House Republican Minority Leader Themis Klarides chided Democrats Nov. 2 for voicing last-minute support for a Naugatuck Valley fire school, calling the press event at the Derby train station a desperate ploy to sway voters four days before the election.
The Democrats, Klarides said, had eight years to convince Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to fund the project, but it was never a priority.
“All we heard today from the Democrats was empty rhetoric,” she said. “This effort by Democrats running for office four days before the election is a pathetic attempt to blur the reality that this Democratic administration never supported the Naugatuck Valley fire school.”
Klarides and the other lawmakers representing the Naugatuck Valley have been at the forefront of the effort to get the fire school built in Beacon Falls. The Malloy administration last month said the project had been mothballed despite wide support among emergency services personnel, who say the school is critical to enhancing public safety. The state has purchased the land in Beacon Falls and solicited proposals.
Malloy administration officials told Klarides and others that they have no plans to go ahead with the construction.
Klarides said, “We will continue to work hard to get this project completed. The Democrats were in position to deliver for the thousands of people in the 22 towns that would directly benefit from this fire school and they did not come through.”