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To the Editor:

Change is hard. People generally do not like change. If you are someone that falls into that category you can stop reading this letter right now. However, if you truly are willing to have an open mind about things, continue on.

People say elections matter and on that I agree. When you vote for a candidate it is a very personal choice you are making about who you want representing you for the next 2, 4 or even 6 years. Don’t you owe it to yourself to be informed about who that individual is and what they say they will do?

Unfortunately, around our country, our state and especially in West Hartford, I feel too many people simply vote party line. I believe you do a disservice to not only yourself, but your community when you do that. You owe it to not only yourself, but your fellow neighbors to be informed. It shouldn’t be a popularity contest, measure the statements and positions of each candidate, regardless of party, and vote for the person you think will do the best job representing you and the place you call home.

In particular, I want to focus you on the candidates running in the 18th district for State Representative for West Hartford this November.

The Democrats have controlled this seat for over a generation! The two-decade incumbent lost in a primary in August and therefore we have a new choice for the first time in a very long time this fall. My concern is that our district will just elect more of the same. That is what is at stake here. A real choice.

On one side you have Mary Fay, current town councilor and financial executive with decades of experience turning around failing companies. On the other side you have someone who largely agreed with the incumbent she beat during the primary back in August on every major issue. How is that change? The face may be different, but if the positions she supports are basically the same as the incumbent she defeated is that really change? I don’t believe so.

All elections are really local in my opinion. You are deciding which neighbor or fellow resident you want representing you on the issues that matter most to you. I understand that living in Connecticut, we live in a progressive State when it comes to social issues and I applaud that fact. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon nor would I want that to happen.

I consider myself a moderate. I think the biggest issue we face as a state and a town here in West Hartford, is the economy. If the economy would start really heating up like it has just about everywhere else in the Country except here, things would be better. We need people that will be fiscally responsible as we can’t tax our way out of the financial mess we are in.

Ask yourself why Connecticut is one of the only states in our nation to be in such dire financial straits. The answer is simply that one party has controlled the legislature for about the last 40 years. Is that really Democracy in action? And remember it is the legislature that writes the laws, that is where the real change will happen. Once in a while we need different parties to give it a try, just to have some fresh perspectives. Electing somebody new that represents the same 40 years of thinking is not a change.

I believe Mary Fay will be the real change we are looking for in West Hartford. She is fiscally responsible. She is not someone in her life who has paid lip service to change. She has been a DOER.

I believe she will also be a doer for us here in West Hartford. She will fight for our education funding that we deserve and never receive, she will fight for lower taxes while keeping the services that are important for the people that need them most. It can be done.

I believe the choice is simple, vote for Mary, the person who will get things done or vote for her opponent who largely agrees with the person and people who have led our State for generations and pays lip service to real thoughtful change.

Please vote for Mary Fay on November 6th! That is voting for real change.

Rob Levine
West Hartford