City Council - Regular Meeting

2026 meetings order at 7 p.m. Hello everybody. If we can get started with the Pledge of Allegiance. Our good friend Sean, if you don't mind, leading us in the pledge. the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. If we can remain standing, I'll ask Councilman Frank Salvatore to lead us in prayer, please.

Dear God, we seek your help with our affairs today. Bless this meeting with your divine intelligence and help us make the best use of our own. We are of a diverse opinion here, yet we wish to mend our differences and reach agreement satisfactory to all. Please share a little of your wisdom with us to help us to do right by all concerns. Thank you for your heavenly blessing.

Amen. Amen. Madam Legislative Assistant, the roll, please.

Coelho?

Here.

Flanagan?

Present.

Hawley? Present. Lapine? Present. Salvatore? Present. Buzade? Present. Gartner? Present. Fay? Yes. Henry? Yes. Wallace Smith? Present. Spain Reichel? Yes. Giordano? Jabbour? Here. Rotello? Here. Chinesi? Present. Dwayne Perkins? Present. Britton? Present. McAllister? Here. Robinson? Present. Laughing House? Here. Dennis Perkins? Present. 20 present, 1 absent.

Thank you. We have a calendar of events that is posted, but before I read through those quickly, I do want to just go over some life events here we have for the month. We have happy birthday to Councilwoman Mia Spain Reichel, September 6th. Happy birthday, Councilwoman. We also have Councilwoman Candace Fay, September 13th. Happy birthday, Councilwoman. Don't usually do this, but I got to do a special shout out to somebody who's here all the time with us. Sean, I believe your birthday is this month as well, 28th? On the 28th, Sean Hatch. Happy birthday, sir. All right, we have September 4th, the Brazilian Independence Day flag raising here at City Hall hosted by New American Dream Foundation, 10 a.m. September 5th, Danbury Farmers Market continuing through the 11th, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the green. September 5th through 6th, the Brazilian Festival at City Center, 12 to 10 p.m. both days. September 6th, the Danbury Police Cadet Steals and Wheels Car Show. It is a great event, great time. Danbury Railway, it's not... Not the Embry-Royal Museum, excuse me. This is over at Rogers Park, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Memorial Drive. We will switch this, make sure it's not like that on the city website. September 11th ceremony this year is a Friday. We will be moving this earlier. It will be at 10 a.m., not in the afternoon. It's the 25th anniversary, so we know a lot of folks are going outside of the city to the city for this one. If you're around, please join us. September 15th, the Mexican Independence Day flag raising hosted by the Danbury Mexican Cultural Center, 10 a.m. Danbury City Hall. September 18th, this is the Stand Down 2026 hosted by Connecticut Veterans Affairs and the Danbury Veterans Affairs Office from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Danbury War Memorial. I ask that any of you who are involved with the veterans community, know veterans, ask them or let them know to go to this. Danny Hayes can provide more information and reach out to him. Flyers, we can help as well. It is a great event. It shows just a tremendous amount of resources to the veterans in our state. It's successful every year. So please help promote this event. September 24th, the Old Timers Association Awards Banquet, hosted by the Danbury Old Timers Association. To get tickets for this one, you can email frankackery at frankackery at sbcglobal.net, 6 p.m. Amroom, Collindale. September 24th, the Vietnam Moving Wall Ceremony, hosted by the Danbury Council of Veterans, 10 a.m. Danbury War Memorial. September 26th through 27th, the Irish Festival, hosted by the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center. This one is Saturday, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. This one will be at the Irish Cultural Center, not in the green. And if you need any more, have any more questions, you want to help, want to volunteer, sign up. You can reach out to one of the heritage there. I'm sure they can guide you in the right direction. Right, Sean? All right, thank you. October 1st, purple flag raising for domestic violence awareness. The Center for Empowerment and Education is the host for this here at City Hall, 4 p.m., City Hall Heritage Plaza. October 3rd, Afghanistan-Iraq War Memorial Monument Anniversary, hosted by the Danbury Council of Veterans, 10 a.m., Danbury War Memorial at the memorial itself. October 3rd, the Plant and Harvest Fair, hosted by the Danbury Garden Club, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Hatteras Park.

That is the calendar of events.

The first 30 minutes of this meeting is hosted for the expression of views of residents or taxpayers of the city on views on matters before this council today. I ask that you use either microphone on each side and just state your name clearly for the record. Are there any members of the public wishing to speak? Any members of the public wishing to speak? Mr. Gucker?

Ken Gawker, 89 Payton Arum Road, and I would like to speak on item number five on the agenda. Item number five, the Marjory Trail project, is something that has been near and dear to my heart for quite some time. This was the dream child of my childhood doctor when I grew up in New Fairfield, Dr. Rostenberg. who back in the 70s thought it was really a positive thing to have people go outside and recreate. Now, sadly, it took COVID to realize he was ahead of his time and how important that is. Once I got into the legislature, one of the first acts that I did was establish the Marjory Trail as a concept. It was a bipartisan concept. It was myself, Richard Smith, then the representative from New Fairfield, and Senator Kushner, the three of us making up the New Fairfield delegation at the time. But we weren't the first ones to really come up with this idea of the bipartisanship. This has been a project that was supported by Senator Mike McLaughlin beforehand, and even the former mayor, Mark Bouton, who also felt it be worthy of putting this concept into the open space bonding package that we all voted on a very long time ago. So this has been a positive project for the community. This has been something that people have been asking for. So that drove myself as then the new state rep to lobby and work up in the legislature to secure funding for this project. At the time, through two different bonding packages, secured $2.3 million as a total. That then got the wheels rolling as far as really having a good hard look at this concept. The Marjory Trail Advisory Committee was put together with members of both New Fairfield and Danbury, and if any of you haven't looked at your packet, this will be a project or a trail that would start at the Danbury Dog Park at Marjory Reservoir and go along the, I would say, the eastern side of the reservoir along the Route 37 corridor going into downtown New Fairfield. So by partnering with our Brothers to the North, and holding over 15 public hearings. I don't think we've ever held 15 public hearings on anything in this city. And looking at the testimonies from individuals testifying on the desire to have this. And not only doing that, we put together an interactive website that allowed the individuals from both communities to go on there, look at the project, and put in their comments. And all of those comments will be part of the package that you will see today. But those comments, 80% of those comments were in favor of this project. The community wants this project. This will be the first paved, flat level, multi-use trail in the entire city. We have a lot of support from DOT to get this project done because DOT would like nothing more than to get people off of traversing the dangerous Route 37 corridor. It's an economic driver, brings people into the community. I can't tell you how often we go to other communities to recreate with our dog and walk these trails to see how many people say this would be great in Danbury. When people go out to Brookfield, they use that as an example. Look at the economic development that has popped up around that trail. So this is an economic driver as well. And third, like my old doctor said, being outside in the fresh air is good. Anything that we can do to get families and kids and others to go out and recreate outside in the fresh air to witness nature firsthand and really look at this treasure that we have in Danbury that is so clouded and not seen from the road because of the evasive plants and the other things that are in there. This is a great project. I urge the council to move this on down the road to our next step. Many people, when I go to the Danbury Dog Park at Marjory Reservoir, ask me every single day, when is the trail starting? Because we would love to be able to walk to New Fairfield and back. We would love to be able to not just be able to let the dog loose in the park, but actually go for a walk, go for a walk with your family, go for a walk with your pets, and really experience the greater outdoors. So thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Apologize, thank you, Mr. Gucker. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Chief Ridenhour, I think Mr. Ridenhour, if you're coming up to speak in public.

Good evening, everyone. Patrick Ridenhour, I'm a Danbury resident. As you all know, I also currently serve as the chief of police in this great city. I'm speaking in support of item number 10 on the agenda, which will allow applicants who are permanent residents or DACA recipients to submit applications to be Danbury police officers. First, I want to clarify how this issue came to the table. During our recruitment sessions earlier in this decade, and I'm talking about around 2018, 2019, 2020, I had been asked by more than a few people if they could apply to be a police officer if they had legal status but were not citizens. The answer was always, unfortunately, no, even though they seem like otherwise qualified candidates. Some were pursuing higher education at West Con. Others were working at local businesses. And some even owned their businesses. Every person who inquired expressed the desire to serve this great community. It wasn't until the end of 2023 that I heard the Police Officer Standards and Training Council may have removed the US citizenship requirement for police officers in the state. POST is the governing body for all police officer certification in Connecticut. I then reached out to the POST administrator, and when I say late 2023, I'm talking a couple days after Christmas, and learned the citizenship requirement had actually been removed in 2020 and that permanent legal residents were eligible to be police officers in the state. Post-council then went further in 2025 and now allows DACA recipients to be police officers. Permanent legal residents are already allowed to carry firearms with a permit. And in a 2024 letter to the Police Executive Research Forum, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has opined that DACA recipients can legally carry firearms in the course of their employment as police officers. Permanent residents and DACA recipients come from all over the world. Central and South America, Africa, as well as Europe, Asia, and our neighbor to the north, Canada. Danbury has them all. That's what makes this city great. So why should we not take advantage of this opportunity to potentially increase our pool of qualified applicants? It has already been said by others that permanent legal residents serve in our military and in other public safety related professions, most notably firefighters and emergency medical services. They can also serve as armed security guards. And as of today, even though we like to be innovative here in Danbury and we like our police department to think outside the box, we can't take credit for this one. As of today, at least 30 municipal or state police agencies in Connecticut already allow permanent legal residents and DACA recipients to apply to be police officers. all applicants will still have to successfully complete a very robust screening process that includes a polygraph, psychological exam, medical and drug screen, and a thorough background check that includes a check of both public and law enforcement only databases. So to be clear, this is not asking you to lower our hiring standards. This is simply asking you to allow our hiring eligibility with the eligibility requirements set forth by our governing body, which is the post-council. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Rittenhour. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Any other members of the public? Mrs. Coelho?

