Letter: Fairfield's 132nd District Is Lucky To Have Leeper

To the editor,

The state’s redistricting has made me a new member of the 132nd District and I am thrilled that Jennifer Leeper will now be my representative.

Jenn is intelligent, articulate and responsive, and she takes the time to study the issues and to listen.

One example of this is how she has responded to the recent instances of crime in Fairfield. Rather than succumb to the knee-jerk reaction simply to “lock ‘em up,” Jenn is studying the facts about crime in our area, particularly juvenile crime, which has been of particular concern. She has pointed out that while statistically there is not an increase in most crimes, there has been a pandemic-induced uptick in car thefts and gun violence. Jenn has assembled programs to discuss these issues and she brought together a diverse group of stakeholders including police officers as well as people who work in the area of juvenile justice. These discussions are fascinating and help listeners learn about different aspects of the issue and understand how complex it is. They also highlight Jenn’s eagerness to listen and learn from experts across the spectrum of the issue about what is needed by all constituencies involved to try to reduce juvenile crime. This is the kind of thing effective legislators do: get the facts, ascertain the root causes and what will actually help address them, and then try to pass legislation that can accomplish that.

I am very grateful that we have Jenn in our corner up in Hartford. I urge everyone in her district to reelect her in November.

Karen Wackerman

Fairfield

Wackerman is a member of Fairfield's Representative Town Meeting for District 7, but wrote this letter as a resident and not in her capacity as an elected official.