November 13, 2007



Good Morning,

I am contacting you on behalf of Circle of Friends for American Veterans. We are a national non-profit organization located outside of DC that does grassroots advocacy to get homeless veterans the help they deserve.

We have been in existence since 1993 and work with both veterans’ and homeless groups. One of our main efforts is a series of rallies held throughout the United States to attract media attention to the problem of homelessness among veterans. This coming year we will be in ten cities including Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manchester, New Hampshire; Columbia, South Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Detroit, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Tampa, Florida; and Arlington, Virginia. The first rally will be in late December, and the last rally sometime in early to mid February. Using the media attention generated from these rallies as support, we hope spur government action to provide greater assistance to combat the problem of homelessness among veterans. We are a strictly non-partisan organization that only seeks to help veterans.

In preparation for our upcoming series of rallies we are making a strong effort to let as many people know about our rallies as possible. The more people in attendance at our rallies the greater the show of support for homeless veterans.

I read your post on November 12th entitled “A National Disgrace”. As our organization focuses on the issue of homeless veterans, I am wondering if there is some way you could help us get the message out about our upcoming rallies. Would you be willing to post some information about our rallies, and/or provide a link to our website? I know you are not located near any of the cities in which we will be holding our rallies, but we would appreciate any help you can provide. Our rallies have been very successful in drawing attention to the issue of homelessness among veterans. Also, our rallies spotlight local transitional facilities which report significant increases in donations and volunteers following our rallies. I have attached a PDF copy of our executive summary to provide additional information about our rallies. If you have any questions for me please feel free to ask, and I look forward to hearing back from you.



Sincerely,



Andy Koelz

Program Specialist

Circle of Friends for American Veterans

November 14, 2007

Dear Board Members:

This last week has been filled with long moments of contemplation and wonder. As stated in my previous letter, I had received a wonderful job opportunity out of state and decided to take it even though it meant leaving all of you and the wonderful work that we have done together during the last year.

At the eleventh hour, on Friday, what I have decided to call divine intervention came to pass and I received another offer from a company in Stamford. Having decided to take the Connecticut offer, it gives me great pleasure to rescind my previous letter of resignation. I appreciate your understanding and grace in this matter and I look forward passionately to all that we will continue to achieve together on behalf of the children of the City of Danbury.

Sincerely,

Susan Podhajski

Sen. Louis C. DeLuca announced his resignation shortly after 1 p.m. today, ending a 17-year career in the Senate and a five-month controversy over his dealings with James Galante, a trash hauler accused of having ties to organized crime.

DeLuca struggled to remain composed as he read aloud a two-page statement. His wife, Alice, stood by his side, her right hand on his left shoulder.

"For now, I must do what is right for my family, my district and my state. I will retire from the state Senate and resign my office, effective Nov. 30, 2007," he said. Then he thanked his supporters and added, "I love you, and farewell."

"I commend the Senators of both political parties who worked so diligently on this matter and put partisanship aside for the greater good. As the state's chief election official, I stand ready to accept Sen. DeLuca's resignation and to work with constituents, potential candidates, and local election officials to ensure the special election to replace him runs smoothly."

While the date of the special election is uncertain, according to state statute, it must take place no later than 56 days after Sen. DeLuca's resignation takes effect - which is November 30th. Once Sen. DeLuca resigns Gov. Rell has ten days to issue a writ of special election. The special election is held 46 days after Gov. Rell issues the writ. Assuming the writ is issued on a Friday, the date of the special election would be either January 15th or January 22nd."

More than 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States are military veterans, although they represent 11 percent of the civilian adult population, according to a new report.

On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept on the street, in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the Homelessness Research Institute found.

"Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people," the report said. "This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed and have a lower poverty rate than the general population."

The president of the institute's parent group appealed Thursday to lawmakers and civilians to help solve veteran homelessness before thousands of U.S. service members return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We know that veterans don't immediately become homeless after they're discharged, but the difficulties may take years to emerge," Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said in a news conference about the report's findings.

Challenger, and now mayor-elect, April Capone Almon won on election day by a margin of 21 votes, triggering an automatic hand recount. That recount, which took place on Sunday, resulted in a tripling of her margin of victory to 63 votes. However, the town moderator, Lori Jaffe, is refusing to certify these final results because of a discrepancy - of about 130 - between the total number of ballots counted in the recount and the total number of voters who were appeared to have voted on election day. The town moderator is insisting on guidance from Sec. of State Bysiewicz before continuing. According to East Haven Politics, Bysiewicz shares some of the blame here for not being proactively involved.

To ensure the integrity of the election and generate voter confidence in the new voting machine, Public Act 07-194 mandates audits of randomly selected districts and races in each primary and election.

Non-partisan, independent observation of post-election audits will support voter confidence in the integrity of Connecticut elections by helping to identify any specific problems with the audit process and providing feedback on audit procedures.

What will volunteers do? Volunteers agree to be available for one day to observe one entire post-election audit in a town near their residence, to participate in training via telephone prior to the audit, and to agree to a code of conduct during the audit observation.

The coalition will provide a Citizen's Audit Kit, training via telephone, and volunteer scheduling. The audits will take place between November 21 and November 26.

Where will the audits take place? Voting districts will be selected by a random drawing currently scheduled for November 14. Audits will take place between November 21 and November 26. Volunteers will not be asked to observe in their town of residence.