Reorganizing

Saturday, February 09, 2008
Time: 10:06 AM

It's been a busy couple of months for me dealing with the media.

From being interviewed in the New York Times, to working back and forth with cable networks and hate-monitor organizations, it's become apparent that I need to reorganize this website so those who are not familiar with Danbury can more easily access material on this blog.

It's been a while since I updated this site since I was in the process of totally revamping HatCityBLOG but since my web traffic is peaking at about 800-1,000 unique visits per day, it's now apparent that I need to reorganize things a bit.

While I take time to rearrange things, I'll also work on updating the site with info on the trash transfer station, Elmer's Diner, the Dunkin Donuts nonsense, and the other things that are flying under the radar. Obviously posts will slow down a bit while I move things around but in the end, it wil be worth it.

...developing.

"Cockroaches"

Friday, February 08, 2008
Time: 2:14 PM



"What did she just call them?

Last night's "Ideas at Work and Beyond" featured a caller who's rabid racial hostility helps reinforce the belief among those across the state that Danbury is comprised with some of the most racist morons in our society.

Thank goodness Ivon did the right thing as it didn't seem like co-host and Ridgefield's Marty Heiser understood the seriousness of the racial slur.



Boy, why does that comment from the anti-immigrant/hate community sound familiar?

Let's see:

• How about Elise Marciano supporters applauding the idea that all undocumented immigrants be rounded up and placed in concentration camps like Hitler did to the Jews before he almost exterminated the entire Jewish race in World War II...



• How about hate-monger Tom Bennett, Elise Marciano's anti-immigrant organization then Vice President John McGowan advocating residents shoot immigrants...



• How about Marciano's then Vice President McGowan dressed up in an Uncle Sam uniform desecrating an Mexican Flag while other members of her hate-group voicing their hatred for immigrants...



• How about the denials and racist comments regarding the Republican Minority Leader Pauline Basso/Planning Commissioner Joel Urice/Common Councilwoman Mary Teicholtz racist email scandal that shocked the entire state, cost Basso and Urice the election, and gave them their much needed public humiliation in the mainstream media.
cherly boston: Why is racism so bad? Is there a law that says we have love these subhuman primates? Nigs and immigrants are filthy animals, and the world would be a lot better off without them.

[...]

johnynm: get over it. everyone's been subject to a racist joke or comment about their own ethnicity. some people are just looking to be offended.

[...]

Tarheel: It's a joke! IT'S A JOKE!! They don't joke around in Mexico? Is it something in the water that makes you lose your sense of laughter? I thought those e-mails were funny, EVERYONE sends these jokes in e-mails daily and that is why the Danbury VOTING public is not outraged.

ICE is NICE: Tell that Hernandez guy to go stuff it!
He will never have respect because he was a illegal alien who willfully broke American laws and disrespected every American citizen by his criminal actions.

It is offensive to hear him described as an 'immigrant activist'.

[...]

BANNED_AND_LOVIN_IT: Basso, you don't owe Pitts a thing... much less an apology... The fact that you met with this Sharpton wanna-is disappointing.

The Memphis Kid: Koonz [writer of today's article] is pathetic. He's a Democrat party lackey and a journalistic hack.

Brian – did you get a signed affidavit from every single Danbury resident affirming they believed the e-mails to be racist? Of course not. Despite your belief that you’re the anointed spokesperson of all Danbury, there are many, if not most, who believe the e-mails were simply harmless satire. Satire intended to make commentary on legitimate current event issues...In closing, Brian Koonz is an amateur who got his journalistic “credentials” out of a cereal box.

Boughton58: They can delte my posts but they can't silence the truth. Nigs and immigrants are disgusting animals that need to be eradicated or enslaved.

We need to take dominion over the beasts of the field.


...and who can forget our lovely City Clerk who's apparently an outright racist or too blind or stupid (take your pick) to notice the HUGE racist sign held by a skinhead.

Oh, I can go on and on, but I think you get the point. This comment from last year on the condition of Danbury pretty much sums things up.
The people commenting on this board and arguing that everything is okay, that racist emails are funny or benign, clearly have not been the victim of such overt hate themselves.

The comments paint a picture of a community that is crude, cruel and hard hearted. They shine a harsh and unflattering light on a group of people who would rather use hate and stereotypes than get their sh*t together and deal with issues in their community in some way other than bonding through shared hatred.

In the end, all this spewed hatred is accomplishing nothing other than to spread hatred. There is no game plan, no constructive plan to attempt to correct problems or address grievances or even to identify their root causes -- there's just the spewing.

