In wake of New Haven Open purchase, Rep. Case calls on Malloy to step up for children
HARTFORD – State Rep. Jay Case (R-63) today sent Gov. Dannel P. Malloy a letter blasting the recent $618,000 purchase of the New Haven Open tennis tournament and an $800,000 bailout of Bridgeport’s federal Head Start program at a time when Winchester residents are concerned about whether unprecedented local financial troubles will close their kids’ schools.
Rep. Case has been in continuous communication with state education officials and has participated in hearings and meetings with the Office of Policy and Management, listening to Winchester’s issues and concerns. While the Malloy administration has offered the town no help, the Governor’s Office has found enough money to support a tennis tournament that private companies have abandoned.
“The Governor’s administration has been unwilling to take a more substantial role in Winsted’s immediate and dire education predicament, yet it’s trumpeting government’s head-first dive into the sports management business,” said Rep. Case, fighting to keep the local schools operational. “That doesn’t sit well with me, and throwing money toward a tennis tournament that even corporate sponsors bailed on won’t sit well with folks I represent either.”
“Over the course of two days, the governor has managed to find money to help out Bridgeport’s federal education program and to buyout the New Haven Open. If this state has money to spend on tennis, maybe our governor should pay a little more attention to Winchester’s problems. He can even make the hike out of Hartford and explain to the taxpayers of Winchester why a sporting event with declining attendance is more important than their kids’ schooling,” Rep. Case added.
The letter, addressed to Malloy and OPM Secretary Benjamin Barnes, outlines Rep. Case’s belief that the administration needs to reassess its spending priorities and question if it’s overreaching the role of government. “I believe the running of a professional tennis tournament does not fit into our core mission,” he wrote.
Read the letter here: