As we head into the final stretch of the campaign season, mayoral candidates Dean Esposito and Roberto Alves filed their final finance report before Election Day.

Between October 1st and 24th, Esposito raised a total of 12725.00 dollars (137,670), with all of the money coming from individuals and no contributions from PACs or the sale of ads in programs books.

In contrast, during the same period, the Alves campaign raised a total of 4382.27 in individual donations (144,545.27), 5,500 dollars from PACs (18075.00), with 125.00 in program ad book sales (16,240.00). Alves also reached into his pocket and personally paid expenses totaling 20,866.64 (29420.65).

An itemized list of Alves' out-of-pocket expenses are listed below.

The total amount of money raised/spent in the race will not be known until after the election.

Alves 7 Day until election report.
Esposito 7 Day until election report.
Alves third quarter amendment filing.

Last Saturday, Danbury Democrats came together in a show of force in their desire to win back a mayoral seat that has eluded them for the last two decades.

Aproximently 100 people consisting of candidates, state and federal lawmakers, union members, activists, and candidate's freinds and family members gathered at City Hall to show their support for Roberto Alves and the Democratic team.

Also in attendance were members of the community who were not there to support the candidates but rather show their disapproval for the proposed homeless shelter on Mill Plain Road. The state/non-profit venture has been a topic of controversy for the year, and opponents of the plan made their disapproval of the state/non-profit venture known to Governor Lamont, who spoke at the event.

Here's video footage of Alves' rally speech at the event.

In the following clip, Esposito details his resentment towards fellow councilman Farley Santos and Roberto Alves and details how an alleged action the two councilmen took against him while his family was mourning the recent passing of his grandfather and former councilman John Esposito Sr. led him to his breaking point with them and the new direction of the Danbury Democratic Town Committee.

My complete interview with Esposito will be posted later this week.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure to interview mayoral candidates Dean Esposito and Roberto Alves and get their take on their vision for Danbury. While I was able to post my sit-down with Esposito, I was unable to post my discussion with Alves until now due to annoying computer problems.

I met with Alves at Danbury Democratic headquarters and listened as the Democratic candidate opened up about his experiences growing up as an undocumented immigrant in the city. Alves also detailed how his upbringing and desire to help others paved the way for his involvement in politics, becoming the Democratic Party's choice to lead the city.

Unfortunately, Alves' team can only allot me twenty-five minutes to interview their candidate, so I could not cover several important topics that I could discuss with Esposito. Thankfully, Alves stayed a while longer and provided his view on one of the top concerns among active residents: the city's lack of passive recreational options.

If I seemed rushed in the interview, it's because I was constantly looking at my watch and noticing that we were losing time rapidly and we didn't tackle a single topic yet. I sped up my questions so Alves could provide his viewpoint to the public on as many topics as possible before the interview had to end.

I'll give my take on Alves and Esposito's interviews next week.

Danbury Fraternal Order of Police Overwhelmingly Endorse Dean Esposito for Mayor of the City of Danbury

On Tuesday evening, the membership of the Danbury Fraternal Order of Police overwhelmingly endorsed Dean Esposito to be the next Mayor of the City of Danbury. This is the first time the Danbury Fraternal Order of Police have ever endorsed in a Danbury Mayoral campaign.

John Krupinsky, President of the Danbury Fraternal Order of Police, strongly encourages all residents of Danbury to vote for Dean Esposito for Mayor on November 2nd to continue to keep Danbury safe.

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Danbury Fraternal Order of Police. As your next Mayor, I will support our men and women in law enforcement by providing adequate funding and support so they can continue to keep our community safe.” said Dean Esposito.

During Esposito's tenure as Chief of Staff, Danbury was consistently ranked one of the safest cities in CT. As Mayor, Dean Esposito will ensure that the brave members of the Danbury Police Department are equipped with the training and technology they require to serve and protect the Danbury community. Esposito is a long-time supporter of the Danbury Police Departments community policing activities that convey the DPD's dedication to Danbury and help keep residents, especially the children, safe.

Effective at 12:01am on October 15, 2021, the City of Danbury hereby lifts the Indoor Mask Mandate for fully vaccinated individuals only.

BY ORDER OF THE MAYOR: AMENDED AS OF OCTOBER 15, 2021 as noted in bold below: Pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order 13A dated August 5, 2021 and the Declaration of State of Emergency for the City of Danbury signed and dated/issued March 16, 2020, I hereby issue a modified ORDER that all indoor public spaces, indoor public venues, indoor gathering places, and spaces, areas and locations in the City of Danbury where such gatherings occur or may occur, including businesses, offices and other public accommodations, only persons not vaccinated or unable to provide proof of vaccination and who are not exempt under said Executive Order Sec. 1.a. are required to wear proper mask coverings.

