Boughton and Setaro Spar in First Danbury Mayoral Debate

DANBURY, CT — In their first debate, Mayor Mark Boughton and challenger Chris Setaro clashed over the city's rapid growth, its friendliness to business and the slow pace of downtown development.

Boughton, who is seeking his 10th term, cited Danbury's low crime and unemployment rates as evidence of his effectiveness as mayor. But Setaro, an attorney and former City Council president, said these figures mask underlying problems with school crowding, poor roads and sluggish business growth.

The Republican incumbent and Democratic challenger squared off before a packed conference room at the Crowne Plaza Danbury. The debate was sponsored by the Chamber of Conference, and moderated by Carolyn Sistrunk, executive of the Housing Authority of the City of Danbury.

In his opening statement, Mayor Mark Boughton drew comparisons not between himself and is opponent, but between Danbury and the rest of Connecticut. The city has the lowest unemployment rate in the state and the lowest crime rate of any major city in Connecticut, he said.

"Danbury is the shining star of the state," Boughton said, noting that 91 people leave Connecticut daily while Danbury’s population is growing. Boughton has been the mayor of Danbury for 18 years, and is running for a record 10th term.

In his opening statement, attorney Chris Setaro wondered if Danbury was growing too rapidly, citing what he described as "18 years of overdevelopment" with "overcrowded schools… roads in disrepair… and a downtown that has not improved." He contrasted the statistics that Boughton freely cited with his own standard of "look out the window."

“I don’t want to be the longest-serving mayor; I want to be the most effective,” Setaro said.

Boughton said that Danbury’s economic development is hitched to small- and medium-sized businesses, but he acknowledged that "the state has not made it easy," citing new taxes levied from Hartford. The mayor touted his administration's efforts to promote small business as one of the reasons Danbury regularly shows up on lists of the most business-friendly cities in Connecticut, adding that the city had registered more new businesses than any other in the state over the past year and a half.

Attracting businesses and keeping them here is a function of the quality of life in the city, said Setaro, an attorney and former City Council president who has presented himself as a champion of small business. Overcrowd schools and crumbling infrastructure and the "downtown situation" all work against Danbury’s economic development, he said.

Danbury ranks last in the state in per-pupil spending, Setaro said, arguing that that, too, discourages business owners.

"Economic development has not been a problem for the city of Danbury," Boughton said, noting that the city "continues to add jobs every single day." A key factor in the city’s economic growth is the efficiency with which it processes permits, the mayor said.

Taxes have gone up in Danbury 25 percent over the past ten years, Setaro said, which Boughton countered by saying that it well below the rise in the cost of living in Connecticut during the same period. "Our mill rate is 28.7. Compare that to any other major city," the mayor said.

As for downtown, the mayor said, it is "evolving." He pointed to the "Downtown Danbury Transit-Oriented Development Study" and the facade grant program, zoning changes and permit reduction fees as evidence to his commitment.

"But I’m going to tell you the one thing that is going to blow up downtown and the greater Danbury area: If we connect that train from our railroad station into Southeast (NY) and onto Grand Central Station, your property values are going to go up 20 percent," Boughton said. He called that connection "the key to the future of our downtown."

Setaro countered that the lack of change in the downtown area over the past 18 years as evidence it is not among Boughton’s priorities. The former City Council president's plan to “jump-start” the area calls for introducing a dining and entertainment district into the space.

Setaro said the city has had an "abundance of growth that has hurt us," which he attributed to the absence of a development plan.

"When developers bring their (housing) plans to us, we want to know how much of that is going to be set aside for affordable housing," Setaro said.

Growth in the city’s public schools is "beyond what is reasonable," Setaro said. He proposed creating a "community commission of parents, teachers, administrators and facilities experts so that we can have a strategic plan, not for one year, but for 20 years" he said.

Boughton, who taught high school social studies for 14 years, said he has never presented a school budget that resulted in layoffs, but accused Setaro of doing exactly that during his time on the City Council.

Boughton touted the city's recent $6 million spending, representing roughly 65 miles on 20 roads. He also touched on plans to add new recreational facilities, acquire new parks and and to replace three bridges and every tennis court in the city.

Setaro said that "the traffic is unbelievable because of overdevelopment," and proposed a road bond and a traffic study. Boughton said one has already been done.

Both candidates praised the Danbury Police Department, whom they credited with the city's historically low crime rate. Setaro suggested the city should fill out the PD's table of organization to the complete complement of 155 positions, as agreed to in collective bargaining.

The audience, clearly and apparently evenly divided between both camps — and held in check most of the evening by the moderator — got feisty when the topics of immigration and diversity arose.

Setaro raised a 2006 incident in which the Danbury Police Department, working in concert with federal immigration authorities, rounded up 11 Ecuadoran day laborers, triggering a civil rights suit. That suit was settled in five years later, with the city agreeing to pay the men $400,000 and the federal government $250,000. The windfall came too late for three of the men to enjoy: two of the "Danbury 11" had been deported, and another one had disappeared, before any checks were cut.

Boughton said that the city’s strategic partnership with federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement focused on criminal activity, including a serial drunk driver and a pedophile.

"Nobody – not the immigrant community, not the community at large – wants those people living amongst them," Boughton said. "They should be deported, and we were proud to do it."

In his closing statement, Setaro criticized Boughton’s ambitions in Hartford: "When you're mayor, and you run for governor once, I get it. Twice, okay. But running a third time? Maybe you are looking for a new job and taking advantage of our community."

He described the state of the schools, infrastructure and downtown — the three "kitchen table issues" on which he is basing his campaign —as a "crisis."

In his closing remarks, Boughton asked the audience to do the math, claiming that each household would suffer an $1,800 tax hike were Setaro’s proposals to become a reality. He differentiated himself as a "cheerleader" for Danbury, versus Setaro who "dumps" on the city.. The mayor said he is running on his record of economic growth and low crime rates, doubling down on his plan to connect the Danbury train station to Southeast.