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Norwalk Republicans demand action on BoE racism charge

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Norwalk Republican Town Committee Chairman Pete Torrano
Norwalk Republican Town Committee Chairman Pete Torrano, left, and Mayor Harry Rilling, right.

NORWALK, Conn. – It is well past time for Mayor Harry Rilling to publicly respond to a Board of Education member’s charge of racism, according to the Republican Town Committee executive board.

“It can’t always be, ‘Well, it’s in the works, it’s in the works.’ Really?” RTC Chairman Pete Torrano said Thursday. “It’s been in the works for seven months. You only have 24 months in your tenure. It’s seven months of (dealing) with this – and nothing has happened.”

Torrano on Thursday released three letters the RTC sent Rilling since the first of the year requesting action on the allegations of racism made by BoE member Shirley Mosby in June. The reason the letters are going public is that Rilling has not reached out to the RTC to communicate any action, he said. The only response came from Democratic Town Committee Chairman Ed Camacho, who accused Republicans of a politically motivated attack.

Neither Rilling nor Camacho were available for comment.

Rilling has said that he attempted to set up a meeting with Mosby and BoE Chairman Mike Lyons; Lyons agreed but Mosby had not responded. Rilling has said nothing else publicly since releasing that information.

Torrano said the letters were written by seven members of the RTC executive board and sent with the approval of all 16 members. They were written because people are “very upset” about the situation, he said.

The first was sent on Jan. 3:

Mr. Mayor,

The Executive Committee of the Republican Town Committee is respectfully calling upon you, Mayor Rilling, to act on the allegations of racism on the Board of Education made by Board Member, Shirley Mosby.

As you and many citizens and parents of students in our school system are aware, Ms. Mosby not only made comments accusing certain members of the BoE, and in particular, Chairman Lyons, of racist activities supposedly targeting her and two other members of the BoE, but she also orchestrated the demonstration at City Hall put on by an outside group from Hartford. That group called Norwalk “ground zero” of racism, and compared Norwalk to Ferguson, Missouri.

Allowing these attacks by Democratic members of the BoE toward other public servants, including other Democrats and Republicans on the BoE to hang in the air, never addressed, poisons the atmosphere and scares people of good will away from participating. You as Mayor and leader of our city must take positive steps to determine if, in fact, the allegations are true or not. To allow such serious allegations to remain unresolved on one of your most important boards without any action of note to date by you cannot continue.

Please take the proper and transparent steps to end this uncivil and inflammatory situation.

This is an issue that can no longer be ignored. You must act to let our parents, teachers, school administrators and taxpayers know if these allegations are true. And, if so, you must take the proper action to remedy them. If they are not true, then you must say so, publicly.

Please notify the Republican Town Committee within 10 working days of your intentions regarding this matter.

Regards,

The Republican Town Committee

Peter Torrano

Chairman

 

A reply came from Camacho:

Dear Peter,

The Mayor has asked me to respond to  what  I  respectfully  submit  is a purely political letter from you and the executive  board  of the  Republican  Town  Committee, which  sadly seeks to capitalize on and exacerbate racial tensions in our community. The Mayor seeks to ease those tensions, in accord with his fiduciary responsibility to the City. The Mayor has met with all sides in an effort to facilitate civil discourse and the respectful airing of grievances, perceived or otherwise, in public.  That effort is ongoing.

Respectfully,

Ed Camacho

Chairman

On Jan. 26, Torrano and the RTC responded:

Mr. Mayor,

Thank you for your response, via NDTC Chairman Ed Camacho, to our letter of November 22nd regarding our concern with the very public and still unresolved charge of racial discrimination against BOE Chairman Mike Lyons.

You contend, according to Mr. Camacho, that our letter was (1) a “purely political letter” and a letter that (2) “sadly seeks to capitalize on and exacerbate racial tensions in our community.”

In our view, you are wrong on both points. If the letter had been “purely political”, we would not have communicated it to you privately. Secondly, the suggestion that we, by seeking a resolution of the charges, want to exacerbate racial tensions is frankly bizarre, since it is Shirley Mosby’s accusation that exacerbated racial tensions, and it is the lack of any apparent action to get to the validity of the accusation that sustains those tensions.

However, your response also states that you have met with all sides and that an effort to facilitate an “airing of grievances” is “ongoing.” This is encouraging but, we believe, insufficient.

First, we think the seriousness of the charge against one of the most important components of our city government requires more than an “airing of grievances”. It requires a clear determination of whether Ms. Mosby’s accusation is true or false. Without that, the atmosphere around BOE proceedings will remain noxious and, as a result, good people who might otherwise get involved in Norwalk’s education issues will decide not to.

