GUEST: Bethel First Selectman Robert Burke, Pro-Bethel Selectman candidate Bill Slifkin

The municipal election debate season in Danbury kicked off on Wednesday.

Held the Broadview Middle School, candidates for the Board of Education offered their take on school-related issues during the Danbury teachers union forum.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the forum but you can click here to read Eileen FitzGerald's write-up on the event.

From Wednesday night, here's video footage of the forum in it's entirety.



NOTE: Thanks to John Nuemiller for taping the forum and sharing the video. You can watch the forum on Comcast channel 23 TOMORROW at 7PM.

GUEST: Danbury Democratic mayoral candidate Gary Goncalves

(click on image to enlarge)

It's been two years since the unearthing of a series of racist and highly offensive anti-immigrant emails that involved then Common Council Majority Leader Pauline Basso, seventh ward Common Council member Mary Teicholtz, and Planning Commissioner Joel Urice rocked the community.

Over the coming days, I'm going to do a series of posts which will examine everything regarding this dark episode in the history of Danbury, including whether or not the xenophobic attitude outlined in the series of emails still exist at City Hall today, and what the major players in the scandal are doing now.

For now, here's a look back on how Danbury's dirty dark secret unfolded on the networks...

The News-Times' Eileen FitzGerald has the latest on the dismissal on the ethics complaint filed against Police Commissioner Nick Ellis by First Selectman Robert Burke's campaign treasurer Dan Gaita.

The Ethics Commission tossed out a complaint against a local police commission member after about an hour's deliberation Tuesday night.

The commission met behind closed doors to decide if it would investigate a complaint resident Daniel Gaita filed against Nicholas Ellis.

The complaint charged Ellis with getting information he learned as a police commissioner and making it public.

Ellis was glad the complaint was dismissed but said he would have been happy to discuss the issues in public, too.

"I'm happy the ethics board found that I did nothing wrong,'' Ellis said. "I'm not happy the complaint was made against me. I feel I'm on the right side of the story."

[...]

Ethics commission chairman John Kelly said the commission voted 4-1 to dismiss the complaint.

"We found no probable cause and dismissed it," Kelly said Wednesday.

This whole matter involving the mayor's waffling over debating in a FREE and OPEN forum with Democratic mayoral candidate Gary Goncalves has gone from the ridiculous to the absurd.

Today, The Fairfield Weekly wrote a piece on the m wrote a piece on the matter which produced more questions about the mayor's response to the League of Women Voter's invitation than answers.

It’s municipal election season, so that means it’s time for arguing — and in Danbury, they’re arguing about how they should commence arguing.

Gary Goncalves, Democratic challenger to Republican Mayor Mark Boughton, is blasting Boughton over his non-commitment to a debate the League of Women Voters tried to schedule for Oct. 20 or 22. Boughton says he can’t make those dates, and the only debate currently scheduled between the two is a $45-a-plate luncheon hosted by the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce (Oct. 14).

“It’s unfair to me as a candidate and even more so to the community and taxpayers of Danbury that the mayor will not commit to a free and open debate,” says Goncalves.

Boughton says he didn’t get the League’s invitation until Sept. 24, and by that time he’d already made plans. “I can’t make those dates,” he says.

It's almost laughable that the mayor is using the excuse that he didn't get an invite from the LWV until Sept 24 seeing that Goncalves sent a press release asking Boughton to accept the LWV's invite AND that the mayor responded to Goncalves' request in an News-Times article that was published on Sept 20th.

"There are already several events planned for next month," he said. "Anything beyond that may be difficult to fit into our schedule."

While keeping that in mind, take a look at what the last honest man in Danbury said about the invitation from the LWV back on SEPTEMBER 25 2009

In response Boughton said he only received the invitation to the league debate late last week and he will evaluate whether he can attend the event.

Now, using Boughton's own quote, in an article that was PUBLISHED on Sept 25, the mayor stated that he received the invite from the LWV "late last week." If you check a calendar, Sept 25th was on a FRIDAY, which means that "late last week" would had been anywhere from Sept 16 to 18. The LWV send the first invite to Boughton's campaign on Sept 10th and, according to the Fairfield Weekly piece, hand delivered the SECOND invite to City Hall on Sept 24th.