Good evening, my name is Michelle Coelho and I reside at 47 East Lake Road in Danbury. Thank you for the opportunity to be heard. I want to begin with what should unite all of us, respect for men and women of the Danbury Police Department and a commitment to the safety of every resident they serve. As a daughter of immigrants who came to this country seeking freedom and opportunity, I value what America offers and the responsibility to uphold its laws. Back in April, I asked for transparency about the proposal. Tonight my position is clear. Any changes should strengthen our police department without sacrificing standards, readiness, or response time. Before Danbury moves forward, I'm asking for clear answers. Second. What federal legal authority permits a DACA officer to possess and carry a firearm, and what restrictions apply? Has corporation counsel put that analysis in writing? Are there clear department policies including for emergency callbacks? DACA provides temporary protection and does not provide permanent immigration status. If an officer's work authorization is interrupted, who covers that assignment? How will the city maintain staffing and response times? That alone just happened in LA in June of this year with two officers who had applied months in advance for their qualification. It did not come through. So there was an interruption with their service. Has the police union been consulted about these operational consequences? How have its concerns been addressed? The legal requirements, department policies, and staffing plan must all work together. We can respect DACA recipients and insist on a program that is lawful and dependable. Our police department needs consistency, stability, and readiness. Our residents need reliable protection. Our officers need reliable backup. That means planning for interruptions before they happen. If the answers and the safeguards are ready, present them before you vote. If they are not, postpone the vote. Before you authorize this change, show us how it will strengthen public safety and maintain the consistent, reliable service Danbury residents deserve. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Coelho. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Mr. Reifberg.

good evening mayor city council members larry reefberg lawrence reefberg 6 ervie drive i don't go by any other name i have no pseudonyms i have no pen names when i text and email and write and speak it's lawrence reefberg or larry reefberg for the record. So I wanna talk tonight about item number 10, the amendment to the ordinances to allow DACA and green card holders to apply and become Danbury police officers. The iconic phrase, I want you, has become part of the American culture, symbolizing a call to duty and patriotism. I want you, this iconic image featuring Uncle Sam pointing directly to the viewer, was first used during World War I and has since been turned into a rallying cry for military recruitment. I want you, says the American Armed Forces, six distinct service branches under civilian leadership, the US Army, the Mainland Combat and Military Police Force, the US Marine Corps, a rapid response force specializing in amphibious and ground operations, The US Navy protects waterways, global sea lanes, and aviation operations at sea. The US Air Force controls airborne operations, strategic bombing, and air defense. The US Space Force manages operations and satellite defenses beyond Earth's atmosphere. And the US Coast Guard handles maritime law enforcement, port security, and rescue missions. I want you. those branches of the military say. They want DACA recipients. They want green card holders. Not if you're not qualified. Not if you don't meet the standards. But given the opportunity to serve, they want those individuals to have that opportunity. And the chief could not have said it better this evening. The Danbury Police Department wants those individuals as well, but only if they're qualified and only if they meet the standards necessary with a plan in place. Because if someone right now becomes disabled on the job, there's a plan in place. Or if someone is called to an emergency or in a car accident, There's a plan in place, as there is for the fire department, which allows for DACA and green card recipients, and EMTs and other security positions, as the chief has articulated and explained both this evening and at the subcommittee level at the council. Don't do it because the United States government does it. or other communities in our state do it, or other states do it, do it because it is the right thing to do to attract qualified individuals to serve in our community, those that want to serve and those that are qualified. So please, when it comes time to vote on item number 10, please vote yes Vote yes. Something that you'll be hearing me say a lot more about for the next couple of months. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Rufberg. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Any other members of the public? Mr. Chanton.

A LITTLE SHORTER THAN MR. REEFBERG. GOOD EVENING, MR. MAYOR. GOOD EVENING, MEMBERS OF OUR CITY COUNCIL. MY NAME IS JUSTIN CHAN. LIFELONG DANBERRY RESIDENT. MANY OF YOU GUYS MAY KNOW ME.

YOUR ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE.

YES. 27 HICKORY STREET. So this morning, I woke up to some ads from the Republican Town Committee urging supporters to come here and oppose item number 10. I think for a group apparently so concerned about who exactly is qualified to work for the city, I did find it a little ironic that they relied on AI to make their ad. But truth is, after what we witnessed in our city the past week, I find it extremely disgusting to hear people advocate in denying our most disenfranchised members of this community the opportunity to serve. When we go to a doctor, it doesn't matter what their nationality is. It matters what they can do to help you. When you go to your place of worship, you don't allow your faith to be impacted by whether or not your fellow believer or the members of the clergy are citizens or documented, regardless of their immigration status, none of that matters. So I find it hard to understand why it would be unacceptable to allow DACA recipients, green card holders, the ability to apply for the police. And as our commissioner of police indicated, I think it also raises the question, if you oppose item number 10, what type of standards there are in hiring our police department? Because it's not as though someone simply walks in a city hall, fills out an application, and by virtue of being an undocumented immigrant, they simply get the badge. I'm a public defender. I've seen cops from all over the state. And honestly, I respect the hell out of Danbury cops. The way that they treat our citizens is incredible. With respect is something to admire. I don't believe that this department would allow unqualified applicants to come in here and simply take up the responsibility of being a police officer simply because they're an illegal immigrant. It's a much more rigorous process, and for you to think that that's all that it requires, I just can't imagine what would give you that impression. So I also think that when it comes to the party who's opposing this, the idea that you come here and you constantly advocate for a safer community, that you want more police officers and all that, Why would you want to shut off an entire portion of our population? And it is our population because this is what makes Danbury so magnificent. It's our immigrant population. Why would you prevent them from wanting, from aspiring to serve in the police department? You talk about more safety than give more people the opportunity to apply. It's simple as that. The proposal is not just about fairness. It's practical. It strengthens our department. It expands our recruiting pool. It demonstrates what kind of city Danbury intends to be. And it should be one that does not govern through fear or cruelty, but leads with confidence in its own community. And I thank you for my time.

Thank you, Mr. Chan. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Mr. Robinson.

Alphonso Robinson, 7 Melrose Avenue, Danbury. Jesus Christ. Let me start with the easy stuff. Item number 15, the collective bargaining agreement. Now, if I am correct, this regards to individuals who work at City Hall. And I can tell you as somebody who has reported on this and videotaped countless Democrats on this stuff, going back as far as Gary Goncalves, the Democratic candidate for mayor in 2009, every single candidate for mayor, including the current mayor, every single Democratic town committee chair has talked about the four day work week City Hall saying that because the City Hall is closed on Friday it's a lot of business people come down here and they're they come down here not knowing that the City Hall is closed and they're unable to do business on that day and we've and I can tell you again because I've been around long enough to talk to a lot of enough people on the Democratic side that They have always talked about, oh my God, once we get Mark Bouton out of there, we're going to open up that city hall to five days a week again. And here is the unique opportunity to do that with this collective bargaining agreement. And it has not been done. And I think for people who listened to the commentary and to the pledges to open up city hall again for five days a week, we need to understand why. And again, maybe I'm wrong. I don't know, but maybe I'm wrong, but I think this agreement pertains to that. Why are we not talking about opening up city hall to five days a week, open it up on Fridays? Think we are deserves an explanation in regards to why that's not happening and for people to especially Democrats who Campaigned on this I can pull out the video footage. I got a pretty big hard drive Have all the footage and you need to explain now you're in a position now you're the majority now you're super majority with the mayor You need to explain why this agreement does not include opening up City Hall for five days a week. We need an explanation for that. In regards to the Marjory Trail, hopefully you'll send it to an Ad Hoc Committee immediately. Um, because I think that we need to talk about why it took so long for this to get to your hands and some of the conduct that was done by certain members of the committee. We need to have an examination and talk about some of the actions that were done in regards to this. I'm not gonna say yes or no to that, but I can think of many other walking trails that are more beneficial to the people in the city of Danbury than this particular trail, but I'll leave my comments on that to a later time. As to the item number 10 regarding undocumented immigrants becoming police officers, DACA recipients becoming police officers. Yes, yes, of course. I will say this, if somebody who has first started his site is paged based upon the topic of immigration You gotta understand, I started back in 2005, and the very first reason, the only reason I started this site, I had many other things to do during that time period, but I started that site because of the topic of immigration, and it didn't make a whole lot of sense. And a lot of things I heard from the government about immigration in this area never, ever, ever made any sense. Never made any sense. Danbury 11 case, never made any sense. ICE access never made any sense. The parade ordinance, which is still in effect, and shame on you guys for not repealing that thing, never made any sense. The volleyball ordinance never made any sense. For me, it was straight up a racist and disgusting act upon a certain demographic of our population. that did not deserve that. Immigrants in this community contribute to this city so much. And I will always, always be a supporter of all immigrants in this city. My track record speaks for itself. And I will say this, based upon current events right now, I've talked to many mayors, many past mayors. They all have told me one thing, to be a leader in this area is not about what you're doing day after day, it's about how you react to certain events that come upon you that you have no idea is gonna hit you. Every single mayor I've talked to from Dyer, It's not about what you're doing. It's about the unexpected circumstances and the things that make you have to be a leader. You have to rise to the occasion at certain moments. And I'm just saying that you have to rise to the occasion when it comes to this particular topic and do what is right and forget what people are saying or the public opinion you do what's in your heart is right that's my family taught me and if you look at my family it's pretty deep but i'm telling you you do the right thing within your heart is right and this thing right here this this ordinance is just the beginning it's a lot of other things we have to correct in this city because of past mistakes The undocumented immigrants in this city have been demonized enough. We have to make a change. We have to come together as a society in this area. Those ICE raids don't do anything. They haven't done anything in the last 20 years. And these topics right here that allow DACA recipients to become police officers? Come on. It makes no sense. It makes no sense to be against this. It makes no sense for all the stuff that's going on. And we all know this. We have to correct the wrongs and move forward as a society. We should all think about that. Because if we don't, we keep repeating the same mistakes we've made in the past. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Robinson. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Ms. Hagler?