We understand that last summer you quietly offered to Ms. Mosby and Mr. Lyons your availability to serve as a mediator, and that Mr. Lyons immediately agreed while Ms. Mosby did not. We are not aware that you pursued the matter any further. That is why we are encouraged to hear that your efforts are ongoing. At the same time we are puzzled at why seven months have passed with little or no hint of such efforts.Parents, teachers, school administrators, and taxpayers deserve to know if racial animus plays a role in BOE deliberations. You are the only one who can direct the appropriate parties to find an answer to that question and to insist that you get an answer and then to inform the public.

If we do not soon see evidence that there is indeed an ongoing effort to get to the bottom of this issue, and that there is a resolution in sight, then it will need to be brought to the public’s attention.

Yours respectfully,

Executive Board
Norwalk Republican Town Committee Peter Torrano, Chairman
Cc: NDTC Chairman, Ed Camacho

On Feb. 11, Torrano wrote:

Mr. Mayor,

On behalf of the Executive Committee of the Norwalk Republican Town Committee I am advising you that since our first request to you on January 3, 2015 asking that you take appropriate action regarding the allegations of racism leveled against the Board of Education Chairman, Mike Lyons, has not been addressed in any positive manner, that we believe that we have no choice but to ask you again, and with the full knowledge of the public, to resolve this issue.

You, sir, have repeatedly stated that you have a transparent administration. We are now asking that you do as you state, and be transparent in this matter.

You responded to our original request, not personally, but through the Democratic Town Committee Chairman, Mr. Camacho. You said, through Mr. Camacho, that: “The Mayor has met with all sides in an effort to facilitate civil discourse and the respectful airing of grievances, perceived or otherwise, IN PUBLIC (caps added). That effort is ongoing.”

You have yet to say, publicly what that effort is. To our knowledge you have not met with the Chairman any time recently. We have no idea if you have met with the accuser in this matter, Shirley Mosby. We do know that our efforts on behalf of our Republican elected official have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.

Mr. Mayor, the Republican Town Committee will be releasing our original letter, your response, and this latest letter to the news sources in an attempt to clarify, once and for all if the charges of racism against Mr. Lyons are true, or if they are fabricated.

As stated in our first letter to you, the parents, taxpayers, students, teachers and school administrators deserve to know that you are acting on their behalf. You cannot simply ignore charges as divisive and serious as these and allow them to go unresolved.

Regards,

The Republican Town Committee

Peter Torrano, Chairman

Torrano said there have been other attempts to get action from Rilling, beyond the written letters. Lyons has been asking, he said.

“We’re a good seven months now and it’s time for this to occur. … Enough is enough and this has just gotten to be a little bit ridiculous. This much time passing, seven months, and claims from the mayor that he is doing something and meeting people and frankly we don’t think he has met with anyone. There may have been the occasional phone call, but no action,” Torrano said.

Lyons, reached late Thursday night, said the mayor has been trying to resolve the situation.

“The Mayor has made several attempts to resolve this,” he wrote in an email. “I have agreed to participate; my understanding is that Ms. Mosby always claims she is ‘too busy’ to do so.”

Lyons said he appreciates “Torrano’s support and his effort to get a resolution here. No one should make charges like this against someone and then refuse to provide any evidence to back them up.”

Lyons said the DTC can make a statement this summer when it endorses its slate of candidates for the BoE.

“The Norwalk Democratic Party will signal this summer where it truly stands when it nominates its Board of Education candidates,” he wrote. “Does it endorse this kind of behavior, or does it say ‘there is no place in Norwalk politics for falsely accusing innocent people of racism as a political tactic.’  That will be its true test.”

Torrano denied “absolutely” that the motivation is political – the RTC has no mayoral candidate yet and Rilling was given the opportunity to respond privately, he said. There would be no release of letters if Rilling had provided an update or a schedule for action, without going into the specifics of who said what to whom, he said.

When it first became an issue, people said Rilling was new and still learning the job, he said. Now it’s said that it’s too close to an election.

“When is the right time to do this? It’s only a two-year term,” Torrano said. “No matter when, he’s going to claim this has something to do with the election. That is a standard response from somebody who is under the gun, to then point the finger at the person making the accusation or asking for a resolution, and making it sound like it’s political. It’s not political. If he had responded to this thing correctly on Jan. 3rd, with a letter… This wouldn’t have had happened.”