Carol Elder, president of the LWV Danbury Area, says invitations were sent to the campaign headquarters of both candidates on Sept. 10. “Gary got his and agreed to the debate and I never heard back from the mayor,” Elder says.

She eventually had a second invitation hand-delivered to City Hall two weeks later. “I don’t know why he didn’t get [the first invitation] unless his campaign isn’t passing his mail to him,” she says.

…are you catching on?

Lets go back and look at another quote from Boughton from Sept 25th

"It's already late in the (election) cycle and we do have a full schedule of events," he said. "I also have a responsibility to run the city of Danbury."

In face of a News-Times editorial that was critical of the mayor's action in the matter, and continued blasting from Goncalves, Mayor Mark is giving the impression that he's having a change of heart.

“However, in the interest of public discourse I proposed, as an alternative, a TV debate, which can be seen [on the Comcast government access channel] anytime they want to show it.”

On one hand, the mayor states that his schedule is too busy from now until election day to do any other debates AND that he has a "responsibility to run the city" and SUDDENLY Boughton has found time in his "busy" schedule to participate in a debate on public access television...a debate that would be next to extremely hard to pull off.

Notwithstanding the fact that a debate that's done at Comcast studios would need a moderator, an agreed format, and scheduled on an agreed date and time (a.k.a., something the LWV had already set up last month), in order to do the event, the show would also need a crew to run the studio (director, two to three camera operators, audio operator, graphics operator, etc).

Now as a person who's involved in a several shows on public access, I can tell you that:

• finding an hour in the evening to do a debate in the studio,
  
• finding a full studio crew (who are volunteers) that can be at the studio at the agreed time,


• a moderator that both parties would agree upon,

a debate on local access at this late date is pretty much next to impossible.

At the very least the "debate" would have to be taped during the morning when more studio time is available (evening studio time at Comcast is most likely booked from now till well past Election Day) Finding a crew to tape a debate at the studio in the morning/early afternoon is all the more difficult seeing that people who volunteer their time at local access work during the day.

…and then there's that thing about the mayor having a "responsibility to run the city of Danbury".

…are you catching on?

Unfortunately, the mayor's waffling on FREE and OPEN debates has resulted in the possibility of the League of Women Voters hosting a debate very slim...if not impossible.

Elder says the LWV’s chances of hosting a debate this cycle are shot as they probably couldn’t organize one before Election Day.

In short, because of the mayor's recycled excuses and insulting everyone's intelligence, just as in 2007, once again, the resident of Danbury are the big losers.

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RELATED POSTS:

Day 25: fundraising for candidates are more important to Boughton than FREE and OPEN debates

Day 24 and no word from Boughton

Democratic Town Committee chairman weighs in on Boughton avoiding FREE and OPEN debates

News-Times to Boughton: Stop waffling on FREE and OPEN debates

Avoiding free and open debates is nothing new for Boughton

Goncalves blasts Boughton over not agreeing to open debates

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security landed a devastating blow one of the most controversial figures in the anti-immigrant/pro 287g movement.

But Arpaio said Tuesday he plans to continue his controversial “crime suppression operations,” despite DHS’s decision to not renew an agreement that would allow the sheriff to continue immigration enforcement on the streets.

“It’s all politics,” said Arpaio, who spent much of an afternoon news conference Tuesday wagging his finger, waving his arms and snarling at reporters.

Arpaio will have some immigration powers under an agreement signed Friday. His 60 detention officers in the county jails will still have the authority to check the immigration status of people they book.

But the agreement that would allow street patrols was signed Sept. 21 and then rescinded, and a top-level DHS official from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs personally told him the federal agency wasn’t going to accept the agreement, but he “didn’t really give a good reason,” Arpaio said.

“We’re being looked at by the Justice Department and all that.”

Arpaio said he believes DHS made the changes to stop his “crime suppression operations,” which are saturation patrols in designated areas where deputies would find illegal immigrants by stopping them for traffic infractions and minor violations.

The Department of Justice and other federal agencies are investigating the sheriff’s office on accusations of racial profiling during the crime suppression operations.

In a Pulitzer Prize-winning series published in July 2008, the Tribune found the sheriff’s office’s illegal-immigration sweeps violated federal regulations intended to prevent racial profiling. The five-part series also found that the sweeps diverted resources from core law-enforcement functions, which in some cases caused response times to increase.

