In interviews with Hearst Newspapers, Mayor Mark Boughton of Danbury and First Selectman Tim Herbst – both Republicans with gubernatorial ambition – showed their unwillingness to stand up for our cities. Following in the footsteps of GOP House leader Themis Klarides by misrepresenting Governor Dan Malloy’s Second Chance Society initiative, they are attempting to score cheap political points by appealing to the right-wing base of their party.

Boughton: “Well, if that means the whole city is off limits, then I guess you can’t sell drugs in Bridgeport. I don’t want people dealing drugs or even possessing small amounts of drugs near schools. Nobody benefits from that scenario. The governor’s trying to score political points for some kind of national profile that he’s trying to build.”

FACT: Governor Malloy’s Second Chance Society does not reduce penalties for dealing drugs in school zones.

Herbst: “Everything that this governor does has a political end game. There is no question in my mind that based on the legislative agenda that this governor has pursued over the last four-and-a-half years that he firmly believes in class warfare. He firmly believes in pitting cities against towns.”

FACT: The status quo pits cities against towns. Nearly every resident of Connecticut’s largest cities lives within drug free zones, dramatically increasing penalties for possession of small amounts of drugs and leading to higher rates of incarceration for urban residents.

“While Republicans – especially Senate Republicans – have made much of their ‘urban agenda,’ it is little more than empty rhetoric when their standard-bearers purposefully misrepresent legislation that could improve the lives urban residents and make communities across the state safer.  Boughton and Herbst should put aside politics to help our urban centers and make our communities safer, rather than pandering to the right-wing  base in pursuit of 2018 ambitions.” – Connecticut Democratic Party spokesman Leigh Appleby