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Lonnie Reed

Lonnie Reed is the incumbent Democratic candidate for state representative of the 102nd Assembly District representing Branford.

Pursuing a third consecutive term, Reed currently serves as vice chair of the Energy & Technology Committee. As a Branford RTM member, she chaired the RTM Education Committee. A business owner with B.A. in political science and English and a master’s in journalism, Reed is a writer, producer, and director of TV network documentaries and specials. She’s former board co-chair, Guttman Breast Cancer Institute, and founder of Hands Across Our Pond (formed to protect Long Island Sound from the Broadwater LNG plant). Reed is former vice chair of the BCTV Board and a board member of the Shore Line Trolley Museum. She is married to Parker Wise with a blended family of seven children.

Her campaign website, www.lonniereed.com, describes Reed as facing the “task ahead” by continuing to fight to: get people back to work by incentivizing job creation, investing in new technology, and preparing a workforce to support it; increase Education Cost Sharing funds for Branford Schools; reduce property taxes for Branford by encouraging towns to work together to provide services; ensure seniors have services allowing them to remain happy and healthy at home; and expand clean energy options and encourage green jobs.

In response to our survey, Reed said bringing the state budget under control requires both “constant fiscal discipline and quick action to make budget adjustments when actual dollars differ from projected revenues.

“That means cutting spending, postponing certain objectives, and eliminating unproductive projects and programs,” said Reed. “Constant oversight is key. I also know our future depends on making smart investments that allow us to compete with other states in attracting and keeping the kinds of business sectors that provide the good-paying jobs and in-demand innovation we need to prosper.”

Describing herself as “pro-active and involved when it comes to economic development in my district and throughout the state,” Reed said she’s proud to be a part of the team bringing Durata Therapeutics, a life sciences company, to Branford (as reported in The Sound Oct. 4).

“As a state, Connecticut spent too many years not marketing ourselves aggressively. And, quite frankly, we were out-hustled by other states, including Massachusetts and New York. Now, we are back in the game and seeing promising results,” she said.

The top three state-level challenges Reed sees facing Branford are: finding ways to take advantage of economic recovery and state incentive opportunities to attract new businesses, create jobs, and ensure existing businesses “thrive in new ways”; utilizing regional cooperation initiatives encouraging towns to reduce property taxes by sharing costs on “big-ticket” projects and services; and dealing with an aging demographic that has “very specific requirements for transportation, healthcare, home care, adult daycare and affordable housing services,” said Reed.

Reed also notes Branford’s growing diversity makes it imperative for schools to evolve to meet changing needs.

As Branford’s representative, she feels she can best assist the entire school district by continuing to fight for education innovation, improving “all schools, not just the failing ones.

“Although Branford now receives a bit more Education Cost Sharing money, our children need additional resources,” said Reed. “As more children require special education, those costs have a growing impact on school budgets. I believe that one fair way to provide more help with mandated special ed requirements is to have the state pick up the whole cost for special ed.”

Reed noted her reputation as a “non-stop fighter for our environment,” earning a 100 percent rating from the bi-partisan Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. She chairs the legislature’s bi-partisan Long Island Sound Caucus, addressing environmental impact worries facing water-body districts like Branford.

“We must get a handle on contaminated storm-water run-off, sewage treatment deficiencies, sewage spills, and overflows that put pesticides, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, oils, fuels, countless chemicals, and other pollutants into our priceless water bodies,” said Reed. “We are exploring a diversified portfolio of actions that can be taken by individuals, neighborhoods, municipalities, the state, the region, and the federal government to combat this growing problem.”

With regard to helping residents deal with future devastating storms and their aftermath, Reed serves on the Shoreline Preservation Task Force, which is taking steps to help towns and property owners more quickly recover from storm fallout, and working to find ways to better protect businesses and homeowners and safeguard infrastructure.

In addition, “as vice-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, I helped write the Storm Response Act we passed last session. Provisions include the ability to punish those utilities who neglect maintenance and take too long to restore power. I believe we need strong, constant utility oversight going forward,” said Reed.