After each presentation, both Mayor Mark Boughton and Al Almeida stopped to take a selfie with the students. Photo on the right provided by Mayor Mark Boughton. Photo on the left provided by Ty’lynn Ith.
Mayoral candidates come to DHS
October 23, 2017
Editor’s note: During the week of Oct. 2, civics teacher Kathy Boucher invited several candidates in this year’s Nov. 7 election to speak with her 8th period students. One of the bigger elections locally is the run for mayor. Both Republican incumbent Mark Boughton and Democratic challenger Al Almeida spoke to the students. Boucher invited a Hatters’ Herald reporter to cover both appearances.
Boughton proud of accomplishments, but not satisfied
Photo Provided by Mayor Mark Boughton.
Mark Boughton has been mayor of Danbury for 16 years, making him the longest serving executive in the city’s history.
The Republican is seeking re-election to another two-year terms this fall. He opened his talk with the students by pointing out his qualifications.
“I think as a former teacher with a master’s degree in educational psychology there’s no one in the city of Danbury that has the experience that I do,” said Boughton, a military veteran and former state lawmaker.
For 14 years Boughton was a DHS history teacher. He worked closely with Boucher, and looks back on these years fondly, reminiscing on days spent on social studies field trips together.
Many of Boucher’s students know him for his Twitter feed, which he uses to tease students about possible snow days but also as a way to inform them and his other followers about city business. Most students know him informally as Mayor Mark.
The impression Boughton made on junior Elizabeth Croxford — through both his Twitter personality and when she met him in class — was generally positive.
“Though his language can be very child-like, he can really connect with the students and he always finds a way to make our town happy,” she wrote in response to a survey Boucher distributed after the talk.
Boughton told the students he has made many promises to Danbury residents that he has kept and will continue to keep. He said he even has a poster of his pledges hanging on the wall of his office in City Hall to ensure that he follows through.
“ If I tell you I’m going to do something I will do it — Mayor Mark Boughton
“The best politicians are those who just want to get it done,” Boughton said to the class.
Other accomplishments that he shared with the students include: Danbury’s top ranking as a city that’s safe, a city that’s receptive to new business, and a city that offers a high quality of life. He adds the city has the lowest unemployment rate in the state.
If he is re-elected, Boughton said he plans to focus primarily on education, the economy, and public safety.
“My heart is still here in this building,” he said, adding that he’s proud of the high school’s expansion and the progress with construction. The project was funded by a $60 million bond issue.
Boughton said he plans to improve Danbury’s economy by encouraging companies to move to Danbury, and for existing companies in the city to expand.
Other plans, if re-elected, include a reconfigured fire department and a general improvement to long-term public safety throughout the community.
“I want to make sure you’re protected,” Boughton said to Boucher’’s students, who mentioned in the surveys their concern for traffic issues and the condition of city roads.
Boughton has shown interest in running again for governor, which Almeida has questioned.
The mayor told the students that he has made no official plans to run for governor. He did say, however, that if he won statewide office that Danbury would surely benefit.
“If I am somewhere else I get to tell our story,” he said. “We’re one of the most diverse cities in the world. We’re a city where people aspire to do that, and that helps new businesses come to Danbury.”
Several students, though, said in their surveys that Boughton should choose which campaign he wants to run for.
“Since Boughton is running for governor, I feel like he might not be fully devoted to Danbury,” senior John Hoddinott said.
Boughton argues that he is passionate about Danbury, though, and that he has worked to set up every student for success in their future endeavors..
Junior Anastasiya Solovyeva said Boughton’s terms have been beneficial to the city.
“He seems to have made many great additions to the city and bettered the community,” Solovyeva said in the survey. “ think he has been a great mayor in the past years.”
If he is re-elected, Boughton says he will continue to work toward success for Danbury.
“I think Danbury is in a great spot, but I think we have a lot of work to do in the future,” he said. “I’m planning on doing that work, if you will let me.”
Almeida promises quick action if elected mayor
Al Almeida wants change for Danbury; he is passionate, he is an assiduous worker, and above all, he loves this city — and that is why he wants to be mayor.
