Needleman, Ferraro split on state housing role, power bills
Sen. Norm Needleman, an Essex Democrat, and Republican Charles Ferraro of Clinton split on the state's role in local housing and the public benefits charge on electric bills.
East Hampton voters choosing a state senator on Nov. 3 are picking between Sen. Norm Needleman, an Essex Democrat seeking a fifth term, and Charles Ferraro, a Clinton Republican who spent 10 years in the state House. The two served together on the legislature's Energy and Technology Committee, and they disagree on two things that reach East Hampton households: how much say the state should have over housing in small towns, and the public benefits charge on the electric bill.
At a candidate forum on Oct. 14, Needleman said, "I don't believe that everything is about local control," and that most of what is in the charge now is energy hedges and energy efficiency. Ferraro said, "We need to allow the local towns to run their own zoning," and that he would file a bill, if elected, to "repeal completely and permanently" the charge.
The 33rd District covers East Hampton, Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Portland, Westbrook and part of Old Saybrook. Needleman appears on the Democratic and Independent Party lines and Ferraro on the Republican line, according to the Secretary of the State's sample ballot.
Housing
The forum was held at John Winthrop Middle School by the Essex Library and Brainerd Memorial Library and recorded by Valley Shore Community Television. The two men spoke well of each other there.
The first Senate question was about the state's 2025 housing law, Public Act 25-1, which gives the state and regional councils a bigger role in planning for housing. Needleman said towns rely on the state and federal governments for guidelines and incentives, and that he would like to see "more incentives from the state."
Ferraro said small towns "don't want to be painted with the same brush" as Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford.
The two differed on 8-30g, the state law that lets developers of projects with affordable units appeal a local zoning denial, and makes the town prove its reasons, in towns where less than 10 percent of homes count as affordable. Ferraro said, "I completely hate that bill," and that it lets "predatory developers" get around a town's zoning.
Needleman called 8-30g "an obsolete and terrible law, but nobody has come up with a better solution," and said it still lets local zoning boards vote no on health and safety grounds, such as septic and traffic.
The electric bill
The public benefits charge is the section of Eversource and United Illuminating bills that pays for energy programs and power contracts the legislature has required.
Needleman said too many people have "conflated the name, public benefits, with the idea that these are social programs for people." He said the name has been used "as a cudgel."
Ferraro said the programs worth keeping could instead "compete with all the other benefits in the general budget."
Closing arguments
Needleman said his "gut feeling is it's better to have somebody in the majority representing you, because they're likely to be able to do more to help the towns that we have here."
"I will fight to bring down property taxes by not supporting or voting for any unfunded mandates," Ferraro said.
Norm Needleman
Needleman was first elected to the Senate in 2018. He is the Senate's deputy president pro tempore and Senate chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, according to his Senate Democrats page. His campaign site says he is in his eighth term as Essex first selectman and founded Tower Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company, and that he takes no salary, benefits or pension as a senator.
His site says his focus is "balancing the state budget, paying down debt to benefit the state's fiscal future and find ways to expand housing availability amid a significant shortage."
Charles Ferraro
Ferraro's campaign site says he served five terms in the House for the 117th District, in West Haven, Orange and Milford, rose to be the Republican leader on the Energy and Technology and Veterans' Affairs committees, and owned a karate school, which he recently sold. He now lives in Clinton.
His site lists his priorities as removing "the 'Public Benefit' charges from your electric bill," providing "tax relief by expanding the property tax credit," and local control of zoning, saying "each town cannot operate under 'one size fits all' mandates from the state government."
The money
Ferraro is in the Citizens' Election Program, the state's public financing system, which gives grants to candidates who raise a set amount in small donations and agree to spending limits. Needleman's reports show no public grant; his campaign is funded largely by loans from himself. Both filed reports with the State Elections Enforcement Commission on Oct. 22 covering activity through Oct. 20.
- Needleman raised $11,890 from individual donors and lent his campaign $200,000, then forgave $100,000 of it on Sept. 24, leaving $100,000 outstanding. His committee had spent $166,946.05 and had $44,943.95 on hand.
- Ferraro raised $22,756 from individual donors and received a $131,095 public grant on Sept. 16. His committee had spent $119,244.68 and had $34,606.32 on hand.
The chamber forums
The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, whose board of directors includes Needleman, invited both men to its Chester, Deep River and Essex division's candidate forum on Friday, Oct. 2, according to the chamber's event listing. The listing does not say who attended.
The chamber's East Hampton forum, on Oct. 7 at Town Hall, became a dispute in the 34th House District race after Republican Melissa Ziobron posted that she was the only candidate who showed up. The chamber's listing for that forum does not name the candidates it invited, and neither Senate candidate's campaign site mentions either forum.
How to vote
Early voting runs through Sunday, Nov. 1, in Room 117 on the first floor of Town Hall, 1 Community Drive, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Thursday, Oct. 29, when it runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to the town's Registrar of Voters, the Secretary of the State's list of early-voting sites and the state's Oct. 19 announcement. Same-day registration is available during early voting and on Election Day.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls across the state are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., under state law. East Hampton votes at the East Hampton High School gymnasium, 15 North Maple Street, according to the registrar.
The rest of the town's ballot is in our early voting story.