May 8, 2008
Redding
Judith Freedman: Senator is ready for life’s next step
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by Susan Wolf
pilot@thereddingpilot.com
Judith Freedman looks relaxed, a woman comfortable with her decision to retire from state office after 11 terms, and one who looks back with pride on her accomplishments.
Ms. Freedman, the state senator for the 26th District, recently announced her retirement and her endorsement of Wilton’s state Rep. Toni Boucher. “I’ve enjoyed the challenge and everything I’ve been able to do, but it’s time,” she said simply.
It has been a long time since Ms. Freedman, a former teacher, tossed her hat into the political ring. That was in 1986, and she only sent out one mailer — How things have changed!” she exclaimed.
Looking through that mailer, Ms. Freedman said many of the problems she cited then are the same today, things like transportation. “But Toni will pick up the ball,” she said.
When she officially retires next January when the district’s new senator is sworn into office, Ms. Freedman will become one of the two of the state’s longest serving senators. The late Florence Finney of Greenwich, who was Senate president pro tem, was the other.
Her tenure has been an interesting one, Ms. Freedman said.
For one thing, she is the only woman in the Republican Caucus, something that is not a problem for her. “They have to deal with me, which is not easy,” she said with a laugh. “But I bring my experience to the caucus, and that is helpful for us and the Republican Party.”
She remembers her first term in the Senate, a time when she was the only Republican in the freshman class. And the Democrats weren’t happy she was from Westport, Ms. Freedman recalled, because Julie Belaga of that town had challenged Bill O’Neill, the Democratic governor.
“I’ve worked with four very different governors who really had the state’s best interest at heart in their own way,” said Ms. Freedman, referring to Govs. O’Neill, Lowell Weicker, an independent, John Rowland, a Republican, and now M. Jodi Rell, also a Republican.
As far as Ms. Freedman is concerned her job is trying “to do no harm” when it comes to legislation, but the real focus is on her constituents. “Everyone needs an ombudsman in Hartford to get through the red tape,” she said. “Constituents in this district do have problems, and I’m willing to help out and get them resolved in a short period of time... it’s very rewarding to help people.
One of her disappointments is that she has not been able to streamline the system to make it easier for citizens to get the help they need. During her “idealistic stage,” Ms. Freedman had hoped to see “one-stop shopping” for those in need of social services, a way to guide them to the appropriate agency. But the state is still “in the Dark Ages,” she said, shaking her head.
Highlights
Among the highlights of Ms. Freedman’s political career are getting mammography and prostate screening built into health insurance plans. She also cites the recognition of adult autism and programs for them, as well as the expansion of services for disabled children after they graduate from high school.
The development of a private-public partnership for group homes in New Canaan and Ridgefield for those who live there is on her list as well. “It’s a very productive model,” Ms. Freedman said, adding Westport is now looking into this approach for autistic adults.
The senator continues to work to close the pay gap between state and private providers of group home services.
While she lost the battle against a state income tax, Ms. Freedman is pleased the state adopted a biennial budget.
Locally, Ms. Freedman is proud of her role in stopping Super 7 and in getting the current widening of the existing Route 7 under way. Add to that list helping to get the state to protect with conservation easements the watershed land once owned by Kelda, and helping to win the fight to get some of Connecticut Power & Light Company’s new power lines under ground.
Taking a second to think about other accomplishments, Ms. Freedman sat up straighter and declared, “I’m the mother of charter schools.” These school are set up to try different models of teaching, to see what succeeds and then to take this back to the public schools, she explained,. “But I’m not sure the public schools are watching.”
The legislature hoped charter schools would help with its lawsuit, Sheff v. O’Neill, that focused on equalized education for all, “but there is not enough money to grow charter schools,” said Ms. Freedman.
In the Senate
The senator is now the chief deputy minority leader, and served as deputy president pro tem when the Republicans held the majority in the Senate in 1995. She has served on the Appropriations Committee for 20 years, and says it has become “my area of expertise.” She is also the Senate ranking member of both the Government Administration & Elections Committee and the Select Committee on Children.
While she won’t see it happen during her tenure, Ms. Freedman is pleased the Appropriations Committee is working on results-based accountability as part of the budget process in the future, “which should make a big difference.”
Three of the senator’s subcommittees are “guinea pigs in setting proper goals,” she said. One is the subcommittee for preschool early childhood reading readiness. Its goal is to set milestones to determine if the program is worth the money it is getting.
Her other two subcommittees are human services and economic development.
“It is time to start seeing where our money is being spent, and is effective,” Ms. Freedman said. She only wishes this had happened during her time in office.
The legislature’s failure to come up with a long-range plan for mass transportation is another disappointment for Ms. Freedman. “Mass transit never got to the point where I’d like to see it,” she said.
She is saddened at the loss of some of the traditions of the Senate, particularly the camaraderie. “When I first started, there were political, philosophical battles on the floor of the Senate, but when that was over, we were a bipartisan collegial group. We did things socially.”
And out of that came ideas that later became realities on the legislative floor, Ms. Freedman said, calling it “a loss” that those days “have gone by the wayside.”
She’s lucky, the senator said, because she has a good bipartisan relationship with House Democrats and “a good part of the Senate Democrats. “I don’t have to have my name on a bill. As long as it gets passed, I don’t care.”
Why now?
What prompted her decision to end her Senate service when she had formed a re-election committee?
Ms. Freedman points to the recent death of Dr. Peter Yanity of Ridgefield as a factor. He and his wife Beth and Rep. John Frey “have been my closes friends and allies in Ridgefield,” she said, and after he passed away, she started thinking ... “it would be nice to go to New York for a play, to get my house in order...” Then she thought about who would run for her seat.
Once that was decided, Ms. Freedman said it was an easy decision, and she heeded the advice of former Ridgefield state Rep. Barbara Ireland who said she’d know when the time was right to retire.
While Ms. Freedman has no immediate plans, on her agenda is “a little traveling,” some golf and maybe some art lessons. She may also substitute teach and wants to visit elementary and high schools to see what is happening in them. “I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, but I want to see the different schools,” she said.
Ms. Freedman is certain that she’ll volunteer to go to fourth graders and talk about the state of Connecticut and its legislature.
What does she see in the legislature’s future? A battle to push it to go full time, not something she favors. “I do believe people are far better served by part-time legislators,” she said, “because we are home and we are talking to the people we are working for.”
Meanwhile, Ms. Freedman will finish her term and move on to the next adventure in her life.
Ms. Freedman lives in Westport with her husband, Samuel, an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac Law School. They have one daughter, Martha.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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