【地方选举】现场直击 -- Tim Herbst 正式宣布参选康州州长职位 （附英文原文演讲稿）
19年前的六月八号，Tim Herbst在Trumbull高中毕业典礼作为学生代表致辞；19年后的六月八号，在Tim服务于市政部门近18年之后（其中最后8年作为Trumbull市长），在同一个讲台上，他面对他的家人、同学、朋友、同事和几百名支持者宣称：经过近五个月的探索性委员会，他正式参加2018康州州长竞选。以下是他演讲词的摘要中文翻译。英文原文请见附录。
Tim首先感谢和回顾了Trumbull高中的师友对他人生的影响。尤其他的橄榄球教练，培养了他的“说做就做，勇于进取，为理想献身的精神”(“can do” attitude, a desire to win, and sacrifice for the greater good)。
Tim还谈到他人生中最重要的一个人：他的外祖母。她出生在第一代移民家庭，六岁丧父，在全家人面临接受政府救济时，她的曾外祖母用不流畅的英语告诉孩子们：不能让政府为我们做我们自己能为自己做的事。他的外祖母幼年失学，从小就做工，但最终和丈夫有了自己的生意。“从那个角度讲，她都是生活真正的斗士。她希望每扇对她关闭的门都对她的孩子们打开；她的梦想成为孩子们的未来。” Tim说：“我今天站在这里，对她的非凡的，真正的美国故事心生敬畏。这种忘我工作、勇气和韧性的移民精神，是美国精神。然而，曾经产生过这些非凡故事的康州正在慢慢消逝。”
Tim接下来历数了现任州长Malloy及其民主党政府领导下康州的经济危机：
· 我们的经济状况全国第49名
· 我们的生活费用全国第48名
· 我们破烂的公共基础设施全国第42名
· 我们的经商成本全国第47名
· 我们的税收和regulation环境全国第45名
· 康州所有邻州都增加工作的情况下，2016年康州工作净流失
在巨大的经济危机下，康州官僚们的对策就是大幅度削减教育经费和对地方拨款，提议高速公路收费，对纳税人、医院和小业主进一步提高税收，甚至以提高州政府收入为由，提出大麻合法化。为拼死维护他们的政治利益，Hartford立法者们几乎启用了所有的紧急应急基金。这种反工作增长，高税收的政策造成康州最近半年内三次信用等级下调。
然后，Tim揭露了政府官员的腐败：一方面要求老百姓勒紧腰带，一方面给予自己高福利，高待遇（如上班有里程补贴，还可以算入退休金；如非常好的医疗福利，以至于很多在联邦做事的高官不要联邦福利，选择康州福利）。
Tim还讲述了他在Trumbull八年改革的经历。他上任以前的八年， Trumbull地税上涨54%，借债翻番，退休金缺口73%。他上任百天，甄别一百万政府管理经费浪费。他在Trumbull大胆艰难的改革了退休金制度。目前，Trumbull的退休金100% 经费到位，政府规模小于八年前，八年财政收支平衡，两次降地税，信用等级上升，学校排名名列前茅。
“我以圈外人士的身份接任市长，致力改革，成效显著！”
“康州现在处在一个是继续走官僚统治的老路，还是推选新一代领导人的十字路口上。”“我从未想到我们的州会如此悲剧式的迅速衰亡。”
“现在不是政客玩手段耍花招的时候。康州人民理应得到一个诚实坦荡的领袖，一个经过考验的改革者。” “我知道如果想有所变革，自己必须投身其中”。
“所以今天，肩负着让我们的康州重新走向正轨的重大历史使命感和坚决投入的决心，我自豪的宣布我参加康州89界康州州长竞选！”
Tim回顾了89年，Trumbull小镇的一群十二岁的少年排除万难，取得少年棒球世界冠军的称号。他们“敢于梦想，勇于斗争”。
“和他们一样，我发誓用我身体内的每一块骨头，用我的每一天，为康州辛勤劳作的家庭有一个更好的未来而奋斗。我们要勇于梦想让康州的现实符合康州的承诺。”
Tim接下来陈述了他的改革纲领：退休金，税务，政府花费，公共教育，法律（保护守法人民，惩罚罪犯），基础设施建设。
如果当选州长，他做出如下承诺并呼吁所有的参选人以身作则：
1.他拒绝州里的退休金
2.所有的政府部门官员，政治任命退出现有的州退休金计划
3.取消兼职立法官员的退休金（注：这包括几乎所有的参议员和众议员）
4.拒绝Hartford特殊利益集团政治捐款
“是清理特权和特殊利益的时候了”
“是清理坐享其成和巨大野心的时候了”
“是向金屋顶下的腐败宣战的时候了”
“是结束党派的华而不实和放逐Hartford 内线人士的时候了”
“是直面我们的挑战的时候了”
“实话实说的旅程从今天开始”
“让我们一起努力，选举新一代领导人，拯救康州，重新实现康州的诺言：在这个地方，一个由单亲移民母亲养大的妇女的外孙可以找到成功，可以竞选康州最高职位”
May God Bless You All and Thank YOU!