Good evening, my name is Lorraine Herger. I live at 45 Southern Boulevard in Danbury. I would like to make a comment on the vetting process. We've heard several people say there will be a robust, complete vetting process. But all I have heard is that databases will be checked in the United States, which we know are basically safe and are done according to plan. But when people come here, whether they have been documented or not, Many of them come from countries with broken systems. They're corrupt. It's easy to bribe in those countries, easy to change your identity, easy to say you weren't a gang member when you are, and things of that nature. So I think before any vote should be taken that I'd ask me or else to have a committee get together and document just exactly how you are going to vet these people. I don't think it's enough for somebody to stand up here and say, oh, it's going to be a robust vetting process. That's not enough. As Danbury citizens who are entrusting our lives to our police, I think we are owed more than that. And I would like to see that happen before any vote is taken, because I think that's a very important part of it. I think the public is owed that. My personal opinion, only citizens should carry guns and arrest citizens, but I think we're beyond that point right now. So that would be my suggestion. I don't think we should hand wave the process. It should be given to the public and decided upon. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other, Mr. Santos.

Mayor, Farley Santos. I reside at 27 Westview Drive. Many of you know my story, and so I just will repeat it for those who don't.

I will.

My family immigrated here when I was seven years old in 1996. The little that I knew of the country that I was born in is now a distant memory given the fact that I've lived 30 years in this country. The first class I attended here was second grade at King Street Primary, Mrs. Gleisner's class. She's still teaching, by the way. And when we arrived here, my dad said something to us in Portuguese that I will repeat in English now. This isn't our homeland, but it is now. We need to love it. We need to respect it. We need to give back to it. Because he knew that America was the land of promise and opportunity for so many and many generations that came before us. I grew up loving this country. I grew up loving this city. I sat in one of these seats in third grade and I heard the then mayor say that this was the people's house and that all people were welcome in the city of Danbury. Over the last week, we have seen the city be terrorized. I will agree with Mr. Robinson. Immigrants aren't really as bad as people say they are, or that they like to type on social media and post on people's pages or comment, that they're just all bad people. I don't consider myself a bad person. I went to Henry Abbott Technical High School, and for a very short moment, I wanted to be a police officer. And a guidance counselor that many of you know, Mr. Art Haddad, sat me down in his office and said, son, you can't be a police officer. You're undocumented. And there goes a whole life that I had sort of planned out for that short moment. But guess what you can do? If you really want to serve your country, you can give back through the military. Let that sink in. I couldn't be a cop, but I could go fight a war. I was right in the middle of the Iraq War, and I decided not to go. That's the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. I should have served. And so I decided to serve in other ways, and you all know, ran for Board of Ed, sat on this council, I'm a state rep now. But I think about all the other children that have that similar story like mine, And I have someone in my family right now. She came to this country, she was three years old, my niece. She's in her 30s now, she has two little kids, beautiful. She's a DACA recipient. I wasn't because I was a generation before that. There was no DACA when I or the mayor were growing up. She works in our community, works at a law firm, is talented, distinguishes herself. And you're telling me she couldn't be a police officer if she chose to? Contrary to what some say or write on social media, it isn't filling out a piece of paper and saying, hey, I want to have a green card. I want to become a US citizen. It's not that easy. And it isn't that easy to become a Danbury police officer either. No one could have explained it better than Chief Ridenour. He answered all the questions right there. Someone doesn't just fill out an application and decide to be a cop. Ask any of the ones who serve ably and are standing in the back right now. The rigorous background check. Everything else that they have to go through before they can come before this council and get approved by you. The notion that immigrants are inherently bad people because they're immigrants is disgusting. It's despicable. And people who feel that way should be ashamed for themselves. Item number 10 starts to right the wrongs that past administrations have landed on this city. It starts to tell the immigrants who live in this community, who give back to this community, the same people who are picking up your silverware at the diner, who are handing you your laundry at the dry cleaners, the folks who are cutting your grass and building your stone walls, because you don't mind calling them for that, telling them that they belong here too. You know why? Because they've built this city, this state, this country, just as much as you have. And so I urge every single one of you to dig deep into your own morality. and realize that we have made mistakes as a city. Past administrations have made mistakes. I've heard those passionate speeches by some members of the council who are here tonight standing up for immigrants. But I want you to think of my niece when you make this vote. Not about me, but think about her. Three years old, she came to this country. No choice. She came. She has no fundamental recollection of another nation. She loves America, she's giving back to this country, and simply because she's a DACA recipient, she shouldn't be able to serve this city that's the only city that she's ever known. I urge you to dig deep inside you to find dignity, morality for those people as we look to continue building this police department. And I won't go through the list of all the other police departments and places that they can work right now, including the Connecticut state offices and state police, fire departments. Right here at City Hall, they could work. It's just common sense. Avail yourselves of it, please. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Santos. Any other members of the public wish to speak? Ernesto, please. And then you, sir. Apologize.

My name is Ernesto Rodriguez, 23 George Street. I just want to comment on item number 10. I just want to say I hope that this council could delay the vote. on the heels of a terrible week for our city. It's a very divisive topic, obviously, just because not everyone's here, but at the end of the day, it's a very divisive issue. And right now, based on what I was saying, it's a very divisive issue. And based on the terrible week we had in this city, I feel that there should be a pause and a delay to this vote. Cause right now this is a very sensitive issue, a decisive, a divisive issue, and there's no urgency to get this past. So I just asked the city council to reconsider just to holding off. Cause I, like I, like I mentioned, it was just a terrible week. We are still reeling emotionally, mentally from what transpired. And if there's a vote, I just think it would just divide us more. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez. I apologize.

I said Ernesto before.

Sir? Are you a property owner in town? Are you a property owner in town? I apologize. The rules don't allow, sir. Any other members of the public wishing to speak? Ms. Yagish?

Jan Maria Jagish, One Coach Hill Drive, Danbury. I'd like to speak to item number 10. DACA recipients are already people who have been living and contributing here. And as Representative Santos said, many of these people do not know any other place but the United States. This has always been their home. A DACA recipient isn't simply someone who has arrived recently and is all of a sudden seeking a position as a policeman or a policewoman. Many have lived in the United States for years and were brought here as children, and supporters can argue that someone who has gone through the same education, lived in the community, and wants to protect that community may actually have valuable local knowledge. It could improve recruitment and diversity. We are a very diversified city, one of the beauties of living in Danbury. A police department that reflects the community can potentially improve communication and trust, particularly with immigrant communities. Danbury's own human resources department says its recruitment goal is to establish diverse and talented I have to laugh when people talk about, well, they're not an American citizen, but they're protecting us. When I lived in Okinawa, Japan on a military base, the people that stood at the guard, at the gatehouses that let the soldiers in or the Marines in or whatever, okay, they were Japanese citizens. They were not even American citizens that were guarding our gates in Okinawa, Japan. It seems to me that if here, if the same standards to become a police officer apply, you are looking for people that are going to have to meet the rigorous background checks, the examinations, the physical requirements, all the standards that the city deems necessary. And I would hope that we could put our faith in our police department and our city to make sure that those standards are met and that we can add some valuable people to our department. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Yakush. Any other members of the public looking to speak? Any other members of the public looking to speak? Any other members of the public looking to speak? Seeing none, we will close public speaking.

Thank you.

Now call on Councilman Peter Buzade for the minutes, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, I move we receive the council minutes from the preceding meeting on August the 4th. We have a reading of those minutes as all members of copies and copies are on file with the Legislative Assistance Office and approve those minutes as they're presented.

Motion is made, seconded by Councilman Dwayne Perkins. Council, any remarks on the minutes? Any remarks? Any remarks? Seeing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. Vote is so ordered. Councilman Salvatore, the consent calendar, please.

Consent calendar for September 1st, 2026. Item number five, move to receive the communication and accept the report as received. Move that a workshop be scheduled between the City of Danbury City Council, Town of New Fairfield selectmen, and any city and town departments the mayor and or first selectmen deem necessary to meet with the consultant Barton and Lojudis. Item number nine, move to receive the communication and accept the donation of $1,000 from Jowdy Cane Funeral Home on behalf of the DPD CCU ice cream truck and direct the legislative assistant to send the note of thanks on behalf of the city council. Item number 12, move to receive the communication and approve the resolution as presented. Item number 13, move to receive the communication and approve the resolution as presented. Item number 14, move to receive the communication and approve the resolution as presented. Item number 15, move the read, the waive the reading of the ad hoc minutes as all members have copies and copies are on file with the Legislative Assistance Office as well as accept the minutes as presented and ratify the funding nunc pro tunc.