You know what? The notion that a bunch of immigrants caused this group of people the problems they have is utterly laughable. They ha d big problems before any of these immigrants ever crossed the border into the USA. This cretins are just the low life on the totem pole, looking for the next dog to kick.

The citizens of Danbury have a choice: They can seize the opportunity to make Danbury a model city for diversity, one that finds constructive solutions to problems and includes everyone as they seek answers-- or to drag and spiral Danbury downward in a sea of hate and intolerance.

The Republican party already gave a clear signal that it is not interested in diversity when presidential candidates dissed the invitation to the African American GOP presidential debate.

Hatred is not a necessary ingredient in working out the challenges of a widely diverse city. Those GOP members who are trying to convince citizens that knee jerk intolerance is a normal approach to life are pathetic, as are their supporters.

Squawking all together about how normal racist emails are they only reinforce the stereotype of Danbury as a pathetic, small-minded, hardhearted bastion of hatred in Connecticut. Do you think that officials engaging in this sort of ridiculousness will help attract jobs and stabilize the economy in Danbury?

Keep indulging yourselves in your self absorbed petty hatreds and see where it gets you. Sound of Danbury flushing itself down the toilet.

Boughton's Danbury: The armpit of Connecticut.

The anti-immigrant pro-Boughton voters continue their message of racial intolerance


Time: 11:07 AM

This climate is all due to Mayor Boughton's approach to this issue and catering to the most extreme xenophobia/hate-filled elements in our city since 2005 solely for political purposes.

In regards to the article on Maria Evans's resignation from the City Center board over the 287G program take a look at the venom from those who take comfort in the anonymity provided with a keyboard and remember, this is the anti-immigrant community thinks about ALL immigrants in this city.
Boo Hoo. Let ICE chase out the undesirables. If store owners are so worried about continuing in business, maybe they ought to learn how to appeal to a larger constituency than illegal aliens.

[...]

See ya. No one cares. Goodbye...Ms Evans, you will not be missed...and neither will the "droves" of illegals who are leaving Danbury. Mayor Boughton for Man of The Year.

bye bye crybaby
who cares
illegal is illegal

[...]

IF YOU NEED HELP MOVING TO BRIDGEPORT PLEASE LET ME KNOW ,WE WOULD BE GLAD TO MOVE YOU

[...]

You move to Bridgeport to sell your PERICO...don't let the door hit you where the sun don't shine.

[...]

No one will miss you. Cant wait until all the illegals are gone. Maybe people can get into Laundry mat and be able to use a washing machine now. Ive seen illegals coming in with van loads of wash taking up all the washing machines.

[...]

The illegals should be made uncomfortable. This woman was obviously making money from the money illegals are making illegally. I think it's wonderful she quit, I just wish all illegal huggers would quit.

[...]

All she did was make money off illegals now that there running scared shes got to go where the supply and demand is and thats i bridgeport.

[...]

Are we supposed to care what this woman does?

Bye – don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out. You stunk at your duties anyhow.

[...]

Good-bye, take your **** to Bridgeport. Maybe with all the illegals out of town, more legitamate businesses will open up and normal people won't be scared to go downtown anymore!
Boughton's Danbury: The armpit of Connecticut.

Insulting everyone's intelligence...downplaying the opposition


Time: 10:40 AM

Give me a break. The mayor's aide who attended the first anti-immigrant Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control meeting just threw gas on the fire.
While observers at the scene estimated the crowd at more than 3,000, mayoral aide Michael McLachlan disputed that, putting the figure at about 1,200 people.

This is bat-shit crazy and anyone who was there knows it. I personally took my video camera and walked the entire protest perimeter that stretched from the lawn between the driveway and sidewalk of City Hall, across Deer Hill Ave, to the First Congregation Church (that blended in with the candlelight vigil), up Deer Hill Ave to the end of the City Hall building where another media crew was conducting interviews.

Like I said earlier, my videotape was bad and I'm still trying to salvage the footage (working with digital is really hard when it goes bad) but again, here's the map and the photographs from Wednesday.



Here's a small slideshow of the crowd.



Now, taking the crowd and counting by blocks of about 50, I easily counted passed 1,500 without breaking a sweat. Idiotic comments like this only increase the anger and heightens the tension in the city.

You would think someone who's running for State Senate would keep his partisan mouth shut and do what he's paid to do as the mayor's aide...like videotaping Boughton's press conferences, warming up the mayor's car, and picking up the mayor's take-out lunch orders. You know, that REALLY HARD POLITICAL work "Sparky" Mike does at City Hall that qualifies him to run for State Senate.

