Here's a small sample of some topics I'm going to tackle over the next week here at HatCityBLOG as well as on my site at the News-Times
Hark! Just in time for the municipal elections, the mayor gets the downtown development task force into gear. Well, I crashed the party and I'll show you what was talked about as well as expose the hypocrisy of the very people who were doing the most complaining about the state of affairs on Main Street. Fucking unreal...
Speaking of hypocrisy, you're not going to believe the load of crap the mayor and Common Council are trying to pull on the public. Trust me, you're going to laugh at this one...
You're not going to believe who the police said is at fault in this accident...I'll explain later
I attended an ad-hoc committee on the purchase of city owned land on the corner of Locust Ave and White Street. Not withstanding the fact that the chairman of the committee allowed the entire meeting to turn into a circus with people talking over each other, the outcome of the meeting only reinforced my belief that certain members of the Common Council have NO BUSINESS being on the Common Council.
...and oh yeah, after attending this meeting, it's fair to say that the mayor's stance on open space and irresponsible development is a load of B.S.
I'll explain why this committee's recommendation MAKES NO SENSE whatsoever as well as why the entire meeting would have lasted no longer than 5 minutes (if common sense, which was only shown by John Esposito, prevailed).
Oh boy, here we go again. I have to call bullshit on another rant from self-described community "watchdog" (and her co-host/mayor's xenophobic mouthpiece) who's told yet another in a long list of lies...when will they ever learn?
The DHS principal site search trip to Arizona story won't die as new details emerge (as well as a serious rift among Democrats on the board of education).
Finally, City Hall has a VERY dirty dark secret that the media (which has full knowledge of the situation in question) is not reporting about. Since you have a right to know what not being told to you, I will be published my report here very soon. It's just a matter of dotting my 'I" and crossing my "T" now as this information is rather sensitive.
Make sure you take a moment and participate in the my new poll...
Recently, I purchased an Apple iPhone 3G-S (which is by far the BEST phone EVA!) and noticed that this site is rather difficult to read on a smart phone...and that got me thinking, why don't I just re-design a copy of this site for mobile users.
Now, I'm rather new to the whole mobile thing so it might take me a while but I'll alert everyone when I have the mobile version of this site ready.
HatCityBLOG VIDEO: Amid criticism over search process, Board of Ed approves Rossi as principal of DHS
Thursday, June 25, 2009 Time: 4:51 PM
Members of the Board of Education discuss the appointment of Dr. Robert Rossi as Principal of Danbury High School June 24 Board of Education meeting. Photo by ctblogger
I was on the interviewing committee...and this has nothing to do with the candidate, it has a lot to do with the process.
I think as leaders, at time point when the flaws came in this particular situation, that we should have stopped the process and started again.
-Comment from Board of Education member Gladys Cooper regarding flaws in the principal search process
I sat on the interviewing committee and my overall impression was that frankly, I felt pressured. I felt that it moved very quickly and it's such a critical position and I had hoped that we would go out again and continue the search. However, this has nothing to do with the candidate, I'm just talking about process.
...the board of education does have the option to interview the finalists candidates, and I really wished we [the board] had this opportunity to interview Mr. Rossi...I know it's impossible to go out again at this time, but I do wish we had more opportunity to interview Mr. Rossi.
-Board of education member Joan Hodge
Last night, although members of the Board of Education voted to approve the appointment of Dr. Robert Rossi as Principal of Danbury High School, the fallout over the principal search process was still paramount on the minds of many in attendance.
Although the News-Times did a write-up on last night's vote, as one who made the trek to last night's meeting, when it comes to providing a full account of the comments made by board members during the vote for Rossi, I felt the article failed short. This lack of complete analysis is most aparent when it comes to comments from board members who were critical of the handling of the search process (with the most critical comments coming from interview committee members Joan Hodge and Gladys Cooper).
In an effort to provide more information on what transpired last night, I videotaped the entire meeting for the public...and here's what actually happened.
As you can see in the clip, the controversy regarding the search process extends beyond the critical comments made by the Mayor, Minority Leader Tom Saadi, Common council members, and the News-Times editorial board staff as members of the board made also made their feelings known to the public.
Will the criticism translate into change in the way the board searches for administrative candidates in the future...well, that remains to be seen.
Recently, something happened to me that reaffirmed that the political parties are entering campaign mode.
I received a phone call from a pollster...
As with most polling calls, there is really no way to determine who was behind the call since the questions asked didn't really lean Democratic or Republican. One thing is for certain, the silly season is in full swing...and this election could be interesting.
...and speaking of polls, make sure you take a moment and check out the new poll I just posted on this site. I'll have more to say regarding the topic raised in the poll later.
Well, I'm back from my little vacation in Newport R.I. and I'm ready to get back into things.
I'm a little behind in posts so it will take me a little time to get things back up to speed here so be patient.
BTW: I got an iPhone 3G-S for Daddy's Day and I must say that it's the BEST PHONE EVA!!! Once UStreamTV updates their software, I'll be able to do live video feeds from anywhere in Danbury thtough the phone (pretty cool). I can also upload videos directly from the phone to YouTube...which will become really handy as the election season gets underway.
Anyway, I'll be back to full speed soon...lots to talk about.
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"
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.
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.