That is your consent calendar. Your motion.

Yes, thank you, Your Honor. I move to accept the consent calendar as presented.

Motion is made. Seconded by Councilman Dwayne Perkins. Council, are there any remarks? Any remarks? Any remarks? Seeing none, I'll try our minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

The ayes have it. The vote is so ordered. Item number one, please.

communication appointment to police detective. Dear council members, I hereby submit for your confirmation the appointment and promotion of police officer Joseph Ahlstrom to the position of police detective with the Danbury Police Department. Before entering law enforcement, he spent several years working in a higher education administration, holding positions as a director of admissions and an associate director of admissions at multiple colleges and universities. He also earned a master's degree in organizational management and human resources from Manhattanville College. The Danbury Police Department hired him as a police officer on October 26, 2020. In the time since, in addition to his role as a police officer, he has been entrusted with several specialized roles, including field training officer, crisis intervention technician, and evidence technician, each requiring a distinct set of skills and a high degree of reliability. His contributions have not gone unnoticed. He was presented with the Exceptional Police Service Award in April 2023, Additionally, he was awarded the Chief's Achievement Medal and named the department's Officer of the Year in 2024. Furthermore, he has earned the rank of number two on the detective police officer eligibility list. He has gained, excuse me, he has earned his appointment through his demonstrated performance and dedication. Given the strength of his record, I am confident that he will serve with distinction in this new role. I am proud and honored to submit his confirmation for this well-deserved promotion. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Thank you. Council, it's your pleasure. Councilman Flanagan.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to receive the communication and confirm the promotion of police officer Joseph Alstrom to the position of police detective with the Danbury Police Department.

Second. Motion has been made. Seconded by Councilman Frank Salvatore. Council, are there any remarks? Any remarks? Any remarks? Seeing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The vote is unanimous. Congratulations, sir.

Really proud of you.

If you'd like to come up and say a few words.

Thank you all. This is a great honor. I look forward to the next step in my professional career, and I look forward to serving the people of Danbury as I've been doing previously and tackling this new role as detective. So thank you for your confidence in me, and I won't let you down. Thank you. Congratulations. Well deserved.

Item number two, please.

Communication appointment to police detective. Dear council members, I hereby submit for your confirmation the appointment and promotion of police officer Dondre Perkins to the position of police detective within the Danbury Police Department. Prior to beginning his career in law enforcement, he proudly served his country for six years as an infantry man in the United States Army, an experience that instilled in him the discipline, leadership, and commitment to service that have defined his career ever since. He was then hired by the Danbury Police Department on April 8th, 2021. In the years since, in addition to his role as a police officer, he has taken on a range of specialized roles that reflect both his versatility, expertise, and the trust placed in him by the department. These roles include field training officer, evidence technician, and a member of the Western Connecticut Regional Emergency Services Unit SWAT. He ranked number one on the detective police officer eligibility list, which further confirms his readiness for this promotion. Based on his record of service, leadership, and achievement, I am proud and honored to submit his confirmation for this well-deserved promotion. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Thank you. Council, what's your pleasure? Councilwoman Lapine.

Thank you, Your Honor. I move to receive the communication and confirm the promotion of police officer DeAndre Perkins to the position of police detective with the Danbury Police Department.

Motion has been made, and I don't know if I can do this, but it's been seconded by both Dwayne and Dennis Perkins. So yell at me if that can't happen, but it just did. I think they deserve that one. Council, are there any remarks? Any remark? Councilwoman Fay?

I just want to say, D'Andrea, I've known you since you were an even younger man, probably close to 20 years, if not more. I'm so grateful that the city of Danbury has been able to keep you. And I am not surprised that you ranked number one on the detectives test. So congratulations. This is a very well-deserved promotion.

Thank you. Councilman Perkins, Dennis Perkins.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. DeAndre, congratulations on your appointment. Danbury is privileged to have you, and I wish you the best of luck on the position. Congratulations once again. Thank you.

Any other remarks? Any other remarks? Any other remarks? Seeing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Just so he's here. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The vote is unanimous. Congratulations, Officer Perkins.

Thank you to the mayor, and thank you to everyone on city council. I'm looking forward to keeping and serving the public in this new position. I'm glad to be here in Danbury still, so. Appreciate you guys, thank you.

Congratulations, Officer Perkins. I think people are gonna miss you crawling on their houses, staying there for a day or so waiting for people, but we'll find a place for that too. Item number three, please.

Communication appointment of entry-level police officers. Dear council members, I hereby submit for your confirmation the appointment of the following individuals to the position of entry-level police officer with the Danbury Police Department. Mr. Alexis Ortega Gonzalez holds a bachelor's degree in criminology from Western Connecticut State University. He has been working as a technology specialist at a department store and previously worked as a sales associate at a computer store. Additionally, he served as a volunteer firefighter in Danbury. He is fluent in Spanish and he is ranked number eight on the entry level police officer eligibility list. He is currently attending the police academy. Mr. Matthew Restrepo-Gallo holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Western Connecticut State University, and he is currently working as a mortgage customer service representative in a bank. He previously worked as a substitute teacher and as a soccer coach. He is ranked number 15 on the entry-level police officer eligibility list and is currently attending the Police Academy. I am very proud and honored to present to you these exceptional candidates who will serve the city well with their wealth of experience and skills. Thank you for consideration of these appointments. Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Thank you, Council. What's your pleasure? Councilman Billy.

Thank you, Your Honor. I move to receive the communication and confirm the appointment of Alexis Ortega-Gonzalez and Matthew Restrepo-Gallo to the position of entry-level police officers for the City of Danbury Police Department.

Motion has been made and seconded by Councilman Ben Cheneese. Council, are there any remarks? Any remarks? Any remarks? Seeing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. It passes unanimously. Congratulations. These gentlemen are getting ready now to go to the academy in a couple days, I believe, so they are not here. Well, after we get hired here, but congratulations to them. They're gonna be watching here, so let's. Item number four, please.

Communication Appointments to Sustainable CT. Dear City Council Members, I hereby submit for your confirmation the selection of the following individuals to serve on Danbury's Sustainability Team as part of Danbury's membership in Sustainable CT. Valentina Jimenez, Vida Gonzalez, and Melissa Jimenez. Ms. Valentina Jimenez has lived in Danbury her whole life and is a proud constituent, happy to give back to a community which has helped her and her family thrive. She is a first generation college graduate, having received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry 22 at the University of Hartford on a full tuition scholarship. She currently works in energy efficiency and plans to use her skills as a Sustainable CT Fellow in 2021 at the Western Connecticut Council of Governments to help Sustainable Danbury get its certification. Ms. Vida Goncalves is a Western Connecticut State University student pursuing biology with a concentration in ecology. She grew up in Danbury and wants to help the city become more sustainable and environmentally friendly for everyone. Ms. Melissa Jimenez is an outreach coordinator at an energy efficiency consulting group. She grew up in Danbury and has a background in applied economics and a passion for community engagement, advocacy, and sustainability. Prior to her current role, she worked with the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, where she supported climate and economic justice initiatives through policy research, coalition building, and public advocacy. Melissa is passionate about connecting with communities and creating meaningful impact through outreach and relationship building. Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Thank you, Council. What's your pleasure? Councilwoman Jabbour.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to receive the communication and confirm the appointments of Valentina Jimenez, Vida Goncalves, and Melissa Jimenez to serve on Danbury's sustainability team. Second.

Motion is made. Seconded. I think I'll call Councilman Ben Cheney's first. Council, are there any remarks? Any remarks? Councilman Hawley, please.

Thank you, Your Honor. So I'm the team lead for the Sustainable Danbury team, and I just wanted to shout out that Valentina, Vita, and Melissa have greatly contributed to us successfully applying for our bronze certification on August 15th. Even before they were appointed, they were putting the work in to get that application submitted, so I just wanted to give them a shout out and recognize that. Thank you, Councilman Hawley.

council any other remarks any other remarks any other remarks you know i'll try your minds all those in favor signify by saying aye aye any opposed the eyes have it the vote is so ordered five is on consent item number six please

communication, conveyance, and release of water main easement at 113-115 Mill Plain Road. Dear Mayor and Council Members, the attached request from Anthony Mazzucco on behalf of Equity One Northeast Portfolio LLC seeks your consideration and approval of completion of the previously authorized conveyance of water main improvements and the related easement transaction affecting the property. Thank you, very truly yours, Robin Edwards, Deputy Corporation Counsel.

Thank you, Counsel. What's your pleasure? Councilman Giordano.

Thank you, Your Honor. I move to receive the communication and send this for reports back from the City Engineer and Planning Commission.

Motion is made, seconded by Councilwoman Gartner. Council, any remarks? Any remarks? Any remarks? Seeing none, I'll try our minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The vote is so ordered. Item number seven, please.

Communication license agreement. Dear city council members, the license agreement for the city property on 125 Mill Plain Road is expiring on 10-31-26. The current licensee is in good standing with the city and wishes to enter into a new agreement. I hereby submit a new three-year license agreement for your approval. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Council, it's your pleasure. Council, what's your pleasure? Councilman Salvatore, just raise your hand and follow, thank you. Councilman Salvatore, thank you.

