{news} "Burton launches campaign" article in Redding Pilot

[David Bedell]

http://nancyburton2004.smartcampaigns.com/index.php?q=node/view/22

Burton launches campaign

by Susan Wolf
pilot at acdm-online.com

Redding Pilot
September 16, 2004

Nancy Burton, a local attorney known for taking on both environmental and 
controversial issues, launched her campaign Tuesday as a Green Party 
candidate in the state's 135th House District. She will be facing off 
against Republican incumbent John Stripp of Weston. The 135th district 
includes part of Redding, Easton and Weston.

Ms. Burton, "a lifelong Democrat," had supported the Green Party for years 
in terms of its philosophy, goals and platform. "This summer, when the Green 
Party invited me to run for office, I changed my affiliation," she said. She 
successfully petitioned to get on the Nov. 2 ballot.

David Bedell, secretary of the Fairfield County Green Party and Ms. Burton's 
campaign manager, said he had worked with Ms. Burton before in her effort 
"to protect communities from unsafe power plants. She has campaigned for 
public health and environmental protection issues."

Candidate's slogan

In fact, Ms. Burton is running with the slogan, "Clean Air, Clean Water, 
Clean Government." When she announces her platform, she said, it will 
include initiatives to close the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in 
Waterford and the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan. She also 
wants to end "the climate of corruption in government."

Reading from a prepared speech, Ms. Burton said she would not be running for 
office "if our democracy were healthy and the two major parties were keeping 
proper tabs on each other to protect our air, water and government." 
Furthermore, she said democracy in the state "has become corrupted. The 
power of the people of our state too often has been perverted by public 
officials to serve self-interests."

She pointed to former Gov. John Rowland, who resigned in July amid federal 
corruption charges and a state legislative investigation aimed at deciding 
whether he should be impeached. She asked why "bad apples" keep falling from 
the public tree. "Could it be that our three branches of government ... have 
lost their way and forgotten about our traditions of checks and balances?" 
she asked.

The continuing operation of the Millstone plant is "a tribute to continuing 
cronyism and corruption in the state and federal government," as is the 
operation of Indian Point, she said.

"... The continuing presence of these nuclear power plants in our time of 
terrorism is an unspeakable folly. We are at grave risk," said Ms. Burton. 
She also said 25% of the people in the state live in poverty and their 
children are malnourished, "without health care and suffering from dirty 
air, dirty water and dirty government."

Why is she the right candidate to address these problems and help solve 
them? she asked. Ms. Burton, who moved to Redding from New York City 20 
years ago, said because of her stake in the community. She pointed to her 
volunteer efforts in Redding.

The candidate added that in 20 years "of public interest law - much of it 
pro bono - I have acquired a considerable knowledge of our state and local 
governments at all levels, and I have gained much insight on how they 
operate." Ms. Burton has taken on, she said, "many taboos," including "race 
and gender discrimination, big business, big polluters and the nuclear 
industry. And I have been a success." Among the successes she cites was 
winning the right of citizens in the state to intervene in environmental 
enforcement actions.

Disbarment issue

"And I have even been so bold as to honor the attorney's oath of office and 
report judicial misconduct to proper authorities. For this I have paid the 
ultimate professional price: Expulsion from the society of Connecticut 
attorneys for five years;" she said."

Judge A. William Mottolese issued an order on Nov. 2, 2001 barring Ms. 
Burton from practicing law in the state for five years, but stayed the order 
to give her a chance to appeal. His decision was not overturned by the 
courts.

The judge said Ms. Burton misled a group of Monroe residents fighting a 
housing plan into signing on as plaintiffs in a lawsuit to block the 
development when they thought they were signing a petition. Ms. Burton said 
at the time that the intent of the document was clear and called the judge's 
ruling "an affront to the due process, to justice and to the people of 
Connecticut."

On Tuesday, Ms. Burton said she has exhausted many, "but not all of the 
remedies I will pursue in coming days." In the meantime, Ms. Burton said 
that while she cannot practice law in Connecticut, she is licensed to 
practice in federal and New York courts.

"One of the things I admire about Nancy," said Mr. Bedell, "is that even 
though she has had a setback in her professional legal career, that didn't 
stop her. She is taking her fight to the legislative arena. If you can't 
achieve justice in the court system, you can try to seek it in the 
legislative system through lobbying or running for office.

"The Green Party is the electoral wing for all citizen action campaigns in 
Connecticut. A lot of groups are involved in court cases or legal action."

One of her goals, if elected, is to bring about reform of the state's 
judiciary system. "I pledge to make it a crime for attorneys to not report 
acts of judicial or attorney misconduct of which they have knowledge. With 
speedy enforcement of this law, you will see amazing improvements to the 
quality of justice across the state," Ms. Burton said.

"There are two ways to end the blight of and climate of corruption in 
Connecticut: Elect good people in office and enact good-government laws with 
teeth," she later said.

The focus

Her campaign will focus, she said, on the 135th District and the state. 
Locally, said Ms. Burton, she will fight for clean air and clean water, "as 
well as excellent schools."

She described herself as "a social progressive but a fiscal conservative. As 
constituents, you will have to work hard to persuade me that expenditure of 
your money is warranted for particular projects. But you can win me over if 
you have the facts," she said.

On the state level, Ms. Burton pledges to fight for clean air and clean 
water and clean government. "I will work with coalitions of like-minded 
legislators to pass laws to benefit the public, and I will forge new 
coalitions," she said.

Mrs. Burton said she helped form the Connecticut Coalition against 
Millstone, calling it "an effective grass-roots campaign ..." She doesn't 
think Millstone would be running as safely as it is without this group.

As a consequence of this organization, Ms. Burton said it gets calls from 
inside the plant about problems. She would like to make a law that nuclear 
workers who do not report "acts of mismanagement or malfeasance ... would 
lose their jobs."

The candidate is a recent graduate of the Women's Campaign School at Yale 
University.

William Honan, Ms. Burton's husband, is her campaign treasurer; her father, 
Milton Burton, is deputy campaign manager. Ms. Burton and her husband have 
three adult children.

Ms. Burton's campaign office, at 73 Redding Road, will be open starting next 
week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. "I will be here to 
listen. I will be here to learn. I want to know about everything of concern 
to the residents of the 135th District that can possibly be addressed by a 
state legislator," she said. She has also invited Mr. Stripp to a debate.

In her campaign office, Ms. Burton is building a "Corruption Wall. We'll add 
to it. I invite the community to build this wall during the campaign — so we 
can take it down just like the barrier between East and West Berlin."

Ms. Burton can be reached at 544-7130; her Web site is www.voteburton.org.

_________________________________________________________________
Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! 
http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/