Quest For the 99th: Week 5 On the Campaign Trail -- Albis vs Monaco On TV

The two candidates scrambling to had their first and only debate Tuesday night behind closed doors at the ETV studio.  They reported a civil discussion. The questions posed by the League of Women's Voters were good. And with less than two weeks to go till Special Election Day Feb. 22, they hoped voters will tune in to watch their performances.

Republican Linda Monaco and Democrat James Albis said they were questioned on how to fix the budget deficit, where to make spending cuts, how to reduce unemployment, how to attract businesses and how to lower health-care costs. They were also asked what role they would take in the remake of the old high school on Tyler Street.

"I think it was a really, really good debate," said Monaco. "It was clean. Everybody was respectful."

According to their summaries on the debate, the two seemed to contrast most on taxes.

Monaco "kept saying 'no new taxes.' I said it's unrealistic to think that way because of the budget deficit," said Albis. "I think it's too great to combat with spending cuts alone." The projected state deficit for the next fiscal year is around $3.5 billion.

"And I said no tax increase," said Monaco. "If we increase our taxes it will have a chilling effect on the little bit of economic recovery we're now experiencing."

On spending cuts, Albis said he advocated eliminating "wasteful levels of bureaucracy." Asked if that meant getting rid of some state workers, he said, "There would probably have to be some layoffs and employee concessions made," such as making higher contributions toward health care costs.

"One thing I made clear in the debate is that I don't want to see spending cut to decrease the quality of services," said Albis. Instead, he said the idea is to make services more efficient in order to save money.

Monaco suggested reducing spending by eliminating duplicative administrative costs, as one example. She also said Connecticut needs to be more business-friendly in order to see job development. One suggestion she said she made during the debate was for the state to be more "frugal" with how it spends tax dollars. Monaco said there  has been no net job growth since 1989.

Both candidates said they're committed to fighting for every Educational Cost Sharing dollar East Haven gets from the state. Currently the amount is about $18 million.

Monaco said maintaining at least the same level  of ECS funding is particularly crucial because of the growing number of children in town who need ESL (English as a Second Language) services.

Who won the debate?

"I think we both had some good points and I think the voters will decide it on Feb. 22," said Albis. "I thought the difference was I talked more about helping the hardworking families and I think we had different ideas (on how to) create jobs and make the government more efficient."

"I don't like to say winners or losers," said Monaco." It was easy to see the contrasts between the candidates. My life experience as a mother, a wife, a business owner and an attorney and someone who's wet behind the ears and very young and talks about friends. I think my experience and all of the tools I bring from East Haven to Hartford were very evident in the debate."

The debate is expected to begin airing Feb. 10 on ETV.

Here's where to vote: (Note, all but the town's third district will be voting. Republican state Rep. Vinnie Candelora covers that district.)

Voting District                   Location of Polling Place

District 01                                       Tuttle School, 108 Prospect Road

District 1S                                       East Farm Village, 55-56 Messina Drive

District 02                                       Momauguin School, 93 Cosey Beach Road

District 03                                       Does Not Vote

District 04                                       Overbrook School, 54 Gerrish Ave.

District 05                                       Deer Run School  Route 80 (changed from Hays School)

District 5S                                       Woodview,  1270 North High St.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.