Letter to the Editor: Why We Need Mike McLachlan

To the Editor:

Senator Mike McLachlan has spent four years ably representing the 24th Senatorial District in Hartford.

Danbury, Bethel and Redding Municipal and Education leaders know this. They see him regularly when he calls at their offices to see how he can best serve the interests of taxpayers and school children.

He has a tough job. He faces a Democratic controlled State Legislature that annually takes many millions of dollars in sales and income taxes from the pockets of 24th District taxpayers and sends back only a fraction in state aid for schools and roads.

Where does our money go?  It goes to places like Bridgeport, New Haven and Stamford that regularly provide huge votes for the Democratic Party.

In his years as a State Representative, Jason Bartlett was part of this group of legislators who take money from the 24th District and spend it elsewhere in order to curry votes at election time.

Mr. Bartlett now asks to rejoin his cronies in Hartford. Voters, please tell him no.

Mr. Bartlett brags about his dubious educational reforms but even he admits they were opposed by local educators because they would cost local School Districts more money with no additional help from the state.

Mr. Bartlett’s only new proposal is a hare-brained scheme to bring 150 mile per hour rail service to the Danbury area. Now can anyone imagine trains speeding at 150 miles per hour, endangering pets and children and shaking buildings, as they pass down through Bethel and Redding and beyond?

We need a sensible senator in Hartford. We need Mike McLachlan, who shows remarkable courage in the face of the negative campaign being waged by his opponent.

We need a man who will fight for us in Hartford, not one who will hurt our interests as he promotes his own.

J. Philip Gallagher, Bethel