May 25, 2010

Fitzgerald makes her case for 77th District seat

Prepared speech by Jill Fitzgerald for delivery at last night's 77th District Republican convention:
To my fellow Bristol residents;
I am honored to accept the nomination to be your candidate for the State House Seat in the 77th district.
It was a desire to serve my community and a concern for our children’s futures that motivated me to run in 2008. As I went door to door, listening to my fellow Bristol residents I quickly found that many of us share the same concerns and frustrations and I made a connection with the people that has stayed with me.
Over the last two years, circumstances have become more difficult, and I have become more frustrated and determined to become a part of the solution to the problems we face in our city and in our state.
- As our daughter heads off to college in the Fall I wonder if there will be opportunities here for her and will she choose to come back here and live because statistics show our young people are not.
- For the first time in our 25 years of marriage, my husband, Shawn spent 7 months of the last year unemployed and we quickly realized our problem was as much a spending one as a revenue one
- In my own business, as I handle bookkeeping and process payrolls for small businesses and professionals I hear their concerns for the future and I see hard decisions being made
- In our city we are facing property tax increases close to 6%, and our State continues to burden the cities with unfunded mandates.
This leads me to question whether our representatives are even listening to our concerns. Our own representative, since taking office in 2009, has voted “yes” to depleting the rainy day fund; “yes” to a proposed extraordinary tax increase to Bristol’s own ESPN; and most recently, “yes” for a biennial budget adjustment that includes $1.5 Billion in tax increases; $300 Million increase in General Fund spending; $50 Million cut in municipal aid; and the borrowing of $1.3 Billion. This is just to name a few votes.
Abraham Lincoln said “you cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Yet this is what we continue to see happening and it is frightening. It is not a stretch to believe that we can do better than this, but we cannot continue to vote in the same people and expect different results.
I am an independent thinker who places a high value on hard work, personal responsibility, giving back to your community, individual freedom and liberty; and I understand that we must have all the government we need, but only the government we need.
Once elected,
• I promise …you will not find a better listener and advocate for the greater good of the people and for the City of Bristol.
• I promise …To apply the same common sense we use in our own homes: if we can’t afford it, we can’t have it and to operate with the most efficiency we can.
and
• I promise …To always remember that I am a public servant and that serving is a duty, not an entitlement.
This is a year of great opportunity for the people in the State of Connecticut, for this is the year we can bring balance, responsibility and common sense back to our State Legislature.
*******
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank the lord Jill is running! I tried to find what this Wright guy has done since he was there and I cant find anything!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad we have another chance to get Jill in office. She is just what we need for representation. Go Jill!

Anonymous said...

If one of the two full-time workers in my family lost a job for seven months, our problem wouldn't be how much we were spending -- it would be how much we weren't earning!
I'm glad Jill is comfortable, but some of us, maybe a lot of us, are barely getting by.

Anonymous said...

9:22 - Hello,

It was a stressful time and I picked up work where ever I could. I had a part time job as a tech director in a local church and collected unemployment. We got by and it was far from pretty.

Jill's point that you are referring to is that when it comes to budgets, it is both the money coming in and money spent out that we need to look at and address. If we as citizens need to do this at home, should the politicians in Hartford treat our money in the same way? If we don't have it, don't spend it and cut where you need to.

Regards,

Shawn Fitzgerald

Anonymous said...

9:22PM poster is another example of a Democrat that thinks the government owes them everything.

Anonymous said...

Go Jill!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Republican Blog" We love you anybody as long as you're a Republican."

Anonymous said...

7:12 Poster should realize the same could be said about you useless whiners!

Anonymous said...

7:12 is just another hatemongering useless voice in the dark. Same stuff hatemongers always use. Oh well they like to hear themselves talk er I mean complain.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the republicans blog. Want to see what these fake republicans are saying that you are like? Watch this blog. We know you are not all like this but you should see what the are saying what you are like . We really know better! A lot of us republicans are not like this.

Anonymous said...

To Shawn. Any relation to Jill? No wonder you talk that way ! Blah, Blah, Blah. Just another republican that crys cut but doesn't have the courage to say what and who!

Anonymous said...

Didn't see Jill at any functions this weekend.

Would be nice if she got involved.

Anonymous said...

the last poster should not make any statements about not seeing Jill at anything this past weekend, because she was there and I spoke to her. get the facts first before posting. secondly, shaw fitzgerald is an honest, trustworthy individual who would give you the shirt of his back. give us facts and back them up! the self-serving statements are just showing how ignorant some people are!

Anonymous said...

2:12

What was she at?

Anonymous said...

2:12:

She was at the parade on Monday. I was only at the parade on Monday so I can't say she was anywhere else, but I definitely saw her and spoke to her at the parade on Monday.

Anonymous said...

I didn't see her at the Boulevard, Sat or Sun!

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen her any where.

Anonymous said...

Is she gonna be another republican sweetheart? She's really not as bad as the jerks on here or she will lose again