Holmes insists Connecticut needs more housing for young workers

Phoebe Holmes Marty Foncello Stephen Harding

David Lehman Ned Lamont John Morris

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – Phoebe Holmes says the housing being constructed in the emerging 198-acre Brookfield Town Center should be a model for the rest of Connecticut.

“I’m excited,” she said of the units that are being built in Brookfield Village near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road.

Holmes currently serves on the Brookfield Zoning Commission and is the Democratic nominee in the 107th state House District, which includes Brookfield and parts of Bethel and Newtown. She will face Republican former Brookfield First Selectman Marty Foncello in the November 8 election.

The seat is being vacated by attorney Stephen Harding, a Republican from Brookfield, who is the GOP nominee in the 30th state Senate District.

“They’re beautiful,” Holmes said of the new housing downtown. “They’re going to be high-end, affordable rentals.”

In an interview with Patch.com, she said voters often discuss the 1990 state Affordable Housing Appeals Act in which if a municipality doesn’t maintain the required number of affordable housing units there is a provision in which developers can potentially circumvent local zoning laws.

Affordable housing has been a prime issue in the recent municipal campaigns in Brookfield and voters have expressed fears that it could spread to residential neighborhoods and lower property values.

Holmes said she envisions the affordable housing staying in the Brookfield Town Center, the emerging central business district that became possible after the Route 7 bypass was completed 13 years ago and traffic congestion was relieved near the Four Corners intersection of Federal Road.

She said she has not taken a position on whether the state Affordable Housing Appeals Act should be revised.

Holmes said that although some residents have expressed frustration that the Brookfield Town Center has progressed slowly, the emerging housing, retail outlets and streetscape is an improvement in comparison to what was there when the demolition began more than six years ago.

Holmes said, “it looked terrible. It was run down.”

“We now have room for young people with starting salaries to get started,” she commented. “At the state level we need to come up with more affordable housing for everyone.”

“it’s very hard for young people to get started in Connecticut,” Holmes added. “It is a very expensive state to live in.”

The New Haven Register recently reported that state Economic & Community Development Commissioner David Lehman of Greenwich said, “If you look at (annual) new housing permits, we’ve been stuck at about 4,000 for a long time. We need to be doing 10,000 to 15,000 new housing permits per year if we want to be economically relevant 10 to 15 years from now. And the type of housing needs to be broad-based.”

Holmes has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Bridgeport.

She formerly taught middle school Social Studies, and said that considering the demands on educators, “Teachers are underpaid and overworked. We need to give them better benefits and more money.”

Holmes said that under Connecticut’s Education Enhancement Act, which was signed by former Gov. William O’Neill (D-East Hampton) in the 1980s, there are considerable certification requirements for teachers. She said some years ago a number of teachers left the profession because of the provisions during the second year under the Beginning Educator Support Training program in which teachers had to produce extensive material on lesson planning and report to a mentor teacher.

“It was scaring people out of teaching,” she said.

About 12 years ago a revised program was established for second-year teachers.

Holmes said that most recently, teachers have faced “very taxing” challenges by having to do remote and hybrid instruction during the pandemic.

On another topic, she said with Newtown in the district, gun safety is a high-profile issue as a result of the 26 people killed in December 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Holmes recently wrote a column for The News-Times of Danbury stating that, “An AR ban coupled with raising the age of purchase of any firearm to 21 seems like a sensible solution. A ban on assault weapons and an increase in the legal age of purchase would undoubtedly save lives and prevent future tragedies.”

Regarding the surge in inflation to the highest levels in 41 years, she said she supports the temporary suspension of the state gasoline tax that was approved earlier this year by Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) and the General Assembly.

Holmes, who grew up in New Fairfield, and her husband, Patrick, a New Milford native, operate a remodeling business that specializes in bathrooms, kitchens and decks. Their son, Owen, 7, will be a third grade student during the next academic year at Huckleberry Hill Elementary School.

She said that she has been interested in government since age 19.

Leslie Ruggiero, who served with Holmes on the Brookfield Zoning Commission, stated in an e-mail interview with Patch.com that, “I found her to be very thorough and thoughtful during our deliberations. She asks smart questions and listens intently.”

Republicans have dominated the 107th state House district since it was established in 1966.

The roster has included former Gov. M. Jodi Rell, former state House Speaker Fran Collins and current state Liquor Control Commissioner David Scribner, all of Brookfield

The only Democrat to be elected was Bethel attorney James Mannion in 1974. He only served one term.

Although, the voters haven’t elected a Democrat since former Democratic Gov. Ella Grasso took office, there may be signs that the district has started to trend slightly more Democratic.

