These People Got Balls!!: Democracy at Work
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
On May 10, 2007, News-Times Online Editor Elizabeth Putnam sat down with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and Police Chief Alan Baker for the second half of the show of Ideas At Work and Beyond discussing the parade ordinance, sex offender ordinance, the recent rash of robberies in the city and over-development issues, etc. On May 11, 2007, however, the Mayor shared his feelings of the show on his blog. People who saw the show decided to respond to the Mayor's comment, and the Mayor responded back and it went on and on. For your enjoyment, I copied and pasted the comments. You can also read what other bloggers have said about the Mayor's remark of the May 10th show. Enjoy!
Comments Made on Mayor Boughton's Blog
Friday, May 11, 2007
Always do your homework.
Last night I was on a cable access show here in Danbury. Most of the 1/2 hour was taken up by a discussion of illegal immigration, the final few minutes were dedicated to development in Danbury.It was interesting to see that some of the callers were local Democratic activists who are passionate about their beliefs (including one Democratic Councilwoman who forgot to turn down her T.V.), but don't always have all of the information at their fingertips.I learned long ago as a candidate and as a public servant to always do your homework. I never ask a question that I don't already know the answer to. I'm not bragging, it is just necessary for my own political survival to make sure I have a mastery of the issues. This does not mean that I am always right, nobody is always right. But you can count on that I have done my homework...
Posted by MayorMark at 10:12 PM
Labels: Always do your homework.
9 comments:
Anonymous said...
You can see the entire show at www.iawab.blogspot.com.
May 13, 2007 9:09 AM
Anonymous said...
Good job Mayor.Keep the heat on illegal aliens as much as possible...you have the support of the majority of the community.Please run again for Mayor, we need you.
May 13, 2007 10:02 AM
MayorMark said...
Thanks. I would also be remiss if I did not mention there was some discussion about the Parade Ordinance and a brief discussion about robberies.Unfortunatly, due to the heavy volume of calls by political insiders, Elizabth Putnam could not get to all of her questions. I would be happy to do it again.
May 13, 2007 11:30 AM
MayorMark said...
I had to turn on the moderate comments section due to people leaving unsigned posts.It's unfortunate, but if you are going leave silly comments, then have the courage to leave your name..
May 14, 2007 6:39 AM
Chris said...
From your comments, I'm not sure whether I saw the same show that you've been describing. On the show I saw, you got a compliment on Clean City Danbury from Lynn (Waller?) and Chief Baker was asked about the pipe bomb case by, you said, Lynn Taborsak. Those calls, together with the responses, took about 2 minutes. How much of the "heavy volume of calls by political insiders" did they constitute?Another caller wanted to know about driving with a Brazilian driver's license (not valid) and a fourth saw some people fishing for trout at Candlewood Lake and wondered if the local police can enforce fish and game laws (no). The interviewer,Liz Putnam, was actually able to ask about quite a few issues. There were 5 minutes on police matters, including the statistics on robberies and assaults, our next safe-city ranking and the date for the ground-breaking for the new police station. There were another 4 minutes on the parade ordinance in which Chief Baker praised the ordinance in his previous city and you disagreed with the view of the Corporation Counsel who drafted it on the scope of Danbury's proposed ordinance. And there were about 3 minutes on the future of Kennedy Park, BRT building plans and the prospects for a hiring site for day laborers. There were three segments on "illegal immigration" per se which took about 4 minutes. One was the assertion by a fifth caller that day laborers are illegal immigrants and therefore any contractor stopping near Kennedy Park should be arrested. You said the courts had ruled against that and we need judges who will make different interpretations. In response to the driver's license caller you said that the Congress should enforce immigration law. Liz answered the trout caller that she is not qualified to determine someone's immigration status. With about 8 minutes left,"Ken" who did indeed sound like a Democratic activist,asked about responsibility for over-development and you responded with a long statement on the history of development in Danbury.So, all in all, most of the show was not taken up with illegal immigration, Liz got to ask a lot of questions and the only Democratic activist was Ken who didn't really get to say much and with whom you seem to be in agreement, at least on the Cotswold parcel. I hope you will be on IAWAB again soon. How about next time stay for the whole hour and appear with some members of the loyal opposition.
May 14, 2007 12:58 PM
MayorMark said...
Chris,Thanks for the comments. See my comments above. What you could not see was the volume of calls on the phone (all lines were busy for most of the 1/2 hour.)I think we are nit picking issues here-for example do you classify where Day Laborers would stand with the larger issue of illegal immigration? etc. etc.I would be happy to do a full hour and have in the past.I did not disagree with the Corporation Counsel regarding the scope of the Parade Ordinance, I disagreed with the statement made by Liz and others that the ordinance would not impact the World Cup celebrations on Main Street.I was asked by Ivan to come on for 1/2 hour with Chief Baker. I was not asked to do a debate nor would I be willing to participate in one at this time. There will be plenty of time for debating in the fall.
May 14, 2007 2:07 PM
ken said...
