Tillett to Run for Second District Senate Seat

2nd District Senate Candidate Theresa Tillett

Theresa Tillett today announced that she has officially filed the paperwork with the State Elections Enforcement Commission for a 2016 campaign for State Senate in Connecticut's Second District!

In her announcement, she urges patriots to support the Constitutional candidates by subscribing to, Liking and Following them on their social media pages and interacting with their election pages to help raise the search rankings.  "CT GOP candidates will need "All Hands On Deck" to work on flipping the General Assembly so that we can undo the crazy madness the democrats are forcing upon us", she says.

This is Tillett's second run for that seat.  In last year's election, she garnered more votes than there are Republican voters registered in Bloomfield.  For a first time candidate, that is an outstanding accomplishment and proves that Democrats DO cross party lines!

Letter to the Editor: Environmental endorsement is "polluted"

Below is a letter to the editor. 
------------------
To the Editor,
I was troubled to learn of the "bipartisan" Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CTLCV) endorsements of local candidates for the State Senate and House.The issue is that not one of the local Republican candidates received the League's questionnaire. Specifically those representing districts which include Middletown, Angel Fernandez (R-100th District), Linda Szynkowicz (R-33rd District), and Len Suzio (R-13th District) did not receive CTLCV's survey; a fact confirmed by campaign representatives upon my inquiry.

 When I heard about the endorsement I called CTLCV and asked why some candidates, specifically the above, didn't receive the survey. A representative told me that CTLCV didn't have Fernandez, Szynkowicz, or Suzio’s e-mail addresses and that is the only way they distributed the survey! This is a poor excuse; physical addresses for all candidates are on file with the State Elections Enforcement Commission & a simple internet search yields plethora of was to contact all candidates.

According to CTLCV's "scorecard" candidate Len Suzio had a 100% pro-environment voting record during his two years in the state senate. Suzio was the only senator with a 100% perfect record during those 2 years! Furthermore, Suzio was an outspoken opponent of the Haddam Land swap which the CTLCV was very opposed to. Ironically, Suzio is a dues paying member of the League and also is active and a dues paying member with the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association; both credible environmentally conscientious bodies.

It is obvious to me CTLCV was looking for an excuse not to endorse Suzio and other local Republican candidates. According CLCV, their Board is 50/50 Democrat/Republican and a candidate needs a 65% vote from the Board to get endorsed. This year to date, CTLCV has endorsed 2 Republican candidates and 13 Democrats; how many actual candidates of both parties received the qualifying survey is unclear. Only after the endorsements were given is the annually revised survey available on the group’s website. But it is stunning that the League would not endorse Suzio, a candidate with a perfect environmental voting record and who also is a dues-paying member of the League and another pro-environment group.

It is all too convenient for CTCV to play the “ actus me invite pactus, non es meus actus” card, in other words the dog ate my homework, or in this case didn’t email it - when it comes to endorsements. Simply said, the process in which this so-called credible & “bipartisan” body reached its conclusions of whom to endorse appears more polluted than the environment they vow to protect.

Molly Salafia, Middletown CT 

Former Mayor Drew Campaign Manager & Rep. Geoff Luxenburg Accused of Voter Harassment, Not News to Middletown!

Rep. Geoff Luxenburg (D), former Mayor Dan Drew campaign manager
 being accused of voter intimidation & "combativiness" towards the Registrar of voters   in Manchester as well as elderly voters.

Chicago-style politics in CT - not news to Middletown where Rep. Geoff Luxenberg was Mayor Drew's campaign manager in 2011 and faced similar allegations.

The Manchester Registrar office has filed a complaint with the SEEC - State Elections Enforcement Committee alleging that Luxenburg harassed the Registrar of Voters in Manchester. The complaint alleges Luxenburg was "combative and negative" among it's  laundry list of accusations.

It is alleged that Mr. Luxenburg harassed two Registrars AND elderly voters. One registrar claims to have gotten a complaint the Luxenburg went to an sick and elderly womans house 3x to get her to vote via absentee.The bed-ridden citizen then made a complaint to the Registrar about Luxenburgs behavior asking the Registrar to ask Luxenburg to leave her alone.

http://www.courant.com/community/manchester/hc-manchester-lux-complaint-1025-20131024,0,2099254.story

If proven true, voter intimidation/fraud, (which harassment of a registrar or voter falls under),  is a felony that can carry a 5 year prison term.

