Sunday, June 9, 2002 - Claudia "Dolly" Powers Letter To The Editors Of The Greenwich Time

To the editor:

So many people volunteer for and support TAG and the Bruce Museum as very special assets to our community that I would like to assure the residents of Greenwich that our entire state legislative delegation in Hartford works together when it comes to securing state grants and gaining approval for projects that benefit our town.

Last Friday's approval by Gov. John G. and the State Bond Commission of grants totaling $40,000 for the Transportation Association of Greenwich and $175,000 for the Bruce Museum was just the latest example of your team in action.

myself, state Reps. Livvy Floren and Lile Gibbons and state Sen. William Nickerson -- wrote letters and intervened personally with Gov. Rowland and Marc Ryan, secretary of the state's Office of Policy and Management, to secure the grants that were approved last week. (I like to send the governor hand-written notes to catch his eye.)

When state grants and projects are approved, they usually are the culmination of weeks and even months of effort on our part. That was especially true this year. With revenues significantly lower than expected, Gov. Rowland, OPM and the bond commission are more cautious than ever when it comes to supporting grants that will add to the state's bonded indebtedness. Greenwich's legislative team had to demonstrate that the projects for which we were seeking grants met all the state's criteria for funding in competition with three other towns for a share of only $810,000 in Urban Act funding.

Working together, we helped make the town's case for two grants: one that will enable TAG to purchase a new van to provide transportation services to seniors, disabled people and special education students and the other to fund an architectural study to determine the Bruce Museum's long-term needs.

Greenwich's state legislators are successful in securing state grants that benefit our community because we work as a team. Not all Connecticut towns can say that, nor are all of them so fortunate.

Claudia "Dolly" Powers

State Representative

151st Assembly District

Greenwich