That was part of his pitch as he stood recently before DHS students in Kathy Boucher’s Civics class.
Throughout Almeida’s presentation, the Democrat argued why he would be the best choice for unseating incumbent Republican Mark Boughton, who also had his time before the class.
“I’m an action man,” Almeida said, explaining he wants to move quickly and efficiently to bring enhancements to Danbury.
This characteristic is especially apparent to students as they mentioned in their student surveys that Boucher handed out following the presentations. “Almeida seems extremely hardworking and dedicated to only Danbury,” senior Holly Rivers wrote.
He said that this gungho attitude of wanting to accomplish goals has been lacking in Danbury under the current leadership. “It should not take nine months to fix a toilet,” he said, referring to a DHS auto shop bathroom that was rendered unusable. Despite the quick call for help, Almeida said it took the city nine months to make the repairs.
About this, senior Angel Tuano said in his survey: “Almeida is very passionate about fixing things that Boughton said he would fix years ago. He sounds very believable that he plans on making change.”
Everything comes back to one thing and that’s public service. — Al Almeida
Much of this need to serve Danbury in an efficient manner sprouts from his history of national service in the military. Almeida is an Army commander sergeant major — the highest enlisted rank in the Army — and has served for 39 years, fighting in Iraq and being stationed in countries around the world.
He is currently using his military background while working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides federal assistance to areas in response to natural disasters such as the hurricanes in Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida.
“Everything comes back to one thing and that’s public service,” Almeida said. This is why, he said, that he earned bachelor’s in criminal justice from WCSU and a master’s in civil service from UConn.
If elected mayor, Almeida says that his first priority will be education because “there is nothing we can do in this world without education.” Therefore, he said, “I want to invest in education, in the classroom and in infrastructure, I want to invest in our teachers to make sure they have the resources that they need.”
With his three kids, he is specifically passionate about education, as he desires an effective school system so that all students can receive a quality public education here.
He says that teachers are the key to student’s success — and, by extension, the city’s success — and that recently they have been greatly overlooked. Almeida mentioned how this school year, every paraprofessional in the district was either let go or given a lower position because of the state budget crisis.
This greatly increased the pressure placed on teachers — especially in elementary schools — as they lost a vital aide in their classrooms, which Almeida said is unacceptable.
In addition to his promise to return these resources to teachers, Almeida wants to alleviate the city’s crowded schools.
“I am a believer that we should have two public high schools in Danbury,” Almeida says, although he recognizes the great sum money it would cost to build an entire other high school.
Therefore, he also wants to create a magnet program in which students close to Danbury’s edges can decide which city they want to attend school in as a “temporary fix.”
“Danbury has too many kids [in the schools], Ridgefield has too little; why can’t we take the kids on the border of Ridgefield and move them to Ridgefield where they’re losing enrollment,” Almeida asks.
Many students appreciated his various strategies for the bettering of Danbury as senior Maria Garcia notes in her student survey: “Almeida has a clear plan for the future and knows what needs to be improved. He will give us a fresh new start.”
Another fundamental issue Almeida has with the politics of the city at the moment is the taxes. He states that property taxes have risen every single year for 16 years, which is unacceptable to him and students as many said in their surveys that the main issue they want to see solved in office is a lowering of the Danbury property taxes.
“I’m making an investment in the city of Danbury but I’m not getting a good return from it,” Almeida said. Therefore, in office, he wants to focus on helping the working class by lowering taxes.
Almeida said he knows what it’s like to work daily for what you have and live paycheck to paycheck, constantly worrying about finances. He wants to target this problem to ensure that other Danbury residents no longer have to feel the same economic pressure.
This makes him, “relatable as the common working man,” said senior Bryan Niole in his student survey.
Almeida also said that he will never deceive citizens into thinking things are better than they are. He will always say exactly what the issue is and what he will do to fix it, he said, adding “I’m a straightforward politician. I am the way I am.”
He promises to fulfill the needs of Danburians.
“I love Danbury, I’m here to stay.” Almeida told the students. “I’ve served our nation, I’ve served our state, I think it’s time for me to serve our city of Danbury.”