Q&A with State Representative-Elect Gregory Haddad

Q. How long have you been involved in local government and what made you want to begin a life in politics?

A. I've been involved for 13 years, my first two years as an alternate on the [Mansfield] Planning and Zoning Commission and then on the [Mansfield] Town Council. I've always felt that public service is something that's important, and I'm always glad to contribute to my community in that way. At the local level it's all volunteer effort. In Mansfield, you don't get any stipend or any kind of compensation, so I'm very pleased to have had the opportunities that I've had to serve the people of Mansfield, and things have worked out pretty well.

Q. Why do you think that the State Representative position is such a good fit for you?

A. In addition to my local service, I have worked at the State Capitol for 14 years. I started in an entry-level position, basically as an administrative aide to a state senator 14 years ago, and, again, I think it's all about public service. …I'm very familiar with its members and its leadership and its processes and I think that will give me a leg up over newly-elected House members, although I'm sure there are still lessons to learn in the future.

Q. How do you think your tenure as Deputy Mayor of Mansfield and your time serving as Assistant Chief of Staff at Connecticut Senate Democrats has prepared you for your new roles?

A. I've been very privileged to be able to see the inner-workings of the general assembly, and even though I've not been the person making the decisions, it's given me a familiarity with the workings of it and I think that will be very valuable to me moving forward.

Q. What is your major area of legislative interest? What matters most to you?

A. During the course of the campaign it became clear to me talking to people in Mansfield that they were concerned about three things primarily: the state budget being one of them. There's a $3.5 million budget deficit and we need to address that situation in an honest and forthright manner. We need to pass a balanced budget that will meet the needs of Connecticut residents and also close that gap in as fair a manner as possible. In Mansfield, there are a lot of people who work at UConn or who care about the university. ...That's always a concern for the representative of Mansfield, to make sure that UConn is a state institution and is dealt with as fairly as other branches of government. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, at least from my perspective, is job growth and job creation. They are keys to our future as a state and we need to be redoubling our effort to create and retain jobs in Connecticut.

Q. As Vice Chair of Commerce, what will you do to boost Connecticut's business community, more specifically Mansfield's?

A. I am very interested in doing things that might provide some relief to very small businesses. I remember one day when I was going door-to-door, I talked to a gentleman, a carpenter who occasionally hired help, but for the most part he worked for himself. …I would like to see if there are things that we can do on the Commerce Committee that would provide some particular relief to small businesses, and that might be relief from the Business Entity Tax which is a $250 tax that gets paid for by the head of the corporation, or just some ways to cut through red tape so that small businesses that don't have a lot of administrative workers ... can manage their way through red tape more easily without giving up their protections.

Q. Looking back on 2010, what do you see as some of Mansfield's biggest accomplishments?

A. I think that the progress that we've made on the Downtown Partnership is significant and is likely to be the thing that happened in 2010 that will be of the most lasting consequence for Mansfield. But I think there are decisions that are equally as important. We've always been able to balance a budget in a fair and balanced manner. …We've got innovative recycling programs and a terrific recreation department and all of the things we do in Mansfield well are largely due to the work of our staff, but also to the council that support those things. ...I think 2010 will be the pivotal year for the Downtown Partnership when we look back at it in 30 years and I'm confident that that's going to be a success.

Q. Conversely, what kind of reform do you believe the town needs?

A. Mansfield, as a community is highly dependent on the state for additional revenue because we get the pilot money for the University of Connecticut. …I would say that if state resources continue to stay flat, or even worse, as they go down, as we try to close the budget gap, it will be very difficult for Mansfield, more difficult than many towns, to make up for some of the losses in municipal aid that might be forthcoming. I'm relatively committed to working hard to maintain the municipal aid. …It will be a challenge for me at the Capitol to work with my fellow legislators and with the governor to maintain those levels and it will be a challenge to local officials in Mansfield.

Q. Today you will be taking over the position that Secretary of the State Denise Merrill held. Have you received any advice from her?

A. Yes. She told me that I need to work really hard and do my homework. …The people who do well are people who have put in the time and the hard work that is necessary to understand what's going on. That was some of the advice that she gave me and I think that was good advice.

Q. What are you most looking forward to after being sworn in?

A. I'm very enthusiastic about the opportunity that I've been given by voters in Mansfield, but I accept that enthusiasm is tempered by reality. I look forward to serving the House. I'm going to give it 110 percent, but I'm looking forward to a lot of hard work if I'm going to be successful. There are a lot of hard challenges and it's not going to be an easy year.

Q. What is the one thing that you would like Mansfield residents to know about you?

A. After serving the Town of Mansfield for 13 years as a local elected official, I think the people of Mansfield know me pretty well, as someone who is relatively selfless in public service and who has been sent here to do just as good a job as I can do. I think that I've got a good head-start at being able to earn the trust that they've granted me … and I hope that they know that I'm going to be working every day to prove that they made the right decision.