Senator Derek Slap
Deputy Majority Leader

Chair: Aging

Vice-Chair: Human Services
Member: Commerce; Higher Education & Employment Advancement

About Derek:

State Senator Derek Slap was elected in the special election on February 26, 2019 to represent the 98,000 residents of the 5^th State Senate District towns of West Hartford, Farmington, Burlington, and the western portion of Bloomfield.  He had previously served one term as state representative for the 16^th House District, serving constituents in West Hartford, Avon and Bloomfield.

Derek makes his home in West Hartford with his wife, Alex, daughters Maggie and Zoe, and son, Charlie. He is Vice President of Advancement at The Village for Families and Children, working to grow and support technology activity across the state. Derek is a lecturer at Sacred heart University and has been a lecturer in Political Science at Yale University and an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University, Central Connecticut State, Southern Connecticut State and Eastern Connecticut State universities. In 2017 he won an “ARC Angel Award” from ARC for his advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities

Legislative Goals:

As always, one of Derek’s most important goals is enacting an affordable, balanced and sustainable biennial budget that meets the disparate needs and demands voiced by a wide variety of Connecticut residents. Derek works across party lines to identify potential spending cuts and ways to make government more efficient wherever possible.

Derek believes that Connecticut’s fiscal health also depends on creating a stronger economy – one that generates more revenue from high-quality jobs. Workforce development, investments in transportation and higher education must also play a role.

Derek believes that the communities he represents enjoy wonderful public schools, and that it is critical, as difficult budget decisions are made in Hartford, that these communities are not unfairly targeted. Derek believes that all children deserve a quality education which provides them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. Derek also believes public school teachers must be embraced by policymakers as partners in the effort to strengthen and protect our schools.

Additional Legislative Priorities:

This year, Derek is focused on addressing the public health crisis of teen vaping with a multi-pronged approach: increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21; prohibiting the sale of flavored vaping liquids (which are especially popular with teens); and taxing electronic cigarette liquids at the same rate as cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Derek is also committed to fighting age discrimination in the hiring process by seeking to

prohibit employers from inquiring about  birth or graduation dates on employment applications; the bill has more than two dozen co-sponsors and is supported by the Connecticut AARP.

Recently, Derek has sought to close the wage gap between men and women in Connecticut, arguing that different pay for the same work isn’t only unfair, it’s bad for working families, the economy, and for Connecticut’s overall competitiveness. Derek supports pay equity between men and women to protect employees and prospective employees from gender-based discrimination on wages and compensation.

Derek has also worked to improve transparency and accountability on the Metropolitan District Commission, supporting legislation that adds a non-voting member to the MDC board of directors in the form of a consumer advocate, and requiring the MDC to disclose detailed information about applications for land use, zoning, wetlands and tax abatements before it holds a hearing or acts on the request. Derek has also sought drought protections written into law so bottled water companies cannot continue to pump water from reservoirs during a drought while families are asked to conserve.

Experience and Education:

Derek is the former Chief of Staff for the Senate Democratic Caucus, where he managed a 70-person staff, helped achieve significant budget savings, and worked with citizen activists to address issues such as gun safety, school security and mental health reforms; GMO labeling; and access to high quality pre-k.

Before his tenure as Chief of Staff, Derek was Director of Communications for Senate Democrats for four years. Derek has also been Deputy Chief of Staff/Communications Director for the Secretary of the State, Communications Director for the DeStefano for Governor campaign, and Director of Public Information for the City of New Haven.

You may recognize Derek from TV; he was a news anchor and reporter at NBC Connecticut from 1999 until 2004, and before that worked at TV stations in Florida and at CNN Headline News in Atlanta.

Derek earned his MBA from the UConn School of Business and bachelors’ degrees in Broadcast Journalism and International Relations from Syracuse University, where he graduated Magna cum Laude.

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Bill is the Board Chair of the Cedar Hill Cemetery & Foundation.  Now retired, he was a Dental Anesthetist.

