Prepare to be outraged...

UPDATE: Because of developments in the James Galante trial, the post on Natale will be published on Tuesday...

UPDATE: Post updated with new information from neighbors monitoring the situation.

I received a disturbing phone call yesterday.

For those who are regular readers, as you know, the residents on Pandarama Road have long complained about the problems with drainage and deteriorating condition of the bridges on that particular road. Having seen firsthand the effects of irresponsible development in their area, these residents are some of the strongest supporters for the preservation of open space and have successfully delayed the development of the Cotswald project, which would ave changed the landscape of their area.

That brings us to yesterday...

After complaints and bringing attention the condition of their road, the city of Danbury set forward with a plan to address the issue with the bridges and drainage. Unfortunately, to the shock and dismay of everyone, it seems like the city went one step too far that could have a devastating impact on the neighborhood.

Neighbors are now up in arms with the city's move to re-direct Capatola Brook (also known as Marjorie Brook). The absolutely radical change in the landscape ripped up the section of land, designated as wetland, and resulted in what was once a wide brook being shrunk to what can be best described as a five foot trench. In the opinion of residents upset over the change in landscape, this new feature to the brook will be inadequate to deal with the waterflow in that area and will result in a great deal of soil erosion and further tree loss.

To give you an idea of what's going on here, take a look at the images below (click on any image to enlarge).

Area on the right was where the Capatola Brook originally flowed.



Original width of Capatola Brook (aprox 15 feet).



Re-directing of Capatola Brook (width now 5 feet).



Since the ones who can best explain the danger in what the city did are the neighbors who live in the area, here's a video report that outlines their list of complaints.



It's really important to note that this area is well-known for flooding and with the latest tropical storm coming to the area in the next 12 hours (which will be with us until late Saturday), the next day is critical in terms of getting this horrible situation corrected before there is a serious flooding and soil erosion problem along that stretch of Pandarama Road.

After voicing their outrage, the city is currently on the scene accessing the scene and we'll keep you updated on the situation.

09.27.08: The nightmare continues. Here's an update on the situation from an outraged neighbor who's keeping an eye on what's happening.

The city has added siltation fence to the other side of the stream. They have additionally added loads more traprock (ugly and NOT natural to the locality) along the trench bed and up the sides to slow down erosion. They did not widen the trench to a reasonable width but instead choose to go with their original size. However, they did attempt to minimize the potential for erosion.

Most of the expected torrential rainfall hit the rest of the state and Danbury was spared the worst of it. The trench was able to handle what did come. However, the rain flow did almost max out the trench, as the water during the height of the storm was 1 foot from the top.

A number of ponds and depressions have formed in the bulldozed area due to the loose quality of the new soil in the old stream bed. Mosquitos will likely be an issue come Spring of next year due to the stagnant water that will accumulate in those depressions.

The neighbors and I will be watching this as the season progresses. Winter provides a different set of challanges as the percolation rate of the surrounding soil changes and more water will run off to the stream due to soil freezing.

I am still concerned for my homes safety and am saddened by the loss of what was a lovely ,diverse and functioning wetland and watercourse. It is now simply a trench and a poorly constructed storm management nightmare.

More updates to come...

There is overwhelming evidence that links Elise Marciano and her organization to some of the most disgusting hate-groups and extremists in the country. It's also widely known that Marciano and members of her group are linked to several cases of verbal and physical assaults, harassment, and threats against immigrant right supporters as well as the call to assassinate day laborers and members of the immigrant community.

We bring these episodes of hate to everyone attention because, Marciano's version of terrorism is connected with another group in Connecticut that's mooe flamboyant and dangerous than their Danbury partner in hatred.

Going back as far as early 2007, Marciano and her ilk have made numerous appearances in New Haven joining in solidarity with such groups as the now (basically) extinct Southern Connecticut Immigration Reform, Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Enforcement and the notorious Community Watchdog Project (photo is of Marciano from 2007 with SCIR coordinator Bill Farrel at a rally against New Haven's ID program). A staunch supporter of their tactics, members of the CWP and SCIR have in turn, made several appearances in Danbury to support Marciano's cause.

Let's put Marciano's ties to xenophobic terrorism to the side and focus on the latest racist stunt in New Haven by the CWP.

The mayor assembled Irish, Jewish, black, Lithuanian and Ecuadorian leaders (among others) to the Green Thursday afternoon to speak out against what he called a hate group’s divisive fuss over the flying over the Mexican flag on the Green.

The flap started last weekend. The city held a “family day” to celebrate and promote its immigrant-friendly municipal ID card. A dozen out-of-town opponents of the card, organized by a group called the Community Watchdog Project (CWP), rallied outside. (Click here to read about that event.)

The protesters discovered that the city was flying the Mexican flag below the American flag on the pole on the Green. That outraged them. CWP founder Dustin Gold subsequently sent an email to supporters decrying the sight of the Mexican flag.

