Archiving

Saturday, March 15, 2008
Time: 2:47 PM

It's that time again.

Video production has come to a complete standstill as every single one of my harddrives are full.

I'm going to spend most of the day archiving older files as well as finish building my new server. Hell, it's March madness time anyway and you should be watching the games on TV, not reading blogs!

BTW: If ESPN is based in Connecticut, why couldn't I watch the UConn Women's basketball games IN CONNECTICUT! I mean COME ON COMCAST, just give us ESPN-U already.

I'll be back later.

The city can AND SHOULD save the house

Friday, March 14, 2008
Time: 12:54 PM

One of things I love the most about our mayor is how he seems to high-ball everything he doesn't 100 percent support. Case in point, back during the whole local broadcasting of local government meetings debate, while sending his pitbull to do his dirty work, the last honest man in Danbury kept raising and amount of money it would take City Hall back on the air from 60,000 to 90,000 in a matter of a week. Now we know that the amount of money spend is only a fraction of his so-called estimate, and with good reason...Boughton simply wasn't on board with the proposal in the first place and attempted to use inflated figures to justify his disagreement.

Now, take this into consideration when we learn of the ORIGINAL estimates it would take to save the Richter House and keeps the arts at Richter (and not move them to...lets say THE IVES CENTER).

1,000,000 dollars.

Yeah, ONE MILLION dollars to save a house. Trust me, NO ONE is buying this nonsense...
Rotello, who renovates old Victorian houses with her husband, Louie, disputed Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton's recent estimate of $1 million to renovate Richter House. Rotello's estimate is well below that figure.

"We did one Victorian house recently -- and we did have to open up the walls -- but the price was closer to $350,000 or $400,000," said Rotello, who owns several Victorian homes in the city, including ones on Pleasant Street, Harding Place and Division Street.
For you newcomers, homes on Pleasant Street, Harding Place and Division Street are JUST AS OLD is NOT OLDER than the Richter House. Also, Rotello's estimate is HIGHER then the estimate of 150,000 that Jane Didona stated it would take to save the house when she presented during the preliminary 20-year master plan for Richter Park on Wednesday night.

Make no mistake about this, politics is involved in this matter...and involved BIG TIME. Closing of the Richter House would be a complete insult to the family who DID NOT HAVE A GOLF COURSE in mind when they donated the land to the people of Danbury.

Hell, if the city can afford to give a land developer like BRT a seven-year tax break for something that's nothing more than a DORMITORY, they can fork over a portion of the cash to help save the house.

BONUS: I attended the meeting on Wednesday night and I'm working on re-creating the presentation that was shown to the public.

Be right back

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Time: 1:57 PM


Blogging will come to a crawl today as I'm extremely busy with a research project.

Be back later...and don't waste your time attempting to contact me as I'm not answering emails and I'm not answering my phone today.

Sex offender ad-hoc committee primer

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Time: 6:27 PM

In advance of the next ad-hoc committee meeting regarding revisions to the the sex offender ordinance, here's a copy of a draft of the revised ordinance (pdf file).

Here are some points I found from the ordinance that are alarming. NOTE: The additions to the ordinance being considered are highlighted in bold:



1. Note that the city had to insert the term "school" in definition of a Child Safety Zone, section 2(a)(i). The addition of the word "school" begs the question...how can the council forget to define a "school" as a child safety zone? Does this mean that all the school in Danbury do not have a "child safety zone" sign?

2. A listing of all the child safety zones are going to be listed in the ordinance. Make sense right? Everyone doesn't know what makes a child safety zone so it SHOULD be outlined in the ordinance. There's just one problem, this was proposed by the Democrats during the ad-hoc committee for the ORIGINAL draft of the ordinance BEFORE the vote in December 2006. This recommendation, brought by Councilman Ben Chianese, was requested by the Republicans on the committee and was never adopted into the ordinance.

3. The zone hopping problem is finally fixed but this begs the question, if the zone hopping nonsense wasn't caught by Minority Leader Tom Saadi, then it's quite possible the other problems within the ordinance would have gone unnoticed until someone attempted to enforce the ordinance. For example, a sex offender was caught on the parking lot of a school and is warned that he's violated the ordinance. The offender challenges the warning in court and it's found that the ordinance doesn't state that the parking lot of a school is part of the child safety zone (not second to last portion of the drafted ordinance in the above graphic.