 Last local election cycle, Wesleyan College Democrat chairs & Democratic Town Committee members Gabriela De Golia and Ben Florsheim (Florsheim shoe company heir) filed accusations with the SEEC falsely accusing the Republican Registrar of Middletown and GOP candidates of voter intimidation as an attempt to smear the campaign. The SEEC dismissed all accusations as false. The judge actually ruled all three accused were promoting voting. Neither the DTC or Florsheim have issued apologies for their false accusations that carried felony penalties.

Flash back to Middletown 2011 & Office of the Registrar of Voters: 
Is this Luxenburgs first instance of election intimidation and alleged bad behavior?

In an article last year posted by the Middletown Eye written by Sterphen DeVoto (now a candidate on P&Z running with the Democratic slate), Devoto writes about alleged interrogations & harassing behavior towards the Town Clerk and Registrars of Voters by Luxenburg. Devoto writes:

"According to Tommasi, the Drew campaign then further escalated the interrogations and challenges. Most of this came from Geoff Luxenberg, the recently elected State Representative from Manchester, employed as Drew’s campaign manager. Luxenberg communicated with Tommasi in a series of emailed questions (see links below). Tommasi said that the questions made her very uncomfortable because they seemed to challenge her impartiality, “They raked me over the coals.” In one exchange, Luxenberg seemed to question why Democratic Town Committee endorsed candidates on the primary ballot could not serve as election workers."

Tommasi volunteered to meet face to face with Luxenberg, to resolve any issues and to avoid the possible misinterpretations that written emails can engender. She said the Drew campaign “refused to meet face to face”, apparently preferring the written record that emails would create."

The original article by Devoto can be read here in its entirety:

Democratic Registrar Of Voters Objects To Drew Campaign Actions

Subsequently, after defending her impartiality, Democratic Registrar Anne Tomassi was fired by the Democratic Town Commitee as Democratic Registrar and kicked her off their town commitee. The Republicans then appointed Tommassi as the GOP deputy registrar.

Then Town Clerk Sandra Russo-Driska ( since retired & now a Republican Common Council candidate) defended the actions of the Registrars, and wrote a public letter rebuking the behavior of the Drew 2011 Campaign and its treatment of the Registrar's in Middletown.

CT Dems seem to be adopting Chicago methods of intimidation on local level - is this the next generation of CT Dem leadership?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/hc-manchester-lux-complaint-1025-20131024,0,2908801.story

Have You Seen this Middletown Public Servant?

