A new year is supposed to bring new optimism — even in the age of COVID-19.
So it was disheartening to wake up Jan. 2 to an op-ed written in the Wall Street Journal that needlessly slammed the city of Hartford.
Even more disturbing is that it was penned by someone who has ambitions to lead the state — former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski, who ran for Connecticut’s highest office in 2018 on a pro-business platform.
His recent op-ed, headlined “What Isn’t the Matter With Hartford?” was actually anti-business — a disservice to all those who invest in our Capital City, from small business owners to large real estate developers and corporations.
Let’s be clear, many of the problems Stefanowski outlined in his column are real. I agree and have even opined on many of them. Hartford’s property taxes and violent crime and poverty rates are too high; its education system is not up to snuff; and it has fallen victim to past fiscal mismanagement.
But these issues aren’t new. My qualms with Stefanowski were the timing of the article and the fact that most of it involved nasty attacks on the city with few, if any, problem-solving ideas.
Stefanowski is obviously gearing up to run for governor again in 2022, but that Election Day is still two years away. And his op-ed didn’t really respond to specific policy proposals currently being considered by the city or state legislature. Maybe he was trying to get his views heard before the start of an important 2021 legislative session, but the way he did it didn’t add to the public discourse.
It only created another black eye for the city.
Sure, he suggested cutting taxes and regulations, which I agree with, but Hartford’s problems are complex and won’t be solved by a simple GOP campaign slogan.
For example, Stefanowski mentions that Hartford is plagued with a high percentage of tax-exempt property. So what’s his fix? Is he prepared to send more state funding to the city to make up for that? How would that reduce government spending and help the state lower taxes?
Does he want to eliminate the tax-exempt status of our hospitals, colleges and nonprofits?
Hartford, like most U.S. cities, is in rough shape amid the pandemic, which has disproportionately hurt the city’s low-income population, and turned downtown Hartford into a ghost town as many white-collar professionals continue to work from their homes in the suburbs.
Small businesses, ranging from restaurants to small merchants are trying desperately to remain open.
There was no need for Stefanowski to kick an injured dog while it was already down. Making it worse, the column ran in a nationally respected business publication.
At a time when Connecticut is trying to showcase itself to New York City residents and businesses wary of living and working in a densely populated city, Stefanowski proclaimed the state’s Capital City was “falling apart.”
It’s easy to find fault with Connecticut and the city of Hartford, which have struggled economically and fiscally for more than a decade. I do believe one-party rule has been detrimental to the state’s business climate and economy. I’ve also penned opposition to many legislative proposals I felt would hurt Connecticut’s competitiveness.
But blindly criticizing the state and Hartford in the national press without providing a coherent strategy on how to fix things shows a lack of leadership.
Stefanowski was trying to score cheap political points (targeting potential future political foes Mayor Luke Bronin and Gov. Ned Lamont), not caring about the harm it may do to those in the private sector trying to recruit new workers and companies and make the city a better place to live, work and play. He also failed to note any positives about Hartford, including the more than 1,500 new downtown apartments that have been built and occupied in the last few years — a sign that people do in fact want to be here.
If the GOP wants to gain any semblance of power in this state, which we desperately need in my opinion, it must go beyond a party that simply criticizes the state, to offering a positive vision for the future and a realistic plan on how to get there.
