Branford Board of Finance (BOF) member and former Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member Robert Imperato is the Republican and Independent party candidate (appearing on both ballot lines) for Branford’s 102nd House District state representative. He intends to bring his 40 years of professional banking and finance experience and a non-partisan municipal government work ethic to Hartford.

A Branford resident of more than 30 years, Imperato and his wife raised four children who all attended Branford public schools. In local government, Imperato served as an elected member of the RTM from 2012-’18. As an RTM member, Imperato chaired the RTM Public Services Committee. In 2018, Imperato was appointed to serve on the BOF. Imperato also currently serves as a commissioner of Branford’s Water Pollution Control Authority.

In addition to being the Republican and Independent party-endorsed candidate, Imperato has been endorsed by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) Inc. He also has the support of Branford First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove (R).

Imperato said he’s taken a bipartisan approach to his municipal work for the town and would bring that approach to the General Assembly.

“I think what I’ve been able to do is work with both sides of the aisle and get things completed here in town, and I will take that posture in Hartford,” said Imperato. “People have to realize you’re electing the person that is going to do the best job for you in Hartford. As I’ve run my committees I was chair of, I tell everybody, ‘You need to drop your R and D at the door and do what’s right for the people.’ I’m hoping, as I’m door-knocking and I provide that message, that people are listening. And I’m getting the feeling that people are looking for a change, and looking for a way to stay here in Connecticut and keep their children here—and once they retire, stay here.”

“Right Fit, Right Time, Right Values” is Imperato’s campaign slogan.

“I think the ‘right fit’ is my depth of financial and municipality experience. It’s the right fit for putting Hartford back on its fiscal track. I have a clear understanding of the issues that face municipalities and the downstream effect of today’s shortsighted decisions that have been made in Hartford,” said Imperato, adding, “The timing is right for real change. We’ve got to get control of what’s happening in Hartford. We need to put knowledgeable and experienced leaders back in the General Assembly. I’ll work hard to bring that change about in the leadership. And as far as values; constituents are looking for a candidate that will listen and fight for them, who will bring change and value back again to the General Assembly, who will bring the right set of values to Hartford in the decision making. You need to go there with the people in mind, and not politics.”

Over his four-decade career in the finance and service industry, “I’ve come to understand the value in providing exemplary service levels and transparency in dealing with people,” he said. “And that’s what we really need to do in Hartford. I think we’ve lost sight of that.”

Helping at the State Level

In Hartford, Imperato said he will go to work to help address the state’s budget crisis by finding efficiencies instead of increasing taxes.

“First of all, we’ve got a $4.2 billion deficit. So [for] the long term and short term, we must find a way to efficiently make some common-sense decisions about reducing the current budget. You know we can’t tax and spend, so that’s really not what we’re looking to do. We want to work within our means. We want to look at what we currently have in the budget and look for ways to save the taxpayer money,” said Imperato. “We just can’t continue to go on the way we are. We’ve tried to the solve problem in last eight years by increasing taxes. We’ve had the largest increases over the last eight years. The current administration has put us into a permanent state of fiscal crisis.”

Bringing Businesses to Branford and Connecticut

Imperato said he recognizes the value of attracting businesses to Branford and the state. He wants to help create assurances to keep big business here beyond the initial lure of current state economic incentive programs.

“We need to have some assurances that the companies are going to stay here. I think it’s certainly a great program to bring companies in here to Connecticut and Branford, however when we do that, we also look for job creation. Those folks shop in our communities and certainly become taxpayers for both Branford and the State of Connecticut,” Imperato said. “So I certainly encourage that. I think it’s [about] the way that we have to structure these incentives that we’re giving to companies.”

He said creating a path to jobs for residents and predictability for businesses will also help bolster state and local economic growth.

“When I’m knocking on doors, I’m hearing things like, ‘My children are at college and are graduating, I can’t keep them here—they’re looking out of state for jobs because there’s no job creation here. There’s nothing for them to come back to.’ And that’s pretty sad,” said Imperato. “I think that we now see the need for the trades piece to come back to the education program. You look at Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky and General Dynamics—they do need skilled labor, and I think if we can get folks that are early in their education in the high school programs, we’ll be able to keep jobs here or at least have the skilled labor to do that, and that will attract more companies to come here to Connecticut. We’ve done a good job attracting the bio[science] folks; the problem with that is, they become very successful and they leave. So we want to have something that’s permanent here.

“The other half of that equation is businesses really need predictability,” he said. “We’ve got to solve this tax problem and transportation problem for them to come here, or want to come here. So that is very high on the list.”

Imperato said he doesn’t support the idea of bringing tolls to Connecticut’s highways.

“That’s just another definition of a tax, right?” he asked. “I don’t believe that we need to bring tolls in to fix the current deficit. I think you just need to go back to the drawing board and look at what is in this budget. Again, you can’t just tax and spend. We need to take a very laser approach to this budget that’s coming up and be sure we’re looking at what’s happening in the state as far as programs, what waste is there. There’s always been a sense in some areas there may be some fraud — that needs to be looked at. And with those challenges, you’ll probably find some additional dollars that we can put out, creating a lesser burden on the taxpayer.”

Supporting Branford’s Needs

Imperato said he will work at the state level to support the people and the Town of Branford in areas including education spending.

“Education is extremely important. We don’t want to see any cuts to our education system or the support system for our students,” said Imperato, adding the solution isn’t increasing taxes. “We may be able to continue with all these programs through more looking at attrition in the budget. It’s been a runaway budget for eight years, so I’m sure we’ll find some ways to cut and reapply those dollars.

He said he’d also be a working to support state assistance that can affect Branford’s elderly and underserved populations, and will be looking out to support the everyday taxpayer, as well. He said many of these issues, together with the state budget problems, have been raised by residents he’s met going door-to-door campaigning or attending events.

“The top question is what are going to do with the budget; we can’t afford to have any more taxes to be put on us, we can’t afford tolls,” said Imperato, adding he’s also hearing concerns about the state’s inheritance tax and how people are thinking of leaving the state to go to a state that doesn’t have that particular tax.

“It’s a very difficult state to retire in,” said Imperato. “I have talked with a number of seniors, and they’re very concerned where things are with Medicare, where things are with their current program that they may be enrolled in, and the second half of Medicare. And they’re worried about housing. They would like to stay here, and they may not be able to for the reason of taxes. They are concerned about that.”

In addition, “some folks are concerned about where we stand in the town and in the state for being ready for disasters, [particularly] hurricanes as we are on the shoreline, and making sure we have the correct resources and clean air,” said Imperato. “Education is also being talked about on the doorstep. The face of Branford is changing, and we need to change with it, and we need to make sure from an education perspective that we’re supporting that, and any of the programs that are needed, to keep the students and parents aware of what’ going on and giving them some relief if they need it.”

Imperato hopes to win the opportunity to get to work in Hartford, where he said he would be a “strong voice” for the people of Branford and the state.

“I would say I’ve spent my life committed to my family and the community here. I don’t have any special interest groups that I’m representing. I’m going to Hartford to work for the people of Branford and the State of Connecticut,” said Imperato. “I want to work hard and be a very strong voice for them, and we need that. And I want to continue to protect the taxpayers of Branford, at all times.”