Mayor Timothy Stewart says “I got it done in New Britain and I’ll get it done in Harford!”

I recently spoke with New Britain Mayor Timothy Stewart, who is seeking the 6th district Senatorial seat vacated by Donald DeFronzo. Stewart’s opponent in the February 22nd special election is Democrat Terry Gerratana. When asked to list the biggest differences between himself and Gerrantana, Mayor Stewart pointed out that while he has been serving the citizens of New Britain in public office and demonstrating the type of leadership skills that are so badly needed in the state at this time his opponent has been sitting on the sidelines.

“She’s been removed from the politics of the state for almost a dozen years now and has been out of touch with pretty much everything that’s been going on in the community as well as the state.”

Stewart also addressed the question of his possibly wanting to serve simultaneously as Mayor and State Senator.

“No, I never said that. What I said was, the city charter does not prohibit a person from serving in both capacities. In fact, I think it would be quite interesting to serve in both because nobody understands the needs and wants of the community more than the mayor and to have him in Harford seeking the funding that he needs to plug the holes in his budget is a good thing, but no I never intended to do both. This is just typical democratic rhetoric because they see an end to my tenure here and can’t wait to get into my seat. Unfortunately the Mayor Pro-Temp who by charter would take over in my absence happens to be a Democrat not of my choice. The council picks (it) and they chose someone whom I would never want to sit in my seat because he doesn’t have the capacity to run the city.” The Mayor Pro Tempore is Democrat Michael Trueworthy.

Stewart says he is confident that he will be able to make headway against the democrat majority in the state legislature, serve as an advocate for taxpayers and an agent for change when it comes to the way things are done in Hartford.

“I’ve been able to get elected and get things done on a council with overwhelming odds against me. My first two terms as mayor, my city council was 15 to zero against me and I still made some major changes in the way we operate around here in the city of New Britain and I think that if we (Republicans) pick up a few more seats we can really be a force to be reckoned with. I’ve always said that it’s not about me and it’s not about political parties. It’s about ideas, doing the right thing and making common-sense decisions. When you put good things in front of people they have no choice but to say yes.”