Mirror reported last year, “What makes Danbury unique in Connecticut is the intensity of the debate between the charter school’s opponents and supporters, as local organizations, teacher unions, state legislators and parents remain deadlocked over the best options for educating their children. The lack of compromise has contributed to the delay in the school’s opening.”

Godfrey told Patch.com last year that he opposed the proposed charter school, noting that it would not be accountable to the full Danbury Board of Education.

In the more recent interview, he said that even with the addition of the Career Academy, over the coming years the school district will need to build two elementary schools and possibly another middle school.

Godfrey said another concern is having enough educators to work in schools across Connecticut.

“There’s a lack of teachers, of para-educators of school bus drivers,” he exclaimed. “There are plenty of jobs that pay more than being a school bus driver.”

Patch.com has reported that Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) recently said that there is about $500 million in federal pandemic relief available for public education that could be used to address the teacher shortage.

Lamont recommended towns and cities target new teachers, offering them cash bonuses in return for commitments to remain in their classrooms for five years.

Godfrey said that he supports that proposal.

On another subject, he said he is dismayed by the recent resistance toward shifting Connecticut toward lower emission vehicles.

Lamont withdrew his plan to mandate that starting in 2035 all new car sales would have to be electric or plug-in hybrid the day before it was to be voted on by the General Assembly’s Regulations and Review Committee, which Godfrey serves on. The committee has seven Republicans and seven Democrats on it, and it appeared there wasn’t sufficient support for the proposal, which would have been enacted without the approval of the full state House and state Senate.

Regarding the efforts to stymie the proposed regulations, Godfrey declared, “The amount of misinformation and disinformation floating around drives you crazy.”

“The state is going to take your car away. It was a lie,” he exclaimed.

However, state Sen. Stephen Harding (R-30) of Brookfield, told Patch.com, “I was speaking with owners of electric cars, who love their cars, that were telling me that this was not pragmatic policy. That it was not possible. These were people without a political agenda.”

He added, “Instead of forcing a mandate that we don’t have a plan for, we should be looking at ways to incentivize electric cars.”

Godfrey said that Connecticut started enacting California’s air pollution standards 20 years ago to address climate change.

“Tailpipe exhaust is the biggest source of pollution in this state,” he declared. “Some of my constituents are getting sick because of the pollution in the air. We’ve got to act. If we do nothing, we become noncompliant.”

The day after Lamont’s decision he headlined a news conference in support of moving forward with the proposal to both chambers of the General Assembly. Godfrey stated in an e-mail interview that House and Senate leaders are discussing whether to take up the proposed new regulations during a special session or during this year’s regular session.

In a story on that news conference, Mark Pazniokas of CT Mirror reported that some observers believed Lamont and the Democratic majority in both chambers of the General Assembly didn’t make a compelling enough case for the electric vehicle plan.

He wrote, “In a crowded room in the state Capitol, administration officials and members of the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate offered a defense of the 2035 mandate— something that never came in October and November, when Republicans campaigned against it as bureaucratic overreach.”

Godfrey remarked, “The Lamont administration did not foresee the lobbying money being spent by big oil and its allies in opposition to regulations that detailed legislation, as it's supposed to.”

He added that the governor also “did not respond in a timely manner” to the concerns of state Sen. Cathy Osten (D-19) of Sprague, a member of the Regulations and Rules Committee, to concerns from her constituents “regarding farm tractors. Godfrey said that off road farm equipment is exempt from the regulations. On road trucks will fall under the regulations and the used truck market will still exist for diesel- and gas- powered vehicles.

Godfrey said Lamont also did not appropriately respond to “concerns raised by businesses that deliver home and business fuel oil and propane.” He said that on road trucks will fall under the regulations, and the used-truck market will still exist for diesel and gas-powered vehicles.”

Bryce Chinault, the director of External Affairs at the Yankee Institute, which is based in Connecticut, wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, “Electric vehicles are heavier than regular cars and trucks, which increases costs and burdens on roads, bridges and tires. Heavier cars are more dangerous—they increase accident fatality rates. In Connecticut, there is also the strange reality that consumers can’t buy cars directly from manufacturers, so anyone who wants to purchase a

Tesla, the world’s most popular EV, can do so on only sovereign tribal land at Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort. The state is simultaneously trying to tell people what to buy and make it difficult for them to acquire.”

Godfrey said that as a result of the infrastructure that would be built, the state would add many high-paying jobs.

In early 2019 shortly after Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Essex) left office after eight years, Godfrey said he deserved a ‘B-plus’ for his performance.

What grade would you give Lamont after five years in office?

Godfrey remarked, “About the same. “The economy is booming. His policies set that up – retiring debt, cutting taxes, being devoted to work force training.”

Pazniokas of CT Mirror has reported that, “About $460.3 million in annual tax cuts will come from the largest income-tax reduction in state history, an increased earned-income tax credit and an expansion of exemptions on certain pension and annuity earnings benefitting retirees.” He also reported that State Comptroller said the pensions for the state employees are 52 percent funded, the highest they have been funded since 2008. Just six years earlier they were only 35 percent funded.

As was the case in 2023, Godfrey said he would again seek to lower the sales tax rate from 6.35 percent to six percent.

However, some state officials have indicated that although the Connecticut has enjoyed record budget surpluses in the most recent years, they are projected to be smaller in the near future.

Pazniokas of CT Mirror reported that Lamont recently said, “We’re going to have a lean budget going forward this next cycle. We’re going to stay true to our north star and keep this state moving forward for everybody.”

Regarding his proposed sales tax reduction, Godfrey remarked, “Let’s see what the numbers look like” as the fiscal projections are released during the General Assembly session.

Godfrey was initially sworn-in as a state representative 35 years ago this month.

Is Connecticut better off now in 2024?

“The tax system [then] was the sales tax, excise taxes and capital gains taxes, which were insufficient,” Godfrey commented. “The [Gov. Lowell] Weicker income tax [in 1991] changed that, and in the long term it has been really successful.”

He added, “I think Connecticut is more attuned with economic justice and criminal justice. I think it is more prosperous and there are more opportunities.”

Resources:

Interview with Bob Godfrey, Patch.com, Friday, December 29, 2023.

E-mail interview with Bob Godfrey, Patch.com, Monday, January 8, 2024.

https://patch.com/connecticut/...

Interview with Stephen Harding, Patch.com, Sunday, December 3, 2023.

https://patch.com/connecticut/...

https://ctmirror.org/2023/05/0...

https://ctmirror.org/2023/11/2...

https://ctmirror.org/2023/11/20/ct-budget-balanced-surplus-projections/

https://ctmirror.org/2023/12/19/ned-lamont-ct-income-tax-cut/

https://ctmirror.org/2023/12/20/ct-income-tax-cut-state-finances/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/connecticut-hits-a-speed-bump-on-the-race-to-mandate-evs-california-04d2df1e

https://patch.com/connecticut/...