Q&A with Greg Haddad

A few weeks ago, The Daily Campus interviewed Brien Buckman, a candidate for state representative of the 54th district. Recently the paper sat down for an interview with the other candidate for state representative for Mansfield-Chaplin, Mansfield Deputy Mayor Greg Haddad. Haddad graduated from UConn in 1989. Here is an abridged transcript of the interview.

DC: What kinds of lessons in politics did you learn back in college? How did those experiences shape your campaign?

Haddad: Most of my experiences in politics came after college, to be honest, as part of a non-profit citizen advocacy organization. My junior year of college I joined CCAG and ended working for there for ten years. After graduating, I became a full time employee of the CCAG. I started like a lot of college students as door-to-door canvasser. And grew to be the legislative and clinical director.

There we worked on a lot of issues -- auto insurance reform, health insurance reform, environment issues and tax policy.

DC: What do you think is the biggest issue for district 54 and if you were elected what would you do to resolve it?

Haddad: I think that the biggest issue for this district is the same as for the state – I think it's our economy. Obviously, the recession has a lot of different impacts. It's impacting the state budget. It's impacting the opportunities  that folks have to get a job and keep a job think that would be priority number one. I think UConn can play a real role in finding our way out of a recession. The research that goes on at UConn is really important and can translate into new businesses right here in the state. The state has made investments in specific technologies like fuel cell development and biotech development so we can help leverage the research that's going on at places like UConn and turn them into that business that can thrive.

DC: Right now there is a little issue going on with the definition of a family as far as off campus students are concerned. What's your opinion on that and how do you feel that the local government should address this issue?

Haddad: There's a committee on the quality of life created by the town council and they have been working on a number of issues originally the committee created as housing inspection program that is currently working to protect students from absentee landlords. The program ensures that rental housing in […]  Mansfield is habitable and safe.

Right now [they're] looking at a parking ordinance that would require landlords to provide parking spaces for tenants. I think what folks in Mansfield are looking to do is to create programs to help students to have habitate with residents and to do it in a way that is respectful of both students and neighborhoods.

The proposal to limit the number of unrelated residents in a single household to three rather than four is one that will be submitted to Planning and Zoning and not the Town Council. Their decision is not ours and I think that we need to be careful to make sure that were not forcing 12 students into four off campus houses rather than three. I think that this is an issue that needs to be looked at carefully and we need to be fair to everybody involved.

DC: How do you feel that the university's interests are currently represented in Hartford? Do you think that there is adequate funding for higher education? Also as far as tuition – the state is now funding less than 1/3 of UConn …?

Haddad: I think the state rep from this area needs to focus on meeting the needs of the students and the faculty and the staff of UConn. It's an important part of this district and I don't think that the state funding for UConn is adequate.  I think that it could improve in the face of growing fiscal deficits it's hard for me to say how much improvement we can make in the near future but I think that it would be important to try.

DC: A few weeks ago there was a Daily Campus editorial that said how the UConn and Mansfield exist in two different spheres. Do you think that is the case and if so what do you think can be done to connect those spheres? 

Haddad: I don't think that the UConn community is in a different sphere from Mansfield. I think that people in Mansfield are very aware of the importance of the university and the impact on the community. We have sought to increase communication with folks at the university – both students faculty and administrators.

For example, the Mansfield Democratic Town Committee, which I was the chair of for six years, has always had a student spot on our town committee. I am a member of the Mansfield Board of Directors for the downtown partnership and we voted to add a student to our board to represent student interests.  But for several years now members from the town council and administration and the business community here in Mansfield have be sitting to work on our downtown partnership. It's hard when you sit through as many meetings with folks from UConn to say that there is not enough interaction, but I think that communication can always be improved.

DC: So there's been a talk right now about the Brien Buckman campaign. As you can imagine, The Daily Campus is a student paper, so when a student runs for office is a big deal. How do you feel about his run: do you feel that a lack of experience gives him a kind of newcomer feel or do you feel that someone who has more experience would be better apt to represent the town?

Haddad: I think the challenges ahead for our state and our district require to have voters to select someone who they feel is ready to serve. That will be focus of my campaign. I've been a deputy mayor for 12 years, I've worked at the state capitol for 14 years, I've been a member of the community for a long time on the downtown partnership and the discovery board, so I think that I understand what the priorities are for the folks that live here and I think that I'm ready to deliver for them on those priorities.