Food for thought...


Related posts:

1. VIDEO: Common Council sex offender debate/vote, Dec 2006.

2. VIDEO: Sex offender ad-hoc committee meeting, Aug 2007.

3. What's wrong with this picture?

Hate-crime on the rise report dropped from News-Times front page?


Time: 1:43 PM

The AP did a write-up on the latest report from the Southern Poverty Law Center that shows that hate-related crimes are on the rise in the U.S.

As a commenter noted, this article was on the homepage of the News-Times earlier today but surprisingly it disappeared by the afternoon (along with the comments to the article noted in the "Other Recent NewsTimes.com Discussions" listing).


Here the buried News-Times link:
Anti-immigrant sentiment is fueling nationwide increases in the number of hate groups and the number of hate crimes targeting Latinos, a watchdog group said Monday.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, in a report titled "The Year in Hate," said it counted 888 hate groups in its latest tally, up from 844 in 2006 and 602 in 2000.

The most prominent of the organizations newly added to the list, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, vehemently rejected the "hate group" label, and questioned the law center's motives. FAIR said the center was using smear tactics to boost donations and stifle legitimate debate on immigration.

"Their banner may be 'Stop the hate' but it's really 'Stop the debate,'" said FAIR's president, Dan Stein. "Apparently you can't even articulate an argument for immigration reform without being smeared."

The law center's report contends there is a link between anti-immigrant activism and the significant rise in hate crimes against Latinos in recent years. According to the latest FBI statistics, 819 people were victimized by anti-Latino hate crimes in 2006, compared with 595 in 2003.

"The immigration debate has turned ugly and the result has been a growth in white supremacist hate groups and anti-Latino hate crime," said Mark Potok, director of the law center's Intelligence Project. "The majority of anti-Latino hate crimes are carried out by people who think they're attacking immigrants, and very likely undocumented immigrants."

Potok said hate groups were proliferating because a growing number of Americans were agitated by the immigration debate. He said many new groups had appeared in the border states of California, Texas and Arizona where illegal immigration has been a particularly volatile issue.

Critics of the law center, including FAIR, contend that the periodic reports on hate groups exaggerate the threat to public safety and inflate the total by including entities that are little more than Web sites or online chat rooms.

Potok acknowledged that some of the groups may be small and said it is impossible for outsiders to gauge the membership of most of the groups.

Among the largest categories of hate groups, Potok said, are neo-Nazi, white nationalist, racist skinhead and those with links to the Ku Klux Klan.

FAIR, which is frequently quoted by the media and whose officials often have testified before Congress, advocates an end to illegal immigration and tighter controls on legal immigration. In pursuing these goals, it says, "there should be no favoritism toward or discrimination against any person on the basis of race, color, or creed."

The law center said its decision to designate FAIR a hate group was based in part on the ideology of various people who established it, worked for it or donated to it over its nearly 30-year history. The center has issued a detailed report outlining its allegations, although little of that report deals with FAIR's recent activities.

[...]

Both FAIR and law center are relatively well known in the ranks of advocacy groups. The law center, which started as a small civil rights group in 1971, has amassed an endowment fund totaling $200 million as of October and it received nearly $29 million in grants and contributions in fiscal 2007.

FAIR claims more than 250,000 members and reported more than $4 million in contributions in 2006.

Stein, in addition to rejecting the "hate group" label, questioned the law center's linking of anti-immigrant sentiment to the recent increase in anti-Latino hate crimes. The data on such crimes is inexact and prone to misinterpretation, and some of the incidents classified as anti-Latino hate crimes involved violence between Latino gangs and non-Latino rivals, Stein said.

The law center has listed numerous incidents not fitting that profile. In one such assault, in February 2007, three men broke into a mobile home in Wright City, Mo., yelling "immigration enforcement" and beat an illegal immigrant from Mexico with a piece of lumber, according to police reports.

In Arkansas, where the Latino population has grown rapidly, there have been several recent violent incidents. In December, police said, a Hispanic man was fatally beaten in Lowell, Ark., after his nephew spoke Spanish to the assailant's girlfriend.
Hopefully, one day, there will be a full accountability of the rash of crimes against immigrants in Danbury that's goes under the radar such as threats of violence from members of Elise Marciano's anti-immigrant group, episodes of harassment from Marciano's followers, and violent attacks on businesses owned by immigrant supporters.

