First Term State Senator is no stranger to public service

By Colleen Gundlach

State Senator Kevin Witkos

A person drawn to public service is often one who can unambiguously match hectic community obligations, financial responsibilities and family devotion. It is not an easy job to be available to constituents at all hours and discuss a myriad of competing issues. State Senator Kevin Witkos is a person who as been an active public servant for most of his life. Elected last fall to Connecticut’s 8th Senatorial District, which includes Norfolk, Witkos is ranking member of the General Law Committee and of the Energy and Technology Committee. These groups individually oversee several state agencies, including the Department of Consumer Protection and the Department of Public Utility Control. He also serves on the Public Health and Legislative Management committees. A Massachusetts native, Witkos moved to Granby, Connecticut at age 15 and quickly jumped into public service. While a high school sophomore, he joined the Granby Emergency Medical Services Explorer Post and job shadowed a Connecticut State Trooper. “I fell in love with police work,” he said. On his twentieth birthday, he became a supernumerary police officer. After working for Bank of New England in Boston while studying law enforcement, he heard of an opening on a police force in Connecticut in 1989. Eight hundred hopefuls applied for three positions with the Canton Police Department, but Witkos obtained the highest score on the examination and became a police officer. Over the years, he has served the townspeople as the youth officer, Drug Awareness and Resistance Education (DARE) officer, a detective and a member of the Narcotics Task Force. He proudly reports that he has helped deliver two babies, but has also witnessed some horrific incidents. “A good police officer can make tragedies easier to deal with for the families of the victims. We have to have empathy and to spend the time needed to comfort family members.” While working, being a new husband and earning his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Connecticut, Witkos also coached the boys’ junior varsity soccer team at Canton High School. “I found it extremely fulfilling,” he said. He went on to coach the first girls’ varsity team at the school and served on the town’s Board of Education for five years. In 2002, Witkos decided to run for the 17th district state representative seat against State Representative Jessie Stratton, a legislator who was slated to be the next Speaker of the House. He was told that he would probably lose his first time running, especially against an experienced campaigner such as Stratton, but Witkos won the election by 37 votes. He went on to serve three terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives. When State Senator Thomas Herlihy decided not to seek reelection last year, Witkos threw his hat into the ring and easily defeated both his primary and his election opponent. These days, State Senator Witkos can be found performing his duties as a Canton police officer, changing hats to that of a senator and driving to Hartford for committee meetings and General Assembly sessions and attending his children’s sports activities. He often takes unpaid leave from the police department to attend legislative sessions. Meeting as many of his constituents as possible is a goal of Witkos’. Over the past few months, he has held “office hours” meetings in most of the towns in the 8th district, though his visit to Norfolk was canceled due to a snowstorm. He hopes to learn as much as he can about the needs of area residents. He said, “People can’t automatically change laws by meeting with me, but I can listen and discuss them. I can also help people to navigate through the red tape of state government.” Concerning the issues facing the state this year, he hopes to be able to look at each piece of legislation with an eye to how it will affect “folks back home.” He wants to hear people’s personal experiences and discuss with them the reasons he votes as he does. When asked about the Yale Farm issue, he said he feels that the legislature and the attorney general should not be involved. “The townspeople elected the Planning & Zoning Commission members, and they should be allowed to do their job based on the regulations in place.” Concerning controversial bill SB 899, the “gay marriage” bill, he is against it. He feels that the legislature, not the judicial branch, should be the group to propose legislation. “The job of the judicial branch is to interpret the law, not to make it. The checks and balances have been lost here.” Witkos thinks this is an issue on which the public should vote as a whole. He also believes that we are expanding the state government, when we should be moving in the other direction. There are proposals before the legislature to add state agencies this session, but Witkos believes “we should be cutting government, not growing it”. Some of the initiatives Witkos will be working on this year include bringing money back to the municipalities so that there are no new property tax increases, making Connecticut a destination for businesses, school based health clinics and the Money Follows the Person initiative to help sick and/or elderly people remain in their homes. Witkos stresses that Governor Rell is working hard to make cuts in the state budget, but says she is being stymied by the General Assembly. She has asked state agencies to make cuts, but has limited rescission power and can only ask each agency to cut by five percent. Witkos would like to see the rescission power increased to ten percent so that the agencies would be required to work leaner and cleaner. Senator Kevin Witkos can be reached at kevinwitkos@cga.ct.gov or 800-842-1421.