参加和关注此事的微信群友的发言：
群友：昨天Tim 的父亲Mike 代表家人由衷感谢我们华人群体的支持，希望大家再接再厉，继续以不同方式帮助Tim及其竞选团队，早日拿到25万。
25万，对于大富豪不过是一辆Bentley, 对于为了救活康州正在马不停蹄拚命的Tim,(提醒大家他刚做完重要手术没多久) 要付出百倍精力，还要在人的有限精力中运筹未来彻底改革Harford腐败的大计，越发敬佩！
个人感受：对于一个没耐心听重复话的人来说，从二月份到现在，每次参加Tim 到场的活动都有新的收获:对他改革康州具体步骤的从盲脸到深入领悟，更坚定了支持他的信心！
希望已了解Tim还有空间捐到$100的朋友顶力相助，这个如同compound interest 的力量！这笔捐款还没超过咱去赌场的4个码，也还不够咱去纽约路不熟的一张罚单。
还不了解Tim 的朋友，阳光明媚的夏日里，没理由不出来活动下，你会收获无穷.....请大家随时关注接下来的活动内容。
群友：下午请假去参加Trumbull市长决定参选州长的誓师大会了，老板很不解的朝我看了那么一眼。我还带着妈妈和爸爸去造声势，结果大厅里挤满了人，看我带着老人家来，纷纷给让座，所以我也借光了😂 Tim Herbst 正式宣布参选 89th CT governor. 他说 "Dare to dream and fight hard". "I will fight with every single bone in my body, every single day for the hard working CT families that deserve a better future". 听起来像战斗宣言…… 我忍不住第一个鼓起掌来，Tim朝我看了一眼，会心的笑了一下，真是心潮澎湃啊！ [Facepalm] [Facepalm][Facepalm]
群友：现在康州居民需要一个象Tim这样的领导者进行改革，推进和实施。
群友：我是被他感动了。Tim年轻，有冲劲，有头脑，没有任何家族背景，却能公开拒绝大财团支持，而且多次炮轰州府腐败，要求修改公务员退休金制度，点名要求五位高官公布他们的医疗费用。他不像典型的精装政客那样处处讨好，而是很直率，甚至于过于耿直以至于遭到诸多政客攻击。只能是老百姓支持他了。希望大家去给他捐党内初选的小额捐款，$5-$100都可以，积小成多，否则他根本没机会党内胜出。
群友：而且Tim 也已经宣布不在竞选连任Trumbull 下届市长。集中精力参选，与州民联系，倾听民意。参加Tim出席的活动是很好了解他的机会。目前小额捐款，是让他上－台阶，让他在更大的舞台代我们发声，选出愿意做实事，不怕得罪人，不玩政治手段的州长，就是自救，帮我们自己。否则康州真的呆不下去了。
群友：他冲劲还是满大的。讲话针对性强。既強调了做实事全面性和坚定性，又突出了执政州首的目标和理念。如果能把Trumbull执政经验和成果放到州上解释成为直接的简单放大即可成功或许会有助于选民信心。不以Trumbull 为小，小成者必有大思想，不以州为大，成大事必是具大思想的小成者。完成一件小事，远胜百句大话。嘴下有千言不如胸中存一策。
群友：俺两个孩子中午吃饭一直在讨论他的讲话。无形中在他们心里输入了一种自豪。作为新移民家庭长大的孩子。我太高兴昨天带他们去了。他们长大也许会常常想起这个时刻。
群友：Dem Chairman reacted so harshly and nastily because Tim is the only who can remove their corrupted masks, defeat them and force them to loss those perks out of our pockets. Go Tim, a new generation of leadership!
