Last week, I attended the monthly City Council meeting and listened to the debate regarding education funding for the next fiscal year.

There have been a lot of discussions recently regarding what was discussed at last week's meeting so, in order to provide full transparency to readers, I videotaped the proceedings and combined my footage with the audio and video feed that the city provided. The result is footage from the meeting that is easier to follow.

Earlier today, I attended Latinos for Education Advocacy and Diversity's (LEAD) press conference where the group expressed their frustrations with members of the city's state delegation whom they allege "forced our state leaders to remove funds for the Danbury Charter school from the draft budget."

LEAD recently announced a rally to be held in Danbury on May 1st where the pro-charter school advocacy group plan to demonstrate against members of the city's state delegation who have fought against their cause.

"Our coalition is marching for educational justice and against the actions of Senator Julie Kushner, Keneth Gucker, Bob Godfrey, and Raghib Allie-Brennan, who on Sunday, April 3rd, deliberately and against the will of thousands pressured the house and senate leaders to remove the allocated funding in the draft budget for the Danbury Charter school. Thus perpetuating a five-year blockade of our school and showing a complete disregard for the wishes of an entire community."

LEAD PRESS RELEASE

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Today, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jahana Hayes will pay a visit to Danbury to present New American Dream with a 50,000 in funding to provide meals to low income seniors.

I’ll be on-hand to livestream the event at the Glen apartments complex starting at 2:30; press release of the event is below.

TODAY: BLUMENTHAL & HAYES ANNOUNCE FEDERAL FUNDING TO EXPAND HOT MEALS PROGRAM FOR LOW INCOME SENIORS IN DANBURY

Danbury’s New American Dream Foundation will receive $50,000 in Congressional funding to provide more seniors with hot meals

(HARTFORD, CT) – On Tuesday, April 19th at 2:30 PM at Glen Apartments in Danbury, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes (D-CT) will announce $50,000 in federal funding for the New American Dream Foundation to provide more low income seniors in Danbury with hot meals. This funding was secured through the 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Blumenthal, Hayes, and New American Dream Foundation leaders will visit Glen Apartments senior residents who benefit from the meal program.

The federal grant will provide funding for the New American Dream Foundation to expand its hot meal program for seniors. The Foundation currently provides 90 percent of all Danbury seniors living in affordable housing with hot meals, meeting the needs of those who do not qualify for Meals on Wheels. The funding will purchase the meals and help with administrative costs, including managing volunteers and dietary needs, and more.

WHO: U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes
Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito
Celia Palmares, President and Founder, The New American Dream Foundation
Angela Barbosa, Executive Director, The New American Dream Foundation
Danbury seniors who are recipients of the meal program

WHEN: Tuesday, April 19th at 2:30 PM

WHERE: Glen Apartments
25 Memorial Drive
Danbury, CT

You can watch a replay of the livestream in its entirety below.

On March 31st, 4th ward City Councilman Farley Santos filed paperwork with the State Elections Enforcemnt Commission to run for State Represenative for the 109th district. Earlier this month, David Arconti announced that he would not seek re-election.

As of this writing, while there has been a couple of names tossed around for the Republican noimination, no individual has filed or offically announced thier intentions to run for the state office seat.

Emboldened from last year's municipal elections, on Friday evening, over one hundred and sixty friends and supporters of Republican State Senate candidate Michelle Coehlo gathered at the Portuguese Cultural Center to kick off the start of the quest to place the 24th district back into GOP control.

From earlier today, here's video highlights of Coehlo's inaugural campaign event.

This morning, David Arconti announced that he will not seek re-election for State Represenative of the 109th district.

ARCONTI NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION

House Chair of the Energy & Technology Committee David Arconti (D-Danbury), currently serving his fifth legislative term, today announced on the House floor that he will not run for re-election to the 109th Assembly District.

"Serving in the state legislature has been a great honor and I am grateful to all the constituents in my district who supported me and entrusted me to be their voice in Hartford," Arconti stated. "Making this decision wasn't easy, but after serious consideration, I have decided that the time has come to pursue other interests."

Rep. Arconti was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012 and has served in important legislative leadership positions including vice chair of the Environment in 2015 and the General Law Committees in 2018. He has been leading the Energy & Technology Committee as House Chair since 2019.

"The unique experiences I have had as a lawmaker, the many stories shared by my constituents, and the relationships I've been able to build during my tenure at the CT General Assembly have reaffirmed my appreciation of our beautiful state and its people," Arconti said.

Arconti added, "I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the remarkable House leaders that encouraged me and helped me grow into the roles, they assigned me to serve. I extend my deepest gratitude to them for giving me the opportunity to work with each one of them and for the residents of the state."