Change in the 41st
Rep. Joe de la Cruz, seeking a second term representing the 41st House District that encompasses sections of Groton and New London, fits his district well.
In a district that hosts Electric Boat, de la Cruz, 47, knows about the lives of laborers who build the submarines there. He is a welder by trade who moved himself up to the job of manager at the Hillery Company, a subcontractor that feeds into the EB pipeline.
His family has been personally touched by the opioid epidemic that has hit his district, this state and the nation. His son, Joey Gingerella, suffered through and recovered from addiction, only to become the victim of a homicide when he tried to help a woman he saw being assaulted.
He and wife Tammy founded the nonprofit group Community Speaks Out, to tell the stories of the sickness of addiction and to find better paths and eliminate barriers to recovery. So when the legislature tackles that crisis, de la Cruz knows the challenges families face.
Yet on another problem that confronts this state and his neighbors — the inability to develop a stable budget and stop the state lurching from one fiscal calamity to the next — de la Cruz, a Democrat, does not come across as terribly engaged. Without fixing that, the communities cannot count on reliable state aid or tackle issues of high property taxation.
De la Cruz’s 35-year-old Republican opponent, Kenneth Richards, comes across as far more focused on the importance of findings ways to control spending. Does he have all the answers to addressing deficits driven largely by debt service and meeting pension obligations that were long underfunded? No, he doesn’t, but seemingly no candidates in this election do.
Richards, however, does appear to be driven to explore opportunities for regional approaches that cut administrative costs, to use technology to make delivery of services more efficient, and to consider areas where the private sector can do a better job for less. And, he says, he’s willing to work across the aisles.
The director of the Westerly Ambulance Corps, Richards will, no doubt, face a reality check in Hartford if elected. But we’re betting on his enthusiasm to push through it.
The Day’s endorsement in the 41st District goes to Kenneth Richards.