Sources have told the Insider staff that Democratic Deputy Registrar Voters Lisa Santangelo, and  Democratic Registrar Sandra Faraci , accompanied by personnel from the Common Council clerk's office have on multiple occasions been closing the doors at the Registrars' office during business hours and locking out their Republican counterparts.More disturbing is that by doing so they are locking out the public as well. By state law, the office is to remain open so that citizens may register to vote. Any variation of this practice must follow guidelines set forth by the State Elections Enforcement Commission which determines cases of voter suppression and other violations. Both parties have representatives appointed to the registrar to over see elections are run fairly. The Common Council Clerk office has no official business with the Office of Registrar.      Sources report that the Mayor's appointed Administrative Assistant Joseph Samolis, has advised City Hall staff to go against City Charter rules which title him "Administrative Assistant," and address him as "Chief of Staff." Not a huge deal? Well we all know where changing "job titles" has gotten us in the past when it comes time to determine salary!    Across town, the Board of Education Administration has permanently hired Josh Berger, son-in-law of Councilwoman Hope Kasper as an Business Administrator after she played a key role in selecting candidates for that position. Berger , who has a work history primarily in real estate, did not rank in the top 10 qualified candidates. He, unlike any other BOE administrator will have a benefits package normally reserved only for teachers.  More back ground on this and other nepotism here.         Meanwhile, stacks of papers are piled high on the Mayor's desk as he spends most of his days campaigning  for Democrats running for state offices, posing for photo ops at various events, mainly as part of the campaigning however, in Hartford lobbying, or and doing who knows what.... Drew can be found at work tops 2-3 days a week. The State Democratic Committee and Malloy machine pulled out all the stops to get Drew elected- spending almost $100,000.00.  With no doubt the help of Malloy's crew who wanted to desperately to put another Democratic mayor in a major CT city, Drew received more out of town donations from big Dem donors from around Connecticut such as the Young Democrats, the Working Families political action organization, and labor unions.       It appears now, Drew has to return the favor to his creators at the expense of the public; Little Dano is obligated to Big Dan to reciprocate the favors, thus taking time away from his duties at City Hall.      As of late, aside from a few Council meetings, Drew has not been pulling too many late night committee meetings either. Working from home? If the public is not allowed to contact this public servant at home or on the road, then we don't buy it and neither should tax payers! Mayor Drew  receives the full $87K tax payer funded salary no matter how often he chooses to grace City Hall with his presence. * UPDATE! Your tax dollars at work: Since the initial posting of this piece, the Insider found Drew! Today the Mess published a article that has Candidate for State Rep. Paul Doyle and Matt Lesser cruising down the River in canoes yesterday during work hours with non other than Dan Drew- The event complete with reporter along was under the guise of "helping" DEEP Commissioner Esty check out the biological foray, but appears more like blatant campaigning to us- Wonder why no other representatives or candidates were invited? Stay tuned for the Deputy chief Position Vote Tuesday- read background here

Letter to the Editor: Ben Florsheim, Chair of Wesleyan College Democrats

Ben Florsheim, Public Figure

You are within your rights to make wild, baseless accusations and live your life in an alternative reality of paranoia and ignorance. You are not, however, entitled to use my image on your website in association with this behavior. Take it down immediately.

Sincerely,

Ben Florsheim

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Insider never labeled Florsheim's picture, however, he has chosen to identify himself in the post previously published here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/09/whats-up-did-anybody-in-2011-vote-2x-in.html .

Florsheim is president of the Wesleyan College Democrats, a Middletown Democrat Town Committee elected member, and the vice president of the National College Democrats. He worked on the Gov. Malloy campaign and aided MDTC in providing buses and pizza to bring students to the polls. Florsheim helped to register over 400 students last election.

Florsheim made false accusations towards former Mayor Sebastian Giuliano,  and then P.Z. Candidate Molly Salafia, Registrar Janice Giofriddo in an SEEC (State Elections Enforcement Commission) complaint filed by a fellow College Democrat. All allegations were dismissed, and in fact the SEEC ruled all were actually PROMOTING voting in their actions in which the complaint was based on. 
Several letters of protest from Florsheim and other  Wesleyan students seem to have aided in the retraction of the appointment of Giuliano to SEEC chair last year. The full ruling, which is also publicly available on the SEEC website can be read here:http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/06/state-elections-commission-throws-out.html 

Had they not been, each could have faced up to 5 years in prison with a minimum mandatory 1 year served for the felonies..... Florsheim circulated

State Elections Commission Throws Out Allegations of Voter Fraud Against City Officials made by Wesleyan Student

The full document of the complaint & ruling is here:
 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwUElDbEJGRUE0QWs/edit?pli=1