I move to receive the communication and send this to an ad hoc committee.

Motion is made to send to an ad hoc. That vote is so ordered. Ad hoc will consist of Councilman Peter Buze in the chair, Councilman Mike Flanagan, and Councilman Mike Coelho. Item number eight, please.

Council members, the license agreement for the city property on 123 Mill Plain Road is expiring on 12-31-26. The currently licensee is in good standing with the city and wishes to enter into a new agreement. I hereby submit a new three-year license agreement for your approval. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Thank you, Council. What's your pleasure? Councilwoman Robinson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to receive the communication and send this to an ad hoc committee.

Motion made to send to an ad hoc committee. The vote is so ordered it will consist of the same ad hoc. Councilman Peter Busetti in the chair, Councilman Mike Flanagan, and Councilman Mike Coelho. Nine is on consent. Item number 10, please.

Ordinances and report. Amendments to ordinances section 22-19 through 2230, police department.

Councilman Peter Bezaith, minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move that we waive a reading of the public hearing minutes. As all members have copies, copies are on file with the Legislative Assistance Office, as well as to accept those minutes as presented.

Motion has been made. Seconded by Councilman Paul Rotello. Council, this is on the reading of the minutes. Any remarks? Any remarks? Any remarks on the minutes? Seeing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. Council, what is your pleasure? Councilman Laughinghouse. I move to receive the communication and approve the resolution as presented. Motion is made. Seconded by Councilwoman Gartner. Council, are there any remarks? Councilwoman Fay.

Your Honor, I move to split the question between permanent legal residents and DACA recipients. I second it. The way the ordinance is written.

second there's been a motion made seconded to split the question uh to split between uh legal permanent resident and daca recipient um into two separate ones are there any remarks on the splitting of the question any remarks anywhere on the splitting of the question well i would like to speak in favor of the split yeah please um i i i think we're missing um my concern i should say is that i think we're missing um

a distinction between permanent legal residents and DACA recipients. DACA is really, it's just an exercise of prosecutorial discretion that defers action. That's what it stands for, deferred action, right? And that's different than someone who resides here in the United States as a permanent legal resident. So in my opinion, they are two separate, CLASSES OF PERSONS FOR HIRING PURPOSES.

THANK YOU. COUNSELOR, ANY OTHER REMARKS? SEE NONE, I WILL TRY YOUR MINDS. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF SPLITTING THE QUESTION, NOT THE MAIN MOTION, SIGNIFY BY SAYING AYE. I BELIEVE THAT IS TWO. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? NAY. THE NAYS HAVE IT. THE MOTION FAILS. BACK TO THE REGULAR MOTION. COUNSELOR, ARE THERE ANY REMARKS? Any remarks? Councilman Chinese, please.

Thank you, Your Honor. I know when Chief Rittenhour came up, he answered a lot of my questions. So thank you. Your comments were, I believe, right on point. So thank you for coming up and sharing those thoughts. But my only question, as I think I explained earlier to you, is the only distinction between a citizen and a DACA candidate would just be a checkbox on the application. Am I correct in that?

That is correct.

Okay. That is correct. The application, and we use another party police app, which is where you apply for police officer jobs throughout the state. The application would only ask, are you a U.S. citizen, permanent legal resident, or DACA recipient? And they have to answer yes or no.

if I may, Your Honor, and through that whole process of application background checks, there would be no indication whether that candidate is a DACA legal resident or a U.S. citizen. There would be no mention in any of the training, so they wouldn't be called out that I'm a DACA resident.

They wouldn't be called out, but Human Resources does have to verify that they do meet that requirement.

Correct.

but no, they wouldn't be singled out, like we wouldn't have some sort of database or something that says, oh, you're different, no.

So you wouldn't know the difference between a US citizen or not?

All I know is that they qualify human resources processes, the applications, civil service approves the applications, and all I would know is that they meet those minimum qualifications.

Thank you, Chief. And one more question, Your Honor. Yes, sir. It may be to HR, but you may know the answer to this as well. When is the next police exam?

That has not been announced yet. We have currently we have three people that are under active background investigations right now. After that, this list will be exhausted. So probably will be within the next two to three months that we would be posting again, doing another recruitment for entry level. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, this is a very competitive process between withdrawals, taking offers from other police departments, and people not even clearing the backgrounds because of whether it's a failed polygraph, psychological, or just too much baggage in the background. We lose about seven out of every eight candidates. So it's a very difficult process to get through. It's very thorough. We want to make sure that we have qualified people that are here to serve this community.

Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Your Honor. Again, I think this is a good ordinance, and I will be supporting it. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Hawley, please.

Thank you, Your Honor. First, I just want to thank Chairman Joe Burton, who chaired this committee way back in April, April 28th. I cannot believe that was four months ago. We've been working on this ordinance, which is one thing I wanted to offer to the public record is that back at that ad hoc committee meeting, I asked a simple question both to our police chief and to our HR director. Would anything in this ordinance negatively affect your departments or the way that procedures are done or the processes for bringing people on or affecting any kind of capacity standards. And they both agreed, no, it would not be impacting their departments in a negative manner. So I just wanted to offer that for the public record and to say that I believe this will be a impactful ordinance that will be rightening the path for our community and be a good thing for our community overall. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Hawley. Council, are there any other remarks? Any other remarks? Councilman Flanagan.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a comment. I have a friend who works in a neighboring police department as a civilian employee. And he tells me that very often that department has to call Danbury because they don't have any bilingual officers. So they call here because they know we do. And that department is trying to fix that. So it's another service that these folks bring. They speak maybe two or three languages instead of just English. And we speak 40 languages in the school system here. So having police officers who can speak to folks in their own language, to me, just makes a whole lot of sense. I just can't imagine voting against this. Thank you, Your Honor.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Jabbour, I believe you had your hand up.

I did. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just briefly, I will know I heard a lot of commentary today, and I've read some of the commentary online, and some of it has been quite frustrating because a lot of the commentary that's been coming forward has to do with immigration status. However, while some of it may be well placed in some of the concerns. For example, I heard some today about vetting processes from other countries if people are born in other countries. I heard nobody make any complaints about people who are naturalized US citizens. These complaints were only specifically directed to individuals who are lawful permanent residents or DACA recipients. Why is there a distinguishment that way but not a distinguishment if you become a US citizen naturalized rather than born here via birthright citizenship? So that was very, very frustrating for me to hear today. Our background checks are very, very thorough for police officers. I will note that I routinely advise people on what will and will not come up in a background check. And I will tell you that Police departments, certain state agencies and federal agencies are the one things that I discuss on a daily basis when anyone is talking about what will come up on a background check. And for those, it's literally everything. Every single skeleton in a closet is coming out. So the amount of... vetting that is going through everybody who's becoming a police officer is absolutely strenuous. And what's even more frustrating that I have seen, especially because we've discussed ICE so much today, is that ICE officers now do not have a vetting process. In fact, they are now accepting basically anybody with a $50,000 bonus check, which is absolutely frustrating because I am not seeing similar disgust or frustration at people who are actively kidnapping people who have not committed any crimes or have not done anything, to harm our community off the streets, from bus stops, in front of daycare centers, in front of their own children, creating unspeakable levels of trauma. that commentary has been absolutely silent. However, when it's people actively hoping to serve our community and make our community safer and better, that is all of a sudden where I'm hearing commentary. And that is incredibly frustrating to hear because I am a child of immigrants. My parents came here fleeing civil war. I work every day with immigrants and there is nobody that I've ever found that has a stronger love of America than most immigrants because they know where they came from and they know that the American dream is alive and well for them, no matter how, at least in my perspective, misguided that is, because I watch it every day absolutely falter and crush people's spirits when they're talking to me and crying and telling me, but we came here for an American dream. What is happening? So I challenge everybody that if you are making commentary to question who we are hiring as our police officers, I would like to hear that same questioning happen to our federal officers that are kidnapping people off the street, because many of them are people who actually will not pass police officer background checks. In fact, many have been unmasked as individuals who not only would no longer pass, but have been dishonorably discharged.

I think the topic is our ordinance and DACA and lawful permanent residence. I think Councilwoman Jabbour has taken this pretty far afield and Your Honor has given her quite a bit of leeway to do so. I'd just like to come back to the topic.

Happy to reroute.

My point is I think everybody should discuss this equally. I think at this point POST has come out with standards saying that this is acceptable and we should include these people in our police Officers, they are allowed to serve our country. They are allowed to defend our country abroad. Why should they not be allowed to defend our citizens domestically? Thank you.

Councilman Dwayne Perkins, I believe you had your hand up earlier, or am I putting you on the spot? Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Chief Ratnar, this is real quick. I understand everything that's going on here, rights that individuals have on the job, off the job, the finite market of this population. I get all that stuff. I can understand why people are concerned about it. We have been talking about the rigor of the application process so far, and I wasn't really expecting you to put these numbers out there. Seven of eight pretty much don't make it through the, is that the entire application process?

That is correct. Like I said, it's a very competitive process. Most of our applicants apply for numerous departments. So between those withdrawing from the process for whatever reason, between those who have accepted employment somewhere else because another department got to them before we did. And between those who are eliminated through our process because they failed the polygraph, they failed the psychological, the information that we uncovered in those background checks makes them unsuitable to be police officers here. We run about seven out of eight failed, not making it through our process. So we only hire about one out of every eight to 10 people.

