MONROE, CT — Incumbent First Selectman Terry Rooney challenged his opponent Leon Ambrosey, a Democrat serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission, to debates when interviewed at his fundraising dinner at Testo’s Tuesday night. The Republican is seeking a second term in Monroe’s top job.
Reached by phone that night, Ambrosey agreed to debate Rooney. The candidates will duke it out on the issues, before the contest goes to the judges for a decision on Election Day, when voters go to the polls Nov. 4.
“I challenge my opponent to three debates,” Rooney said. “The town of Monroe needs to know the current issues and the challenges that face the town, and who is the best prepared to move Monroe through these modern challenges. This is a very serious job. We can’t gamble on the future leadership of Monroe.”
“I’m willing to debate him, but we’re going to decide what we’re going to debate on, have an independent person to moderate this, and stick to the topics,” Ambrosey said.
Alan Vaglivelo, Ambrosey’s campaign manager, was also insistent on having an independent moderator with no ties to either political party.
On Tuesday evening, 105 supporters packed a dining room at Testo’s, which was decked out with red balloons and “Rooney for Monroe” posters. A deejay played country music.
The first selectman walked around the tables, holding a microphone while recognizing municipal and state officials and family members in attendance. Among them was Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, who is currently running for first selectman in his town, and Matthew Corey, a Republican running for lieutenant governor.
“We have not had an easy two years,” Rooney said. “We had a thousand year flood. We had ice storms. We had a reval. Nothing about what we’ve done in the last two years has been easy. It’s been very, very complicated.”
“I just never thought we would have two years like we did, but we got through it right?” he continued. “Our property values went up. Our taxes went up a little bit, but our car taxes went down to offset it. We dropped the mill rate almost 10 points. I think that’s good right? To drop the mill rate 10 points?”
Rooney’s supporters applauded his last comment.
“We have a roller and a paver and we’re paving our own roads,” he said. “We’ve done more roads this year than DPW says have been done in the last 15.”
Rooney said the reason why Republicans win in Monroe is because they care about people, make the right decisions and do what’s best for the town.
“In my last two years, I think everybody who lives in Monroe knows I have not quit,” Rooney said. “When you come to my office, I talk to you. You call me, I talk to you. I can’t stand social media, but if it matters to people, it matters.”
“Ten-thirty at night sometimes, I’m answering people,” he said, “even after they’ve been so disturbing, horrifying and terrible to me. We still gotta take the higher ground — and I think that’s also what the Republican party does. We take the higher ground. We don’t let people drag us down into the dirt. We do the right thing and it prevails.”
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