Comments

29 responses to “Norwalk Republicans demand action on BoE racism charge”

  1. John Hamlin

    Everyone knows that this has everything to do with the election. Duh.

    Shirley Mosby’s complaint had no legal impact — and there’s no legal or administrative proceeding. It was a political maneuver that clearly backfired on her — she has been completely discredited as a hack. Rilling tried to mediate but can’t do anything if one side refuses to meet. What else is he supposed to do? He has no authority to investigate or resolve this — if you want the mayor to have that authority, reform the charter so he has it. Right now, he’s done what he can reasonably do.

    The only thing he could do is make a statement of support for the BOE, which would be appropriate. But there are some who reasonably think that the whole stupid episode is best ignored. Voters are able to make up their own minds — if they think he should have made a statement indicating the obvious — that there was no evidence to support the specious claim — then they can certainly vote him out of office. But many would say the whole matter is best left as it is until Ms Mosby runs for reelection — or election for anything else in the City. If she is supported by the Democratic Party, then that speaks volumes about the responsibility of that organization.

    Frankly, I think the mayor should indicate his support for the BOE and it’s chair on this matter. But his approach is not unreasonable given his lack of authority over the BOE.

    If the Republicans and the BOE members aren’t satisfied, an alternative would be to bring an action for defamation against Ms Mosby. (Good luck with that.). If they cared that much, they would target the person who made the charge rather than someone who tried to mediate. But they just want to bring back Moccia.

    Is this their campaign for mayor? Where’s their candidate?

  2. Time to rethink tactics?

    Sure looks like a threat, blackmail, do this or else! Or else we are going to the newspapers. Do what? What should the mayor do? What are these proper steps that should be taken?

    The issue of BoE members, conducting the peoples business, lacking due professionalism that the task demands seems to have resolved itself with all involved improving behaviors if not communication skills.

    Threatening the mayor than trying to incite and inflame community tension is even below some of your guys standards, isnt it? Maybe not.

    So, what are these “proper steps” that you guys want the mayor to take? Be specific, dont just attack and hope something sticks on the wall. What is YOUR plan to address the lack of professionalism and not only on the board but throughout the entire governance?

    Some of you appear to be taking on a mob mentality and want someone to get the noose, on both sides of the red sea but is that healthy for the community? Does it resolve anything? Or does it create even more discourse and distrust?

    The only way to galvanize the troops is by creating non existent enemies? Is this what leadership means to some? Isn’t this 2015? Some of us appear to be stuck in a time warp, dont we?

    Lets give some, out of the loop, a clue to help them along, shall we?

    Guys, listen, attacking the messenger, attacking an individual has a way of backfiring. It is very old school and lacking in class. You want votes, address the issues and develop solutions. Run on a platform of ideas as opposed to attacks.

    You think something should be done other than whats been done diplomatically, out of the publics eye, as folks of proper upbringing and class handle these type of concerns, than what? What do you want?

    Some may perceive attacks as not progressive and in fact regressive and can leave negative impressions in folks and on candidates and partys, just saying, maybe its time to review strategy and tactics.

  3. EveT

    It seems fairly clear that the Republican Town Committee wants to keep this matter in the news for their own purposes.
    If there was evidence to support Ms. Mosby’s charges, wouldn’t she have produced it by now? It’s reasonable to conclude that there is no evidence, therefore her complaint should be ignored.
    But the RTC wants to make sure it is not ignored, they want to see Ms. Mosby publicly discredited, hoping the discredit will reflect on the entire Norwalk Democratic Party. Their expression of concern over “let us see the evidence” is a bit disingenuous.

  4. John Hamlin

    I think the Norwalk Democrats have given the Republicans a sword in this one. Since there is no evidence, the Dems should have censured her for going way, way over the line of decency. So they have made it a political issue. But the GOP’s hammering of Rilling as mayor on this issue is misplaced. Like anyone who knows how Norwalk government works would seriously put that at Rilling’s feet. Unless they are desperate for a campaign theme.