Established in 1864, Cedar Hill Cemetery is a nonsectarian, privately-managed, not-for-profit organization. For generations, Connecticut families have chosen this unique and beautiful place of remembrance as the final resting place for themselves and their loved ones.

Cedar Hill Cemetery’s reputation as a premiere example of the American “rural” cemetery is enhanced by its historic landscape, finely sculpted monuments, and natural resources. The Cemetery’s landscape and ornamental foreground of ponds and meadows is unique in New England cemetery design.

Cedar Hill is the final resting place of a number of distinguished individuals. Its historic structures and many of its beautiful monuments were designed and executed by prominent artists. The grounds encompass 270 acres of landscaped woodlands and watercourses providing a natural habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

Throughout its history, Cedar Hill has maintained its standards of excellence by providing its families with comprehensive cemetery services of the highest quality. Our full range of services, on-site crematory, beautiful memorial grounds, and professionally maintained landscape all serve to make Cedar Hill one of America’s finest cemeteries.

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Born and raised in Connecticut, Jess LeClair attended Connecticut College where she received a BA in environmental studies and international relations. She went on to receive an MS in climate science and policy at Bard College. Jess began her professional career in the Office of Climate Change at the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP); she went on to join the newly created Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA). While at CIRCA, she became keenly aware of the importance of local governments as a lever of change and was thrilled to join Sustainable CT’s founding executive director as one of the program’s primary staff members.

“I’m thrilled to step into the executive director role at Sustainable CT,” said Jessica. “As a life-long Connecticut resident, I’m inspired by the positive changes we are seeing across our cities and towns as they engage with Sustainable CT. It has been a privilege to support the development and growth of Sustainable CT since its inception and I look forward to working closely with municipalities as they move forward on their sustainability programs. We’ve accomplished a great deal together, but there’s still so much more to do, and I’m excited to be a part of the progress.”

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A boutique Manhattan literary agency, the O’Connor Literary Agency moves your project from scattered thoughts, to pages-long manuscript, to publisher and finally to sale. Tell your story; share your unique take on the world.

Since his first job out of college at Sesame Workshop, Kevin has always worked at the intersection of business and creative. He has hands-on experience in a variety of media:  animation, live action TV, toys, live shows, music, educational apps, and “the sweetest plum” t-shirts*.  In addition to Sesame, he’s worked for Fisher-Price, VTech, Kidz Bop, Barnes & Noble, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He’s inked deals with Chrysler, Nestle, Intel, and all the major publishers.

As an agent, Kevin takes on serious adult nonfiction (Brian McCullough’s How the Internet Happened, Claude Andrew Clegg’s The Black President). On the adult fiction side, he represents Afghan and Iraq War Vet Adam Kovac (The Surge)  and the acclaimed Colin Winnette (Users).

For middlegrade readers, he’s the agent behind the Russell Ginns’s Samantha Spinner series; Cas Hyman’s Mango Delight; and Steven B. Frank’s Armstrong and Charlie.  He reps the picturebooks Papa, Daddy & Riley by Seamus Kirst; Honeysmoke by Monique Fields; and A Is for Audra by John Robert Allman, illustrated by Peter Emmerich.

He is a Columbia College grad and the founding director of The Center for Nonfiction, a Columbia University Community Scholars Project dedicated to helping journalists and scholars understand the formal needs of trade publishers.

Here are two podcasts he’s done about how he got into agenting and what he’s looking for / how he works:

• One Thing Or Another: Kevin O’Connor
• Writing Gym: What Does a Literary Agent Do?

*Krusty the Clown called the t-shirt concession “the sweetest plum.” (The Simpsons, “Krusty Gets Kancelled,” Season 4, Episode 22, 1993.)”

Bart: That's all right, Krusty. 

Lisa: We're getting 50% of the T-shirt sales. 

Krusty: What? That's the sweetest plum!

See: Oconnor Literary Agency


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Oconnor Slides 12-3-24

Bruce Putterman is CT Mirror’s publisher and CEO, responsible for the strategic direction of the organization, revenue generation, product innovation, reader engagement, and all business operations.

