After appearing at State Superior Court in Danbury Tuesday and having his harassment charges dismissed, Former Bethel First Selectman Robert Burke announced that he will again seek the Office of Bethel First Selectman this fall.

[...]

In an issued press release, Burke said: "I'm extremely happy to put what was been a very difficult situation behind me...I want to make it clear, I never did anything wrong and chose to use this [accelerated rehabilitation] program because it represented the most efficient means of putting an end to this matter."

Burke also claims his innocence to the charges and said choosing to complete the rehabilitation program does not suggest his guilt.

"The allegations against me were not true," he said. "Recently, the Connecticut Supreme Court stated that using such a program does not imply the applicant is guilty of anything."

Burke was Bethel's First Selectman from 2005-2009, serving two terms as a Republican. The harassment case came while he was seeking a third term when he ran under the Pro-Bethel Party.

"This matter was the result of my political enemies, taking action specifically designed to harm me...to ensure my defeat in the last election and they hoped I would stay for good," Burke said. "This is not going to happen, and I announce today that I will again seek the Office of the Bethel First Selectman in the next municipal election."

• Agreeing that pretext arrests are wrong YET that's exactly what DanburyPD did at Kennedy Park in Sept 2006 (the day laborers were ONLY charged with immigration violations.


• Boughton's laughable suggestion that the media was inaccurate in their coverage of the case, primarily his comments about the city's role in the Kennedy Park raid.


• (p. 244) Boughton claimed that he learned that DPD drove the van a year prior his deposition (which would be in 2009) YET that information came out during a different trial (deporation case) based on a FOI request from Yale back in spring 2007. I know this because I did an interview with the Yale attorneys on this subject in Sept 2007.
  
  LINK TO INTERVIEW:
  
  http://hatcityblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/hatcityblog-exclusive-lawyer-for.html


• aprox 230) Boughton's warped history of day laborers at Kennedy. Interesting how Mark penned the problems on Kennedy starting under the Eriquez administration's watch.



• (aprox. pg. 185-190) The close relationship between former ECC president Luis Batista and Mike McLachlan in 2005 (which explains Batista's past statements regarding 287g, Boughton, and the Danbury 11 case...but that's another story). Lets just say that I always knew the Tribuna family weren't the only people who threw their own community under the bus.