In due time, it will all come to the surface for the public to see.

FLASHBACK: New Haven exposes anti-immigrant misinformaiton


Time: 11:37 AM

This isn't local but it is relevant.

Here's an article from the Yale Daily News which exposed the attempts by two New Haven based anti-immigrant groups, Community Watchdog Project (CWP) and the Southern Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Reform (SCtIR), to spread misinformation throughout the campus.

For those who are unaware of these groups, they use the EXACT same tactics as Elise Marciano's local anti-immigrant whack-pack, United States Citizens for Law Enforcement (USFILE).
As reported by the News article “Workers urged to sign petition” (10/26) hatemongering and divisive methodologies have risen on campus in attempts to turn Yale workers against undocumented immigrants. The members of groups such as Community Watchdog Project (CWP) and the Southern Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Reform (SCtIR), Connecticut’s own version of the Minutemen Project, are not merely opposing programs like the municipal ID card program, but are employing deceitful and reactionary tactics such as harassing city hall clerks as they issue the Elm City ID card, demanding the names and addresses of municipal ID card holders, and now convincing Yale workers to turn against their union by dispelling incorrect messages about Latino immigrant workers. The outrageous propaganda spread by these groups of how undocumented immigrants are stealing jobs without paying taxes is only a product of their divide-and-conquer methods and is completely unacceptable in our community.

Groups like the CWP and SCtIR promote these myths as a means of raising antagonism against the undocumented, but facts and history disprove these claims by instead showing the many contributions these workers have made in the nation and the New Haven community.

All immigrants pay taxes, and in many ways offer more benefits to the United States, its labor force and its economy than they receive themselves. Tax payments from immigrants are consistently $20 to $30 billion more than the amount they receive in government services. As they find jobs in key sectors they contribute significantly to the U.S. economy as well as become members and allies of local workers’ unions. Since 1996, the percentage of foreign-born wage and salary workers in unions has risen from 8.9 to 12.3 percent in 2006.

In New Haven, Latino workers have demonstrated their solidarity with members of the Local 35 union. In 2003, during a strike held by Local 35 workers against the University, Latino scabs brought in to replace union members ended up joining the strike and supporting the cause of the African American workers. The majority of workers in UNITE-HERE, Local 35’s national union, are Latinos, and probably many of them are undocumented, which is one reason why UNITE-HERE has taken a strong stance nationally on immigration reform in support of undocumented workers.

Immigrants’ rights and workers’ rights are closely linked; a statement signed by many community leaders in New Haven, including the presidents of Local 34 & 35 and director of Local 217, declares that “no human being is illegal and no worker’s wages and conditions are secure as long as another worker’s vulnerability is exploited.” In trying to turn Yale workers against immigrant residents of New Haven, reactionary and racist groups are seeking to divide communities that, when they organize and unite around common issues, have the ability to affect real change in this city and in this country.

The tactics of groups like the CWP and SCtIR only seek to create divisions between the communities and thus cannot be tolerated.

As students and members of the Yale community, we stand absolutely against these hateful messages and divide-and-conquer methodologies being used on our campus. These practices, common amongst larger organizations such as the Minutemen Project, are disgraceful and unjust and we will not sit passively as fear-mongering and prejudiced groups like the CWP and SCtIR spread destructive messages aimed at New Haven residents.

If New Haven can expose the crap behind these hate-groups, shouldn't Danbury do the same with Marciano and her followers' brand of bullshit?

When is enough, enough?

Monday, March 10, 2008
Time: 1:36 PM

At some point in time, someone has to stand up and say enough is enough with this type of crap.


Here we go again.

The bottom feeders have once again reinforced the notion that Danbury is the armpit of Connecticut.

Take a look a the comments from the News-Times article on the case of Tereza Pereira

This cockroach judge needs to be tossed off the bench and the illegals need to get the boot without hesitation sans their anchor larvae. This case may set a precedent that could devastate this country. Somebody needs to find out who appointed this imbecile judge.

[...]

Illegals who squirt out "anchor babies" should not be rewarded with citizenship. This should be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. We need to revise the laws so that these illegals who breeds like rodents don't get their offspring made US Citizens. This judge should be removed from the bench. He obviously has no respect for the law.