Backlash continues


Time: 10:16 AM

Boughton's bad day continues with another headline.
A member of CityCenter's Board of Commissioners resigned this week over concerns about how the organization handled the city's partnership with federal immigration officials.

Maria Evans, a representative of the Brazilian community on the board, said she submitted her resignation after the organization refused to take a more active role in the controversy.

[...]

"CityCenter could have made a big difference," said Evans. "They should have done something to show the city that we are concerned about the impacts to businesses."

Immigrant business owners said fear over the partnership, which is perceived by some in the community as a potential "witch hunt," is causing people to leave the area and could result in empty storefronts as businesses close their doors.

"I had a client who was going to come in today for a mortgage adjustment who said she is afraid to come to downtown Danbury," said Evans, a real estate broker. "I've considered closing up and moving my office to Bridgeport."
They're afraid...and they have every right to be. Because of an arrogant, inconsiderate, irrational political system in Danbury, Boughton and Co. went about with this unnecessary partnership without ANY CONSIDERATION of the impact this would have on the immigrant community and Danbury in general.

For the exception of ONE Common Council member, no one, Democrat or Republican, bothered to reach out to the immigrant community and have a dialog. Hell, I'd bet the house that many members never set foot in the community or seeked the opinions of those that would be most severally impacted by this needless legislation. NO, instead they looked at polls and listened to the opinions of the most rabid bunch of bigots in this once great city whil eunder the opinion that the immigrant community would just lay low and take it like that have been doing for the last two years.

Well, Wednesday was their wake-up call and everyone at Deer Hiil Ave. is desperately spinning the story as the backlash they never saw coming is escalating.

The latest spin from the mayor's office is an insult to anyone who has followed this issue from it's conception and given past events, people simply don't trust ONE word that comes out of Boughton's mouth. In other words...he has lost all credibility in a segment of his community that will no longer remain dormant.

The misinformation DIDN'T COME FROM THE MEDIA, it came from an arrogant mayor and Republican leadership that arrogantly went forward with this program without any consideration of the consequences it would have in the area and without ONCE establishing a dialog with the immigrant community...and ALL FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES.

Remember...THEY WANTED TO PASS THIS PROGRAM back in January when Boughton released his so-called 30-day no info report to the council two days before City Hall would be closed for the New Years and to the public ONE day before the vote. If it wasn't for Paul Rotello drawing a line in the sand, the program would have passed to the delight of the anti-immigrants who are please with any anti-immigrant legislation (regardless of the negative impact) because they HATE IMMIGRANTS. In other words, the mayor and Republicans on the council were prepared to pass this program back in Jan and say the hell with the immigrant community.

It's amazing what 4,000+ people and a slew of negative media can do to you...and wait till you see me interviewed on networks offering MY material to the media that will back up EVERY statement I make.

Community Forum 02.06.08 broadcast

Thursday, February 07, 2008
Time: 10:59 PM

Host: Susan Shaner
Topic: Women entrepreneurs in Danbury
Guests: Liz Gilbert, founder and president of Gilbert's Gourmet Cookies and Joni Lowe, owner, Positive Energy Dance for Women



Sorry about not catching last week's show John. I'll contact you and see if you have a copy...

Media round-up of Boughton's bad day


Time: 5:44 PM


I guess having 4,000+ angry residents got to the last honest man as he's been on relentless PR campaign today trying to spin this god-awful ICE-ACCESS program and salvaging his tarnished political image.

Radio show after radio show and interview after interview, Boughton's been spinning the whole ICE ACCESS program to the point where I'm becoming dizzy...let's just say that Boughton will not have the last word in his attempt to spin this issue in his favor that no one is buying.

From last night and today, here's a small round-up of the coverage over the anti-immigrant inspired ICE ACCESS/DanburyPD partnership. Included in the montage is the infamous Elise Marciano tirade Fox 61 could savage before she walked off in a hit of anger to the laughter of everyone as well as Mayor Boughton's latest PR campaign from today in an attempt to spin the debate.

Enjoy.


Voices from those who are being ignored: "I don't think ICE ACCESS is a good program for Danbury"


Time: 4:29 PM

The next installment in the "Voices from those who are being ignored" series takes us back to the Immigrant rights forum at Southern Connecticut State University.

In this clip, attorney Renee Redman offers her opinion regarding her disapproval towards the DanburyPD/ICE ACCESS partnership and how it will ultimately harm the entire immigrant community in Danbury.



