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Lawrence KubliStaff Writer

You may not know the names Tong, Miller, Molgano, Floren, Fox, and Leone, but they were all recently elected or reelected to the Connecticut House of Representa-tives in order to serve the citizens of Stamford.

Democrat William Tong has been serving the 147th district (North Stamford and Western New Canaan) since 2006. He has recently been very involved with the water contamination issue in North Stamford. He has advocat-ed for discounted rates for water testing, which would help the citi-zens of North Stamford stay safe. Moreover, Tong has proven to be an advocate for education. Ac-cording to his campaign, “Stam-ford and New Canaan’s education funding grants have increased by 30 percent since he was in office.”

Rookie representative Mi-

chael Molgano of the 144th dis-trict will be one of two republicans Stamford will send to Hartford, along with Livvy Floren of the 149th district (Greenwich-Stam-ford), who has been in office since 2000. Molgano has taken the seat previously held by Democrat Jim Shapiro, who is a Westhill gradu-ate. The 144th district contains central Stamford from the neigh-borhoods of Belltown to Hubbard Heights.

Democrat Patricia Miller has been serving the 145th district since 2008. She is also a member of the Black and Latino Caucus. One of her goals for this term is to increase state spending on urban public schools.

Democrat Gerald Fox has been serving the state’s 146th dis-trict since 2004. He is a Westhill graduate and is also a member of the Law and Criminal Justice committee.

Democratic Representative Carlo Leone has served in Hart-

ford since 2002 for the 148th dis-trict. Leone has the most seniority of the Stamford delegation and he is a member of the Legislature’s Bonding Committee. He co-au-thored the film tax credit, which has brought filmmakers to Con-necticut, and has also fought for in-state tuition for the children of soldiers who have been killed in action.

So how do these representa-tives’ policies apply to students? Senior Derek D’Ambra said, “They affect my life in that they affect my parents’ life, if [the rep-resentatives] raise taxes, my par-ents’ income is reduced…[the rep-resentatives’] decisions on budgets affect us all.”

When asked whether or not State Representatives serve the public’s interest, junior Joseph Fong said, “I believe that elected State Representatives serve for the public’s interest because it is in their job description. If they don’t there is something wrong.”

New state representatives chosen to serve Stamford

Michael Molgano (R)144th district

Patricia Miller (D)145th district

Gerald Fox (D)146th district

William Tong (D)147th district

Carlo Leone (D)148th district

Livvy Floren (R)149th district

Photos courtesy of housedems.ct.gov, greenwichtime.com, thedailystamford.com, williamtong.com

Did you follow this year’s

elections?

Continued from page 23TW: I read on your website that you are a member of the Ap-propriations Committee. What does this job entail?SF: Appropriations deals with the spending side of the [budget] equation. The Finance Committee deals with the revenue side of the equation. We’re looking at bud-getary items—how much to in-crease, keep the same, or cut—in a thousand different areas.TW: What do you think are the most relevant issues in politics for teenagers to pay attention to?SF: I think the most important by far is the state of our fiscal cri-

sis at the national level as well as right here in the state of Con-necticut. If we spend more money than we can possibly take in, we are making ourselves incredibly vulnerable. Secondly, and tied very closely in with fiscal issues, is the availability of job pros-pects. There is no way that you can get companies to move to the state of Connecticut or start or stay in Connecticut if tax rates are spiraling out of control, or the fis-cal situation is worsening. We are the fifth worst state in the country nowadays in which to do busi-ness. The job prospects in and out of high school are worsening as our fiscal situation worsens. So if

I were in high school right now, I’d be very concerned with how much money our state and nation-al government is spending.TW: Since most of our student body is not yet 18, what is the best way for them to become more involved?SF: The best thing to do is to read up as much as possible, and volunteer for campaigns—it’s a great experience doing it, it’s a lot of fun, you learn so much, and it can really make a differ-ence if you have younger people involved. If you have younger people more involved and un-derstanding the issues, they can speak with credibility and enthu-

siasm amongst their friends, and get them more involved. I think it’s critical because eventually it’s going to be your country to run. So volunteering on cam-paigns, getting involved in the political process, and considering at some point running for local office [are all very important]—you can never have enough good people involved.TW: Is there anything else you’d like to say to the Westhill student body?SF: Sure, and that is that I really appreciate the opportunity to be interviewed. We are in a really, re-ally rough position right now and we need everybody’s help in the

state of Connecticut to get Con-necticut out of this fiscal ditch, and back on track. We want the best for you all in terms of the op-portunities that you’ll be facing, whether it’s jobs when you get out, a good environment, if not an excellent environment (as in the outdoor environment), transporta-tion that works, and just an over-all wonderful place to live here in Connecticut. Right now, it’s not looking as good as it should, so getting your involvement at an earlier stage than originally thought is very important.

For the full interview with State Senator Scott Frantz, check out www.thewestwordonline.com

Poll by Marissa Skorvanek and Zoe Villaba. Out of 200 students polled.Sydney Olshan / Illustrator

36%Yes

64%No

24 November 2010www.thewestwordonline.comSPECIAL REPORT: THE 2010 ELECTION SECTION