I will try this again for I am new to this blogging thing. I did not know there was a rule that you needed to id yourself as the first two posts did not do so.Prevously deleated post:First, I find your statements both insulting and hypocritical. As far as someone doing his or her homework, with regard to the Cotswold project that you brought up, it is you who needs to study some more. We both know the truth on that subject, and the only reason that the project has met the resistance it has, and which has caused the developer to pull out twice before, is due to myself and my neighbors doing our homework. If there is any project I know, it is Cotswold.Second, I do not like partisan politics and do not like being accused of such, as I ask questions of the Democrats as well. It shouldn’t be ‘us and them’, but ‘right and wrong’. This time I think you are wrong, but I will address that at a later time and place.It’s funny, I did not tell you my party affiliation, but since I disagreed with you, you automatically assumed I must be a “Democratic Activist.” Apparently, you must have assumed I was a Democrat because you believe a good Republican would just blindly follow your lead, no matter the harm it might bring to the city or to the constitutional rights of it’s citizens. That is something that I will not stand by and watch. I have witnessed too much of that already.Trust me, I have done my homework, and I will now be doing a lot more.Oh, and if you look at the tape again, you’ll see who was doing all the talking -- and it was not “political insiders” taking up all the time.
May 14, 2007 10:20 PM
Chris said...
You say you were disagreeing with "Liz and others". Well, the main "other" is Corporation Counsel Gottschalk.From the minutes of the Common Council meeting of April 23 which followed a public hearing on the Parade and Public Assembly Ordinance: "Attorney Gottschalk said the concept for this arose because of public concern about outbursts of enthusiasms after sporting events...what they are looking at here doesn't go to the heart of the motivation." In other words, the ordinance will not have, according to its drafter, any effect on spontaneous events like the World Cup celebrations on Main Street. Mr. Gottschalk has said this over and over again in public meetings.For you to claim that the World Cup celebrations were "planned" because you and Chief Baker were talking about your own contingencies does not make them "planned" for the purposes of the ordinance. Your logic in claiming that the many calls which could not be taken was because of "political insiders" and "Democratic activists" is equally flawed. Six calls were taken, the rest of the callers lost out and will have to try again next time you are on. It was only a half-hour show and you, as the main guest, did most of the talking, which was as it should be. There was only time for a limited number of calls.On the Parade and Public Assembly Ordinance: you and President Cavo must return the deliberations to the last valid vote, the one before your improper vote. That was a bipartisan majority vote to recommit the ordinance so that the proposed amendments, which were also supported by a majority, could be properly reviewed.Anything else shows the utmost disrespect for the Common Council.
May 15, 2007 9:23 AM
MayorMark said...
Folks, thanks for your comments and thanks for stopping my blog. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.All the Best,MayorMark
May 15, 2007 4:32 PM
Comments Made on Mayor Boughton's Blog
Friday, May 11, 2007
Always do your homework.
Last night I was on a cable access show here in Danbury. Most of the 1/2 hour was taken up by a discussion of illegal immigration, the final few minutes were dedicated to development in Danbury.It was interesting to see that some of the callers were local Democratic activists who are passionate about their beliefs (including one Democratic Councilwoman who forgot to turn down her T.V.), but don't always have all of the information at their fingertips.I learned long ago as a candidate and as a public servant to always do your homework. I never ask a question that I don't already know the answer to. I'm not bragging, it is just necessary for my own political survival to make sure I have a mastery of the issues. This does not mean that I am always right, nobody is always right. But you can count on that I have done my homework...
Posted by MayorMark at 10:12 PM
Labels: Always do your homework.
9 comments:
Anonymous said...
You can see the entire show at www.iawab.blogspot.com.
May 13, 2007 9:09 AM
Anonymous said...
Good job Mayor.Keep the heat on illegal aliens as much as possible...you have the support of the majority of the community.Please run again for Mayor, we need you.
May 13, 2007 10:02 AM
MayorMark said...
Thanks. I would also be remiss if I did not mention there was some discussion about the Parade Ordinance and a brief discussion about robberies.Unfortunatly, due to the heavy volume of calls by political insiders, Elizabth Putnam could not get to all of her questions. I would be happy to do it again.
May 13, 2007 11:30 AM
MayorMark said...
I had to turn on the moderate comments section due to people leaving unsigned posts.It's unfortunate, but if you are going leave silly comments, then have the courage to leave your name..
May 14, 2007 6:39 AM
Chris said...