You can view the other clips in the series below:




Video clip 1: ICE ACCESS is the product of extremists.
Video clip 2: Police misconduct and harassment.
Video clip 3: Pregnant woman assulted by anti-immigrants.
Video clip 4: A lawyer's point of view
Video clip 5: Crime will shoot through the roof
Video clip 6: It's hard to have good law enforcement if the community is afraid of the police"
Video clip 7: Boughton's ICE ACCESS proposal is "instutionalized racism"

Mitt is out


Time: 12:17 PM


Mark Boughton's Mark Nielsen's dream of higher office in Washington is over.

About 5 minutes ago, ABC reported that Mitt Romney is dropping out of the Presidential race. I'll bring the video footage in a few minutes.

UPDATE: Okay, it took longer than expected but here's the footage.

4,000+


Time: 10:41 AM

Over 4,000 immigrant supporters protested in front of City Hall as the Common Council passed the ICE ACCESS proposal.
City Hall, photo by CTBlogger 02.06.08

For those who thought the immigrant community wouldn't stand up to anti-immigrant extremism, last night was your wake-up call.

Over 4,000 people jammed City Hall and forced the closing of a portion of Deer Hill Ave as the City of Danbury passed the next step in their idiotic anti-immigrant crusade. I walked around the entire area and to give you an idea of how massive this crowd was, here's a map of City Hall. The area is shaded area in blue represents the crowd.



Here's a small slideshow of the crowd.


Not since the marches of 2005, have I seen such a outpouring of outrage and anger towards City Hall and it's long overdue. Watching the yellow-bellied anti-immigrant wackos from Elise Marciano's camp take one look at the crowd and turn around was probably the funniest thing I've ever seen.

No, I take that back...

THE FUNNIEST THING THAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT was Elise "deer in headlights" Marciano attempting to cut through the line of people who were entering City Hall only to get caught by the police and denied entry. "Hey Elise, what you did in attempting to jump the line IS ILLEGAL...what part of that don't you understand?

Then, the annoyed xenophobe was BLASTED by the crowd as she attempted to do an interview with Fox61. The noise was so loud towards Marciano that they eventually gave up on the interview and Marciano walked away with a bitter ol' evil witch look on her face (to the laughter of everyone of course).

Unfortunately, I used a bad videotape and the footage from outside is all messed up. I'm going to see if I can savage any part of the footage as I really did a great job capturing the audience.

I'll have the video of the debate online later today. Also, I have a real special comment on the recent message from Mayor Boughton and supporters of this idiotic proposal who now have the AUDACITY to blame the anger from the immigrant community on those who opposed the ICE ACCESS proposal.

Tribuna and Boughton part ways

Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Time: 4:23 PM


I'll be the first to admit that I've had mixed feelings about the Tribuna newspaper for reasons that I won't get into at this point.

During the ICE ACCESS deabte, The Tribuna has taken a role in opposing the proposal and, along with the Comunidade News, held several meetings with business leaders, property owners, and the general public (note: both papers held separate meetings).

Recently, at the Danbury Businesses for a Better Community Coalition press conference, the Tribuna issued this press release regarding their withdrawal of support with Mayor Boguhton.
TRIBUNA WITHDRAWALS ITS SUPPORT FOR MAYOR BOUGHTON


Mayor's Proposed Partnership with ICE is hurtful to the community and the local immigrant population

Danbury, CT - Since its creation in 2000, TRIBUNA NEWSPAPER has expressed its support to Danbury's mayors. From Gene Eriquez to Mark Boughton, this multi-cultural publication has worked closely with local leaders covering stories and voicing concerns of the local immigrant community.

After announcing its plans to check the legal status of the city's immigrants in 2005, TRIBUNA had several conversations with Mayor Mark Boughton expressing its opposition to his plan. Eventually, the mayor set the issue aside. TRIBUNA continued with its support for Boughton on the last election, endorsing him as the candidate with the best overall plans for the city.

Recent e-mails to the press have claimed that TRIBUNA's previous support weakens its participation in the community coalition fighting against the proposal. These e-mails were sent by a former disgruntled employee of TRIBUNA, who was fired for unethical behavior shortly after TRIBUNA was launched. This incident was well documented. But most importantly, we would like to remind all that this is not a time for bickering amongst immigrants and attacks for personal gain.

