As we approach the end of the campaign season, candidates for state office will make their appeals to the public to secure their votes. During these times, residents should expect their candidates to address concerns in their community and offer insightful and meaningful dialogue towards tackling those issues; people should expect that their state representatives genuinely understand their troubles and pledge to work in the community's best interest.

Recently, I attended two town hall meetings in Greater Danbury held by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski. I wanted to see whether the individual running for the state's top elected post truly understands and appreciates long-standing issues in my area or would sermonize the public with prepared talking points that are not pertinent to local concerns. 

To say I was disappointed in what I heard from the candidate who has been running for Governor for the last four years would be an understatement.

As a resident and political observer in Danbury, there is bi-partisan agreement among past and present local officials that the most significant concern that has plagued this community for decades centers on the complaint that the city does not receive its fair share of funding from the state. From overcrowded schools to increased traffic congestion, elected officials complain that inadequate state funding for areas of need, such as state road improvements or education funding, has had a detrimental effect on the area's quality of life. 

Instead of addressing area complaints about inadequate state funding, at both of his town hall meetings, Stefanowski not only failed to offer a detailed plan to address community concerns but failed even to acknowledge that the problem exists. 

Opportunities to address concerns with overcrowded schools were scrapped in favor of attacks on transgender students in sports and critical race theory. Proposals to address the area's outdated state roads were shelved in favor of using scare tactics such as tolls to get a reaction from those in attendance.

Residents in Greater Danbury who have endured decades of traffic disasters and overcrowded schools deserve to know that their concerns are being met by state candidates who are in a position to address these problems effectively. Stefanowski had two chances to let residents in Greater Danbury know he had heard their concerns; instead, it seemed like the gubernatorial candidate couldn’t care less about anything that would take him off-message.

Residents in Greater Danbury deserve to have their concerns addressed by people in a position to fix the problem, and it's the public’s responsibility to make sure that candidates hear and address their concerns as opposed to being lectured with prepared talking points and scare tactics.