New Haven Independent

posted by: Really? on July 23, 2009  4:11pm

Interesting that Mr. Goldson would claim to be supporting hispanic interests with his “spreadsheet” but seek help from someone like Dustin Gold and other groups like Watchdog spreading anti-Latino propaganda against the ID card.  Trying to have it both ways much?

posted by: Bad Past on July 23, 2009  4:12pm

This is a person who has a long track record of questionable conduct ... that are open for anyone to check out.  How about a little NHI investigation into that aspect of Darnell’s candidacy before calling him a poster child of DeStefano opposition.  I know I oppose some things DeStefano does but definitely do not want this man doing my talking for me.  He will give the rest of us and Ward 30 a bad name with his dishonesty.

posted by: Streever on July 23, 2009  4:31pm

In fairness to Mr. Goldson, he was never a part of Gold’s insane following—as he points out, Gold latched on him, and when he was asked by the newspapers about his involvement with Gold, he said something like,  “Seems like a nice kid… don’t know what his crazy racist stuff is… not really involved with him.”

(with that being said, it’s a definite negative in my mind to have involvement with Gold, but I’m willing to accept that Goldson didn’t realize what a nutcase he was. I’m however reluctant to accept
Goldson because of his opposition to the ID card program—especially when he makes it clear he doesn’t understand the way it works!)

posted by: Victoria's Secret on July 23, 2009  4:52pm

Shhhh! Darnell’s got a secret!  And its not just Dustin Gold and the boys either!

More to come.

posted by: Darnell on July 23, 2009  5:01pm

Just for clarification:

I did not during my discussions with Paul mention race, Black, Hispanic or otherwise. I discussed communities being underrepresented, and for the record, we do have all makes and models living in the 30th Ward.

If you question the facts and numbers, please do so with facts and numbers. If you have questions as to my past, please do not hesitate to ask. I have lived an interesting life, filled with ups and downs. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and I don’t expect to leave this world with one either.

But I do challenge those who suggest that they know me, why don’t you post with your real name? What are you hiding. I’m not a scary guy, I don’t have the resources to make your life miserable, nor do I have the inclination to do so.

I live in New Haven, pay taxes in New Haven, and frankly I’m tired of being under represented and overtaxed in New Haven. I could do one of three thing: leave New Haven; stay here and complain but do nothing about it; or actually put my money where my mouth is and run. I chose to run for election.

I was born and raised here, left several times for school, jobs, and generally exploring life. I’m back, married with children, cutting the grass on weekends, bringing my daughter to school in the mornings, etc..

You don’t want me to represent you, vote against me (with a real name). Make sure you bring your ID (I’ll be watching).

posted by: A friend on July 23, 2009  5:24pm

This is what Darnell does:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9NlOpwwTks

posted by: Jessica Mayorga on July 23, 2009  5:33pm

The mention that Mayor DeStefano was unwilling to provide comment on this matter is grossly inaccurate. A throrough response to this issue was available via the Mayor’s spokesperson which Paul Bass refused to include in his story. Our response is as follows:
We are eager for more residents to join New Haven’s boards and commissions, an important way for residents to serve their community. Residents are encouraged to apply to serve on boards and commissions via the application that can be found at http://www.cityofnewhaven.com under the tab “Government” labeled “Boards and Commissions.” Individuals are often recruited to serve on boards and commissions from Democracy School (a program open to all New Haven residents where an average of 20-25 residents take part in a 6-week series of seminars every spring and fall to learn more about how to participate in local government and become leaders in their neighborhoods. Applications for democracy School are available on the City website); through recommendations from Aldermen; through participation on City task forces, community activities, community based organizations and Mayor’s Night Out meetings and through general interest expressed via phone calls, applications and letters to the Mayor’s office. The City makes every attempt to recruit throughout New Haven to ensure that Boards and Commissions accurately represent the residents of our City. The demographic and geographical makeup of each commission changes as terms expire and new members are appointed.

[Editor’s Note: We didn’t say “unwilling to provide comment.”  To state that we wrote that is “grossly inaccruate.” We wrote, “Mayor DeStefano declined to return a call seeking comment. A mayoral spokeswoman offered to issue a statement on his behalf, but he was not available to respond personally to questions.”

[Our policy is not to allow public officials or political candidates to duck issues that pertain to their public decisions or actions by issuing blanket statements through spokespeople and not making themselves available to answer questions. We cover news and seek to hold politicians and public officials accountable. We don’t see our mission as serving simply as stenographers to the powerful publishing p.r. like that produced here without the ability to pose real questions and try to obtain answers.]

posted by: Check your map on July 23, 2009  5:40pm

The claim that only people from Westville, East Rock, and the East Shore can get onto mayorally appointed boards and commissions is false.  Mr. Goldson lists 5 wards, which is an interestingly high number, but fails to account for MOST of Newhallville (wards 19, 20 and 21), half of the Hill (wards 5 and 6), and the entire West River/Chapel/Edgewood area (wards 2, 23, and 24)—all of which are mostly black and Hispanic.  This is thinly veiled race-baiting, and, as Streever points out, is interesting given Darnell Goldson’s (at least partial) connection with the Community Watchdog Project.  I’m very surprised to see the Independent painting such a rosy portrait of this candidate.

posted by: anon on July 23, 2009  5:53pm

“I have an issue with people coming to America and asking me to better their lives.”

This is a bad quote coming from someone interested in public office, whose mission will theoretically be to serve and promote the general welfare of society.  Ask not what your country can do for you.

posted by: Brian V on July 23, 2009  8:21pm

Uh Oh !
Is the King’s grasp on the board slipping away?
Yet another ward with an anti-Johnny running for Alder !?
Will the King try to install another puppet in this ward?
Will he loose his rubber stamp majority?
There may not be a mayoral candidate out there, but will there be a shake up in the BOA?
Say tuned voters, these questions and more will be answered in November!

posted by: Broken Compass on July 23, 2009  8:42pm

Paul:

Perhaps you should take your moral compass to the shop for a check up. I am befuddled as to why you would give Mr.Goldson such a sympathetic ear, given his history in the city.

Mr. Goldson had a unique opportunity to empower people in this community - he headed up the biggest anti-poverty agency in the city. During his tenure, the organization was mired in scandal and the infighting became public. Former board Lindy Lee Gold was driven to resign and told the press that she did so because Mr. Goldson “has abused so many trusts.”

Mr. Goldson was eventually let go.  According to the New Haven Register “Goldson was fired as head of CAA in July 2005 after allegations of misuse of a CAA credit card while he was out-of-state, campaigning for a national position among community action agencies; and for driving without a Connecticut driver’s license. His credit card privileges were suspended in 2001 after his wife used the card for a purchase at Victoria’s Secret.”

Moreover, Mr. Goldson’s dalliance with a hate group should make those of us who care about social justice shudder. The Community Watchdog Project, a predominantly white group from the suburbs came to New Haven and used their nativist, anti immigrant rhetoric to try to drive a wedge between the African American and Latino communities. Mr. Goldson was one of very few African Americans who fell for it.

I have very little hope that Mr. Goldson will do much to advance a progressive social justice agenda in this city.

posted by: Westie on July 23, 2009  8:47pm

Ah, a sortable spreadsheet, I love playing with numbers and such.  1) 87 vacancies??  2) Al Marder is listed as registered GOP—LOL!! LMAO!!  3) Too many Wards have over 4.5% of the names, too few have under 3%... no matter who lives there!  4) There is an application on the City website and elsewhere to express interest in being appointed to boards and commissions.  I suspect, in fact, it may be required by the State to be available to dissuade discrimination.  So, of the UNDERREPRESENTED WARDS, have reasonably qualified people in those wards SUBMITTED THE BRIEF APPLICATION???  Finally, I was pleasantly surprised… for the most part, individuals appointed to more than one position are 1) aldermen, or 2)City Dept heads—- the favoritism does not result in multiple appointments… at least so far as these committees go.  Please, someone, cross-reference these names to the Democratic Town Committee and State Marshals… I see one very familiar name.

posted by: Jonathan Koppell on July 23, 2009  11:11pm

I live in Ward 22.

I am a member of the Development Commission.

There is a good chance of additional errors in Mr. Goldson’s tabulation because the ward map can be confusing.  The colors differentiating the wards are very similar and there are lines for Senate and Assembly districts that cut across wards.  I noticed at least one additional error (also an overlooked Ward 22 mayoral appointee).

posted by: New Havener Too on July 23, 2009  11:51pm

Darnell Goldson is looking to represent people?  Regardless of the ward here and just for the sake of argument, why would anyone want someone with such a checkered past to represent them?  I surely wouldn’t want it.  It’s almost as if this city has to scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to find candidates to run for office.

Ward 30, please wake up.

I live in New Haven, pay my taxes and have a child that is being educated in this city as well, and I would just about fall over with a heart attack knowing that you would be up there discussing major decisions that would affect me AND my child regardless of whether we live in your ward or not.

No thanks and NO WAY.

posted by: Election Law Question on July 24, 2009  12:57am

Something about this quote of Darnell’s seemed a bit off:
“You don’t want me to represent you, vote against me (with a real name). Make sure you bring your ID (I’ll be watching).”

I seem to remember there being a lot of controversy about Election Day ID requirements (anyone else remember the time that a bunch of nuns sued the State of Indiana after it tried to prevent them from voting because they couldn’t produce any IN-issued ID?), so I looked into the situation here in Connecticut (since I don’t remember having shown any ID when I voted), and I found this:

Identification Required for Registration

You may, but are not required to, submit a form of identification with your registration application. If you do not submit identification, you may be required to do so at the polls on Election Day. Acceptable forms of ID you can submit with your application are:

  * Driver’s License Number
  * Last four digits of your social security number
  * A copy of a valid photo ID
  * A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or government document that shows your name and address

If you registered to vote by mail and did not provide any identification then, and have not voted in your precinct before, you will have to show:

  * a current valid photo ID showing your name and address

OR

  * A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or government document that shows your name and address

(http://www.866ourvote.org/state?id=0007)