TRIBUNA is a strong voice against Boughton's proposal since it knows that the recent mayor's plans of a partnership with ICE are a true harm to the community. It makes sense for authorities to expect that illegal immigrants who committed crimes to be deported. But TRIBUNA will no longer support a mayor who would pass a plan that would also deport immigrant workers, who came to this country legally and don't have a green card because they are waiting for the conclusion of their legalization process. A plan that could take children away from good parents, divide families and close businesses owned by honest people who have contributed greatly to this city. TRIBUNA once again invites Mayor Mark Boughton to reconsider his support for this measure and its impact in this city.
Now, as I stated, and is echoed by the Tribuna, now is not the time for criticism. Though I STRONGLY believe that those at the paper that wants to build bridges will need to be held accountable for what many consider questionable lapses in journalistic ethics and far-slanted articles, this statement and their contribution towards the opposition in the ICE ACCESS proposal is a step in the right direction.

Hopefully, this paper and others in the area can look past their differences and work for the common good of their community which needs them at this critical point in Danbury's history.

Voices from those who are being ignored: Boughton's ICE ACCESS proposal is "instutionalized racism"


Time: 4:12 PM

The next installment in the "Voices of those who are being ignored" series focuses on remarks from Stop the Raids spokesperson Jason McGahan who offered his views regarding Mayor Boughton's ICE ACCESS proposal.



You can view the other clips in the series below:




Video clip 1: ICE ACCESS is the product of extremists.
Video clip 2: Police misconduct and harassment.
Video clip 3: Pregnant woman assulted by anti-immigrants.
Video clip 4: A lawyer's point of view
Video clip 5: Crime will shoot through the roof
Video clip 6: It's hard to have good law enforcement if the community is afraid of the police"

Opposition mounts...


Time: 2:58 PM


Voices from those who are being ignored: "It's hard to have good law enforcement if the community is afraid of the police"


Time: 1:52 PM

In my next installment of the "Voices from those who are being ignored" series, here's attorney Peter Gosselin from the National Lawyer's Guild. While at the Immigrant's RIght's forum at Southern Connecticut State University, Gosselin took a few moments from the forum to speak about his opposition towards the ICE ACCESS proposal.



You can view the other clips in the series below:




Video clip 1: ICE ACCESS is the product of extremists.
Video clip 2: Police misconduct and harassment.
Video clip 3: Pregnant woman assulted by anti-immigrants.
Video clip 4: A lawyer's point of view
Video clip 5: Crime will shoot through the roof

CLOSED for business


Time: 12:09 PM

Members of the immigrant business community speak out against ICE ACCESS
and misinformation from anti-immigrant groups
Michael's One Stop, Main Street. Photo by CTblogger, 02.04.08.





What a sight to see...

As the level of anti-immigrant/xenophobe paranoia and uncertainty of the revitalized immigrant-right movement, up and down Main Street, White Street and throughout Danbury, stores are closing up shop in opposition to Mark Boughton's ICE ACCESS proposal.

Everywhere you go, pink signs litter the windows expressing their support for the immigrants and their disapproval of the demonization of the community by anti-immigrant hate groups, bigots, and plain racists whose rabid use of misinformation has gone unchallenged.

On Monday, a group of like-minded business owners formed a coalition called Danbury Businesses for a Better Community Coalition and held a press conference where they spoke out against the proposal formal partnership between Danbury and ICE.


The commercial from the Danbury Businesses for a Better Community Coalition is below:

HatCityBLOG quoted in the paper of record


Time: 9:44 AM

Lets just say that Mark's lucky the New York Times opted not to do a full extensive profile on his political career. I would have dumped so much material in Jill's lap that she would have been busy reading and watching material for days.
Al Robinson, whose blog, HatCityBlog.com, is largely devoted to the mayor’s activities, says Mr. Boughton underwent a transformation in 2005 after being criticized by many residents here for proposing a day labor center to stop workers from gathering in Kennedy Park.

“He just didn’t know the level of anti-immigration feeling in the area,” Mr. Robinson said. “It almost seemed like overnight he switched his whole policy from someone interested in helping immigrants to someone who just wanted to enforce immigration law.”
Well, she basically got the quote right. Mark didn't actually propose to build a day laborer center BUT the mere fact that he was interested in the idea sparked the backlash within his party and the last honest man in Danbury saw a political advantage. You have to remember, before the day-laborer fiasco, Boughton was just a guy who was blessed to even be in office if it wasn't for Gene Eriquez retiring it's well known that he and the immigrant community got along pretty well prior to 2005 (although there were anti-immigrant xenophobes in the area since 2003) and with good reason.

The shops along Main Street, which were once abandoned, were filled with businesses and Main Street with going under a sort of transformation process which helped the local economy. Mark was having fun cutting the ribbons from Gene Eriquez's projects and basically giving the impression that Danbury was business as usual as it was during the Fairfield County (Norwalk/Stamford)job boom of the late 90s.

