To the Editor:
As a Norwalk resident and mother of a school-age child registered at Cranbury school, I am pleased to endorse Nicole Hampton for the 143rd Legislative District. Our schools have moved away from teaching children the fundamental skills they need to be successful adults. New school buildings are great. But how can Hartford spend $200mm to build a new school no one asked for while shortchanging Norwalk on day-to-day funding for more teachers? Nicole is the right person to dig deep and find out why Hartford funnels hundreds of millions to state contractors but sends us so little for our school budgets. We keep sending people to Hartford who take orders from Hartford, not us. When it comes to real life problems, they’re tone deaf. But they pat themselves on the back for all the good things they do. If they’ve done so many good things, why aren’t we all better off? Why do we live next to the best school district in the state while Norwalk children struggle? Nicole gets it. Finally, the Planning & Zoning Commission recently approved changes to Norwalk’s Industrial zones that will negatively impact my diverse neighborhood. These changes will promote gentrification at the expense of existing residents, most of whom are Black and Latino. Every single person on this Commission was approved by the Council, including Dominique Johnson. Dominique Johnson, an at-large councilperson, represents every resident of the city. When Dominique approves the mayor’s appointments, she gives the nod to zoning changes that benefit the mayor’s developer friends, and we all lose.

Rasheema Richardson
Meadow Street