The city raised the flag to commemorate Mexican Independent Day. It has for decades regularly flown the flags of Italy, Ireland, and other nations on the Green to mark dates important to local ethnic communities.

“On Saturday, CWP members arrived at City Hall around 8:45 am. To their surprise the POW flag, that usually flies below the American flag on the New Haven Green flagpole, was replaced with a Mexican flag,” Gold wrote to his list of supporters.

“We are calling on all Veterans, soldiers, and patriotic Americans to call our Governor, Mayor, Attorney General, and Congressman to share your disgust with this treasonous act.”

Following that email, hostile emails and phone calls from around the country came in to City Hall.

Mayor John DeStefano read aloud some of those messages to the ethnic group leaders and to reporters assembled on the Green Thursday afternoon. (Click on the play arrow to the video to watch highlights.)

A sample email:

“Subject: Burn the Mexican flag, don’t fly it

“Mayor,

“You need to get your head out of your proverbial rectal area and become an American and represent Americans.

“Get rid of any flag, the Mexican flag and fly it in mexico if you like so much. It’s not our flag and we’re sick of paying for illegal aliens and all their babies and having their kids overrun our schools and downgrade our country.

“Kick them out and you go with them.”

Among the people joining DeStefano to decry the campaign and to support flying the Mexican flag were representatives of the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, the Knights of St. Patrick, the new Ecuadorian consulate in town (pictured: Troya Patricio and Raul Erazo), and Lithuanian, Puerto Rican, Italian, Polish, and Peruvian organizations.

DeStefano said that for decades, at least, the city has flown the flags of nations whose descendants in town wanted to mark important holidays — the flags of Ireland, Italy, Poland, etc. This is the first time he knows of that people have raised a fuss.

“This Mexican flag is doing nothing different than other flags representing people who live in this community have done,” DeStefano said. “I’s important when hate language like this occurs to call it out and point it out and point out where it’s coming from, in this case the Community Watchdog Project.”

In a phone interview, CWP’s Dustin Gold defended the effort.

He claimed he has no problem with the Mexican flag flying on the Green as long as it’s on a pole separate from the American flag. Putting them together violates federal flag-flying guidelines, he claimed.

Asked why he hasn’t objected to other nations’ flags, he said he hadn’t noticed the problem until Saturday’s rally. He also raised concerns about the POW flag being removed to make way for the Mexican flag.

“If there’s a flag up there for another country,” such as on Columbus Day, he promised, “we’ll be complaining.”

Here's video of New Haven Mayor DeStefano's presser.



Remember, this level of racism and bigotry is HAPPENING in Danbury everyday. From:

* former and present members of the Common Council,

* an outright bigoted member of the planning commission,

* Cable access host and Watertown native Barbara Keidel allegedly physically assaulting an immigrant rights supporter at an immigration forum in 2006 while allegedly verbally assaulting and spitting in the face of two immigrants at Pippa's for not speaking English (which resulted in her being banned from the establishment)

* a City Clerk whose role in the Hispanic Center controversy was considered by many to be "racially motivated."

* a member of the Amerigo Vespucci and Lion's Club who was caught spray painting banners which promoted the Brazilian Flag Rising Day

...and of course....

* a former "special cop" (and current laughable hot dog vendor) whose threats of violence resulted in his termination of the production of his live cable access show.

This site has only tipped the iceberg in terms of the tales of violence and racial intolerance that is DIRECTLY linked to Marciano. The case in New Haven is no different than the insanity people face in the area everyday...

When it comes to the President's version of the bailout plan, Congressman Murphy gives the thumbs down.

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, said Wednesday any economic rescue package he votes for must have strict protections for the taxpayer including strong restrictions on pay of CEOs who participate in the program.

"There needs to be a strong, bi-partisan oversight board that directs and regulates this program," he said.

Fresh from a financial services committee hearing with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Murphy spoke to reporters by telephone from Washington. He reviewed the economic recovery plan currently before Congress and gave it a thumbs down.

This is a VERY smart move by the Congressman. There is NO WAY in hell ANY Congressman should give the President a 700 billion dollars for a bailout without any conditions, which is echoed in Murphy's remarks.

While negotiations continue, the Congressman stressed provisions he believes must be in the recovery plan: taxpayer protections, a return on future profits of rescued companies for the taxpayer and limits on executive compensation for leaders of companies who benefit from this plan.

Murphy said Paulson and Bernanke's economic rescue package was met with skepticism by House members.

"Both [men] have done a pretty terrible job of explaining the rationale for their bill and the parameters surrounding it," Murphy said. "No doubt Republicans and Democrats need to come together, but the lack of willingness by the President and the [Treasury] Secretary to put into the bill real taxpayer protection is troubling to many of us."

About accountability, Murphy said, "We need to put real regulations on people originating mortgages in a way that we haven't done. The subprime mortgage market was the Wild Wild West of Wall Street. We need to put basic underwriting criteria through regulation that applies to prime and subprime mortgages. For example, we need a requirement for all lenders making loans that the borrower has a reasonable ability to repay the loan."