Scribner captured a ninth term in 2014 with 64.6 percent of the vote. Six years later, Harding annexed a fourth term with 57.9 percent of ballots – more than 6.5 percent lower.

Also, the last time it was an open seat, Harding took just 54.2 percent of the vote against Brookfield Democratic former Selectman Howard Lasser.

Gary Rose, the chairman of the Government Department at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield and author of a number of books on Connecticut government, has said that in recent years some suburbs in Connecticut have flipped from Republican to Democrat.

Brookfield had a Democratic first selectman from 2015 to 2021 but elected Republican Tara Carr last fall and dominated the races for the municipal boards and commissions.

However, Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Chairman Laura Orban said the demographics are changing.

“We’ve seen a big influx of new, young families in the last few years,” she said in a phone interview with Patch.com.

In a phone interview with Patch.com, Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Vice Chairman Kerri Colombo, who was the party’s nominee in the 107th state House District in 2020, said that trend accelerated considerably shortly after the state of the pandemic two years ago.

Holmes said her political consultants have said, "It looks really good for me. It is quite winnable."

However, long-time 30th District Republican State Central Committee member John Morris of Litchfield, whose district includes Brookfield, said in a phone interview with Patch.com that he expects Foncello will easily prevail.

“This is not going to be a Democratic year,” Morris said in an apparent reference to the low approval ratings for Democratic President Joe Biden.

He added, “The candidate that they nominated [Holmes] is pretty much extreme left.”

In a news release, Harding praised Foncello, stating,, “Marty has a distinguished career serving both our nation and our local community. This background and expertise will be critical in his advocacy for the residents of the 107th district. I have no doubt he will work very hard for all of us on the important issues we face in our State Capitol."

Said Morris, “We could not have picked a better candidate to replace Steve. [Foncello is] well-known, and he is very active in the community.”

However, when Foncello most recently ran for elective in office, in 2003, he lost his bid for a third term as first selectman by 312 votes in the Republican primary to challenger Jerry Murphy. Foncello then continued as a petitioning candidate and lost to Murphy in the November election by 441 votes in a three-way race.

He was initially elected in 1999 after defeating six-term Republican incumbent Bonnie Smith in a primary by 39 votes and then easily winning a three-way general election. In 2001, Foncello tallied a landslide victory over Smith, who ran as a third-party candidate.

In a phone interview with Patch.com, Robert Marconi, a state assistant attorney general and a member of the Brookfield Democratic Town Committee, commended Foncello for his work in 2000, his initial year as first selectman, to remove the management team from the Brookfield Police Department and then months later, along with the other selectmen and the Police Commission, install Robin Montgomery as the chief and Jay Purcell as the major.

He said that both of them were excellent administrators as they combined to serve for the next 21 years – 16 years for Montgomery and then five years for Purcell - as the chief of the department.

Marconi also praised Foncello for helping to establish a schedule at the Police Department that would no longer require the officers to work rotating shifts in which they would go from overnights one week to daytime and then to a night shift.

However, Marconi said residents questioned Foncello’s ability to cooperate with other elected officials, including members of his own party.

Rell , who was then lieutenant governor, said publicly in August, 2003 – just weeks before the primary – that she would vote for Foncello’s opponent for the Republican nomination for first selectman.

Former state Sen. Lou DeLuca (R-32) of Woodbury and Scribner said in interviews during Foncello’s administration that they had trouble developing a rapport with him.

After Foncello lost his bid for a third term, Scribner told the Brookfield Journal, "I have never questioned Mr. Foncello's intelligence. I have always questioned his ability to work with other people."

Marconi commented, “He showed an extraordinary inability to play nice with others."

Marconi, who was the Democratic nominee for a state Senate seat during Foncello’s tenure as first selectman, exclaimed, “If you’re a Republican first selectman in Brookfield you should be working cooperatively with a Republican lieutenant governor from your own town. You should be working closely with Republican legislators that represent your town.”

He continued, “There is an issue as to whether Marty can be a good team player and get things accomplished. The likelihood is that the General Assembly is still going to be in a Democratic majority after this election. There is a better than even shot that there will be a Democratic governor. It becomes important for a freshman Republican legislator that you have the temperament to not only work with the members of your own party, but to be able to work across the aisle with Democrats.”

“I’m not so sure that Marty has demonstrated that ability,” Marconi said.

Foncello was unavailable for comment.

Holmes said she would be bipartisan.

“Everybody is sick of the Democrats versus the Republicans,” she said. “I don’t want to be a polarizing figure.”

Resources:

https://www.nhregister.com/bus...

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

https://www.newstimes.com/opin...

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