Enforcement of this ORDER shall be pursuant to Connecticut General Statute and local law as applicable under COVID and emergency issuance and regulation. This ORDER will stand until repealed or superseded by Order of the Mayor or the Governor of the State of Connecticut. Upon amending the Indoor Mask Mandate, Mayor Cavo reiterated that he supports the choice of fully vaccinated residents and visitors who may find a level of comfort wearing a mask especially while attending indoor public settings where they might feel at-risk or cannot social distance themselves, although there is no mandate to do so. Mayor Cavo also noted any Danbury establishment that wishes to continue the use of masks and facial coverings for staff and/or visitors, may implement its own policy. The Danbury Health Department will be available to assist in facilitating an implementation plan if requested.

Please be advised that Danbury Public Schools and private schools in Danbury are not subject to the Mayor’s lifting of the mask mandate. Masks are required in schools pursuant to an order from the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health outlining conditions and environments subject to the exemption provided in Governor Lamont’s Executive Order 12A. The order also requires healthcare facilities, facilities housing vulnerable populations, public and private transit, correctional facilities, and childcare settings to require face-covering .

The recently filed third-quarter finance reports show that mayoral candidates Roberto Alves and Dean Esposito are in good financial shape for the final stretch of the campaign season.

Alves campaign raised a total of 60923.00 for the third quarter, with 47648 coming from individuals (140,163), 4,100 from PACs (12,575), and 9.175 coming from the program ad books (16,115).

Esposito raised a total of 51110.00 for the third quarter, with 44910 coming from individuals (124,945), 0 from PACs (2,500), and 6200.00 coming from program ad books (6,200).

With Election Day around the corner, these numbers indicate that both candidates will be in an excellent position to get their message out to voters. However, Alves' burn rate is significantly higher than Esposito, who has yet to attack his Democratic counterpart.

As ALWAYS with these finance reports, the devil is in the details, and I'm in the process of providing a detailed analysis of every finance report filed in an upcoming post.

Alves Oct 12th SEEC report
Esposito Oct 12th SEEC report

UPDATE The Roberto Alves campaign released the following press release

Roberto Alves Announces Third Quarter Fundraising Total

DANBURY, C.T. — Democratic candidate for Mayor Roberto Alves today announced his third-quarter fundraising total. Since announcing his campaign on January 7th Alves has raised $169,000 -- the most any candidate for Mayor of Danbury raised through their third quarter. Of this total, $61,000 was raised in the third quarter.

“I’m energized by the investment and trust that so many friends and neighbors have placed in me,” said Councilman Alves. “This is what thoughtful strategic plans, meaningful conversations, and listening to all Danbury residents look like. This kind of support shows the successes we’ve already had, and those to come – and we’re not going to stop. I’m confident that we will be successful on November 2nd, and that’s when the real work begins.” Concluded Alves.

Roberto Alves has been endorsed by the Connecticut Working Families Party, NEA Danbury, Western Connecticut AFL-CIO, AFT Connecticut, SEIU 1199 New England, CSEA SEIU Local 2001, CEUI, Carpenters Local 210 and has earned the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction. A product of Danbury’s public schools, Roberto Alves is a City Councilman At-Large and brings nearly a decade of private sector and community-driven experience to the position. He lives on West Redding Road in Danbury with his spouse Robyn, and their two children, Julius and Catalina.

With Election Day less than a month away, there are still many questions regarding long-standing issues in the city that the two candidates for mayor have not addressed in detail.

Over the past two weeks, I sat down with Republican mayoral candidate Dean Esposito and his Democratic counterpart City Councilman Roberto Alves to get their take on general topics of concern in Danbury. I also got the two men to open up about their personal lives and explain why each feels qualified to oversee the affairs of the seventh-largest city in the state.

First up to the deck, the Republican's choice for mayor, Dean Esposito. I will post my interview with the Democratic Party's choice for mayor, Roberto Alves, tomorrow.

NOTE:
1. For the exceptions of added b-roll material, the following interview is in its entirety.
2. There were no restrictions on topics with either candidate.
3. There was no time restriction with Esposito (interview lasted one hour). There was a time restriction of thirty minutes by the Alves campaign.
4. There were PLENTY of topics that we failed to discuss in the interview. Plrease rememebr that this was more of a general interview into their backgrounds and their take on a number of old standing issues that neithe candidate has addressed in detail. I hope to get Alves and Esposito on issues that I was unable to get to in the interview in a future update.
5. My apologizes in advance for the sound quality...curse that the annoying beeping noise in the background :-)