Politics & Government

Malloy Met by Testy Crowd In Ledyard

Surrounded by residents, governor does his best to field heated questions.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy came to Ledyard this afternoon expecting to tour storm-damaged areas with the mayor and public works director. Instead he ran into an angry crowd that had assembled outside Town Hall – which was still closed and without power almost four days after Hurricane Irene swept through the region.

You think the state union workers were tough on Malloy? They were nothing compared to this crowd. And they all wanted to know one thing:

When is the power coming back on?

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Shawn Shugrue, property manager of Fox Run apartments, started right in on the governor, wanting to know why it is so hard to get a response from CL&P on when power will be restored. He said he has transformers down on the property and is worried about hazardous materials, but has not been able to get a team out to inspect.

Paul Maugle, owner of Maugle Sierra Vineyard on Col. Ledyard Highway, said there is power just up the road from his business, but none in the center of Ledyard. “If the casino can have power, how come we can’t have power,” he asked Malloy. “We pay taxes, they’re tax-exempt. Do I have to be tax-exempt to have power?”

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“As we told everybody, this is going to be a long-term project,” Malloy said. “We’ve had almost 900,000 people without power at one point. We’re now down 350,000. I’m not happy, but I can tell you that there are more resources working to restore power in the state of Connecticut than at any time in our history.”

The residents were not appeased. Elizabeth Malone of Fairview Drive in Gales Ferry said she lost an entire freezer full of food, yet she has not seen a single CL&P truck in town. “Not in my neighborhood,” she said.

Malloy said on his ride down to Ledyard he saw a number of trucks headed this way.

“This problem stretches from North Carolina to Quebec, geographically the largest naturally occurring event that we’ve had in our history, and it is straining the resources of everyone,” he said. “But we’re putting as much pressure as we can on the federal government to declare a disaster. Hopefully that might give individual assistance to you to recover some of those expenses.

“Let’s put this in perspective,” he added. “Only two people died (in Connecticut). And although a lot of homes were destroyed along the shore, nobody died along the shore. It’s amazing. It’s miraculous, when you think about it.”

The impromptu gathering was encouraged by Gales Ferry resident Tina Carrington, who parked her truck up on Col. Ledyard Highway and used soap on the windows to announce the governor’s visit.

Carrington said she didn’t understand why power could be restored so quickly in many parts of Groton, while most of Ledyard remains in the dark. She told the governor she’s using water from her pool to flush the toilet. “Thank goodness the pool wasn’t hit,” she said.

“I’m pushing as hard as I can to get as many people connected by the weekend as possible,” said Malloy, who was planning to attend another briefing with the power companies later today. “As for the companies themselves, I’ve made the presidents of the two companies stand up and answer questions, and they’re now doing that twice a day.”

As Malloy did his best to field questions from residents, state Rep. Tom Reynolds, D-Ledyard, stood beside him taking names and numbers.

“I’ve had to throw out five garbage bags of food since this started,” said Reynolds, who lives on Bittersweet Drive – one of the many roads that was closed this week by a fallen tree.

In the middle of the heated Q&A, U. S. Rep. Joe Courtney suddenly appeared. Malloy used the opportunity to move to a meeting inside Town Hall with Mayor Allyn and other officials, leaving Courtney to field the questions.

Several officials from neighboring towns showed up to speak with the governor, among them Montville Mayor Joe Jaskiewicz, who said he has lived through four hurricanes, but has yet to see so much public outcry.  

“I had one guy call and complain that he’s been without power for a week,” Jaskiewicz said. “It’s only been four days.”

Ledyard Public Works Director Steve Masalin also had a thought on that topic. “When it only happens once every 20 years or so, you tend to forget,” he said.


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