As pressure is being placed on the government to end the controversial 287G program, this announcement is a good first step in ending the practice of having local police enforcing federal law.

After his appearance on local access last Friday, it's safe to say that Bethel First Selectman Bob Burke isn't going anywhere.

On last Friday's edition of the local access show "Common Sense" Burke went on the offense taking issue with both the Republican and Democratic First Selectman candidate while taking a shot at Bethel's previous administration (Alice Hutchinson).

There are so many highlights in Burke's appearance, it's better to watch the entire thing in full...



*Full disclosure: Common Sense host Bob Crnic is Bob Burke's campaign manager and chairman of the Pro Bethel Party

It's been a mind-blowing 25 days since the League of Women Voters requested Mayor Mark Boughton to participate in a NON-PARTISAN FREE and OPEN debate with Democratic mayoral candidate Gary Goncalves.

Instead of accepting the debate, the last honest man in Danbury is attempting fool the public with this tired, and recycled excuse.

In response Boughton said he only received the invitation to the league debate late last week and he will evaluate whether he can attend the event.

"It's already late in the (election) cycle and we do have a full schedule of events," he said. "I also have a responsibility to run the city of Danbury."

What's included on Boughton's schedule you ask?
Well, lets take a look...



Busy schedule huh?

To recap:

Mayor Boughton can't seem to find the time to discuss the issues with Gary Goncalves in a FREE and OPEN debate at a time where the public could attend BUT he can find THREE HOURS in his busyt schedule to be the headliner at a fundraiser in RIDGEFIELD and help raise money for a fellow Republican candidate who's running for the Common Council?

In other words, raising money for political purposes is more important than agreeing to a FREE and OPEN debate.

People over Politics or Politics over THE PEOPLE!

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RELATED POSTS:

Day 24 and no word from Boughton

Democratic Town Committee chairman weighs in on Boughton avoiding FREE and OPEN debates

News-Times to Boughton: Stop waffling on FREE and OPEN debates

Avoiding free and open debates is nothing new for Boughton

Goncalves blasts Boughton over not agreeing to open debates

Among the alarming number of lawsuits filed against the City of Danbury under Mayor Mark Boughton's watch, is a case, which Democratic mayoral candidate Gary Goncalves has mentioned during several of his recent press conferences.

...the other behind the scenes issues well kept from public scrutiny, such as the lawsuit brought against the city by civil service job applicants who claim to have been passed over illegally in the questionable practices involved in that specific Civil Service exam cycle.

The News-Times looked into the allegations and, if the actions are true, then if safe to say that the last honest man in Danbury has some VERY serious explaining to do.

Allegations that city officials failed to follow their own rules when hiring firefighters could result in nearly 40 of the city's fire-fighting staff -- almost a third of the 118-member department -- losing their jobs.

"This could have a significant impact on the city's ability to deliver fire prevention services for at least six months," said Elisabeth Maurer, the attorney who filed a lawsuit against the city about two years ago.

[...]

The lawsuit claims that an examination held for firefighter applicants in 2005 was invalid because the city's rules weren't followed. As a result, according to Maurer, all of the firefighters hired from that examination could lose their jobs.

Maurer filed the lawsuit in 2007 after several applicants complained that they were passed over for positions even though they scored better than some of cut firefighters who were eventually hired.

[...]

Maurer said the test, which was held in August 2005, is invalid for several reasons, including that Mayor Mark Boughton never formally filed a "request for personnel" with the Civil Service Commission before the exam was scheduled.

There were other procedures as required by city ordinance that also weren't followed, she said.

Maurer said the Common Council appointed firefighters at the mayor's request in October 2005 before an official list of candidates had been approved by the commission. She added that a short list of the six top candidates, typically sent to the mayor to select appointees from, was never created.

According to city records, the commission approved of a candidate list on Oct. 19, 2005 -- more than one week after the Common Council appointed six firefighters at Boughton's request on Oct. 4, 2005.

Maurer said there were also firefighters appointed in February 2008, months after the list had expired in October 2007.

[...]

The lawsuit also alleges that several firefighters were hired because of their relationship to people in positions of authority.

The lawsuit states that Michael Finn Jr., the son of Civil Service Commission chairman Michael Finn Sr., was hired by the department in February 2008. He was originally ranked 108th on the list of candidates, according to the filing.

