Sandra's worried ..............

You could cut the air with a knife one Tuesday night in North Branford.  I worked my way up and down the long driveways of the Sea Hill Rd neighborhood.  It was a trying night, I wasn’t finding many people home and I had encountered just a few intimidating dogs, then I rang Sandra’s bell.  Sandra came to the door and peered through the screen. ‘Yes?’ she said.  I asked my opening question, “are you ready for a senator to stand up for you?” She sighed.  Sandra went on to say we needed serious change here in Connecticut, and that our legislators were out of touch, they don’t understand what how we are struggling.  

Sandra's eyebrows were knitted together; she obviously had more to say so, I asked her if she was willing to share her struggles with me.  “I’ve lost my job” I expressed my condolences and asked when.   with that Sandra opened up.  Sandra worked for almost 20 years as an administrator assistant when she lost her job in early 2008.  She wasted no time, she wrote up a resume and starting hitting the pavement right away looking for a new job.  It took Sandra almost a year to land a new job, but she did and was thankful as well as relieved!  She was just feeling like she was getting back on her feet when she lost her job again, the ‘new job’ she landed in 2009 was with Marlin Firearms.  

Marlin Firearms closed their plant in June and moved to North Carolina and Kentucky, where the costs of doing business is more cost effective.   Sandra’s determination is admirable she’s out there hitting the pavement again, but she’s is worried and so am I.  Unemployment in Connecticut jumped again this month to 9.1%.  We need to build confidence in businesses and employers to invest and create jobs in Connecticut not move south. 

 

Surely you had thought this through.......

I enjoyed the beautiful sunset as I walked Linden Ave in Branford Monday night. I knocked on a screen door and waved to the couple sitting reading in the front room.  William greeted me with a smile and a simple “Yes?” I introduced myself and asked if he was ready for a senator to stand up for him.  Indeed he was! 

He shared a disappointing experience he had with the current Senator.  William had reached out to Senator Meyer with serious concerns about a gun bill that was being presented.  The bill would find gun owners criminally liable if they did not report a stolen gun within 72 hours.  William, a hunter reached out to Senator Meyer in opposition to the bill, he felt it was an unreasonable bill and expressed why.  Much to Williams’s disappointment Senator Meyer voted yes, at which time he reached out once again.  He went on to explain to Senator Meyer again, that he was away from his home for extended periods of time, making it impossible for him to know if a gun had been stolen within 72 hours.  "Surely Senator Meyer," he said "you had thought this through!"  William received a disappointing answer, Senator Meyer hadn’t thought about it that way.

Our second amendment states “the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” Your rights William, have been infringed.  Something I strongly disagree with.  I understand that gun violence, especially with the massacre at Hartford Distributors in such recent memory is a sensitive issue.   Still there is a common sense approach needed in how we adopt bills and more importantly how we think them through.