Tim Herbst 6月8日宣布参加康州2018州长选举英文原文如下：
Matt, thank you so much for being here today and for your kind words. We have been friends for almost thirty years and it’s great to have my Captain here today.
It is great to be home here at Trumbull High School surrounded by friends, family, supporters, old classmates, mentors, community leaders and people from all across our state.
It was exactly 19 years ago today that I graduated from this amazing school.
All these years later, I am humbled and filled with emotion as I think of the people here who were instrumental in helping to shape my life. They instilled within me a deeplove and appreciation for Trumbull and our state.
I think about teachers like Rita Altieri and Jim Farnen who instilled in me a rich appreciation for government and civic participation.
As I stand before the Robert E. McCarthy Auditorium, I think about my late, great high school principal. Bob McCarthy was a leader who knew how to bring people together. I’ll never forget how he led by example with a strong desire to see that all students who passed through these walls go on to succeed outside of them.
I also think about the man that Matt and I played for – Jerry McDougall. Coach McDougall taught us to have pride for ourselves and our community, a “can do” attitude that manifested a desire to win, and most importantly the value of sacrifice for the greater good. Playing football under Coach McDougall taught me to never sit on the sidelines when you can take action.
My time at Trumbull High School taught me to love and fight for my community. These values took me to Trinity College, later to law school and into public service.
But the one role model that had the single greatest influence on me, who taught me perseverance, appreciation for working people and a deep desire to leave a better future to the next generation, was my amazing grandmother.
She was a fighter in every sense of the word. Through a tough life she lived a truly remarkable story.
She lost her father at the age of six to tuberculosis. She and her two brothers were raised by single mother in the south end of Bridgeport during the Great Depression. Their mother could not read or write in English.
My grandmother once told me a story about how her family was so poor they were almost forced to go on welfare. Her mother refused and said to her children in broken English we don’t want the government doing for us what we can do for ourselves. That strong work ethic, courage and tenacity is the immigrant spirit. It is the American spirit.
My grandmother left school to go work in the family market to help put her brother George through college. She would later open a family business with her husband and spend years working behind the counter side-by-side with him.
Everything my grandmother did was an act of perseverance to build a better future for her family, her children and ultimately her nine grandchildren. When I was younger I didn’t fully appreciate all that she did for us. I appreciate her now more than ever.
She wanted every door that closed for her to open for us. She wanted her dreams to become ourfutures. As I stand here today, I am in awe of her remarkable, truly American story. The daughter of an immigrant single-mother who fought against adversity every day until she created a better life and more opportunity for her children and grandchildren.
The Connecticut that once made these incredible stories possible is slipping away.
As storm clouds have manifested into perpetual fiscal crisis, well-connected special interests in Hartford have fought time and again to protect their own interests and the status quo.
As a result of these failed insiders, Connecticut, sadly, has experienced one of the worst recoveries of any state in the nation from the Great Recession.
Under the tutelage of Gov. Malloy and his insider allies, wages in Connecticut have flatlined, jobs and opportunity are fleeing our state and struggling workers, families and retirees have been continually asked to sacrifice more.
Our economy is now ranked 49th in the country
Our cost of living is ranked 48th in the country
Our failing infrastructure is ranked 42nd in the country
Our cost of doing business is ranked 47th in the country
Our tax and regulatory climate is ranked 45th in the country.
