Meet the Candidate: Rick Bush

We-Ha.com is offering our readers the opportunity to meet the candidates running in the Nov. 7, 2023 municipal election. 

Compiled by Ronni Newton

We-Ha.com is offering our readers the opportunity to “Meet the Candidate” – designed to help them get to know the candidates running for office in the 2023 municipal election.

Identical questionnaires have been sent to all candidates, and each profile received has been submitted directly to We-Ha.com by the candidate or the candidate’s campaign management. The responses have not been edited but have been formatted to match our publication style. Questions left blank have been deleted.

As profiles are received, they will be published on We-Ha.com under the “Government” tab. We-Ha.com is not making endorsements of any political candidates but we are publishing this information in order to assist voters in being informed and prepared when they go to the polls on Nov. 7.

If you are a candidate and wish to submit a profile, please return it by email to Ronni Newton at [email protected] as soon as possible.

TOWN COUNCIL CANDIDATE

Name: Rick Bush

Party affiliation: Independent – A Connecticut Party (Registered as a Republican)

Family information: Married 23 years, 4 children

Primary occupation:  Real Estate

Previous political experience: Current MDC Commissioner. Treasurer of The Connecticut Coalition of Property Owners (CCOPO) a lobbying organization for small to medium sized landlords in CT.

Other relevant experience that may be related to your desire to serve the community, and further qualifies you for the office you are seeking: I am a self-employed business person. I have been involved in real estate, construction, property management and investing for 29 years. I have a huge base of experience in practical, problem-solving day to day issues that will greatly benefit the residents of West Hartford. I am reasonable, practical, thoughtful and hardworking. I do not subscribe to any fringe issues and will be a moderate conservative voice for the voters in West Hartford.

Why are you running for office? Because I care about the future of West Hartford. I don’t want the former UCONN Property developed into something that will increase traffic and congestion. I want to strengthen our police force. I want to make our streets safer. I want to help move our community into the future regarding electric vehicles, parking, bike lanes and sustainable activities that will make our community better. I want to continue to fund education and keep our public schools the best in the state.

There have recently been numerous residential and commercial developments considered by the Town Council, and there are others in the pipeline. What is your overall opinion of the pace of development in West Hartford? Development in WH is moving too quickly. I support responsible economic development that will increase out tax base, but we are adding a huge amount of new market rate housing that will increase congestion, add costs to our police force, increase costs of schooling and increase traffic. I think we need to slow down to assess the impact of the current development and make decisions slowly to allow our town to understand the impact all this development is having.

What issue(s) are your primary area of focus? My primary area of focus is storm water infrastructure. I am currently a commissioner of the MDC and my experience there has allowed me to see the necessity of our storm water sewer system and its massive deficiencies. Every time there is a heavy rain thousands of gallons of untreated waste flow directly into Trout Brook. (And many of our basements and streets as well). The huge project facing West Hartford will be to build a new storm water infrastructure and the integration with MDC will be a huge part of it. I have spent the last 4 years learning and working with the staff at the MDC to understand what will types of projects West Hartford will face in the future.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing West Hartford today, and how do you plan to address it if elected? The biggest challenge facing West Hartford is the same challenge facing the entire country, Divided Government. We need to use our collective minds to solve problems not to fight each other. The current political system is broken and a as moderate third-party candidate I plan to use my practical Construction, Real estate and Business experience to work with all of the Town Councilors to establish positive dialogue, create real change and negotiate practical, responsible solutions to the myriad issues that come before the Town Council.

What do you feel differentiates you from the candidates from other parties also running for this position? What differentiates me from the other candidates is that I won’t be forced to tow a party line. I will have the ability to make thoughtful decisions based on What is best for West Hartford not for a Political Party or for myself. I am a married father of 4 children who are all successful, upstanding kids. I have a successful business and I am a respected Commissioner of the MDC. I am a coach and a volunteer, and I have proven that I make sound, smart forward-thinking decisions. I plan well for the future and lean conservative on all financial matters.

Anything else you would like to share relevant to earning votes on Nov. 7? I want the voters to know that I believe we should stop the huge development of the former UConn Property. I believe we should strengthen our police force, stop the rampant disregard for red lights, increase housing subsidies for very low-income households, focus more on ways to save money on our trash hauling, and continue to address climate related issues through our new Sustainable West Hartford commission.

I will continue to work towards accomplishing the MS4 mandate to separate storm water from our sanitary sewer system to eliminate once and for all the sewer outflows during heavy rain that contaminate our basements, streets and rivers. I will bring a thoughtful, conservative perspective to the council and be a fiscally responsible steward of our town. I will do my homework on the issues and be ready to negotiate on behalf of the small business owner, housing providers, tenants, elderly, teachers and our children.

Get to know me West Hartford.  – See my video here.

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