That all stopped after the day-laborer backlash.

With the immigrant population building here, Brewster, and in Westchester County, you had day-laborers who popped up on Main Street, which irritated residents so they moved to Kennedy Park. Once that happened and work of the day-laborer center gained attention, BOOM, the Republican/moderate independent backlash happened and Boughton (who's no idiot to the political landscape of the city seeing that he's a life-long resident, father was the mayor during the late 70's, former member of the planning commission, and former State Rep.) did a political 180 degree turn.

From there we had city officials and people in Boughton's administration mingling with Paul Streitz's anti-immigrant/hate group named The Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, later identified as the Danbury Chapter of the Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, now currently known as the United States Citizens for Immigration and Law Enforcement (after the CTCIC breakup over Streitz's MexDonalds survey).

From the turnout of CTCIC's first (and only successfully attended) meeting, basically, Boughton woke up to the prospect of using illegal immigration for political purposes (which is why some members in the anti-immigrant movement such as Streitz, still consider Boughton a fraud when it comes to this topic). From there, Boughton pulls political stunts that he knows has no way in being successful such as the volleyball ordinance and requesting state police to be trained as immigration agents. This leads to Boughton's popularity in the anti-immigrant community and on many hate-group/white supremacists websites and message boards.



From there, in a nutshell, we now have Boughton, the political opportunist who will do or say anything for political gain, and the political opportunist Republican party (a party which core comprised of former Democrats who were excommunicated from the party after the downfall on Jim Dyer). who are inter-connected with one of the most notorious xenophobic organization in the region, now led by Streitz's disciple, Elise "deer in headlights" Marciano.

Unfortunately, one needs to have a trail of Boughton's activities in the area to have a complete understanding of the man. Danbury is not a media target as most of the media is located in Hartford, New Haven, and New York. The local media simply does not have the structure to have reporters cover ALL the ad-hoc and land-use meetings as they did under previous administrations thus, Boughton has been able to get away with a SLEW of misstatements to outright lies in public appearances and on local access television.

I could go on and on and produce hours of video footage and evidence to back up my case but like I said, Mark's blessed that this wasn't a complete and detailed profile. There is always next time and the media knows how to find me...hell, maybe I get give enough material to make place Boughton in the New York Times Magazine.

Anti-immigrant paranoia

Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Time: 4:17 PM

Oh my, the anti-immigrant fear-mongering machine is at full speed.

Here's the latest dish of crap:
City officials said there have been rumors about people lying down in the hallway in City Hall in an attempt to stop the vote.
This is probably the most idiotic statement I've ever heard to date and it's fairly easy to explain the hype...THOSE PESKY OUTSIDE AGITATORS.

In their pre-emptied attempt to downplay the amount of people who not only oppose the ICE ACCESS proposal, but will have no problem making their presence known at City Hall tomorrow, the last honest man is taking a cue from Karl Rove's playbook and is attempting to give the impression that people from outside the area are going to create trouble.

Oh, those savage people with no respect for the law.

This is complete nonsense and stems from a mayor who has been blind-sided with the amount of opposition towards his proposal. Not since the immigrant marches of 2005 have I seen such a mobilization from within DANBURY'S IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY. Since no one from City Hall has attended any of the meetings, they're basically flying in the dark and scared shitless of the backlash and have no idea what to expect. Add that with the totally batshit-crazy nonsense flowing out of the mouths of the xenophobia bigots in the area and you all you need for complete paranoia and the mayor shutting down the number of people who can attend the meeting tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be a dog-and-pony show. If the past is any indication, the "rubber-stamp yessa" Republicans have their mind made up and this nonsense will pass. What those who are opposed to this legislation have to do is find some way to channel the incredible amount of energy that has been on display EVERY DAY in the immigrant community towards defeating those who supported this anti-immigrant legislation and exposing the rabid racism and bigotry behind those so-called activists who's mantra is "what part of illegal don't you understand."

Ignore the hype...hell, it's best to ignore most the the garbage that comes out of the mouth of the last honest man in Danbury. He gives the term "flip-flop" and "dishonest" new meaning.

Voices from those who are being ignored: "Crime will shoot through the roof"


Time: 4:08 PM

The next installment of the "Voices that are being ignored" series takes me to the Immigrant Rights conference at Southern Connecticut State University.

Immigrant rights organizations, attorneys, activists, and victims of anti-immigrant xenophobia from Danbury and throughout the region were on hand to educate people immigration law and several people took time from the program to talk to me about their opposition towards the ICE ACCESS proposal in Danbury.