  5. Jim Anderson

    Ms. Mosby holds a racially charged rally in front of city hall with some group from upstate, calls the chairman, Mike, a racist, and then calls all of Norwalk racist by saying we are the Ferguson of Ct, and nothing happened? It looks like it took urging by the republican committee to finally get our mayor to do something, and that is the problem here. Why when this started did the mayor not say something in public? Why didn’t he come out and defend Mike Lyons and the city itself from these charges? Why did this go on for so long? If this happened when Dick Moccia was mayor he would have stepped up immediately and taken a stand. Dick was on the record for everything and everyone knew where he stood. I am a member of the Republican Town Committee, but not on the executive committee. I’m glad we said something in public. I support what the executive committee did for Mike and for the city. I wish it did not have to get to this point.
    It is solely insulting as a citizen of Norwalk, that a comparison to Ferguson be made. I personally cherish that Norwalk is diversified and is a mix of different ethic people. I was born in The Bronx in a section were it was very similar in make up and we all got along as neighbors. How the City of Ferguson handled their situation was clearly wrong and calling Norwalk ground zero is just as wrong. Stop it please we are better then that.

  6. Oldtimer

    Of course Torrano’s sudden concern is not political. The timing, almost concurrent with the mayor announcing his campaign for a second term is pure coincidence.

    Now, if you believe in coincidences, especially in politics, there is probably somebody reading this who will show up and try to sell you a nice looking bridge.

  7. Racism

    Why isn’t Ms. Mosby being held accountable for her actions? She’s guilty of stirring up racially charged allegations. […]

  8. Piberman

    Let’s give credit to Mike Lyons and the BOE for not being derailed by thoughtless statements made by two members 6 months ago. A panel would have have been appropriate but we know in advance the results. So let this issue rest. We’re especially fortunate to have a BOE Chair and BOE than can well tolerate a few members “going off the reservation”. Republicans need “other fish to fry” here. And either announce a “candidate” or retire from the field.

  9. Ed Camacho

    As I stated last month in my initial response to Mr. Torrano’s first demand letter to the Mayor, I am disappointed by the attempt of Mr. Torrano and the Republican Town Committee to try to exacerbate racial tensions in our community for political gain. While the Mayor has no authority over Board of Education members, he has been in the process of trying to meet with these BOE members in order to try to help resolve these conflicts. In Mr. Torrano’s first letter, he demanded that the Mayor respond to him in writing within 10 days, and then threaten the Mayor that he will expose his letters to the press if he did not receive the response he sought from the Mayor within the time period he demanded. It is inappropriate for the chairman of a political party to make such demands and threats to the Mayor. If Mr. Torrano and the Republican Town Committee truly cared about helping to resolve these conflicts within our City, Mr. Torrano would have picked up the phone to call the Mayor to inquire about how he and others in his party could help. Instead, Mr. Torrano and the Republican Town Committee has chosen to try to exacerbate these conflicts to try to create a political issue to discuss in the upcoming election. In the meantime, the Mayor and other City officials will continue to work to resolve any remaining racial tensions on the Board of Education and elsewhere within our City.

  10. Piberman

    Left unknown is whether DTC Chair Camacho considered the comments by the aggrieved BOE members “appropriate” and whether he as DTC Chair intervened to resolve the matter.
    There was a time in Norwalk when Party Chairs would have quickly intervened when one of their elected officials “went off the reservation” rather than remaining quiet. Had Mr Camacho intervened quickly thus unsavory episode would likely be far behind us. For example Mr Camacho could have early on suggested a panel to explore and resolve the difficulties. Maybe Mr Camacho can give Mike Lyons and the BOE a public compliment for accommodating the aggrieved BOE members into a well functioning BOE. The episode was not a good day for the City’s Democratic leadership. Nor the aggrieved BOE members.

  11. What???

    Mike Lyons “You people…” in attempts to address African Americans at a BOE meeting. Which clearly drew outrage of every African American in the room. And for the record a Caucasian coming up to the podium to tell the African Americans in the room what is or is not racist is just ignorant.

    Chairomonte: “The girl who cried black”

    If BOE members are this insensitive, then how can we trust our students are not being subject to the same racism.

    And yes that’s racist.

  12. Piberman

    Will Mr Camacho support the two aggrieved BOE members should they seek re-election ?
    That would send a clear message. Similarly does Mr Camacho support the re-election of Mayor Rilling ? That would send a clear message. Rather than have exchanges of letters between dueling Town Chairs it would have far better for the DTC Chair to get involved early to resolve the issue. That’s the usual role of a Party Chair. All elected officials are likely to “go off the reservation” occasionally. So it’s up to the Party Chair to reign them in. In this case it was the NAACP President that stole the thunder by attempting to take control of the dispute. At day’s end it was Mike Lyons and the rest of the BOE that kept this unfortunate incident from spiraling out of control. So it would be appropriate for Mr Camacho as DTC Chair to recognize that fact..
    In public. Had the Democratic leadership stepped in quickly it would have been speedily resolved without the intervention of the NAACP. A similar set of comments can be made about certain Council members. Norwalk needs two well functioning and respectful Parties. It’s up to both Chairs to keep errant members in line when serving as elected officials. It’s been a learning experience all around.