From your comments, I'm not sure whether I saw the same show that you've been describing. On the show I saw, you got a compliment on Clean City Danbury from Lynn (Waller?) and Chief Baker was asked about the pipe bomb case by, you said, Lynn Taborsak. Those calls, together with the responses, took about 2 minutes. How much of the "heavy volume of calls by political insiders" did they constitute?Another caller wanted to know about driving with a Brazilian driver's license (not valid) and a fourth saw some people fishing for trout at Candlewood Lake and wondered if the local police can enforce fish and game laws (no). The interviewer,Liz Putnam, was actually able to ask about quite a few issues. There were 5 minutes on police matters, including the statistics on robberies and assaults, our next safe-city ranking and the date for the ground-breaking for the new police station. There were another 4 minutes on the parade ordinance in which Chief Baker praised the ordinance in his previous city and you disagreed with the view of the Corporation Counsel who drafted it on the scope of Danbury's proposed ordinance. And there were about 3 minutes on the future of Kennedy Park, BRT building plans and the prospects for a hiring site for day laborers. There were three segments on "illegal immigration" per se which took about 4 minutes. One was the assertion by a fifth caller that day laborers are illegal immigrants and therefore any contractor stopping near Kennedy Park should be arrested. You said the courts had ruled against that and we need judges who will make different interpretations. In response to the driver's license caller you said that the Congress should enforce immigration law. Liz answered the trout caller that she is not qualified to determine someone's immigration status. With about 8 minutes left,"Ken" who did indeed sound like a Democratic activist,asked about responsibility for over-development and you responded with a long statement on the history of development in Danbury.So, all in all, most of the show was not taken up with illegal immigration, Liz got to ask a lot of questions and the only Democratic activist was Ken who didn't really get to say much and with whom you seem to be in agreement, at least on the Cotswold parcel. I hope you will be on IAWAB again soon. How about next time stay for the whole hour and appear with some members of the loyal opposition.
May 14, 2007 12:58 PM
MayorMark said...
Chris,Thanks for the comments. See my comments above. What you could not see was the volume of calls on the phone (all lines were busy for most of the 1/2 hour.)I think we are nit picking issues here-for example do you classify where Day Laborers would stand with the larger issue of illegal immigration? etc. etc.I would be happy to do a full hour and have in the past.I did not disagree with the Corporation Counsel regarding the scope of the Parade Ordinance, I disagreed with the statement made by Liz and others that the ordinance would not impact the World Cup celebrations on Main Street.I was asked by Ivan to come on for 1/2 hour with Chief Baker. I was not asked to do a debate nor would I be willing to participate in one at this time. There will be plenty of time for debating in the fall.
May 14, 2007 2:07 PM
ken said...
I will try this again for I am new to this blogging thing. I did not know there was a rule that you needed to id yourself as the first two posts did not do so.Prevously deleated post:First, I find your statements both insulting and hypocritical. As far as someone doing his or her homework, with regard to the Cotswold project that you brought up, it is you who needs to study some more. We both know the truth on that subject, and the only reason that the project has met the resistance it has, and which has caused the developer to pull out twice before, is due to myself and my neighbors doing our homework. If there is any project I know, it is Cotswold.Second, I do not like partisan politics and do not like being accused of such, as I ask questions of the Democrats as well. It shouldn’t be ‘us and them’, but ‘right and wrong’. This time I think you are wrong, but I will address that at a later time and place.It’s funny, I did not tell you my party affiliation, but since I disagreed with you, you automatically assumed I must be a “Democratic Activist.” Apparently, you must have assumed I was a Democrat because you believe a good Republican would just blindly follow your lead, no matter the harm it might bring to the city or to the constitutional rights of it’s citizens. That is something that I will not stand by and watch. I have witnessed too much of that already.Trust me, I have done my homework, and I will now be doing a lot more.Oh, and if you look at the tape again, you’ll see who was doing all the talking -- and it was not “political insiders” taking up all the time.
May 14, 2007 10:20 PM
Chris said...
You say you were disagreeing with "Liz and others". Well, the main "other" is Corporation Counsel Gottschalk.From the minutes of the Common Council meeting of April 23 which followed a public hearing on the Parade and Public Assembly Ordinance: "Attorney Gottschalk said the concept for this arose because of public concern about outbursts of enthusiasms after sporting events...what they are looking at here doesn't go to the heart of the motivation." In other words, the ordinance will not have, according to its drafter, any effect on spontaneous events like the World Cup celebrations on Main Street. Mr. Gottschalk has said this over and over again in public meetings.For you to claim that the World Cup celebrations were "planned" because you and Chief Baker were talking about your own contingencies does not make them "planned" for the purposes of the ordinance. Your logic in claiming that the many calls which could not be taken was because of "political insiders" and "Democratic activists" is equally flawed. Six calls were taken, the rest of the callers lost out and will have to try again next time you are on. It was only a half-hour show and you, as the main guest, did most of the talking, which was as it should be. There was only time for a limited number of calls.On the Parade and Public Assembly Ordinance: you and President Cavo must return the deliberations to the last valid vote, the one before your improper vote. That was a bipartisan majority vote to recommit the ordinance so that the proposed amendments, which were also supported by a majority, could be properly reviewed.Anything else shows the utmost disrespect for the Common Council.
May 15, 2007 9:23 AM
MayorMark said...
Folks, thanks for your comments and thanks for stopping my blog. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.All the Best,MayorMark
May 15, 2007 4:32 PM
1 Comments:
What a terrible title and not for anything but a little biased reporting.
commented by 
Anonymous, 9:01 PM
Anonymous, 9:01 PM