I wasn't expecting that.

So, you know, this is just another reason why, what do we do? We increase our pool of qualified applicants. That's what we're trying to do.

And I think a lot of it comes down to opportunity. This is correct. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Councilman. I'm just going to go down the line here. Councilman Britton.

Thank you, Your Honor. I'm not going to continue to belabor the point here. We heard all of the questions from Chief, even at the Ad Hoc Committee. It's legal. It's allowed. It's been recommended. And I think there's no reason from a legal or... practical point to vote no against this but i just wanted to kind of dovetail onto that by saying that now i think this council what we have here tonight is an opportunity i think you know although this definitely wasn't planned to be on the agenda on um the end of a federal invasion of immigration officials in Danbury, because we've been working on this for months, but I do think it's timely and I think this vote tonight sends a message to our immigrant community at large that you are welcome in Danbury. And I can tell you that from my perspective in the Army, when you put on your uniform, nobody cares whether you were born here, whether you're a DACA recipient, whether you're a permanent resident, nobody cares. You put on that uniform, you are the same as everybody else. You are part of the same mission. The same goes for the police department. There are no classes of police officers. There's no DACA recipient officer John Doe. There's no permanent resident officer John Doe, citizen John Doe. You are officer John Doe in the police department. And I think this council tonight can, like I said, send a message to our immigrant community on the end of what was a terrorizing week for our neighbors. And Representative Santos and his comments really struck me because some of you know I like to run. I run around Danbury. I was running around Rogers Park the other night. Beautiful evening. Not one single person at Rogers Park on the playground. You tell me when the last time Rogers Park was not packed on a weeknight in August. I have never seen that. And not every single immigrant in Danbury is an undocumented immigrant, which a lot of people like to say on social media and what a lot of people like to throw out there and hide behind their keyboards and completely pass around and infect the rest of the community with this misinformation. Immigrants are welcome in Danbury, and I think that's what this council can send tonight by voting yes on this. There is no reason to vote against this. And if you do vote against this, I truly question your moral compass, and I sincerely hope that everybody votes yes. So thank you, Your Honor. Thank you.

Councilwoman Robinson.

Thank you, Your Honor. And I just want to mirror what some of the folks up here said, but I also think that even if there wasn't the history or what had happened in our community the last several weeks, even if that didn't happen, I think that this is something that it's timely. I think this is very clear what we're trying to accomplish here. And this is not lowering the standards of our police force. We've heard very clearly from our chief of police. We know how vigorous the process is. We know what the training and the vetting that has to happen to be a police officer. And I was just looking at the officers that we had bios on earlier today and thinking there's some amazing candidates that are out there and the things that these folks have accomplished and not to belittle the experience of those up here in the dais, but I know I wouldn't probably qualify to be a police officer. It is an immense responsibility. I think if we had received those letters for those officers in front of us tonight and there was say a sentence in there about them being citizens, I think that belittles what it is that everybody brings to the table. So I think there is a lot of emotion running high but I think this is very, very simply about qualification and this is not changing the qualification to become a police officer in the city of Danbury. This is really about taking the best candidates for the job and having that pool available. I think putting labels on what somebody is or what you believe, somebody is based on their status. These are people that are legally and lawfully able to be here and they want to be part of this community. And anybody that wants to take that oath and serve and protect and put their life on the line and their families on the line to become a police officer, I just think it takes all of us to step back to look at what we have protecting our community. And it's the right thing to do. It's a moral decision whether or not we're all emotionally high this week. I think that we just need to think about that. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Laughinghouse? Okay. Councilwoman Gartner? I was just trying to go down the line there. That's why. It's okay.

Thank you, Your Honor. I think that the sort of purgatory-like status that are assigned to DACA recipients definitely illustrates the problem of our countries and the broken system that we have. But what we can do in Danbury is, to the point of the chief, is to broaden the pool. And the implication of how much this pool will be broadened is really... It's not so much, right? There are less than 3,000 DACA recipients in the state of Connecticut. That pool is not growing because that designation is not given anymore. The average age of a Connecticut DACA recipient is 32, and the average age of people applying to be officers is 26. But the pool also goes 22 to age 30. The DACA recipients in the state of Connecticut age group is from 19 years old to 45. There are people in this age group that are going to not really apply to be police officers. Currently only 1% of the available DACA recipients apply to be police officers. So of this pool, if you were to use a 22%, which is kind of what the amount of people in the population that apply to be police officers, you would get a pool of 650 in total, which is more than a pool of 30 with only the 1% applying because laws like this aren't, ordinances like this aren't in place. So even with the application of this, the pool grows really kind of incrementally, but probably enough to help bridge a gap that we have here in our own city. And with this ordinance, I feel Danbury would be a more attractive place for a pool of this small candidates and that would aid our city. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Garner. Councilman Leffinghouse.

I just want to, two things. I just want to amend my original motion. I called this a communication and it's indeed an ordinance. So I just want to clarify that just for the record. The other thing is I spoke pretty passionately about this last night in our caucus group. And the one thing I wanted to highlight tonight, because I don't think it's been talked about, I know several other points and the chief, kind of hit a lot of the talking points is when I went back and looked at this, why is this a positive influence or right for the city of Danbury is the case studies that I was able to find. And the case studies pretty much pointed to that when these candidates came on board, the positive influence that it had directly on the community and reaching folks that necessarily our police or the police in that community weren't able to reach was a 360. Some of the adjectives I found, you know, in speaking to some of these officers and some of these recruits were positive mindset, youth oriented, you know, a team player, dedicated. Those are all adjectives I feel that we would benefit greatly here in the city of Danbury, which is part of the reason why I felt the need to speak about it on the caucus and tonight. So I definitely am in favor. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Leffenhaus.

Council, are there any remarks on this side? Councilwoman Fay?

I'm sorry that I feel the need to say this, but I do plan to vote no, and I am not anti-immigrant. I am not a racist. My concerns are simply from a practical consideration for all of the reasons actually stated by Councilwoman Gartner about the small, small pool of persons that this will apply to. And in this climate, to know that that DACA status could be revoked at any moment, I do not believe it to be in our city's best interest to spend thousands and thousands of dollars sending anyone to post, to attend our police academy, to be removed from Danbury, from Connecticut, from the United States. It's like training someone who tells us, thanks for paying for my training, Danbury, but I'm going to go over to Bethel now. Those are my concerns. They're very practical considerations. It's not an anti-immigrant stance by any means. And it is exactly why I wanted to split the question, because I think there is a nuanced difference. It's actually not so nuanced. between a legal resident and someone who is protected under DACA. I have a sister-in-law who was under DACA. I understand who this impacts. And I, again, agree with all of Councilwoman Gardner's statistics that I think this is signal virtueing at its best.

Thank you, Councilman Fay. Council, any other remarks? Councilman Rotello.

Thank you, Your Honor. Through the chair to Chief Ridenour. Chief, we've heard a lot of emotion tonight. And I'm not going to go down that road. I think my record on emotion is pretty clear on the immigration issue going back 30 years in the city. But I do have some queries about procedural or practical effects. To begin with, the council of police officers that has approved this is not a legislative body. It's not the legislative body of the state of Connecticut. Is that correct?

They're not the legislative body of what?

I don't understand the status of the group that's approved this. The governing body, POST.

I apologize. POST is under the State Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, but it is responsible for all police officer certification in the state of Connecticut. What happens is individual municipalities hire police officers, but we really cannot serve as police officers until we're certified by the state of Connecticut, and that responsibility is under post.

So again, this is not an elected body of legislative officials in the state of Connecticut chosen from 169 cities and towns.

No, it's a legislative appointed body by the state.

Understood. And they can change their mind, or once they've done something like this, is it sticky? Is it sunsetted? You mentioned they did it something in 20, then they did it in 24, 25, and then just recently they did something else.

Correct. In 2020, they allowed permanent legal residence, and in 2025, they further extended it to DACA recipients.

And this process is proceeded like it would be in the legislature with public hearings and public notices and things like that or not?

That I'm not aware of, but I do know that their council meetings are open to the public.

Okay, so it's not a state statute. done in a particular way that the state legislature does. It's not that. These are appointed by the state, but it's not a state legislative statute.

They are appointed by the state, and it's usually the state, just as if you look at the police accountability bill, the state legislature usually puts the burden on posts to come up with policies, et cetera.

Understood. That's a way that the state generally operates for a lot of things. I don't want to say a lot of things like this, because it's pretty unique, the police powers in general, specifically. But the state does have these policies where they have a group like a standing committee that handles this. Yes, correct. That's relatively normal. Okay. ICE has in the past and will probably again arrested DACA people holding DACA status. This is not an unknown thing. This is not even a rare thing. ICE has gone after people that hold DACA status.

What are the plans going to be?

We're going to have... Let me get to that in just one second. You mentioned that the... ATF, alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, is that what they still call it, has opined that people with DACA status, I think you were talking about DACA status. That is correct. People with DACA status should be or could be or will probably be allowed to carry firearms.

No, that they are allowed to carry firearms in the performance of their duties.

Correct, but ATF is essentially a bureaucracy. That's not a federal law. Am I correct in that? It's sort of like the post thing. This is a separate group that is charged with creating these regulations, but it's not the government itself. It is a branch of the government. It's a bureaucracy, basically. Correct. Essentially like POST.

I would assume so. I can't dispute that at this particular time. I don't have stuff in front of me.