Next on deck, Mark Boughton's favorite attorney, Philip Berns gives his views on why the proposed partnership between DanburyPD and ICE is bad for the city.


Primary report


Time: 3:50 PM

Just got back from voting (Broadview School) and here's the count:

At the primary, the count on the machine was at 668 while the referendum machine showed 530.

The two polling place thing was MORE THAN ANNOYING and could have been completely avoided IF THIS WAS DONE IN NOVEMBER. Based on the numbers on the counters, it's logical to assume that the unaffiliated voters are not coming out to vote on the bond package or else the counter on the referendum machine WOULD BE HIGHER than the count on the primary machine. Even more disturbing, it's logical to assume that people are OPTING NOT TO VOTE ON THE BOND PACKAGE...a bond package that includes fiscally irresponsible proposals such as paving roads (e.g., by the time the bond is paid off..with interest of course, the roads would have been torn up at least two times fold.

In other words, your paying MORE money to pave roads than you would have paid if the funds were found in some other manner (and trust me, the city can ALWAYS find money for something when it suits IT'S agenda).

If you haven't voted yet, when you place your ballot in both machines, take a look at the counter and make not of it. Drop your report in the comments.

All hail the Giants...and other tidbits

Monday, February 04, 2008
Time: 4:51 PM

Die-hard New York fans at TK's jump for joy as their team grab the lead with a minute to go in the Superbowl
TK's American Cafe, White Street. Photo by CTblogger 02.03.08.

Sorry for the delay but portions of my server is down is instead of posting, I'm working on producing all the material I have.

In light of tomorrow's primary, here's some reading material on the primary process and the distribution of delegates.

What an amazing Superbowl...if you know a Patriots fan, please them a call and make sure they're okay.

BTW: Anyone word on Jack?

UPDATE: Okay, we're back. I watched the big game yesterday at TK's American Cafe on White Street and you can view all the Superbowl madness from the best bar in Danbury by clicking here.

Congressman Murphy stumps for Obama

Sunday, February 03, 2008
Time: 11:15 AM

Courtesy of my video blogger comrade Lon Seidman, here's video footage of Congressman Chris Murphy yesterday at the Old State House campaigning for Barack Obama.

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CITY OF DANBURY VIDEO ARCHIVE (Dec 2012-present)

The Mercurial (RIP)
Danbury News Times
Danbury Patch
Danbury Hamlet Hub
Danbury Daily Voice
Tribuna Newspaper
CT News Junkie
CT Capitol Report

10.03.18 (PDF):
"Approval of Danbury Prospect Charter School"

10.30.20 (HatCityBLOG VID): Charter School discussion during 2020 interview with Julie Kushner

2018 (RADIO): WLAD
"State Board of Ed signs off on Danbury charter school proposal"

08.20 (VID): CT-LEAD
"Stand up for Education Justice" Rally

08.20.20 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Charter schools are not ‘magic bullet’ to improving Danbury schools"

09.13.20 (OP-ED): CHAPMAN
Candidate for state Senate supports charter school for Danbury

01.15.21 (VID): CT-LEAD
Danbury Prospect Charter School press conference

03.19.21 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Danbury leaders do not want a charter school"

04.01.21 (OP-ED): CT-LEAD:
"Why did Sen. Kushner vote against us?"

05.06.21 (VID): Danbury rally to fully fund public schools

10.07.21 (VID): Danbury City-Wide PTO "Meet the Candidates" education forum

10.07.21 NEWSTIMES
Danbury candidates quarrel over charter school, education funding

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"New operator named for Danbury charter school: ‘I’m a huge advocate for parent choice’"

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"Some Danbury Democrats ‘open minded’ about charter school after new, CT operator named"

01.21.22 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Lessons from Danbury: Ending the dual process for charter school approval"

02.09.22 NEWSTIMES
"Proposed Danbury charter school won’t open in 2022, governor leaves funding out of budget"

02.18.22 NEWSTIMES:
Danbury residents plead for charter school funds in 9-hour state budget hearing: ‘Just exhausted’

03.05.22 (LTE):
Time has come for Danbury charter school

03.12.22 (OP-ED): TAYLOR
"Why I am excited about the Danbury Charter School"

03.16.22 (LTE):
"Why a Danbury Charter School?"

04.02.22 CT EXAMINER:
"Crowding and a Lack of Options for Danbury Students, But No Agreement on Solutions"

04.04.22 (OP-ED): DCS
"Danbury Charter School plans debut"

04.07.22 (PODCAST): (CEA)
"SENATOR KUSHNER DISCUSSES POINTS OF OPTIMISM FOR DANBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS"

04.18.22 (VID): CT-LEAD
Protest press conference

04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU
Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school

06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER:
"Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"

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On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.