While Connecticut’s neighbors all experienced significant job growth in 2016, our state ended the year with 200 fewer jobs than the year before.
There can be no clearer measure of the terrible damage wrought by insiders in Hartford on struggling Connecticut families than this backwards slide on job creation.
And things are continuing to get worse.
This year, faced with yet another colossal fiscal crisis of their own making, insiders in Hartford have proposed crippling cuts to education and local aid, tolls on Connecticut roads and new taxes on struggling taxpayers, hospitals and businesses.
Some legislators are opening the flood gates to recreational drug use as a crutch to balance the budget— even as our state is gripped by an opioid epidemic.
In a desperate bid to protect themselves politically, Hartford lawmakers voted to raid what little is left of the state’s rainy day fund — designed to protect Connecticut in times of crisis.
This job-crushing, tax-hiking agenda led all three major credit agencies to recently downgrade Connecticut and has encouraged insurance-giant Aetna to follow in the footsteps of GE and leave our state, threatening thousands of jobs.
At the same time their feckless leadership continues to erode the quality of life and future opportunities for Connecticut residents, many of these legislators are unwilling to depart from business as usual.
State legislators can count their mileage reimbursement as income to pad their taxpayer funded pensions. This get-paid-to-show-up scheme is indicative of everything that is wrong with the culture under the Gold Dome in Hartford.
We recently learned that health care benefits for retired state legislators and statewide elected officials may be so generous, that many of our retired members of the U.S.Congress elect to keep their state benefits – – at a time when our state has a19 billion dollar unfunded healthcare liability.
Struggling Connecticut taxpayers, towns and now hospitals will be asked, yet again, to sacrifice more, yet the power brokers at the capitol remain unwilling to cede even the most excessive of perks. As Connecticut residents struggle with high taxes, stagnant wages and job loss, it is shameful that the very people we have entrusted to make financial decisions on behalf of our state are amongst the most chronic abusers of a dysfunctional system.
There should be no rock that goes unturned and no perk for the well-connected that goes unexposed as a ripe opportunity for reform.
That is what I did eight years ago when I took office in Trumbull.
Taxes increased 54% in the eight years proceeding my term. Borrowing more than double during that same time. I inherited a broken pension system funded at just 27percent and a town government bloated with patronage and big egos. I didn’t tiptoe around the edges. Instead, I took our town’s challenges head on.
I refused a town pension and eliminated free healthcare. I eliminated pensions for political appointees.
All new hires now enter a defined contribution plan. We increased health care contributions across the board. During my first 100 days in office, we identified $1 millionin operational savings in the town budget. We took difficult, bold steps, working with our labor leaders, to reform our pension system.
The swift action we took in Trumbull has paid huge dividends. Our pension system is now fully funded on an annual basis. There are less town employees than when I took office eight years ago. We balanced eight budgets and cut taxes twice. Our town government runs more efficiently, delivering better services than ever before. Our credit rating has been upgraded as a result of the reforms we have pursued and it has inspired business confidence and investment, with our economy growing each of the last eight years.
The Trumbull Public Schools have been ranked in the top two school districts in the entire State of Connecticut. Our kids are among the highest achieving in Connecticut, with our schools being ranked as schools of distinction. Last year, our school system was ranked as being in the top ten most in demand in the nation.
I came into office as an outsider, committed to reform and it worked.
Now Connecticut stands at a fundamental crossroads between continuing down the path of failed leadership or sending a new generation of leaders to Hartford to shake things up. In my entire life, I never thought I would see our state in such a tragic, downward spiral.
Those of you that know me know I have an Irish father and a Syrian mother. I tell it like it is, I’m about the bottom line and I’m not afraid to ruffle feathers.
I care deeply about my community and my state and I don’t mince words when it comes to fighting for a better future for the next generation.
Now is not the time for political gamesmanship or gimmicks. The people of our state deserve honest, straight forward leadership and need experienced reformers who are willing to make the tough calls to enact real change. As the son of a coach, I have grown up knowing that you don’t move the chains down the field by sitting on the sidelines. To make a difference, you get in the game.
