Connecticut towns and cities should reevaluate their memberships in the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities in response to the lobby group’s opposition to pro-housing policies, Democratic leaders of the state Senate said Thursday.
In a morning press release, Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, and Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, encouraged more municipalities to follow the lead of Manchester, which made news last week by publicly questioning whether CCM’s priorities continued to reflect the priorities of their residents.
Manchester’s misgivings about the group stem from CCM’s opposition to H.B. 5002, a bill passed by both chambers of the state legislature and intended to bring down housing costs by addressing Connecticut’s ongoing shortage of homes. At the urging of CCM and others, Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed the bill.
“For an organization purporting to represent the best interests of municipalities to emphasize rejection of already-passed legislation that would help address local housing needs suggests a disturbing gulf in priorities,” Looney said Thursday. “I would encourage municipal leaders to take time to review CCM’s advocacy role and compare the benefits of membership with its messaging efforts opposing policies that could help them. The results could be striking.”
Manchester officials had similar thoughts, according to the Connecticut Post, which reported that Board of Directors member Jerald Lentini wondered whether the town was funding opposition to its own interests through its $35,000 annual membership with CCM.
“We paid for them to fight against our own values, and I find it baffling that we should continue funding the opposition to policies that we support,” Board of Directors member Jerald Lentini said, according to the Post.
Duff applauded Manchester leaders for recognizing that the group’s priorities appeared to run counter to their own best interest.
“With CCM taking a more active role in calling for action on key legislation, I encourage more leaders to take time to reflect on best practices and next steps in rectifying the potential gap between their priorities and CCM priorities,” Duff said.