The venom in the comment section of the News-Times has been an eyesore since it's creation and and contributed to people around the country looking at Danbury with bewilderment. The poisonous venom from the bigots has also alerted such hate-monitoring organizations as the Southern Poverty Law Center to keep an eye on the anti-immigrant activity in the area.

Faced with the overwhelming evidence that the comment section is nothing more than a breeding ground for a small minority of xenophobes to flood the board with inflammatory comments, it's apparent that the time has come for residents to speak out and request that the newspaper seriously consider scrapping the commenting service altogether and revert back to the older "forums" format of the past.

Let's go back and take a look at some of the News-Times most offensive comments to date (in no particular order):

July 27 2007: Threats against immigrant rights supporters and politicians:
DisNoir36, your statements and attitude make it quite obvious that you have not felt any of the repercussions/effects of the unmitigated flow of Illegals into the American work force. You must be very well insulated in your career and not need to compete against these cutthroats. Many of us on the other hand have been severely affected.

[...]

If as you say “Rell just perpetuated the existence of an underclass by denying them an opportunity to get quality higher education and move up…” is true; then I say good! Good let them be relegated to mowing our lawns, serving and cleaning our tables at restaurants. Why should we educate them so that they can further debase our way of life? The children of those who have come here Legally receive the benefits as they should. These others should do what it takes to become residents the right way not expect to be excepted into our society simple because they were adept at scurrying across our borders like rats or took advantage of being allowed to enter the country on a Visitors Visa to become a squatter.

And, before anybody make a crack about not choosing where they were born. Very Very Few of these kids were born there the majority of them were spirited across the border in the same manor as their parents arrived there and are just as Illegal as they are!

“I seriously wonder what will happen with all you haters if this immigration bill does pass. Somehow I doubt the hatred will simply dissipate once the question of 'legality' is removed from the equation.”

I predict violence, lots of well deserved violence. Violence; toward the Illegals and unfortunately violence toward some Legal citizens who are mistaken for Illegals. And I sincerely hope, violence against “our legislators”/government for selling out The People to the interests of the uber-capitalists and lining their pockets with the ill-gotten gains of it all.

July 16th 2007: News-Times article on Ridgefield's plan for a dog park.
They should make parks for other animals to play in, too: Brazilians, Ecuadorans, Dominicans- pretty much anyone of negroid ancestry. Keep the public safe!!

Jun 11 2007: Comment posted in response to editorial:
Danbury would be a nice place to live if there weren't so many niggers and spics.

August 11 2007: Comment to the Santos family immigration article in which someone impersonates 17 year old female family member Rayany Santos:
Hi everyone - thanks for all the support. It's really not as bad as the newspaper makes it out. I just go along with them because they said they needed a real "sob" story. They said people would probably send me money and stuff.

Anyhow, I'm having a great time on my own. I can stay out and party and have all my boyfriends over! It's the coolest! I don't miss my brothers at all. They were lame. They would always put boogers in my hair and fart and stuff - yuck!

Well, now that I'm on my own I'm looking for an older guy to take care of me. If there are any guys out there who want to get together give me a call! (17 is legal in CT ya know!) I love to party and I'm totally easy!

Love - XOXOXO

April 29 2007: Comment regarding anti-immigration forum held at Western. TAKE NOTE OF THE NAME (hint, spell it backwards).
Posted by: Reggi_Nytrid Sat, Apr 28 2007
I have to admit that I'm surprised by the levels of hatred and racism displayed on these boards. I thought people in CT were a little bit more enlightened than that.
Also, who is this boredwithbs character? Is he nuts or what? And what kind of a name is aidsfromatoiletseat? I find that very offensive.

March 25 2007: Comments in response to sex offender notification article:
They should also insert a side note warning how the city can't keep the spics out. These animals care about following laws about as much as sex offenders.

Oh course, I saved the best for last...

From April 27, 2007, here's my post on the murder of Vanderli Augusto Rodrigues and the family's reaction to the News-Times comments regarding his death.
Although people received their information about the stabbing of Vanderli Augusto Rodrigues from the News-Times, you really realize how limited the mainstream media is when it comes to reporting on issues in the immigrant community (as well as how insensitive they are when it comes to allowing hate-mongers to post racist comments) once you read the Emanuela Lima's write-up on the murder in this week's Tribuna newspaper.

