Fired Up and Ready To Vote:August 28th National Convention Night Reception At Roma Restaurant
The Town Committee will host a convention night TV party at the Roma Restaurant, 382 Allen Street, New Britain, on the convention's final night when Senator Barack Obama delivers his acceptance speech in Denver.
The New Britain reception will be held from 7:30 to 11 p.m. and is being held to support New Britain Democrats' city-wide efforts to register new voters and get out the vote on Election Day. The evening will include complimentary beverages and appetizers and will give supporters an opportunity to meet candidates and Democratic elected officials. Representing New Britain at the national convention will be State Senator Don DeFronzo who was chosen an alternate delegate at the spring Congressional Delegate Caucus.
The suggested minimum donation is $25.00 to the New Britain Democratic Town Committee. Seating is limited. Make reservations to newbritaindemocrat@gmail.com or by calling 827-9469.
A New Britain Democratic Town Committee event. John Valengavich Treasurer
Black Dems Host Soul Food Fest Sunday, August 16th
The New Britain Black Democratic Club will hold its annual Soul Food Fest on Sunday, August 16, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Pride of Connecticut Lodge of Elks, 24 elm Street,
After months of debate, the Common Council voted to re-establish the Building Commission this month, a commission that was removed from city government during the charter change almost a decade ago.
“There’s been so much talk about blight, boarded up properties, and accountability, I think this is one way that we can help address the problems. I’ve been fighting this fight for the past five years. We’ve done some things right, but we really do have a long way to go to do a better job of cracking down on irresponsible and absentee landlords,” said Michael Trueworthy, the Democratic Majority Leader and the sponsor of the proposal.
Recently, council members asked for a list of the number of citations that were given out to delinquent property owners for violations. Members were not pleased with what they received back from city hall officials in that it provided none of the answers to the questions they asked.
“The truth is, we just don’t have enough inspectors and they are not being given the tools to do their job. I’m hoping that this commission will act as an advocacy group for the public and the building department, so there is more coordination between departments and better enforcement of the laws that we currently have,” said Trueworthy
During debate on the issue in committee, council members stated that they we’re hoping the commission would give the public another place to turn to alert City Hall of potential problem properties. Other council members noted that having an appointed board of
Democratic Chairman John McNamara, a proponent of restoring the commission, said the Council and Mayor now need to go further by re-establishing and strengthening a Certificate of Occupancy ordinance covering multi-unit and nonowner occupied apartment buidlings. He said a new Building Commission should promote coordinate code enforcement actions with the health department and Fire Marshal's office utilizing the current staff at those departments.
The Commission proposal calls for a 5 member commission, all of whom would be appointed by the Mayor.