And so today, with a tremendous sense of purpose and a resolute commitment to get our state back ontrack, I proudly declare that I will be a candidate for Governor of the Stateof Connecticut.
The next Governor will be the 89th Governor of the State of Connecticut. The number 89 has special meaning to me and to the people of Trumbull. Trumbull relishes being the underdog.
In 1989, a group of 12 year olds defied the odds to win a little league world championship that brought tremendous pride to our nation. It is part of what makes Trumbull such a special place. That team defied the odds because they dared to dream and fought hard.
Like them, I promise to fight with every bone in my body every single day for the hard-working Connecticut families that deserve a better future. Let us dare to dream that the reality of Connecticut may live up to the promise of Connecticut.
That dream will not become a reality if we send the same people back to Hartford to sit in different chairs.
The people of Connecticut must look to proven reformers and Hartford outsiders if we are going to fix Connecticut.
Here’s what I’m fighting for:
Pension reform that nolonger mortgages our future.
Tax relief and less regulation that lift up our middle class, small businesses and job creators.
Lower government spending to get our fiscal house in order.
Public schools built on innovation to compete in a global economy.
Laws that protect law abiding citizens and punish criminals.
A commitment to rebuilding our train lines, highways, roads and bridges to improve our qualityof life and kick start our economic recovery.
Generations that came before us created this mess and it will be a new generation of leadership that is called upon to right our ship of state.
I have governed with the underlying belief that successful leaders lead by example. I did it in Trumbull. I’ll do it in Hartford.
That’s why today Ipledge that when I’m elected Governor,
I will refuse a state pension
I will move all state agency heads, political appointees and their staff to a defined contributio plan and off the state pension system
I will demand an end to state pensions for a part time citizen legislature and the free healthcar some of them get when they retire.
And I will refuse donations from Hartford lobbyists.
Only by changing the corrupt culture in Hartford can we implement the kind of fundamental reform our state so desperately needs. That is why I will call on every candidate, in both parties, who seeks this office to agree to this lead-by-example pledge.
This pledge will give voters a clear choice between the candidates truly committed to them and reform and those that are out to advance their own interests and preserve the status quo in Hartford.
Starting Day 1, it is time to clean house.
It is time to clean out all the privileges and perks.
It is time to clean out the sense of entitlement and the big egos.
It is time to take on the corrupt culture under the Gold Dome.
It is time to put an end to all the partisan dithering and take the Hartford insiders to the woodshed.
It is time to take our challenges head on.
THE TELLING IT LIKE IT IS TOUR STARTS TODAY!
If we want different results from Hartford, we must send a different type of leader to Hartford: a proven reformer and Hartfod outsider unafraid to take on the corrupt culture under the Golden Dome in Hartford and prepared to tackle our state’s many challenges, head on.
Rather than hike taxes on struggling Connecticut families and punish towns that have responsibly managed their budgets, I’ll hold accountable the state agencies mired in red tape and bureaucracy who waste your money and don’t deliver results.
And that starts by appointing an Inspector General who will route out waste, fraud and abuse at every level of government.
I will oppose tax hikes and job killing regulations in favor of monumental tax and regulatory reform, rooted in a pro-business, pro-growth agenda that rewards investment, hard work and provides opportunity.
I won’t cut funding for public safety as a crutch to balance the state budget. I will bring real reform to the most dysfunctional departments of state government, and I will start by completely dismantling the Department of Motor Vehicles as we know it.
We will make state government work for you, the people, not the other way around.
The Hartford insiders and crooked special interests won’t like me very much and I will wear that distinction with a badge of honor.
The solutions to our state’s crises are there what is missing is leadership, courage and an outsider perspective.
Together, we can elect a new generation of leaders to take back our state and once again make the reality of Connecticut live up to the promise of Connecticut.
The kind of place where the grandson of a woman raised by her immigrant single mother can find success and even run for the highest office in our state.
May God bless you all and thank you!