Before joining CT Mirror in 2017 Bruce owned and operated a West Hartford-based consulting practice for 16 years, providing strategic planning and marketing services to more than 50 nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, public agencies, private equity firms, and other for-profit clients. His interest in journalism dates back to his college years when he worked in commercial radio and TV news. Bruce served as an elected member of the West Hartford Board of Education from 2003 through 2015, including three years as chair of the board.

He has a Bachelor of Arts in History and an M.B.A. in Marketing from Cornell University.

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Steve is a film & TV industry veteran who has worked in all facets of physical production. He has managed and line produced a number of independent film and TV projects over the last 20+ years. His producing work for Al Gore’s Current TV gained him a 2008 Silver Telly Award. He was the lead production accountant for Season 2 of HBO’s The Gilded Age. He has worked as an accountant for a bevy of studios, including Netflix, A24, and Apple TV+.

Steve’s first feature script, Lester, placed top 10% at the 2008 Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition. His writing/directing debut Desert Rain premiered at the 2011 Cinequest Film Festival. The film was nominated for Best New Filmmaker and won Audience Choice Best Feature at the 2011 Staten Island Film Festival.

Steve wrote and produced the critically acclaimed The Featherweight, which premiered at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival in 2023 and is set for a theatrical release in September of 2024.

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Dr. Bartley studies translational research into human aging with a focus on how immune responses and physical function decline as we get older. Her multidisciplinary research aims to uncover common pathways among the aging process and to develop potential interventions to prevent age-related declines in immune responses and help older adults maintain their independence into late life.

Dr. Bartley has as BS in Kinesiology, a MS in Exercise Science and a Ph.D. in Exercise Science all from U Conn.  She has numerous publications and is a sought out speaker.

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Medical Historian, Presidents College, University of Hartford
President, Positive Medicine Inc.
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Rocking Chair Project
Editor, Health Commentary (www.healthcommentary.org)

EMPLOYMENT
Medical Historian, Presidents College, University of Hartford (2019-present)
President, Positive Medicine Inc. (2007 – present)
Vice President, Global Medical and Scientific Affairs, Pfizer Inc. (1997 – 2007)
Director, Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, Pfizer Inc. (1997 – 2007)
Senior Vice President, Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia, PA (1991 – 1997)
Affiliate Liaison to the Dean, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA (1993 -1997)
Vice President, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA (1986 – 1991)
Medical Editor, WWLP-NBC Channel 22, Springfield, MA (1987 – 1991)
Surgeon, Urology, Franklin Medical Center, Greenfield, MA (1978 – 1986)

Dr. Magee has published a book – Code Blue.

“Code Blue” is the phrase customarily announced over hospital public address systems to alert staff to an urgent medical emergency requiring immediate attention. How has the United States, with more resources than any nation, developed a healthcare system that delivers much poorer results, at near double the cost of any other developed country–such that legendary seer Warren Buffett calls the Medical Industrial Complex “the tapeworm of American economic competitiveness”? Mike Magee, M.D., who worked for years inside the Medical Industrial Complex administering a hospital and then as a senior executive at the giant pharmaceutical company Pfizer, has spent the last decade deconstructing the complex, often shocking rise of, and connectivity between, the pillars of our health system–Big Pharma, insurance companies, hospitals, the American Medical Association, and anyone affiliated with them. With an eye first and foremost on the bottom line rather than on the nation’s health, each sector has for decades embraced cure over care, aiming to conquer disease rather than concentrate on the cultural and social factors that determine health. This decision Magee calls the “original sin” of our health system.

Code Blue is a riveting, character-driven narrative that draws back the curtain on the giant industry that consumes one out of every five American dollars. Making clear for the first time the mechanisms, greed, and collusion by which our medical system was built over the last eight decades–and arguing persuasively and urgently for the necessity of a single-payer, multi-plan insurance arena of the kind enjoyed by every other major developed nation–Mike Magee gives us invaluable perspective and inspiration by which we can, indeed, reshape the future.

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