  13. EveT

    I’d add to Mr. Camacho’s comments that, if the mayor had given in to the “10 days” demand, there would have been Republicans crowing over his supposed “weak” leadership.
    The only mature, professional response to a “10 days” demand is to let them go ahead and carry out their threat to “go public.”

  14. Oyster

    To quote the late President Reagan: “There you go again”.

    First the noxious campaign that stored up opposition to the mosque using racism. Now this. If the RTC insists on dividing the city on issues of race for political gain, they should not be rewarded in November.

    And again Mr. Berman is spreading misinformation in the context of his obsession with DTC Chair Camacho. Mr. Berman does not and cannot know what Mr. Camacho has said and done behing the scenes. Nor should he be held accountable for the actions of every Democrat or Democratic candidate or Democratic office-holder.

    The DTC is a small-d democratic organization and not a dictatorship. The diversity of opinion reflects the diversity of its membership and is welcomed, even if disagreements can result.

  15. Mike Lyons

    OK, before the idiot comment about “you people” grows legs, let’s be clear. At the Board meeting of December 7, there was a big crowd and a lot of people who wanted to speak. As the speaking went on, people on both sides of the issue at hand started interrupting other speakers. I finally had to intervene to get the crowd under control, and I looked out at the crowd of over a hundred people and, as Nancy reported:

    “At that point King was interrupted by members of the audience who objected. BoE Chairman Mike Lyons told them to stop it. “Basic point here: Freedom of speech means that people sometimes get to say things that other people don’t like to hear,” Lyons said. “I sit here at every meeting getting told things I don’t like to hear and I don’t stop people from saying them. I expect you people to behave exactly the same way.”

    I directed that comment straight out into the whole crowd of people, emphasizing that everyone on both sides had the right to speak without interruption. If saying “you people” to a group that was about 90% white is now judged as being racist because 10% of the people I addressed were African-American, folks here have simply lost their minds.

  16. BigTex

    Please stop with the racial innuendos against Mr. Lyons. The term was clearly used as a means of frustration against those interrupting(inmho). Nothing more nothing less!

  17. Drew

    I love people that call me ignorant in a comment section online. Before you go and cast stones “what” get your facts straight and look in the mirror first. And if you or anyone has any problems with what I said at the BOE meeting on the 7th then I will gladly have a conversation with you and we could discuss your feelings. I stand by everything I said and if you let 2 words like “you people” define you or a race then we really have bigger issues at hand.

  18. piberman

    Oyster:
    The issue is not what Mr. Camancho did behind the scenes but what we expect of any Party Chair when elected officials of their party “go off the reservation”. When such behavior occurs (and it does occur from time to time) if the behavior is objectionable then we expect the Party Chair to publicly comment that the behavior in question is objectionable. Why remain silent ? That sends the wrong message. To everyone. Are there no standards of behavior expected of public officials ? What happened here at the BOE was that officials made quite bizzare charges, didn’t follow up with either evidence or demands for relief through an investigatory process and then everyone remained quiet. Why not expect the Party Chair to at least question such behavior and encourage an apology ? By remaining silent in public the Party Chief gave the appearance that such behaviors were acceptable and the officials behavior apparently acceptable. Public officials do make mistakes of judgment. Most often they recognize their errors and offer apologies and then get on with the business of “public service”. But when they “stonewall” after making serious charges its incumbent for their Party’s leaders to let the public know that their behavior isn’t acceptable. Look how much better we’d be if Mr. Camacho made such a public statement followed by an apology by the BOE members in question. Why shouldn’t elected officials be subject to standards of conduct ? Don’t Norwalk Democrats believe their elected officials should be subject to any standards of public behavior ?

  19. Peter Torrano

    Mr. Camacho and EveT,

    The first letter written by the NRTC is posted here by NoN for all to read. Nowhere in that letter did we demand a “written” response. Nowhere in that letter did we say that if there was no written (or verbal) response within 10 days we would go to the press. Nowhere was there a threat to the mayor. The letter was respectfully written and simply stated what we and many other citizens believed and were requesting: a resolution to a very damaging claim of racism leveled against our BoE chairman, and by virtue of the disgraceful demonstration outside city hall calling Norwalk ground zero of racism and the Ferguson of CT the entire city of Norwalk was accused of being racist.

