Blog For Connecticut

Death Penalty Takes Center Stage in Hartford

2005-03-30T08:09:46Z

The debate over Connecticut’s use of the death penalty is taking place in the CT House of Representatives this afternoon, and by all indications, the proposed bill that would abolish the state's use of the death penalty is not going to pass. As we each take a personal account of our feelings on this issue, and as we continue to hope that more elected officials publicly stand on our side, it cannot go unnoticed the tremendous amount of strength and courage that one woman in particular showed this afternoon - Vivian Dobson. Vivian’s story was articulated wonderfully by Helen Ubinas in today’s Hartford Courant, and her emotional plea was delivered for the entire State to witness just before this afternoon’s debate was set to begin. I won’t try condense her words or emotion here, I’ll just encourage you to read and watch for yourself. More....

She Didn't Even Like Him

2005-03-30T08:09:33Z

Yesterday, I went with the Mayor as he visited the Branford Democratic Town Committee, and something happened that has been happening all over the state of Connecticut.As I was leaving, Donna Jeanne Oddie, an attorney-turned teacher who is about to retire grabbed my hand and said, "I want to help him. You know, I never used to like him! I don't know why. But he is so very smart and he has a real vision for this state. Do you think I could help him? I mean more than just stuff envelopes. I want to use my brains to help him win."What I told Donna is that we need her to organize her friends and neighbors by holding a house meeting. And that we need her to come to our campaign headquarters on Tuesday nights and help us make calls. And that most of all, we need her ideas--about Connecticut and about the campaign. We need your ideas too. What should we be doing?

Incentivizing a Better Connecticut

2005-03-29T08:30:37Z

Today's Hartford Courant editorial praising the Clean Cars 2 legislation points to an exciting moment for Connecticut. We have a chance to be a national leader in promoting the use of new fuel efficient, low emission producing technologies. Milford State Representative Dick Roy has been a real visionary in promoting legislation that will change the state of Connecticut by changing consumer behavior. These changes would result in lower asthma rates for our children, cleaner air for all of us and a reduction in our destructive dependence on oil.The ability of the City of New Haven to impact consumer choices is obviously smaller than the federal or even the state government's. But the Mayor and several alderman believe strongly in using the power that city government has to promote change. You can read about a proposal to offer hybrid cars free parking in New Haven in today's New Haven Register. Would this legislation be successful in promoting the use of hybrid cars?

It's All Over

2005-03-28T07:14:07Z

Much to the dismay of fans around Connecticut, both the men and women of UConn basketball are now out of the running for the NCAA championship.
Mayor DeStefano has often said that while we're all rightfully proud of the Huskies, Connecticut needs more than just NCAA basketball to hold our heads up high about. So with neither team in the Final Four, maybe this is a good time to ask ourselves... what are you proud about in CT? What do you wish that you could be proud of?

You Can Never Go Home

2005-03-28T07:03:05Z

Sunday was Easter and I, like many of my high school friends, went home to see family and friends. I was out with Matt, a long time friend, driving around town when it dawned on us how much Newtown had changed. When our families moved into Newtown it was the mid-1980s. Houses were small, clustered together and there was a real sense of community. Today, Newtown has changed and that feeling of community is gone.Newtown is like a lot of other towns in Connecticut. New housing is BIG. The houses are on multiple acre plots and are mammoth. There is no way Matt or I will ever afford to buy one of them. In high school we talked about how one day we would like to move back to Newtown. It is becoming more and more clear that such an ambition will never come to fruition.Has anyone else noticed that their towns have changed over the past 2 decades? Is anyone else worried? I am. Something needs to change or my generation won't be able to afford to live in the state where we grew up.

Morning News Roundup

2005-03-25T03:52:32Z

Some stories from around Connecticut today...The Hartford Courant reports on an investigation into "questions about whom the university chose to do some of those projects, how they were carried out and whether anyone was watching what contractors were doing."Also in the Courant, a story by Mark Pazniokas on a difference of opinion between Connecticut Republicans on Civil Unions.Ted Mann of The Day looks into a bill intended to "shore up the state's defense and manufacturing industry" but may at the same time deprive "cities and towns of sorely needed property-tax revenue" according to local leaders.And from the "in case you missed it earlier this week" category, The Stamford Advocate ran a story Wednesday on Sen. Robert Duff's (D-Norwalk) questioning of the governor and CT DOT on overcrowded train cars on the New Haven Line of Metro North.

One Person At a Time

2005-03-24T09:56:13Z

There are politicians who always want to hedge their bets, cut their losses and wait until the last second before making any decisions. Think about almost every Hartford Democratic politician during our last gubernatorial election in Connecticut--most of them stayed as far away as they could. But I am constantly surprised by how many smart, thoughtful and committed public servants in this campaign are willing to begin supporting and helping the Mayor.I just came back from Hartford where I had lunch with Gary Reardon, the smart, thoughtful and progressive Democratic Town Chair of Waterbury. A former mayoral candidate and earnest public servant, he is focused on what is going to help Waterbury grow jobs, improve its schools and keep its budget balanced. And today, he was focused on John DeStefano as a candidate for Governor. I was moved to hear how much he respects the Mayor, who remains a relative unknown in Waterbury. What does he like about John DeStefano, as a candidate for Governor? He sees an effective, proven, creative, hands-on problem solver with a record of results and a passion for using government to make peoples' lives better. Let's keep spreading the word.