The attorney for the plaintiffs added that Patrick Heron was hired by the department in March 2007 and was related by an "impending marriage" to former Fire Chief and current Common Council member Phil Curran. Heron was originally ranked 40th on the candidate list.

[...]

Maurer had filed a summary judgment motion in August that asks the judge to make a decision in the case right away instead of going to trial. The attorney said she believes the court has been provided with sufficient information to make a judgment.

[...]

Louis DeMici, president of the Danbury Fire Fighters Union Local 801, said the union has hired its own attorney who will also be present during the Monday hearing.

"This lawsuit could affect about 38 of our members," he said. "The union has retained council to protect the interest of our members. I can't speak for the department, but should the plaintiffs prevail, this could be devastating."

Allegations of nepotism at City Hall is nothing new. What IS new is this lawsuit and if the plaintiffs prevail, the impact on Boughton's credibility could be devastating.

UPDATE: Click here to read about what happened in court today.

If anyone sees this man, tell him that the League of Women Voters is waiting on a response...
It's been a mind-blowing 24 days since the League of Women Voters requested Mayor Mark Boughton to participate in a NON-PARTISAN FREE and OPEN debate with Democratic mayoral candidate Gary Goncalves.

While using a recycled excuse from 2007, Boughton is using another well-known tactic from his political playbook...stubbornness.

In light of the last honest man's dodging, Goncavles issued the following press release:

Day 24 since the League of Women Voters issued their invitation on September 10, 2009 to Mayor Boughton and I to attend their debate to be held on either October 20th or 22nd, free of charge, at the Portuguese Cultural Center.

STATUS: NO ACCEPTANCE BY THE MAYOR AS YET.

As a Danbury resident and taxpayer who was born, raised and educated in Danbury, I consider the Mayor’s initial response and the fact that he has not accepted even after the News Times editorial, totally unacceptable. It is a display of arrogance and power by the Mayor to the voters and taxpayers of Danbury who have a right to hear the opposing views of the candidates in an open and no-cost forum. It further reflects the fact that the Mayor is not the same candidate who took office eight years ago when people believed his slogan of “People over Politics”.

The excuses offered by the Mayor were a flagrant slight to the League of Women voters, a storied organization whose trademark is all about fair play in our Democracy, and to the Portuguese Cultural Center, who has offered their facilities to the voters of Danbury free of charge for the debate.

Perhaps the Mayor was afraid to defend his performance as follows:

• eight straight years of tax increases coupled with the long term debt acquired by significant expenditures;


• recent News Times articles reporting the failing grades for some of our schools and the sharp increase in poverty levels in Danbury;


• the continued deterioration of our quality of life in the City, accentuated by a decrease in city services and choking traffic congestion;


• or perhaps the other behind the scenes issues well kept from public scrutiny, such as the lawsuit brought against the city by civil service job applicants who claim to have been passed over illegally in the questionable practices involved in that specific Civil Service exam cycle.

I'll meet the Mayor anywhere, anytime, in any forum, and I'll meet him as often as he'd like. It's a genuine offer, and one I hope he'll accept.

Are we going to have a repeat of 2007 when Boughton was no where to be found during the early days of the Pauline Basso/Joel Urice/Mary Teicholtz racist email scandal (a.k.a. when the ran away while the mainstream media was at his doorstep)?

...and for the record (or before Boughton attempts to make this excuse).

• The Chamber OF commerence luncheon IS NOT a FREE and OPEN mayoral debate.
  
  It's a 45 dollar a plate luncheon that held during the middle of the day in the middle on a weekday...hardly the appropriate time for a MAJORITY of the public to attend (yet along afford). The debate is also done by an organization that does not have the same standing as the League of Women Voters.

What's needed here is LEADERSHIP and not the type of arrogance that's becoming too typical when it comes to the last honest man and the local Republican Party.

For this to even be a issue in this mayoral campaign is ridiculous. We're talking about a simple FREE and OPEN debate.

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RELATED POSTS:

Democratic Town Committee chairman weighs in on Boughton avoiding FREE and OPEN debates

News-Times to Boughton: Stop waffling on FREE and OPEN debates

Avoiding free and open debates is nothing new for Boughton

Goncalves blasts Boughton over not agreeing to open debates