    It is not until the second letter, written 23 days after our first request, and 4 days after a response, (not from the mayor, but from Mr. Camacho), and after no real response to the Republican Town Committee regarding our very legitimate request for the mayor to take action was the mayor informed that we may find it necessary to notify the press to move this issue forward.

    Additionally, Mayor Rilling announced his bid for a second term 36 days after our request for action. That fact should make it quite clear to those who are accusing the RTC of politics and trying to undermine the Mayor’s reelection bid that this was in the works well before he announced. However, if I were unwilling or unable to justify my lack of action had I been in the same position as the Mayor, I too, may have tried to deflect away from the issue and accuse those asking for resolution to an ugly situation. Now, that’s politics!

    Interestingly, the Mayor found the time to speak with Darnell Crosland of the NAACP about this issue, but not to the leaders of the Republican Party. I wonder why?

  20. LWitherspoon

    @Peter Torrano

    Glad you’re here. While we’re on the subject of inappropriate language, would you be so kind as to comment on the appropriateness of Jack Chiaramonte’s description of Shirley Mosby as “the girl who cried black”?

  21. Peter Torrano

    lwitherspoon,

    Glad you asked. That comment and some others were addressed with Jack. He acknowledged what the Republican Party thought to be inappropriate references to the saying “The boy who cried wolf”. His intention, as you most certainly know, was to simply say that Ms. Mosby was playing the race card. His way of saying it was wrong.

    While you’re here, what has the mayor said about assaults on seniors, race baiting and the lack of transparency that has defined his administration to this point?

  22. Are you kidding?

    C’mon folks,
    When are the Repubs going to take a real look at the fire department, and the many documented insensitive comments over the past ten years if their so concerned with insensitive remarks? They only look for window dressing with the BOE, why aren’t they asking the mayor to go after everyone?
    O forgot they support the chief, which questions their credibility in asking the mayor to chase the BOE issue and not the fire department!
    C’mon folks go after everything if you are telling the truth about caring.

  23. LWitherspoon

    @Peter Torrano

    Thank you for the explanation. I was not aware of the Republican Party’s public repudiation of Mr. Chaiaramonte’s “girl who cried black” comments. Did I miss that?

    Regarding assaults on seniors, race baiting, and lack of transparency, I’m not aware of any comments by Mayor Rilling. I’m certainly disappointed that Mayor Rilling campaigned as a fierce opponent to a mall at 95/7, and has done nothing as Mayor to oppose the mall. In fact as Mayor he said he was pleased when he saw the design, and that if Norwalk didn’t allow the mall to be built the site would sit vacant for a long time. Such a 180-degree turnaround is indefensible. More recently we learned that the owner of Spinnaker, a developer that is still involved in the project, contributed to the Mayor’s re-election campaign.

  24. Kevin Di Mauro

    @LWitherspoon

    Of course you are not aware of any statements by Harry Rilling regarding assaults on seniors, race baiting, and lack of transparency. It’s because he doesn’t say anything about sensitive issues that concern the public.

    When he does say anthing it’s usually a noncommittal statement that still leaves you wondering.

  25. Norewalk Lifer

    A tempest in a teapot for political expediency,,, enough already.

  26. Kevin Di Mauro

    @Mike Lyons

    Thank you Mike for your response on this issue.

  27. Ray J

    @Jim Anderson

    Right on.

    The simple rule of the streets is put up or shut up. Where is Mr Lyons accuser now now after such bold words? hmmmm what happened to Norwalk as the ferguson of CT? Former police chief mayor, think our cops are like that?

    Another rule is if you pick a fight, you better be prepared to end it. Since the other fighter(s) are absent, RTC in a TKO.

  28. piberman

    At days’ end Mr. Camacho as DTC Chair has not publicly admonished the Democratic BOE members for making unsupported discrimination claims nor has he suggested these officials would be denied re-election support. Nor has Mr. Camacho offered public support to BOE Chair Lyons. One possible explanation is that a “certain portion” of the Democratic Party believes these discrimination claims against the BOE are valid and do not require evidence. If this is correct its understandable Mr. Camacho would not want to antagonize those members of his Party that believe the discrimination claims are valid. This unsavory episode has been an “education moment” about the standards of behavior demanded by the Democratic Party for its elected officials. A work in progress.
    Apparently there’s no consequences for Democratic elected officials
    making unsupported discrimination claims by the existing Party leadership. Maybe that’s the problem – that unsupported discrimination claims have no consequences.

  29. Kevin Di Mauro

    @piberman

    Yes. Your last comment says it all.

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