Her piece chronicles the impact the murder had on everyone effected by this tragedy as well as the outrage from the community over the disgusting, hate-filled, racist comments that were posted on the News-Times website. The paper has been widely criticized for doing a horrible job in monitoring their comments section and many in the media who I know are astonished that the paper hasn't apologized for the unfortunate incident).
All Vanderli Augusto Rodrigues wanted to do in United States was to work hard and save enough money to buy his own house and give his parents a more comfortable life Brazil.

In the early morning hours of April 15, Rodrigues’ plans were cut short, literally – he was murdered with a single stab wound to the chest in the kitchen of the one-bedroom apartment he shared with other five men. Only one of the roommates was not at the apartment when the murder occurred, shortly before 2:11am; the other four told Danbury police they were asleep.

They were awakened by the sound of a thud when Rodrigues’s body hit the floor and realized soon after, that Laudimilson Teixeira, one of the roommates, was gone.

[...]

“THIS IS ABOUT A HUMAN BEING”

On April 16, the medical examiner’s office in Farmington asked that a family member identify the victim’s body. Adriana said her mother had been in a state of complete emotional shock and was unable to do so, “I had to go – it was the worst experience of my life.”

When Adriana returned home and logged on to her computer to check for news on the arraignment, she was shocked by the comments posted by on-line readers at the News-Times website in response to articles about the murder, “How can people not see that this is about a human being? How can they be so disrespectful?”

She was referring to the nature of the comments related to her uncle’s undocumented status, such as “The bottom line here is that if these illegals were not here this death would not have occurred” or “They should have the funeral in front of the INS building and see if anyone comes.”

Elke Probst, is the owner of the Belmont Circle property where Graças resides, was also taken back by some of the comments. “I just hope people are able to place themselves in this family’s shoes and give them the support they need by rallying together as a community” said Probst.
At this point, the editors of the News-Times should contact the members of Rodrigues' family and apologize to them as they had to endure the disgusting comments that weren't deleted from their site. To allow the bottom-feeding racists to spout their hatred freely is a disgrace and brings shame to the city as a whole. The News-Times has a responsibility to remove hate-speech from their site and it's apparent that they have a serious problem monitoring themselves. They should get rid of the comments altogether and keep the chatter from readers in the forums.

January 21 2008: Comment regarding the death of Rene Perez. An immigrant who was allegedly beaten and left on a desolate road to die by the hands of a police officer.
An outraged reader forwarded me this truly disgusting comment from the News-Times board. The comment was in response to the story on a homeless immigrant who was allegedly beaten and dumped on the road for dead by a police officer.


Now lets break down this "comment" and expose the ugly.

1. The username of the comment is "el ilegal borracho." Now, we'll just assume that the person who made this remark isn't the brightest person on his street so we'll give him/her a pass on the incorrect spelling of the word illegal. The Urban Dictionary defines the word "borracho" as the following:
Mexican or Chicano slang for a drunkard.

2. The address of the user is "Bedford/Mount Kisco/Guatland." For those who don't know, the term "guat" is defined as the following:
A racist name for any individual of Guatemalan heritage.

Basically, calling someone a "guat" is the same as the term "nigger" or "spic".

3. The comment speaks for itself:
Dirty racial police men hate us immigrunts. we just come to U.S. for better licor. Lazy americans have too much licor so we come to help drink. drity selfish americans need to help us when we drunk.

4. The photo used by the jerk who made this comment is Rene Perez, THE PERSON AT THE CENTER OF THE ARTICLE WHO WAS ALLEGEDLY BEATEN AND DUMPED ON THE STREET FOR DEAD BY THE POLICE.

5. Finally, the IP address is from Danbury so it's safe to assume that the person who made this comment is indeed from Danbury.
• This comment has been on the News-Times board since Saturday.

• This comment has probably been read by the Perez family who are still in a state of mourning.

• This comment should have been removed instantly.

• Comments like this reinforce the belief among many in this state that Danbury is the armpit of Connecticut.


• Local embarrassments such as Joel Urice and Pauline Basso probably think this is a joke.

• Thank the News-Times for not monitoring their message boards good enough. At some point they should consider removing the comment feature all together and save the "comments" for their forum section.

• Thank the mayor for creating an racially insensitive environment where this type of nonsense goes on openly a daily basis and idiots like Elise Marciano can give the impression that she has common sense (with or without the sheet).
Now, as with the case with former monitor Elizabeth Putnam, current online editor Keith Whamond can only do so much and keep this type of offensive material off the site and has done a better job in removing the garbage than in the past.