Florsheim, Blumenthal, De Golia, photo from Middletown 

Patch, by C. Day

Wesleyan student  and Windsor CT native, Paulina Jones-Torregrosa filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission accusing local City officials Incumbent Mayoral Candidate Sebastian Giuliano, Registrar of Voters Janice Gionfriddo (R), Registrar Anne Tommassi (D), and then candidate now Planning & Zoning Commissioner Molly Salafia of voter intimidation  & fraud during the last local election held in November 2011. Jones-Torregrosa alleges that by allowing students at the University who in the past were allowed to register to vote with P.O Box's to change this to an on campus address as it was found by the SEEC &  State Attorney General to be necessary by law, would cause undo steps for the students and impede their voting rights. The student alleges that by trying to help students remedy this before the election, the incumbent Mayor and Registrar's from both parties were committing voter fraud. The student also alleges that a letter  to a local blog by Salafia that was found by the SEEC to actually encourage  the voting students, and to vote across party lines (see last page of document above) was in her opinion voter intimidation and should be punishable by a felony fine and  mandatory imprisonment. The SEEC dismissed all allegations by the student, and in its conclusions, states that the Commission feels all were trying to help in making voting easier; the opposite of what Jones-Torregrosa alleges. It is unknown at the time if Jones-Torregrosa is or was a member of the Wesleyan College Democrats who  handed out flyers & wrote press releases along side student presidents Gabriela DeGolia and Ben Florsheim stating that the same accused persons were trying to intimidate students and encouraging student voters not to vote for them. Florsheim and DeGolia worked with various campus groups to mass register over 400 Wesleyan students and bus some of them to the polls for the last municipal elections.  Florsheim, who is president of the National College Democrats, claimed that the registering of students and bussing was a non partisan issue, but was quoted in the Wes Argus in September of 2011 that he and the Wesleyan Democrats would do everything possible to assist the Drew campaign. http://wesleyanargus.com/2011/04/29/students-prepare-for-mayoral-race/ Florsheim and DeGolia have since joined the local Democratic Town Committee.

Was it retaliation?

A strange article in the Middletown Patch this week. Middletown Democartic Town Committee (DTC) Chairwoman Lisa Santangelo, wife of Councilman Robert Santangelo responded to questions posed by Patch writer Cassandra Day about allegations about retaliation made by Christine Bourne.  Christine Bourne is quoted in the article in Patch saying: “Anybody who disagrees with them gets thrown out.” in reference to her recent "extraction" so to speak from the DTC after 16 years of participation. Chairwoman Lisa Santangelo is quoted in the same article as saying "Its a very clean process."  Huh? The Insider thinks she sounds as if speaking of some sort of medical extraction procedure, or certain situation in a certain Scorsese flick where a lot of "cleaning" took place. 
 Bourne challenged Dan Drew for the Democratic nomination for Mayor in this past election cycle. Bourne, then City Treasurer and BOE employee was also the so called whistle blower about the spending deficit, claims that were recently corroborated by an independent accounting firm hired by the City. Several members who long held membership were not reinstated as part of the DTC. Ann Tommasi, the Democratic Registrar of Voters in Middletown sought the opinion of the Secretary of State regarding the registration of Wesleyan students this past fall was removed from the DTC. The article is balanced providing responses from all parties( something the Insider likes to see),it failed to mention local Wesleyan Democrat student leaders, who denied working with  DTC to organize the mass registration of students to vote in the municipal election this fall, Ben Florsheim and Gabriela De Golia, were made official members of the local DTC. Florsheim and De Golia filed an official complaint  to the State Elections Enforcement Commission accusing former Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who was being offered an executive counsel position at the SEEC, of  voter intimidation and suppression citing two instances where he visited campus and statements from supporters, which then played a key role in successfully persuading  the Commission to rescind it's job offer. Did Giuliano not receive this job on the sole basis  of the complaint by students? The answer is unclear; however the complaint and who it was made by cannot be under estimated in it's political weight as well- these were not your average students without their own politically charged agendas driving the complaint. The Insider sees a very odd coincidence in the timing of these events that begs the question: Were these students coerced into and then rewarded by the DTC for challenging Giuliano? Ironically enough, Ben Florsheim is the chair of the College Democrats of Connecticut, a huge voting block wielding a lot of power - a relationship that would be very beneficial to the DTC. For a politically ambitious young man such as Florsheim, doing the bidding of Democratic politicians in key  positions too timid to file a complaint themselves with the SEEC- for fear of appearing partisan perhaps - say attacking  a  former Republican mayor seeking a job in election enforcement would be a very smart move for such a young man seeking political advancement and wanting to trade favors down the line ( not that that ever happens). It's what you call.. well..  DIRTY politics. The process seems anything but clean.
The Middletown Patch article written by Day can be read here: http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/dem-town-committee-chair-refutes-retaliation-claim
The Insider thinks the timing of this article and response by DTC Chairwoman Santangelo is just strange. 
Oh and Christine Bourne - You go girl!