Race for 151st House District pits incumbent Arora against Arzeno
GREENWICH — Both candidates running to represent the 151st House District come from a background in finance, but they offer voters in Greenwich different skill sets and priorities.
The two candidates have other similarities — both are immigrants who have a strong interest in education and economic development — although their priorities vary in certain respects.
State Rep. Harry Arora, a Republican, is the incumbent in the race. Arora says he is a pragmatic and accessible problem-solver —
a facilitator, with expertise in energy policy that he hopes to leverage to lower energy rates in the region.
Hector Arzeno, the Democratic challenger, has a long work history in international finance and running businesses, and he hopes to use his experience to become an ally to small businesses in the region and the state. He is currently a member of the Representative Town Meeting from District 8.
The 151st House District covers parts of Riverside, Old Greenwich, Cos Cob and North Mianus. It was previously held by Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo, who stepped down last year after 11 years in the seat after he was elected first selectman. Arora won the seat in January in a special election and is
completing the second of the two-year term.
An executive in the energy trading field and financial services, Arora, a native of India, has plans for making state residents pay lower utility costs.
“We have to ensure we make what I call the energy transition. But we have to ensure energy costs don’t go prohibitively high,” he said. “Right now, we’re already the highest energycost environment in the entire country. We want make sure to do a balancing act: pursue sustainable energy, and number two, make sure energy costs go down. I believe both of them are not as conflicting as one would think.”
Arora has a master’s in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Arzeno, who earned a degree in business administration in his native country of Argentina, has a background in banking and finance. If elected, he says a priority would be to “maintain and attract” businesses to the state. He is also proposing a break for small businesses in Connecticut.
“We must make business easier to operate, reduce cumbersome filing fees, promote businesses, be proactive,” Arzeno said. The tech-sector of the economy, he said, could benefit in particular from proper assistance and legislative attention.
The incumbent Arora said he is well suited to the legislative position. “People get on the phone, they call me, I’m very accessible. I problem solve for the public good, every single day,” he said.
“I’m not a career politician, I spent 25 years in business, part of it analyzing macro trends. And consensus building, that’s the skill set I bring — understanding how to work collaboratively on problems,” Arora said.
Arzeno cites his own background in finance, and working with small companies, to assist them to “grow the company, grow the workforce.”
He said that experience in business development would bring benefits to the legislature in Hartford. A volunteer with environmental causes in Greenwich, Arzeno said he would like to work on reducing solid waste in the state, an attainable goal he said could improve the environment. The candidate also wants to expand a public-healthcare option, which would allow the state healthcare plan to take in small businesses and nonprofits.
Arora voted against the controversial police reform law that passed in the state capital in July. The law requires officers to report excessive use of force by their colleagues, impanels an inspector general to investigate cases involving excess police force and limits government immunity protections, It also allows lawsuits against officers if “malicious, wanton or willful” behavior is involved.
He called the new law “an overreach” and said it should have had more input from law-enforcement leaders. “More training and those elements of responsible reform are required, but they have to be done with sitting down with the police officers,” Arora said.
Arzeno’s position on the police reform law was more favorable. “Should aspects of this law prove problematic for law enforcement or our communities, however, I support revisiting and revising,” he said.