Rotella, Mastroianni seek 43rd District seat
Stonington selectwoman, borough burgess vie for Urban’s former position
Stonington Democratic Selectwoman Kate Rotella of Mystic will face off against Republican and Independent party candidate Shaun Mastroianni, a Stonington Borough burgess, in the race for the 43rd House District seat being vacated by nine-time Democratic incumbent Diana Urban of North Stonington.
Rotella, 54, who was endorsed by the party caucus, had to defeat Chris Donahue in an August primary to be the Democratic candidate for the seat, which represents Stonington and North Stonington.
Rotella pointed out that she has worked effectively with the Republican majority of Rob Simmons and John Prue on the Board of Selectmen and would do the same in the General Assembly.
“It’s so important to work together and across party lines. It’s not about who’s right or whose idea is better. It’s about fixing things,” she said.
Like Rotella, the 37-year-old Mastroianni pledged to work in a bipar-
tisan fashion for the good of the state.
“Both parties have good values and good people. We need to come together,” he said. “Sometimes you may have to vote against your own party. We represent Stonington and North Stonington, they are our constituents. We have to put aside party and do what’s best for the state of Connecticut.”
Rotella is the purchasing manager for the Capital Region Education Council in Hartford. Previous to that, she worked for 10 years as the purchasing agent for the Town of Waterford and before that was the director of finance and purchasing for Mitchell College in New London. She has an associate degree in public administration and business from the former Mohegan Community College, a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Eastern Connecticut State University and a master’s degree in public administration and a certificate in human resources from the University of New Haven. She serves as the legislative liaison for the state’s association of purchasing managers.
In addition to serving the past three years on the Stonington Board of Selectmen, where she is known for asking detailed questions on financial and contractual issues, she serves on the town’s K-12 School Building Committee, which is in the midst of renovating Deans Mill and West Vine Street schools.
Mastroianni works for Benchmark Senior Living, where he manages the company’s Crescent Point senior living community in Niantic and oversees another in New Haven.
Like Rotella, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Eastern Connecticut State University and a master’s degree from the University of New Haven.
He serves as a member of the Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission and is a Stonington Borough burgess, where he is also the commissioner of buildings.
He chairs the Stonington Borough Charter Revision Committee, is the town’s blight citation appeals officer and serves on the town’s Beautification Committee.
Despite their busy schedules, both candidates said they have the time to handle the added demands of being a state representative. Rotella did say that if elected, she would consider whether to continue on as selectwoman.
State budget, pensions, tolls
Rotella said she will bring her experience as a budget analyst to the General Assembly and pledged to scrutinize the state budget line by line to see how money is spent and how to improve the budget process.
She said she would support having the appropriations and finance committees working closely together on the budget but stressed she would not allow budget changes to be made on the backs of the middle class and those in the 43rd District.
She said getting the budget under control would require a combination of things such as taxes, spending cuts and elimination of unfunded state mandates but added “I really need to get up there to get a good look at everything.”
Mastroianni said he would like to serve on the Appropriations Committee and said one of the keys to dealing with the budget problem is to generate more business tax revenue by getting more companies to come to Connecticut. While it’s a relatively small item, he said the state does not need to spend $40 million for campaign finance grants to candidates.
Mastroianni said that when it comes to the state budget, “Everything needs to be looked at. Everything needs to be put on the table. We need to drill down to see where we can save money.”
“We need to treat government as a business. Stonington is a good example. They have put politics aside to accomplish a lot,” he said.
The two candidates sharply differ on reinstituting highway tolls in the state.
Rotella said she supports a so-called “lockbox” to ensure toll revenue could be used only for transportation projects.
“We have to look at a toll system for Connecticut. We’re bordered by states that have tolls. It’s time to put up tolls,” she said, adding they could be phased in, first tolling tractor-trailers, as Rhode Island has done.
Mastroianni said he is not in favor of tolls. Implementing them, he said, could mean the state would have to pay back the federal highway funds it has received since the 1980s, when it agreed to remove tolls. He said the state has not talked about the cost to implement the system. He also said the cost of tolls would rise and be an additional tax on residents. As for where the state can get money to fix its roads and bridges, he said he would have to look at other ways to do that, such as finding places where the state is overspending.
As for the issue of unfunded pension obligations, Rotella said the state has to restructure and reform its teacher pension obligations to spread out the cost.
She said rolling back benefits could be considered if both parties are willing to discuss it.
Mastroianni said state employees should receive the pensions they were promised when hired but going forward changes have to be made, such as new employees not receiving pensions but the ability to enroll in 401k plans.
Marijuana, college costs, local hotel tax
Rotella said that legalizing recreational marijuana use is probably a good idea but she would like to see how it works in surrounding states first.
“I want to see how it plays out. We need more information,” she said, adding that with the need to put more resources into the opioid crisis, she’s not sure if legalizing marijuana is the right way to go.
Mastroianni said legalizing marijuana is a tough question.
“We need to do research and look at other states and statistics about what is happening,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s the answer to increasing our revenue or balancing the budget.”
As for allowing towns to implement a local hotel tax to offset the costs of tourism, such as impacts on roads and police services, Rotella said she would be willing to look at the idea. Mastroianni said he would support using a greater portion of state hotel tax to promote tourism and assist municipalities.
Rotella said she would support looking into any proposal that would allow college students to graduate without a large amount of debt. She said she would be happy to look at the idea of making community college free, something which recently has been implemented in Rhode Island. Rotella also said she supports paid family leave and a $15 minimum wage.
Mastroianni, who paid for college himself, said one possibility is to offer a program in which new college graduates agree to live and work in the state for a period of time to get tuition assistance. He said free community college is a great idea but comes as the state is trying to balance its budget.
“I don’t shoot from the hip. I like to study issues first,” he said.