So the POST thing is not a statute, and the ATF thing is not a law. POST is the standard that we all go by. Understood. Understood. We're just talking about the status of the... the legal status upon which this is based. The carrying guns is an opinion by ATF, and the Post is a suggestion of this body that's been formed by the state of Connecticut to create policy. But again, these two things are not laws. Would you agree with that?

No.

Not really.

You think they are a law?

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

All right. I may defer later to Corporation Counsel to answer that question more fully since there is actually our attorney. Okay. Let's get to DACA now and the arrest that ICE has been conducting. What plans does the city of Danbury have if this were to pass tonight and we have armed DACA members on the street who are then confronted by ICE and told to stand down, get arrested? What are these armed Danbury police who are sworn police officers with guns going to do if they themselves are being faced with arrest by ICE in Danbury? Do we have a plan for that? Is it reasonable if ICE is arresting DACA people, is it reasonable to assume that they might arrest DACA people who are police? Maybe at home when they're not armed because apparently ATF says they can be armed on the job, but maybe they have to turn the weapon in. Or perhaps even in the course of their duties on the street. What suggestions will you have? to the rank and file to your officers if they are then confronted to stand down, to stand up, to do what? or do you think that that's such a rare occurrence it's not even worth discussing?

I don't see a scenario where that would happen. If you have officers that are on duty and the performance of their duties, I don't see that happening. And in other cases, I mean, if an officer gets arrested for any reason, we have a procedure in place until that is adjudicated.

Yeah. OK. The advice to officers would be if they were confronted by ICE in a situation that might lead to arrest to cooperate. Absolutely. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's all I have, Your Honor. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Rotello. Councilman Cheney's.

Thank you. This is more of a housekeeping. Since Councilman Laffinhouse changed his motion, I think he needs to restate it. We'll restate the motion at the end.

I was going to ask him to do that instead of the amendment. So when we get ready for that, I'll ask the Councilman to reinstate the motion. Thank you. Restate the motion. As an ordinance. As an ordinance. Council, are there any other remarks on this topic? Any other remarks? Councilman Coelho, please.

Yes, I had a question for the Chief.

You noticed this gut and realized I needed some exercise, right?

I didn't say a thing. I sit here. I got to walk too, so. If you could just clarify a couple of things with regard to Councilwoman Fay's question splitting the vote. There is a difference between a permanent legal resident with regard to allowing to have a concealed carry permit, say, right? Now, off duty, I'm not talking about on duty. Aren't permanent legal residents allowed to obtain a concealed carry permit?

Permanent legal residents are allowed to obtain a permit, but if they're police officers, sworn police officers, they really don't need it. But second part of your question?

The second part is then, are DACA recipients allowed to have concealed carry permits?

THIS WAS ASKED AT THE AD HOC WITH COUNCILMAN MIKE HENRY AND THE ANSWER IS THEY ARE ALLOWED TO CARRY WHILE THEY ARE ON DUTY BUT THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CARRY WHILE OFF DUTY UNLESS WE HAVE A POLICY IN PLACE THAT SAYS THAT REQUIRES OFF DUTY CARRY. Do you see that being a conflict?

Because I think the potential for exposure to the city is my concern. I could see the need because I know a lot of officers that carry off-duty and they keep their pistol with them. And there's a lot that don't. And there's a need they feel they have, right? And I get it. So the question I have is, is the exposure the city could face in that instance, right? I know there was talk about, oh, a sergeant would give it to them in the field and et cetera. And I guess that question may not be directed to you right now as much as corporation counsel, but my concern would be in that instance where, say, off duty to maybe being recalled to duty, not having that weapon, you know, or in the midst of being off duty is our exposure as a city. Has that been looked at?

Well, if you're recalled to duty, then you would be issued your weapon.

I'd like to hear Corporation Counsel kind of opine on that. Can you jump on the microphone, Corporation Counsel, please?

Can you just please use your microphone, sir? You're asking if there's any exposure or liability to the city by letting DACA recipients use the firearms that that the governing body and the federal government already said they can use.

Between off-duty and on-duty, that transition period, right? Now, obviously, we can agree to disagree. Fair.

That's a fair question, Councilman.

Right, when they're on duty? Fair question. I'm not arguing that point. But they wouldn't have the firearm off-duty, Councilman. My point is our exposure as a city is what would happen during that transition.

There's no transition. The firearm would be locked in the police department. Second, Councilman Robinson. Go ahead.

Can he clarify his point? Because I understand that we don't require police officers to carry weapons off-duty. We don't require it. But you're positing a hypothetical.

But many do.

Well, true, but it's not a requirement. You're positing a hypothetical that an officer off-duty could get into some...

Please use that microphone so everybody can hear you. Thank you.

An officer off duty could get into some kind of a confrontation involving the use of the pistol? Yeah, people can have their pistol. Is that a fair summary of your question?

And when it comes to hypothetical, right, there's a lot of different scenarios. And I'm not going to sit here and profess to know that I know all of them. All I just know is that there's a potential. And has that been looked at in our exposure? Because the last thing we want to do is, you know, yeah.

It's been looked at in the sense that any officer who does something that could give rise to a lawsuit, negligence, assault, etc., they enjoy governmental immunity if they're acting in a discretionary way. So that would be the first defense. There's also qualified immunity under Section 1983 if someone were to bring an action under Section 1983. So I'm not saying that an officer or the city could never be held liable in that kind of confrontation, but there are certain laws in place that would be triggered by the governmental immunity doctrine.

And I guess, if I could follow up on that, one of my questions would be maybe to the chief, if there's an anti-corporation council. If, in fact, something like this did arise, do we have a policy in place where, you know, you guys are the experts, right? So I'll defer to you on this, but the question lies that an officer checks in his weapon, you know, when he's off duty, maybe it's a half hour away, gets called back. I don't have time to go to the police station. I'm going to go to the scene or wherever it may be because we need backup. I mean, have we looked at that? You know, because I mean, in cases of emergencies, there are emergencies and you have to respond, right? So I just would, I'm thinking about the exposure part of that.

I understand what you're saying, but if you're called back, then it's to respond to headquarters to make sure, first of all, you know what you're responding to, and you would be issued your weapon. So I don't see it as any different than the officer who chooses not to carry off-duty weapons. and may have to go home and get their weapon if for some reason they had to respond to something or were called back to work.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Robinson?

I just wanted to clarify, and I think, I'm not sure if what I was following from Councilman Coelho's question was totally answered, but I think the question really is, is there any liability or responsibility for the city of Danbury if an off-duty officer does not have their weapon on them and something happens? And I think that's really the question, is if they're off-duty, and they're not carrying a weapon is there any liability to the city of danbury that that officer doesn't have his weapon on him but i mean it's if if an officer is on duty we have a responsibility the city of danbury is responsible for that officer's actions whether or not they have their but if they're off duty

Just like now, I believe the answer is no, correct, Chief? If an officer is not required to carry, there's no Danbury requirement for that. The answer is no.

That's what I wanted to just clarify the question, that we're not open to liability because an officer is off-duty, and whatever they do in that off-duty capacity, whether they have a weapon or not, is irrelevant.

That's my understanding, but I haven't researched this in detail, so I don't want to use the drug liability.

Thank you. Councilman Fay, please.

And also, through the chair to corporation counsel, there would be liability on the city if any officer used their duty weapon elsewhere in the commission of a crime, in any other set of facts. So in this circumstance, we are taking persons who otherwise cannot carry a weapon They cannot hold a firearms permit. They're given a duty weapon, and if they leave the station with that duty weapon and do use that in some unlawful manner, that could expose the city since it's our weapon that we issued to them, correct?

If they use it in some unlawful manner, you get into the issue of did they act outside the scope of their employment? Was their actions wanted and willful? Yeah, so there's a number of scenarios. And again, I don't wanna speculate on a particular situation.

Yeah, no, I'm not asking you to speculate. Assume it's unlawful, it's wanton, it's reckless, right? It's beyond the scope of their employment.

If you act recklessly and willfully and wantonly, you don't enjoy the provisions of the indemnification statute.

Okay, thank you.

Any police officer.

Any police officer.

Any police officer? Counsel, are there any other remarks? Any other remarks? Any other remarks? Before I close, we will let Majority Leader Salvatore make the final comments.

Okay, and I'll keep these brief, which some people are saying he's never brief. We heard tonight a citizen asked for us to hold off because this is a divisive situation. Seriously, I think it would be more of a problem for us if we did hold it off. I think the city is looking for us to do something, and believe it or not, Al, I hope you have your video on, but we're on the same side on this one, okay? We have to be on the right side of the argument, and I believe we are when we pass this. We have to have the ability to right the wrongs, okay? The chief said everything. He answered the questions. He opens up the pool. I had the pleasure after the public hearing of meeting a city of Danbury resident who is a DACA recipient who wanted to become a police officer in her hometown and wanted to know if she should wait or if she should take the job in Norwalk because she had passed the test there, passed everything to become an officer. And I said, it's going to take some time. And I believe she did end up becoming a Norwalk police officer. And if I'm wrong, I hope she can become the Danbury police officer she wanted. In the end, it's the right thing to do. We're worried about police officers with guns. Let me ask you a question. I'm a respiratory therapist by trade. I work in a hospital. Have you ever looked up at the doctor who might be a licensed resident or a DACA recipient and asked them, do you have your papers? Or no, you're going to say, save me. Police officer that comes has been vetted and has been trained, and I remember what my uncle went through in the police academy many years ago. It's not a simple way to become a police officer. They do all the work. Your city of Danbury Fire Department, you don't ask that firefighter who's crawling up the ladder to get you out of the building if they're a resident. No, save me. Let's do the right thing, people. Let's vote yes, vote yes now. I call for a roll call vote.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Laffian, if you don't mind restating the motion, please.