Murphy added that "we also need to do a much better job of flagging the subprime exposure of secondary investors. Legislation moving through the House would define prime and subprime loans so investors can better judge how much exposure they'll have."

In terms of one's job performance, it goes without saying the the present City Clerk is by and large the worse elected official in Danbury. Natale has been highly criticized (on both sides of the political aisle and by her associates at City Hall) for not doing her job, not being available to the public, and not being in her office during City Hall normal business hours.

This beings me to two posts I did earlier this year in which the title of the first post was "what does 98, 89, and 5 have in common", the other being "What does the following image and the City Clerk Jean Natale have in common?"

Now, I'll explain one of the posts.

The post "What does the following image and the City Clerk Jean Natale have in common?" stems from a report and others conducted on Natale's absence from her office. For several months, myself and others have routinely walked into City Hall at random times to check to see if the complains about the City Clerk not being in her office was true. We wanted to see Natale came into work AND was in her office as much as the other elected officials who work daily at City Hall (Registrar of Voters, Town Clerk, Mayor office).

From the time period of 8:30 and 9:30 AM, out of those officials who work at the building daily, Natale (and her "assistant" Mary Foley) were by FAR the worse when it came to not being present in the office (NOTE: we excluded the Treasurer's office because his role is different than the other elected officials).

To reinforce this point, here's video footage of a member of the public (Lynn Waller) who echoed these same criticisms about Natale. It's also important to note that after these accurate remarks were made, it was reported that Natale confronted and yelled at Waller in the hallway of City Hall prior to the start of the Democratic Common Council caucus meeting.



In terms of Natale being in her office at random points of any particular day, once again Natale led the way when it came to being around. To add insult to injury, while Natale was not in her City Clerk's office, many times the City Clerk could be found on the second floor at the Registrar of Voters office (Natale is good friends with Republican Registrar of Voters member Mary Ann Doran and a former Registrar of Voters prior to 2003).

In one particular astonishing episode, after several people witnessed Natale not in her office and instead spending time in the Registrar of Voters office, I went to City Hall to witness this nonsense first-hand.

On February 5 2008, I went to the Registrar of Voters office at City Hall and requested a copy of the bond package referendum which was being voted on by the people on that day. The person who assisted me at the REGISTRAR OF VOTERS office in getting a copy of the ballot was none other than the City Clerk. Here's a copy of the ballot she personally retrieved for me.



This begs the question: Why is the City Clerk doing the work of the Registrar of Voters, a position that is outside of her job requirement?

What I witnessed first-hand is consistent with complains people launched against Natale when it comes to her not being available in her own office. For for City Clerk to be routinely present in another department (i.e., the Registrar of Voters office) is something that would be unacceptable if the position of City Clerk was changed to a civil service position. In other words, if you or I were hired to do a particular job and was instead not where we should be AND in an area where we didn't belong, WE WOULD BE DISCIPLINED OR FIRED. Unfortunately, as an elected official, Natale does not have to answer to anyone at City Hall which is why she can get away with this alarming level of incompetence. Add that with the fact that most people in Danbury are unaware of Natale's practice at City Hall and most of what the current City Clerk does goes unnoticed and never gets reported.

As taxpayers, you should be OUTRAGED. Do you part and:

1.: Learn more about the incompetent performance of the present City Clerk AND,

2.: Sign the online petition, call for a public censure of Jean Natale and request the charter revision commission eliminate the position of City Clerk and replace it with a civil service position. (NOTE: In signing the online petition, the public will not be able to view any personal information provided).

...starts now.

Trust me, there is MUCH more to come including a petition drive requesting that an investigation be launched into the decision making of the City Clerk which, in at least one circumstance, was, in my opinion (and after consulting legal counsel who are familiar with the city charter) was illegal.

NOTE TO MEDIA: if you have any questions, please contact me at hatcityblog@yahoo.com.

SECOND NOTE: The site is somewhat incomplete due to the fact that I'm still processing video footage. This new section of HatCityBLOG will be continuously updated with new information so check back often.

Starting tomorrow, I'll FINALLY be able to release all the research I did on the performance of our lovely incompetent City Clerk Jean Natale.

I'd like to thank all those who helped me in the research as you're input was amazing. It's rare when both sides of the political aisle come to an agreement when it comes to an elected official...but in this case, the opinion is overwhelming that Natale is by far, the worse City Clerk in the history of the city and if there was a recall provision in the city charter (which is not allowed due to state law), Natale would be removed from office.

It's truly unfortunate that it took this site to expose the gross incompetence of a person who is making 50,000 per year in taxpayer's dollars. Most people don't know the inner workings of the City Clerk's office which is probably why Natale hasn't received any level of criticism outside of City Hall.

...that is going to change.

There is no way we can remove the current City Clerk from office right now BUT we can sure as well inform the public about the way Natale conducts her business and make the case when it comes to why Natale should NEVER EVER be elected to ANY elected position EVER again.

and the answer is NO.



New poll tomorrow!