City Council members Paul Rotello, Tom Saadi and Connecticut Film Festival Director Tom Carruthers announced today that Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy will attend the opening ceremonies of the Fourth Annual Connecticut Film Festival in Danbury on Wednesday, April 6.

Governor Malloy, who as a youth struggled to overcome a learning disability, is scheduled to speak at the VIP reception for The United Way of Western CT and WeCAHR then attend the Welcome Reception at the Palace Theater from 6:15pm – 6:45pm where he will kick off the 2011, Danbury festival discussing his own struggle to overcome Dyslexia.

After receiving the news that the Governor would attend Carruthers credited Councilman Rotello and Saadi stating “for weeks I was concerned that the Governor’s busy schedule and town Hall meeting would prevent him from attending the Film Festival but after enlisting the help of Councilmen Rotello and Saadi they were able to work with his staff and bring this to fruition.”

Councilman Rotello, a longtime supporter of the Film Festival praised Governor Malloy for attending the Film Festival. “After three years of the City providing funding we are pleased with the progress Mr. Carruthers is making with the Festival and the Governor’s visit underscores that progress,” Said Rotello.

“The Governor kicking off the Film Festival demonstrates his commitment andf efforts to revitalizing Connecticut’s downtowns and support for local merchants during difficult economic times” Said Saadi.

Danbury’s Palace Theater will open its doors for the Forth Annual Connecticut Film Festival on Wednesday April 6th at 6:15 PM.

Simsbury Republican Lisa Wilson-Foley attended a “Liberty Unplugged” fundraiser in Avon Friday evening and told some of the 100 guests that she will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. The open seat is an invitation to crowded races for the nomination of both major parties. Wilson-Foley, who ran for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor last year, will join Mark Greenberg and Justin Bernier, both making return bids for the congressional nomination. Farmington Republican and former FBI agent Mike Clark is expected to join the race late this week.

In my last editorial, I reported here as the Immigration Department gave a shot in the foot by arresting and trying unsuccessfully to deport an American citizen as if it were an undocumented immigrant. The failure cost taxpayers $ 400,000 in damages to Rennison Castillo.

Now is the time from the City of Danbury, CT, also pay for its mistake. It left last week the outcome of the process in which the city and the Department of Immigration were defendants. Mark Boughton struck a deal with justice by agreeing to pay $ 400,000 to 11 Ecuadorian immigrants. Other $ 250,000 will be paid by ICE, the Immigration Police.

The case, known as "The Danbury 11", has generated much controversy in the state after 11 day laborers, all undocumented immigrants from Ecuador, were arrested in a trap. A plainclothes policeman passed by an employer interested in hiring workers. Upon entering the car, they were taken to a place where they were arrested by ICE agents.

Mark Boughton, known for his anti-immigrant in the city, denied all along that the city knew of the operation, moreover, he had no knowledge of what was to happen.

The court documents proved that he lied. Boughton had made several requests to Immigration to make beats on the spot where migrants are seeking work. In addition, the driver of the car was a police officer.

On the brink of having to go to trial and spend even more money from municipal coffers, Boughton has accepted the agreement and pay compensation.
It is noteworthy here that the immigrants' lawyers, the Yale Law School and later the firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Washington DC, worked for free in the case.

The events serve to alert anti-immigrant, even being here without proper documents, the immigrants have rights. One prohibits any person from being discriminated against based on race, religion, race and marital status.

These people were arrested, not because they are looking for work, but simply because they were immigrants, particularly Latinos.

The stupidity of the mayor, backed by a group of extremists, put paid to all taxpayers of the city of Danbury.

I hope the lesson has been learned.


Regards,
Brenda Mata

Maxwell’s Sports Bar and Grill closed at 1 Ives St., last week and sometime between midnight on March 24 and 1:27 p.m. March 25, someone stole 14 TVs, liquor, three kegs of beer and two video games.

“They were carefully removed,” said Capt. Thomas Wendel, spokesman for the Danbury Police Department. “None of the wires were severed.”

Wendel also said there was no sign of forced entry into the downtown eatery.

This isn’t good news for Ives Street, said Victor Aravena, who opened the Alley Way Diner, 14 Ives St., in 2006.

“I’ve seen three pizza restaurants come and go and nine other places come and go out,” Aravena said. “We’re getting Sonic, but the heart of Danbury is slowly dying. It used to be a destination.”

Wendel also said there was no sign of forced entry into the downtown eatery.

This isn’t good news for Ives Street, said Victor Aravena, who opened the Alley Way Diner, 14 Ives St., in 2006.

“I’ve seen three pizza restaurants come and go and nine other places come and go out,” Aravena said. “We’re getting Sonic, but the heart of Danbury is slowly dying. It used to be a destination.”

[...]