I move to receive the ordinance and approve the resolution as presented.

I need to do that a third time.

Apologize.

That's okay. Apologize. No. We had to change it.

I move to receive the communication of the ordinance and approve the resolution as presented. Take resolution out. I move to receive the ordinance and approve as presented. Perfect.

Thank you. Seconded by Councilman Cheney. All right, Council, I will try your minds. We're going to go for a roll call vote here.

Coelho?

No.

Flanagan?

Yes.

Hawley?

Yes.

Lapine?

Yes.

Salvatore? Yes. Buzade?

Yes.

Gartner?

Yes.

Fay? No. Wallace Smith? As a Jamaican immigrant and a sound Indian. Spain Reichel? Yes. Giordano?

Yes.

Jabbour? Yes. Rotello? Yes. Chianese? Yes. Dwayne Perkins? Britton? Yes. McAllister? Yes. Robinson? Yes. Laughing House?

Yes.

Dennis Perkins? Yes. 18 yes, 2 no's.

The ayes have it, the vote is so ordered. Thank you all.

Item number 11 please.

Resolution, purchase of Taylor Farm property. Dear council members, in 2008, the city of Danbury acquired the development rights to the Taylor Farm on Great Plain Road, as well as to several adjacent parcels of property owned by the Taylor family. As a result of that acquisition, the use of the properties was limited exclusively to agriculture, farming, and open space. In addition, as part of the transaction, the city acquired the right to buy the properties at 50% of their remaining fair market value should the Taylors ever decide to sell. On June 25th, 2026, the city received a revised notice that Donald A. Taylor Jr. wished to sell two of these parcels owned by him and located at 44 through 55 and 78 Great Plain Road. I have reviewed this proposal and recommend to you the acquisition of 49 through 55 Great Plain Road. On the other hand, since 78 Great Plain Road is unrelated to the Taylor Farm itself, I do not propose that the city purchase it. According to the letter from Mr. Taylor, the city has until November 15th to make a decision about this potential purchase. Very truly yours, Roberto Alves, Mayor.

Thank you, Council. It's your pleasure. Councilwoman Mia.

Thank you, Mayor. I move to receive the communication and send this to an ad hoc committee.

A motion has been made to move this to an ad hoc. The ad hoc shall consist of Councilman Frank Salvatore in the chair, Councilwoman Diana Pine, and Councilman Mike Coelho. 12, 13, 14, and 15 are on consent. Item number 16, please.

Mr. Mayor, I move we waive a reading of the reports as all members of copies and copies are on file at the Legislative Assistance Office, as well as we accept the reports as they're presented.

Motion has been made. Second by Councilman Dwayne Perkins. Council, are there any remarks or questions for our department heads? Councilman McAllister.

Thank you very much, Your Honor. I'd like to start with the police, Chief. I'm sorry, I've got to add to your workout tonight, Chief. So, Chief, earlier tonight, I found it very difficult not to comment on item number 10 because of my extensive family background in public safety. But what I would like to say to you and roll this over to Chief Lounsbury and Matt, yourself as director of EMS, as a department head of a busy department, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the help that the city of Danbury provides, not only my department, but the surrounding departments, because of the diversity of the people they have employed there. The fact that Daily, we call for interpretations of so many different languages. And knowing that we have somebody coming right away from a neighboring community, they could pick up a child, and I get emotional about this, and tell them that mommy's going to be okay. in their native language, and that person that's picking them up and telling them that looks like them, they can relate to it instead of an old white guy like me, and make them feel good about the fact that somebody's gonna make their life better, all right? You do that, Chief Lounsbury does that, Matt does that, hopefully I do it the right way, but it was hard for me earlier not to say anything about that. The fact that we can bring these type of positive people into our employment and not only serve the city of Danbury, but serve the surrounding communities in a way that I can't even begin to tell you. uh results in positivity on a daily basis um i just i'm not sure how i can best express that but having you up here to receive my plaudits and chief lounsbury and matt matt kazavecchia um i want everybody to know that this is something that happens every single day sometimes many times each day that we have people that can come and help us that can relate to the individuals that really need our help because they can relate to that person that's standing there holding on to them and making a better day in a life a better part of their day at that particular point time is not going well so chief thank you thank you lounsbury and chief kazavecchia thank you that's it thank you councilman mccallister councilman chenise

Thank you, Your Honor. If I'm not chief, you can sit down. You look tired.

Sure enough. Somebody else will call you up.

My question is to the tax assessor, if I may. Thank you. Again, I just want to thank you again for all your hard work that you did regarding the senior credit, and I'm still getting a lot of positive comments from the administration and this council for passing the senior credit, and I think this is the second year that we did it, and I think it's a lot smoother than the first year we did it. But my question really relates to the firefighters volunteer tax credit, which this council and the mayor also supported and we passed this year. Again, I had all positive comments on it, the hard work your department did. And kudos to you, because again, you really went above and beyond to make this successful. So my question is basically, can you just tell us how that process worked? Was it as smoothly as I have led to believe, or are there some hiccups that we should at least fix?

No, it was actually quite easy for me. I received a spreadsheet from Councilman Salvatore, and we were very easily able to put it into our system. I got it in a timely manner. We were able to put it in. We had one slight hiccup, might need to be reviewed. The system only lets you abate up to 75% of the real estate bill. We didn't figure that out until afterwards. The system automatically cuts it off. So after bills went out, I just simply moved it over to the motor vehicle bills. Other than that, I thought it was easy. I don't know if Councilman Salvatore agrees. I don't know. Again, I got the listing. I don't know what they did.

Can I just say, I'm the secretary of the Volunteer Fireman's Council, so that's why she got the sheet from me.

But yeah, it was very easy.

Once the volunteers gave us all the documentation, passed it on to the city, and everybody saw it in their tax bills when they opened them in July.

Again, thank you for all the hard work you did. Again, it was a great program, and I got nothing but praise, so thank you.

Good job, Donna. Thank you, Councilman Cheneese. Councilwoman Jabbour.

I guess I can, oh, I think I lost the chief.

No, he's here.

Okay.

No, he's outside?

All right, well, I can start with Antonio.

Antonio, you almost got away this time.

I'm sorry.

All right. I forgot, Antonio, take a second, take a second.

I could take to both of you at the same time. It's regarding the same thing. Yes. Or not. I guess we're piecemealing it. Now that we're done with the Franklin Street Extension Bridge project, I just really wanted to thank you very much for all of the time and effort you and your officers expended in trying to keep our community safe. I know it was very difficult to reroute the detour. make sure all our children stayed safe, especially as they access the community pool that's in the neighborhood. So I just really wanted to commend you on all of the additional enforcement and assistance you guys provided.

Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you, Councilwoman. Do you still need Antonio? Or is that for the same thanks?

Antonio, come on up. It's the same phrase. In a different phrase. Antonio, thank you so much for finishing the bridge early. We greatly, greatly appreciated it. For those of you that haven't seen it, there was a very lovely press release that was put out, and the bridge looks beautiful. That road is gorgeously paved, and I'm greatly appreciative that there is now a sidewalk that exists that did not previously exist. And for anyone that's ever driven that road, not only was it tight and dangerous, but there was always people walking back and forth to the little... sort of like senior center that's down on the other end of that bridge. So I'm very grateful that it's open and upgraded. So thank you for all of your time and effort in getting that done ahead of schedule.

Thank you, I appreciate it, and I want to thank all the council members that reached out to my department, several residents that reached out to thank us on the effort that we were able to get that bridge completed prior to school opening, and the weather cooperated, so thank God. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Coelho?

I think Councilwoman Jabbour covered it, so thank you, Antonio.

Council, any other remarks, comments? Any other remarks or comments? Any other remarks or comments? Councilman McAllister.

At the end of the night, when we thank all of our department heads for the excellent leadership that they show to the city of Danbury and the accountability that they show to the members of the city council. But I have to say that in the past week, with what we experienced here in the city, the one department head that we did not bring up and ask question or give plaudits to needs to have that, in my opinion. And it's this guy right here, Mayor Alves. The leadership that this guy showed this week.

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Thank you.

Thank you. Joey and I represent the fourth ward and everybody knows the fourth ward is heavily, heavily immigrant. All right. Include my family. All right. And what I saw this week, parents crying at the bus stop. Come on. You know, Joe talked about running through Rogers Park the other night. So did I. Joe was right. There was nobody in Rogers Park Saturday night. The immigrant community that shares their faith with me. We're not at five o'clock mass on Saturday night. I walked Main Street for two hours Saturday night and I was the only one. I did it for two hours. but the stability that has arisen from what we went through. I just can't say enough of the support and the guidance that came out of City Hall. And that's all I want to say. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you.

Thank you. That was a community. We're just a part of it. Council, are there any other remarks? Any other remarks? Seeing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Any opposed? The ayes have it. The vote is so ordered. I hereby extend all committees and will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved and seconded by Councilwoman Cher Wallace-Smith. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Ayes have it. Vote is so ordered. Have a good evening, everybody.