The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.

Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.

Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MAYOR BOUGHTON'S DEPOSITION

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MIKE McLACHLAN (then MAYOR CHIEF OF STAFF) DEPOSITION

Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants v.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
3:06-cv-01992-RNC ( D. Conn. )

(02.25.08) Court docket

(10.24.07) Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Emergency Motion for Protective Order

(09.26.07) Press Release

(12.14.06) Complaint


Barrera v. Boughton, No. 07-01436
(D. Conn. filed Sept. 26, 2007)

(02.25.08) Court Docket

Amended complaint

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss State Law Claims

Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Order on Motion to Dismiss

Defendants' Answer to Amended Complaint

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Immigrant's 2006 arrest was flawed Danbury mayor testifies

(10.05.07 (VIDEO) Boughton mislead the public about Danbury's involvement in raid

(09.18.07) Yale Law Students expose Danbury involvement in raid

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Interview with Yale Law Students at FOI presser

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 FOI complaint media roundup

City Clerk Jean Natale standing next to skinhead sparks outrage

(10.03.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 rally

(09.29.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 case deepens

Word of raid spread across the country

(09/29/06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 protest news conference

(09/29/06) Immigrant newspaper "El Canillita" gives best account of ICE day labor raid at Kennedy Park


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VIDEO: Tereza Pereira's ordeal with ICE agents

VIDEO: Danbury Peace Coalition Immigration Forum (April 2006)
featuring Mayor Boughton and Immigration attorney Philip Berns

VIDEO: 2007 Stop the Raids immigration forum at WCSU

2007: Community protest anti-immigration forum

A tribute to Hispanic Center Director and immigrant activist Maria Cinta Lowe

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2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Results:
11.15.23 Recanvass return
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Election night returns
(Head Moderator Return Format)

11.07.23: Initial returns


ESPOSITO FINANCE REPORTS:
Oct 10 2022
Jan 10 2023
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

ALVES FINANCE REPORTS:
Apr 10 2023
Jul 10 2023
Oct 10 2023

CAMPAIGN SLATE DATABASE
Dem/GOP slate/ballot position

VIDEO: DRTC convention
VIDEO: DDTC conveniton


2021 (ALVES/ESPOSITO)

TOWN COMMITTEES
(VID) DDTC nomination convention
(PDF) DDTC campaign slate flyer

(VID) DRTC nomination convention
(PDF) DRTC campaign slate flyer

FORUMS/DEBATES
(VID) 2021 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum

CAMPAIGN FINANCE
First quarter
Alves Apr 10th SEEC filing

Second quarter
Alves Jul 10th SEEC filing
Esposito Jul 10th SEEC filing

Third quarter
Alves Oct 12th SEEC report
Esposito Oct 12th SEEC report

CAMPAIGN MAILERS
Alves "Jan 6th" attack mailer 10.21.21
Esposito "you can't trust Alves" attack mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 09.30.21
Esposito mailer 09.28.21
Alves mailer 09.27.21
Esposito mailer 09.27.21


PAST CAMPAIGN COVERAGE

2005 (BOUGHTON/ESPOSITO)
Danbury 2005 election results
Newstimes Dean Esposito profile (10.25.05)

2007 (BOUGHTON/ABRANTES)
Danbury 2007 election results
(VID) Helana Abrantes TV ad
(VID) BRT tax deferral presser
(VID) Helena Abrantes "Community Forum" interview

2009 (BOUGHTON/GONCALVES)
Danbury 2009 election results
(VID) 2009 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2009 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2009 DDTC nomination convention

2011 (BOUGHTON/TABORSAK)
Danbury 2011 election results
(VID) Saadi/Nero campaign kickoff

2013 (BOUGHTON/NO DTC ENDORSED CANDIDATE/MCALLISTER)
Danbury 2013 election results
(VID) 2013 DDTC nominaiton convention

2015 (BOUGHTON UNCHALLENGED)
Danbury 2015 election results

2017 (BOUGHTON/ALMEIDA)
Danbury 2017 election results
(VID) Al Almeida concession speech
(VID) 2017 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) Al Almeida nomination acceptance speech

2019 (BOUGHTON/SETARO)
Danbury 2019 election results
(VID) 2019 NewsTimes Editorial Board interview with Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro
(VID) 2019 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2019 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2019 convention endorsement speeches from Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro