Steve Fontana, Neighbor

As North Haven’s State Representative from 1997 to 2011, Steve focused on taking on big insurance and energy corporations and championing the economic security and rights of hardworking, middle-class families and seniors.

From 2005 to 2009, as Chairman of the Energy & Technology Committee, he wrote and passed legislation to finance small business energy improvements, promote good-paying renewable energy jobs, develop more affordable consumer weatherization programs, and make Connecticut a nationally-recognized leader in energy efficiency.

From 2009 to 2011, as Chairman of the Insurance & Real Estate Committee, he wrote and passed legislation to allow laid-off workers to keep their health care coverage longer, support families caring for children with autism, give cancer patients better access to oral chemotherapy, keep car insurance companies from unscrupulously using customers’ credit history, implement an online system for comparing health insurance plans, and require insurance companies to disclose how often and why they deny coverage.

Steve also has devoted himself to helping make North Haven a better place to live.  He spent nine years as a volunteer firefighter, and helped found the Peter’s Rock Association. He also served for two years on the town’s Conservation Commission, addressing everything from recycling to pesticide use; for eight years on its Board of Finance, keeping taxes down and promoting responsible budgeting; and, most recently, for four years on its Board of Selectmen, reducing government waste and inefficiency.

The oldest of four kids, Steve learned the virtues of responsibility, opportunity, and fairness from his father, a psychologist who spent his career working with veterans at the VA Hospital in West Haven, and his late mother, a teacher, homemaker, and executive assistant at Yale University. As a teenager, he did chores for his weekly allowance, had a paper route, and got summer jobs as a dishwasher and bank teller. To help pay for his college degree from Oberlin, his business degree from Cornell, and his law degree from UConn, he taught classes and worked for several years as a writer and business consultant.

Steve remains active by giving back to his community.  He currently serves as Secretary of North Haven’s Montowese Volunteer Fire Association, and as Secretary of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association. He lives on Angel Place in the Pine Grove section of North Haven, and works as a title examiner.