Better Choice Leader Seeks to Upset the Balance of Power In Killingworth

Gerald Lucas sees himself as a crusader of sorts.

Thumping his fist against his chest he exclaims that what he is attempting in Killingworth “is nothing short of a coup d'etat. A coup d'etat I tell you!”

Lucas, 73, heads up a newly formed political action committee called The Better Choice 2011. His followers are largely disaffected local Republicans and one Democrat who don’t like the way the local party or Town Hall is being run. They are collecting signatures to force a primary of Republican candidates as well as the Democrats’ endorsed candidate for first selectman, incumbent Catherine Iino.

Lucas organized the group out of what he describes as his mounting frustration with Town Hall and with the town’s spending practices. In particular, he said, he and his followers are upset that town leaders approved 3 percent pay raises this year for several town officials, including Iino.

“They’re greedy!” he said, noting that the raises come at a time when some local families have lost jobs, are struggling to make ends meet and are losing their homes to foreclosure.

The Better Choice 2011 has endorsed a slate of about a dozen candidates, including Lucas, who will primary for the Board of Assessment Appeals. Leading their ticket is Democrat Stephen Hollander, who hopes to wage a primary against Iino.

Lucas said his group believes Town Hall workers, including the first selectwoman, are out of touch with the populace in Killingworth and are rude to those who do business in Town Hall. The atmosphere there, he said, has become cold, unlike when he was first selectman for about eight years in the late 1980s and early-to mid-1990s.

“Are you kidding?” That was the reaction Iino had upon learning about that complaint. She said Town Hall workers are exceptionally cordial and helpful to those who do business there. “I think it’s just appalling” that Lucas would accuse town workers of being unhelpful, she added.

In addition, she said, the 3 percent raises that were given this year represent less than $7,500 of the $4.4 million town budget and went to employees who hadn’t received a raise in two years.  

“These 3 percent raises were given out of a sense of fairness and equity,” she said.  In the meantime, she said, she and other town officials, including members of the Board of Finance, cut town spending this year by nearly $400,000, saving $80,000 alone by making changes to the town’s health care plan. Though taxes increased by 1.77 mills, it was largely the result of higher school spending, she said.

Lucas and his PAC’s platform, she said, don’t articulate a positive vision for the town, but instead rely on destructive, out-of-touch politics and ignore the hard work of dozens of paid and volunteer officials who serve their community.

“I love this town,” she said. “This town really depends on its community. There are people who donate hours of their time and if we didn’t have them our taxes would be out of sight.”

Lucas, a retired hotel executive who moved here 40 years ago, is a Republican. He said he decided to seek a primary of many of his party’s nominees because he doesn’t agree with the way the local party is run.

Lucas’ last term as first selectman, however, was marred by an arrest stemming from a domestic disturbance at his home. He was arrested on an assault charge in January of 1995 after his wife called police. Police at the time allege that Lucas struck his wife.

Lucas today said he successfully completed a court-mandated counseling program following his arrest and that the charges were expunged from his record.

He and his wife, he said, are happily married and will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in September.