Many of you have wondered if I had the video from Mayor Boughton's State of the City address. It seems like several of you have missed the 1,000,000,000 times the address was broadcasted on Channel 24 (as opposed to the lack of land use meetings, charter revision meetings, ad-hoc committees which we were promised would happen MONTHS ago).

Well, in case you missed it, here it is in full (with text).

Thank you and I would like to thank each of you for being here today.

Congratulations are in order for Albert Salame and his organization. Albert is a visionary and a dedicated member of our community.

I would like to acknowledge all of our dedicated elected officials who are here today. Danbury works because we all work together regardless of party affiliation for the betterment of our city and our community.

I would also like to thank and recognize our team of dedicated city administrators and department heads for their work in making Danbury a better place.

Thank you Steve Bull and Harry Carey and the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce for putting this event together.

I am also proud to be joined today by Police Chief Alan Baker and Fire Chief Geoff Herald. Both have taken bold steps to ensure that our streets are the safest in Connecticut.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to report to you today that City of Danbury is in strong financial shape, maintaining the highest credit and bond ratings in our city's history.

As I speak to you here today, Danbury is experiencing strong economic growth and has the lowest unemployment rate in the State of Connecticut.

Our taxes continue to be some of the lowest in the state, and our sewer and water rates continue to be 100% below the state average.

While the downturn in the residential real estate market has impacted many areas, Danbury continues to be a desirable place to raise a family. Our business community continues to enjoy a positive economic climate and a positive outlook.

Our public improvement projects are marching forward, highlights include the new

Police Station which is under construction and set for completion in the fall of 2009.

The Rose Hill Bridge which in under construction and will be completed in the next several months.

A new elementary school which will be open sometime in 2009.

We also have completed a number of projects that have added value to our community.

Kaplanis Field was completed and dedicated in the fall.

The Bardo Parking Garage in our City Center is open and was dedicated just last month.

A new fire station for the west side of the city was completed and dedicated in September, this new facility cuts response times to the west side of Danbury in half.

Last year at this event we rolled out a 311 resident information line that has won awards across the country for its creativity, its economy and its effectiveness.

In fact, since Dec 18, 2006, our 311 line has handled over 22,000 complaints ranging from potholes in a street to a lost pet.

Our Unified Neighborhood Inspection Team as worked with over 500 properties owners to bring them into compliance with our zoning laws. This year the State’s Attorney’s Office has assigned a prosecutor to work with the UNIT, the first such program in the State of Connecticut.

We have also set the table for more improvements and enhancements to our community. Specifically:

My administration is asking our residents to approve an open space intiative that has set a target of acquiring 1200 Acres of open space by the year 2012.

We are also asking the voters to support a number of infrastructure improvements as well as improvements to Parks and Recreation facilities at referendum to be held on Feb 5th

We have started the process to update and revise our City Charter.

The Chief of Police and I are beginning the process of reorganizing our Police Department to put more officers on the street.

The Fire Chief and I are beginning the process of a strategis study of our Fire Services.

This administration has accomplished much over the last several years and I am proud of its record.

I am also excited and energized by the prospects of another term in office. Yes we have challenges, but we also have so much to be proud of.

I am proud of our diverse community that celebrates life and recognizes the worth of each human being.

I am proud of our elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, that are committed to putting the needs of our city and its residents first.

We have a vibrant and strong Arts Community.

We have a University that is growing and is once again having a record year in terms of applications for enrollment for next year.

We have a Hospital that has just opened a brand new medical care facility that will take patient care to a new level.

Congratulations are also in order to Frank Kelly and his staff for being named a top 100 hundred hospital in the United States and for being ranked in the top 5% of all hospitals by HealthGrades.

We have a growing and diverse faith based community that has become care providers and partners with the city to help those who are the most challenged in our community.

We have a school system that out performs many other districts of similar size.

We also have a dedicated group of young people from Danbury High School who have made it their mission to inform us of the genocide that is taking place in the Darfur region in the Sudan.

In fact, I was so touched by the video made by our students that I asked our city pension boards to adopt a policy that prohibits investment by our pension funds (some 250 million dollars) in any company or organization that does business in the Darfur region of the Sudan as a protest to the genocide that has occurred there.

These students have learned that Margaret Mead was right when she said that a small group of committed people, can change the world.

Isn’t that one of the best lessons we can teach young people?

While I am proud of our community, I also recognize that we have challenges and just as you have grown to expect, we will meet them head on.

One challenge that we will address is the recent reevaluation which has shown dramatic increases in the value of our residents homes and your businesses.

We will address this challenge by using every tool in our toolbox to minimize the impact of the new assessments.

If you recall, we were faced with a similar situation in 2002, and working with the Common Council, we were able to craft a financial plan that did not result in large across the board tax increases for our residents. Today I pledge to do the same…

We are challenged by development that’s a good problem to have, but we need to manage it. Too often Danbury has been subject to development plans that are too intense, too dense, and quite frankly, show a lack of respect for the residents who live here.

