Mayoral candidate Phil Tripp is tactlessly trying to turn Ansonia’s longstanding “distressed” status into a political talking point.
Predictably, Mr. Tripp is now refusing to admit the real cause of Ansonia’s “distressed” designation: his Democrat Party colleagues in Hartford that have been damaging Connecticut, and neglecting the Valley, for decades.
Hartford’s failed economic leadership was something that Mr. Tripp had no trouble appreciating when he was a Republican candidate for State Senate. Railing against State Democrat leadership, he told Connecticut Post readers in an October 24, 2014 article that he was “tired of seeing Connecticut near the bottom of every economic indicator.”
He placed the blame squarely on then Senator Crisco and his Democrat Party for “economic chaos and an underfunded education system.”
Mr. Tripp went as far as to blame the democratic leadership in Hartford for his own son having to move to Kansas to find work.
But today, five years later, and after a change in party registration, Mr. Tripp is conveniently shifting all blame to local leaders in Ansonia, including a Mayor and a Board of Aldermen, that he had until recently supported – and voted with – for half-a-decade.
This is the tale of Phil Tripp. One of blind political ambition, hatred for Mayor Cassetti, and an abandonment of his own values, while trying to embrace the young progressives, who he once demonized as the root of the problem.
While Mr. Tripp battles which side he is really on, Mayor Cassetti and the current Board of Aldermen continue to battle the job and income destroying politics of Hartford and Mr. Tripp’s new colleagues.
As evidenced by Ansonia’s tax rate having held stable, and in fact lower than when Mayor Cassetti first took office in 2013. Business development and increased property values boosting the grand list by over $90 million. And a wealth of private and public development projects has kept the City moving forward despite the numerous obstacles imposed by out-of-touch politicians in Hartford.
Ansonia continues to struggle with the crippling impact of Hartford’s policies. Policies that continue to run taxpaying residents out of Ansonia, out of the Valley, and entirely out of Connecticut. The job crushing agenda of politicians with the names Malloy and Lamont continues to take its toll, making Ansonia’s challenges greater and that much more daunting.
Despite these challenges, Ansonia has developed a state-wide reputation for being pro-business, small and large, with a revitalized downtown and unprecedented investments in our neighborhoods and school system.
Unfortunately for Mr. Tripp, we have over the last six years made enormous progress together by putting Ansonia’s revitalization first, not Phil Tripp.
The writer is chairman of the Ansonia Town Republican Committee.