But, the question still remains...

As the level out outrage and anger rises in the city, the newspaper should consider whether or not comments are better suited in the forums section as opposed to attached to articles as most rants have nothing to do with the articles and more to do with spewing hatred. This in turn only adds fuel to the racial division in the city and reinforces the notion that "Danbury is the armpit of Connecticut" in the minds of people outside the area.

New poll


Time: 12:39 PM

There is a new poll on the site that surrounds the fight over the Richter House.

For those who are not aware, there was an attempt to close the New England’s oldest continually running outdoor theater by the The Richter Authority; fortunately, the decision was postponed once word and outrage on the closure spread across the area.

For more information on the story, please read Brian Koonz's piece in the News Times, which make it to the front page last week. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend last week's special meeting and file a video report on the tremendous amount of community reaction to the the proposed closure. I'll bring updates on the disturbing chain of the events which led to the closure vote in later posts.

Simply put, honor the Richter family's wishes...and it had nothing to do with a golf course.

Message of hated should NEVER be tolerated and a call to action

Sunday, March 09, 2008
Time: 1:57 PM

This is a bit off of local politics but not as far off as you think...

Meet Oklahoma State House Rep Sally Kern otherwise known as the latest anti-gay homobigoted jackass to be caught red-handed putting her foot in her mouth.

Following in the footsteps of cable access talking head bigoted hate-mongers and ultra anti-immigrant political boneheads whose true colors were exposed to the public, unaware that her conversation was bring recorded, Rep. Kern let her hair down and went on one of the most disgusting anti-gay rants ever.

Pam's House Blend has the disgusting details:
Mother of god, this is horrible. We nominate to the patheon of homo hate Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (sallykern@okhouse.gov). She didn't know that she was being recorded in a meeting, so we get the a nice insight about what she thinks of her gay and lesbian constituents. Perhaps she doesn't think she has any.

About 30 seconds into this homobigoted, fact-free, BS screed, Rep. Kern actually says how she doesn't hate gays (of course not!), then proceeds to continue on her tirade of filth.



Some tidbits:

Studies show, no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted for more than, you know, a few decades. . .

I honestly think it's the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam.

They want to get them into the government schools so they can indoctrinate them.

[...]

They are going after our young children, as young as two years of age, to try to teach them that the homosexual lifestyle is an acceptable lifestyle.

You know, gays are infiltrating city councils...did you know that the city council of Eureka Springs is now controlled by gays -- they are winning elections.

One of my colleagues said We don't have a gay problem in our community...well you know what, that is so dumb. If you have cancer in your little toe, do you just say that I'm going to forget about it since the rest of you is fine? It spreads! This stuff is deadly and it is spreading. It will destroy our young people and it will destroy this nation.

Just as in the case of Pauline Basso and Oklahoma native and fellow Republican extremist Joel Urice's racially insensitive anti-immigrant emails, the backlash from Kern's remarks are overwhelming.
Members of the metro's gay community are finding it hard to believe Kern also says homosexuality is a bigger threat than terrorism.

"What she's saying is outrageous, and completely a betrayal of the public trust for someone who is elected to a public office," Reverend Scott Jones of the Cathedral of Hope said.

[...]

Reverend Jones says Kern's rant is filled with everything but the truth. "Historical errors, psychological errors, scriptural errors, and just one thing after another that she makes in that speech," Jones said.

A number of those attending say they plan to write, e-mail and call Representative Kern's office first thing Monday morning and they're urging the rest of America to do the same.
Please help us let Rep. Kern know that we heard her message out and clear by signing up at the Victory Fund's website.

...I wonder of Rep. Kern's response to her stupidity will be better than Danbury's own political cowboy from "The Sooner State"?

UPDATE: to give you an idea of the seriousness of this situation, in 12 hours since the file was uploaded, the Victory Fund has received 166,681 outrages citizens signed up to the site. That's in 12 hours on a SUNDAY.

UPDATE 2: CNN picks up the story and much like the our local cowboy from Oklahoma, Rep. Kern digs a deeper hole for herself.

UPDATE 3: Victory Fund sign ups over the Rep. Kern matter has risen to 295,568 since Sunday.

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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
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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"

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04.02.22 CT EXAMINER:
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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