In response to that, we have implemented new zoning regulations that were some what controversial, but that were important at protecting the quality of life of residents, and that provided a level of transparency so that our residents were informed of pending development plans.

We are also challenged by the issue of illegal immigration and its impact on our ability to deliver city services. As you are aware, over the years there has been much discussion and debate in our community surrounding this issue. Currently there is a proposal to enroll our Police Department in a program that will provide additional training to some of our officers in immigration law.

After careful analysis and review, and based on the recommendations from our Chief of Police, our Corporation Counsel, and with approval from the Common Council, the City will participate in this worthwhile program.

I also believe that our downtown area and our Main Street still represent a challenge to us. Main Street has made a lot of progress, but still has not reached its potential..

That is not to say that our downtown has suffered a lack of work or a lack of passion. To the contrary, many Mayors and many administrations have had great visions for the revitalization of our downtown.

But what we are lacking is a plan for downtown that will span administrations. We need a vision that respects the residents and the businesses who are currently downtown, and a plan that has buy in of all the major stake holders. But most importantly the plan will live on regardless of changes in administrations.

Within the next thirty days I will be appointing a task force of individuals to develop a plan for our downtown that is visionary and far reaching.

Our task force for Main Street will engage our residents, our property owners, our CityCenter team and our business community. This Task Force will develop a revitalization plan that will provide direction to help us implement policies, ideas, and innovative programs that will elevate our downtown.

This is not a criticism of the hard work that our City Center board has put in or the energy that it’s Director, Andrea Gartner provides.

Indeed it’s their concern and passion that have convinced me that the effort is worth it.

We also need to begin thinking long term about our school system and what education will be like in the future for Danbury children. I have spent many hours discussing the future of education in Danbury with our Superintendent, Dr. Pascarella.

We believe that it is time to provide long range planning for our students and that we should consider the learning styles of children, the demand s of working in the global economy, and the programming necessary to develop highly educated, highly skilled young adults in our community.

This means that our new educational system must be focused around programming. The Superintendent and I will appoint a long range planning committee that will look at the best programming across the country and then we will replicate here in our city.

We will design our facilities around our programming. Not our programming around our facilities.

For example, I envision a day when our students at Danbury High School are working hand in hand with Danbury Hospital exploring medical careers and providing real services to the Hospital while being evaluated at the same time.

I envision a day when Danbury students will partner with Western Ct. St. University and our Police Department to explore careers in policing. Our students might spend several hours a week with our Police Department, and then attend classes in the Criminal Justice program at Westconn in preparation for a career in law enforcement.

Our goal will be to break students into the smallest groups possible, use the assets around us, and create scores of learning academies all around the City with Danbury High School serving as the hub.

Imagine our young people working with corporations, with our non-profits, and the city, to give them real-world experience, and a sense of what is required for success in the new economy.

These academies will be our lighthouses of learning. They will light the way to success for our students.

As many of you know, we have also embarked on a program to address the issue of homelessness in the City. I have asked our Director of Welfare to begin drafting new guidelines for our City Shelter. Those guidelines will focus in on giving the clients who use our shelter hope,and a sense of purpose.

We are going to ask that people who use the shelter contribute to the city by requiring they complete some community service in exchange for staying in our shelter or contribute to themselves by enrolling in a program to get back on their feet.

Clients who use our shelter will be expected to either be taking positive steps to better themselves, or they will be contributing in some small way to better the community. Either way, they will begin to feel that they are part of the community in which they live.

Ladies and Gentleman, as you can see I am just as energized today as I was when I first took office in 2001.

I want to thank you for your support. Each of you has played a role in making Danbury a better place to live. Each of you has provided much needed advice and counsel to me over the years and I want to thank you.

I want to pledge to you today, that I will be as open and accessible as I was when I started this job. I will continue with Saturdays with the Mayor. Each quarter I will conduct Town Hall meetings around the city for residents to attend and ask questions as well as discuss issues that face Danbury.


The doors of my office are still wide open, and each year we service thousands of residents who have problems or concerns or just want a sympathetic ear.

Recently I received a lengthy e-mail from a young man named Adam who wanted me to make is mother “mother of the year” in his e-mail, he chronicles his life and the tough times that he and is mother went through. He recently found out that is mother never received any child support for him. She drove him to school, helped with his homework, worked two jobs.

Some nights things were so tight that she would not eat so that her son could eat. Yet she never complained. She never told her son that she was under such financial pressure.

It is an amazing story. When she found out that he had shared this with me she was upset-she didn’t want to be “mother of the year”. That is typical of people who are really the angels among us they don’t want recognition.

A mother’s love for her son on a cold winter night refusing to eat so her child could. These are the simple things that make life so important; things that we sometimes take for granted.

These are the people who understand the true meaning of the Holidays.

During this holiday season, I encourage to spend time with your families; after all, it is a magical time for our children.

Finally, I ask that you pray for our young men and young women overseas defending the cause of freedom. Pray for their safety and their speedy return.

God Bless You,
And God Bless America.