Republican Medical Manipulation On Schiavo

2005-03-24T07:59:28Z

Posted by Frank Chi, a New Haven native and government major at Bowdoin College. He has been helping out on the DeStefano campaign since January.The way Florida and National Republicans are attempting to twist the truth about Terri Schiavo in their favor has reached ridiculous proportions, and they're paying the price: check out this CBS poll.Yesterday, Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced that he found ONE doctor that went against all other diagnoses, stating that Terri Schiavo is in a state of "minimal consciousness" rather than a "persistent vegetative state." The fact that Republicans are working to manipulate the situation is shameful.What exactly are George Bush and the Republicans doing here? The President wouldn't get off his pedestal during August of 2001 to return from Crawford to DC to look at terrorism reports, but he's willing to fly back to DC to sign a bill that is designed to exploit a certain woman's misfortunes in order to excite a very small fraction of his radical right wing base? From what this poll and others like Daily Kos and MyDD are indicating, he's certainly paying a heavy political price for this blunder.

2005-03-24T04:35:17Z

It's a pleasure to meet you Matt

2005-03-22T05:41:04Z

Mayor DeStefano and I attended the Newington Democratic Town Committee meeting last night. There were balloons everywhere, along with a feast of meatballs, pepperoni, cheese and crackers. I wish I could say that Newington was celebrating the Mayor’s arrival but we were actually attending their DTC’s anniversary celebration.The Mayor met lots of smiling faces, including a young man named Matt who was attending his first Democratic Town Committee. Joe Klet, the Newington Town Chair, introduced us to Matt because he was so excited to see a first timer at the meeting. It is surprisingly rare to meet younger men and women at these meetings. I have attended dozens of Democratic Town Committees and I have seen again and again that men and women under 30 hardly ever attend them.

I'm Back!

2005-03-22T03:59:03Z

Michael DePalma is a Deputy Finance Director for the DeStefano Campaign.I want to thank everyone who asked about how I was doing over the past week. Today is my first day back in the office and I am feeling a lot better. I also want to thank everyone else on the staff who picked up the slack while I was out. As everyone can imagine, the end of the quarter is crazy as it is, so me missing 4 days put a lot of extra work on the staff. I really do appreciate everyone helping out without complaint and allowing me to ease my way back in.

Exceeding Expectations

2005-03-22T03:48:29Z

Usually when there's a story in the
paper about jobs going to businesses owned by women and minorities,
it's bad news. That's why it was so encouraging to read in the
Hartford Courant this morning that not only has Hartford met its goal
of providing 15 percent of the contracts for ongoing school
reconstruction to women- and minority-owned firms;
the city has exceeded that goal by 17.9 percent.

Mayor DeStefano is dedicated to making
sure that kind of achievement becomes part of a state-wide trend,
rather than a city-by-city exception. In New Haven, he's started
business mentoring programs with the goal of providing more support
to businesses owned by women and minorities so they will be able to
compete for city contracts.
In 1998, four years after the city's set-aside ordinance, Section
12, expired and was taken to court, an ad-hoc committee chaired by
the Mayor presented six major recommendations
for increasing the participation of women- and minority-owned
business, including the creation of a Regional Contractor's Alliance
to open up the old-boys network among firms.

Home Hunting and the Youth of Connecticut

2005-03-22T01:09:31Z

I did something today that would not even have been on my radar screen a few years ago - I went house hunting in New Haven. Growing up in the Greater New Haven Area (but not in New Haven itself), you didn't even visit New Haven, never mind look to move there. But things have changed in New Haven. Like so many people, I've fallen in love with this little city. The turn around that has been seen in the Elm City still amazes me. The leadership that John DeStefano brought to make this happens has been essential.The sad thing to me is how few of my friends are doing the same thing. The vast majority of them went to school out of state and never came back. They don't see jobs here. They don't have pride in their home state. My hope is that John DeStefano will do for Connecticut as governor what he did for New Haven as mayor. We must stop the Connecticut exodus.

Clearing The Air

2005-03-21T06:00:51Z

One of the moments that made me realize how much I like Mayor DeStefano was last spring when he traded his Lincoln Navigator for a hybrid Toyota Prius. It would have been easy for him to keep his SUV: lots of politicians drive big cars, and the Mayor liked his for its size and style. But he made the switch to set an example. Attaching the “1:NH” license plate that's reserved for the Mayor to a hybrid made visible Mayor DeStefano's commitment to the environment and to a wide range of renewable energy programs that are making New Haven's air safer to breathe. Even more than that, making the switch showed me that the Mayor could change, and that he had a sense of humor about himself—2 things that are probably even harder to find in a politician than a commitment to the environment.I also liked that Mayor DeStefano didn't think setting an example was enough. New Haven started offering free parking to hybrid cars that registered with the city. Unlike the federal government, which shows no sign of regulating the destructive impact inefficient cars have on America's environment, New Haven decided to offer clear, reasonable, and just plain useful incentives to drivers who decided to do the right thing.

Improve The System

2005-03-18T10:51:55Z

By now I'm sure you've heard the news regarding today's sentencing of former Gov. John Rowland. After nearly 2 years of coverage, we certainly don't need to spend too much time here recapping the scandals that plagued the former Governor's administration. Instead, we should borrow from the sentiment that was being expressed by the majority of people who stood outside the courthouse today awaiting the judge's decision — Improve the System.The people rallying outside were right. Connecticut residents have almost completely lost faith in the nature of our politics and our government (Check out the WTNH Poll). After years of scandals at all levels of government, you can't really blame them. Our state needs corrective action, and we need it soon. And as groups like Common Cause of Connecticut and the Connecticut Citizen Action Group say, the first place to start is with the most corrupting influence in the system, the money.