One of the numerous changes Danbury is considering involves the ordinance that says a restaurant is a business that makes most of its money from food, while a nightclub makes most of its money from liquor. The city limited the number of nightclubs allowed. (So business owners sought restaurant liquor licenses, but served little or no food, the city argued.) Now the city is struggling to find a balance. In the economic downturn, the city ordinance seems to be getting in the way of business.

“Something drastic has to happen,” Aravena said.

It may not sound drastic, but the city is preparing a downtown plan that will look at this issue and other downtown issues with the goal of improving downtown Danbury.

“We’re evaluating the whole issue of night clubs and the food and beverage mixture,” said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. “We want to encourage full-blown development. We may be loosening the regulations.”

Andrea Gartner, executive director of CityCenter Danbury, said Danbury has to rediscover its heart.

“The downtown contributes to the wellness and health of the region,” Gartner said.

Danbury Police said two Subway Restaurants, one on Padanaram Road and one on Germantown Road were both burglarized over the last week.

[...]

"I know we've been hit pretty bad," said Danbury Police Spokesman, Capt. Thomas Wendel. He didn't know how many other commercial establishments had been burglarized, but he said the city is experiencing a number of them right now.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy says he will not seek a third term and voluntarily turned over about $4 million in campaign funds to the district attorney following a 16-month investigation.

[...]

Levy, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010, made the stunning announcement Thursday afternoon in a press release.

In the statement, Levy said he had “been blessed” by being able to work as a public servant for 25 years. He said his decision “was not made lightly,” adding that “long hours, tough decisions, grueling debates, family sacrifices” have made him “look to new challenges.”

District Attorney Thomas Spota said a 16-month investigation by the Government Corruption Bureau “revealed serious issues with regard to fundraising and the manner in which it was conducted, including the use of public resources.”

Has Steve Levy gone into hiding? Several days after the embattled Suffolk County Executive announced he would not seek re-election amid an ongoing campaign fundraising investigation, the question remains…where is Levy?

[...]

A move that has legislator John Cooper question Levy’s timing.

“This is not the time for us to have an absent county executive so my hope is after the next few days the county executive will come back, collect himself and get back to doing the peoples’ business,” said Cooper.

Cooper is not calling for Levy to resign amid all the controversy, but he’s hopeful that if the controversy becomes too much of a distraction the county executive will, as Cooper told WCBS 880, do the right thing for the county.

“I remain concerned about how that’s going to – long term – affect the ability of Steve Levy to lead,” said Cooper.

It’s unfortunate our publicly elected officials, whether at the podium or in the audience, are politically unable to encourage if not require the need for basic courtesies during public meetings. So, what they didn’t say, I will.

I was embarrassed, ashamed & disheartened by the boorish behavior of so many at Representative Himes' Town Hall Budget Meeting last night. Lies, erroneous stats, & partial truths were championed as gospel by many opposing what is going on in our government, yet when Rep Himes wanted to respond to the comments, he was interrupted, spoken over & wasn't respected enough by them to even listen to his clarification, correction, or his perspective on the subject.

One needn’t agree with any of what our congressman has done or stands for, but there is a certain decorum that should override the grandstanding and pontificating exhibited last night. There were many of us that DID want to hear what Rep. Himes had to say but were unable to do so because of disruptive & rude behavior.

To Rep Himes’ credit, he remained interested, engaged, calm & respectful- even of the louts in attendance. Thank you Rep Himes for taking the time to share your knowledge & perspective on where we are & how we can move forward. No rose colored glasses here- Just the truth- We all must share the pain & we must manage the debt such that it doesn't corrupt the forward momentum & financial correction we are seeing- Thank you for your measured approach.

Despite the fact the state is facing an historic $4 billion budget deficit, Sen. McLachlan seems to want to spend time debating:

• A bill that would prohibit rationing of health care. Apparently playing on the fears of those who say the Obama healthcare plan would result in “rationing” care, the bill’s (No. 545; LCO 1998) stated purpose is, “To prohibit private and public insurers from rationing health care benefits or requiring insured persons to participate in end-of-life counseling.” Seriously? He wants to spend time on this? It gets better.


• A bill requiring the study of “the founding documents” of the United States in high school. The bill (No. 426, LOC 1672) requires “the study of the founding documents, including, but not limited to, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights, in the civics and American Government component of the high school graduation requirements.” One would think the leaders of his own caucus would slap this one down. Republicans have long screamed for local control in education.


• A Joint Resolution (No. 10, LCO 1368) calling “upon the Congress of the United States to abide by the terms, conditions and spirit of the tenth amendment to the United States Constitution.” The tenth amendment, of course, says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Sen. McLachlan is certainly entitled to his political views. But it seems a monumental waste of time to spend even a moment of the state legislature’s time for McLachlan to make his political statements. Each one of these bills has to be drafted and printed by the Legislative Commissioners Office. It takes time and money. He should go join a conservative activist group and stop wasting the legislature’s time.