Yale Lawsuit trys to rewrite history...

The recent lawsuit by Yale University will provide the City of Danbury an opportunity to demostrate how we strive for an equal application of law to all of our residents regarding race, religion, or status.
Myself and the administration look forward to opposing these wild accusations in a court of law. That's about all I will be able to say about this issue, except that we feel very strongly that the law is on our side.

Ives Family Fair Day Huge Success.

The Charles Ives Authority held its first family fair day and it was a huge success. Close to 2,000 people stopped in to hear some outstanding music, celebrate a beautiful day, and enjoy the scenic setting of the Concert Park.

The event capped a long season of hard work as we step up and begin the rebuilding process. Special thanks to the Weeden Family for their support and hats off to all of the volunteers. We are already planning next years event..

All The Best,
Mayor Mark

Anthrax Update.

At 2:30 PM today we had a press conference to update the community on the recent Anthrax issue here in the City of Danbury.

There is good news and bad news in the Unified Command's update. The barn where the Anthrax originated has been cleared and the tests have been negative. That this good news.

The bad news? The house will need to be treated again at some point in the future. Right now the experts are huddled and they will determine the course of action for the house. I believe we should have a remediation plan within the next several weeks, then we will have an announcement as to the process for the final phase of cleaning.

Thanks for your patience has we continue to work this problem.

All the Best,
Mayor Mark

Mary Teicholz, a profile in courage.

There is a terrific profile of Councilwoman Mary Teicholz in today's News-Times. For those who don't know, "Mary T" as we affectionately call her was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. Through it all, she has fought through this with grace, charm and dignity.

Mary and I are friends and colleagues. She is forthright and honest, tells me if she disagrees and argues her point with clarity and conviction. I am honored to work with her and proud to have her running on my ticket as a candidate for re-election in the 7th Ward.

Mary's biggest work was on the Sex Offender Ordinance were she worked long hours helping to pull it all together all the while fighting her own internal battle.

So here's to Mary T, thanks for your hard work and congratulations on victory. Keep up the outstanding work.


All the Best,
Mayor Mark

Anthrax clean up continues.

The Anthrax clean up is continuing on Padanaram Rd. The good news is that Padanaram Rd. will be open tomorrow. There are several tests that have to come back to ensure that the house has been thoroughly cleaned....No news on what started the fire at Reliant Air, as soon as I find something out, I will post it here.

All the Best,
MayorMark

Danbury's Economy second to none.

The City of Danbury has one of the strongest economies in New England if not just in Connecticut. Two recent reports show that Danbury continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, and that median income has gone up by 28% in the City. The percentage of people living below the poverty level also dropped from 11.3% to under 3%. This is a remarkable achievement. It shows that a strong pro-business administration, can make a difference in the economic health of Danbury.

All the Best,
MayorMark

Anthrax clean up begins.

The Anthrax clean up has begun at the house on Padanaram Rd. The clean up should take until Sunday night. This is a complex operation and will involve the use of chemical agents to kill the Anthrax spores.

While the clean up is ongoing, Padanaram Rd. will be closed from Jeannette Street through the intersection of First and Last Cafe. First and Last Cafe is open, and will be for the duration of the clean up. As well as Jeffery's Chinese and the Barber Shop. Each night the area will be reopened by approximately 7:00 PM.

Thanks for your support and thanks for cooperation while we get this mess taken care of.

All the Best,
MayorMark

What a fire last night.

I am glad that we opened our new fire station in the nick of time. The fire last night was incredible. I am so proud of our first responders and thankful to surrounding communities who helped out. The picture above is an after shot. Gone is a vibrant business and equipment that can never be replaced. My heart goes out to Reliant Air.

All the Best,
MayorMark

Working on a few things..

OK, if you are viewing this you have probably navigated your way to the new setting for this blog. I am several days away from the roll out of my campaign website. The website domain will be MayorMark.Com. In the meantime I will post here and hopefully people will figure out that I am back to the blogger address. When the new website is ready, this blog will be connected to it and I will post using blogger. I hope all of this works.

Taste of Danbury huge success!

Thanks to everybody for coming out to the Taste of Danbury this past weekend. The food was terrific and the music was awesome. Congratulations to Andrea Jabara for running a fun event.

The Eddie Money concert was a ball. It was the capstone on a great day and the crowd really enjoyed his music. By my count there were about 5,000 people in attendence.

This was an extraordinary event for our City thanks for your participation.

All the Best,
MayorMark

PS. Thanks for the incredibly warm reception at the Concert. You guys are the best.

Anthrax investigation continues.

By now you have already heard about the Anthrax cases that have been identified in Danbury. We are monitoring the situation carefully, I have just left the site several minutes ago. Both the EPA and the state DEP have taken over the investigation from the FBI. The site will continue to be evaluated by a special hazmat team that arrived early evening from the U.S. Army and we will have more news in the morning once testing has been completed. I will post as soon as I have more information. For now please avoid the Padanaram Rd. area. Remember, that this type of Anthrax is not contagious.

All the Best,
MayorMark

More Information:

Overnite testing showed that there was contamination in the barn. This comes as no surprise to us, there was also some contamination on the door leading into the home. At this time, the EPA has asked a private contractor to do additional testing on the house. That work should be completed by the end of the day. The house and the barn are closed until further notice. The road should be open by the end of the day. As soon as I know more, I will post an update.

Update 2:

Padanaram Rd. is now open, traffic is returning to normal. At this time we will await the results of further testing to determine if there is any further contamination at the site. Once the full extent of the contamination is known, the EPA will develop a remediation plan. Thanks to Gov. Rell, the federal authorities, and our first responders for their hard work. I will post more information when it becomes available.