Letter to the Editor: Republicans Urge Support for House and Senate Busway Bills

UPDATED, 3 p.m.: Town Council Minority Leader Denise Hall has indicated that a response from State Rep. Brian Becker was received on March 7.

Dear Editor,

On February 23, 2012, West Hartford Town Council Minority Leader Denise Hall wrote to West Hartford’s state delegation, Senator Beth Bye, Representative Brian Becker, Representative Andrew Fleischmann and Representative Joe Verrengia, asking them to support two bills regarding the New Britain-Hartford Busway Project.  A copy of Minority Leader Hall’s letter to the delegation is attached. 

S.B. No. 68 introduced by Senators Markley and Welch seeks to re-allocate the Busway bond funds for repairs to existing state roads and bridges, and H.B. No. 5166 introduced by Representative Lopes seeks to limit any additional state funding to the Busway Project to an amount not to exceed that which is currently authorized. In her letter, Minority Leader Hall asked each member of the delegation to support these bills and to provide her with their position on them. To date, neither Senator Bye, Representative Becker, Representative Fleischmann nor Representative Verrengia has responded.   

It is shameful that the West Hartford delegation has refused to respond to Ms. Hall’s letter. But, that is not surprising to me given that Senator Bye and Joe Verrengia, who both represent Elmwood, have done nothing to respond to the Elmwood Community’s pleas to stop the Busway. Elmwood deserves better than politicians who won’t respond and don’t deliver. In fact, Representative Verrengia has been so absent from the Elmwood Community since he was elected that people are forgetting what he looks like.

Republican Councilors Denise Hall, Steve Adler and Burke Doar recently proposed a resolution establishing the West Hartford Busway Advisory Committee, which was approved by the West Hartford Town Council.  The Town Council is planning to begin appointing members to this Committee on at the next Town Council meeting on Tuesday March 13, 2012.

Peter J. Martin

West Hartford Republican Party Chairman