Anyway, the point here is that there are two possible explanations.  Either a) Mr. Goldson has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about when it comes to election procedure, which is a bit disappointing coming from someone who seeks elected office (after all, this is a pretty fundamental thing), or b) Mr. Goldson is actively attempting to suppress the vote of those who disagree with him by telling them that they need ID at the polls, then quietly whispering to his supporters that the last 4 digits of SSN, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, etc. will suffice. 
Neither of these looks very good…

posted by: lance on July 24, 2009  7:12am

with regard to the “poorer parts of town being underepresented”......i believe that people who don’t pay taxes should have no say in government.  as we saw with the election of obama, you had scores of entitlement folks voting him in in the hopes that he will take money from taxpayers and give it to them, and this is exactly what he is doing.

posted by: Streever on July 24, 2009  9:36am

Lance, I feel a lot of sympathy for you—you don’t even understand what is in your own best interest.

Election Law Question:
I think Mr. Goldson’s actions (involvement with Gold, demonstrating a lack of knowledge concerning the ID card program) proves that it’s B: he’s clueless.

Not a great quality in a public official.

And Jessica, of course they don’t want a prepared statement! What journalist does? Kudos to you for braving the Indy comment board, but the story was accurate: the mayor declined to personally comment & the NHI was not interested in a prepared statement from a spokesperson. Can’t say I blame them. Let’s let the mayor respond to the press occassionally instead ofletting his staff handle the hard stuff while he grandstands.

posted by: ignoranceisbliss on July 24, 2009  10:56am

If the NHI does not want to accept a prepared statement from the Mayor’s office then why is it so ready to accept the following one from Mr. Goldson: “He ran the Community Action Agency for several years, leaving amid political infighting of charges of mismanagement and mishandling of funds. (He denied the accusations.)” ?

What a surprising response from Mr. Goldson! Well I guess that shuts the door on that issue.

Paul why don’t you get off your ass and do some real investigative journalism and let us know what actually happened at CAA instead of lazily promoting your usual stuck in the 60’s agenda of legitimizing any oppostion to the “establishment” especially if it comes from a person of color hinting a racist motive?

posted by: Concerned Citizen on July 24, 2009  11:02am

Sadly, too many NH residents are uninvolved in the political process.  NH is like a little Chicago of the 60s through the 90’s; it is all about machine politics.  The Destefano machine totally controls everything in NH.  There are one or two Wards to which they pay no specific attention for three reasons: 1) they want to give the appearance that there is a democratic process at work in NH; 2) they know the Ward is too small to have any impact on what they do, and 3) they have analyzed who live in these Wards and decide that these people have no influence. Everything else is run as a closed shop. Another thing DeStefano does is to select someone he knows he can control and put that person to run against his machine; again, this is all for show. Don’t be surprised if Goldson is one such person.

DeStefano sees himself as “the boss” in New Haven. Chicago has nothing on NH. Long before DeStefano became mayor he was a key operator in the political scene; now that he is boss he has his soldiers and they all tow the line.  Unfortunately, in NH there are only political categories.  1) The DeStefano Crusts - those in highly placed positions; the over $100K salary a year earnings crowd (education, police, fire, health, other major organizations); they control big dollars and large numbers of people who must be loyalists.  2) The soldiers & front people - those who must enforce the political philosophy and keep people in line. 3) Those who are angling for a place at the table of power and favor; they will do anything to be on the inside.  These are desparate and sometimes dangerous people.  4)  The average hard-working people who are so overtaxed and overburdened, they have no time to pay attention to what is really happening in the seat of power.

This large group (#4) have several sub categories. They are they ones who are manipulated at election time to vote in favor of the machine.  a) They mostly do not have a clue; b) some have simply accepted the status quo;
c) others are just too naive to know what is going on; d) many just do not have time to care; they are busy trying to stay on top of the financial pressures, and e) there are the cynics who say it does not matter what they do nothing will change, so they go along to get along. This is a large group. Machine politicians make their plans counting on these people not to make waves.

5) Then there is a large group of the poor, the uninformed, the disenfranchised, the powerless; the pawns in the larger scheme.  Their situations are used to advocate for fed dollars, but they benefit very little from the dollars that come in on their behalf.  They must be kept where they are because they are the evidence of the needs in NH; sadly they are scarcely the beneficiaries of the federal largese.  Occasionally some are throw a few extra dollars so that they can be used as evidence of good things done in NH - the Chicago of the 21st century.  Then so many wonder why DeStefano is running again! What else is he going to do to maintain his charmed existence?  We all contribute to making the DeStefanos of this world successful at their villainous behaviors.

Does anyone remember all the things that were being done in NH when DeStefano had the desire to be governor of CT? Except for the beautiful school buildings before and since (but with very little positive change within the education system) what tangible and sustained changes has he implemented in NH? Whatever happened to his grand schemes since his failed attempt to become governor? New Haven, the little city that could if only it had a mayor and upper crusts who truly cared and were committed to making life better for the many.

posted by: whatever on July 24, 2009  3:05pm

1.You all can kill the messenger for your employer, King DeStefano, but the message will remain - too many New Haveners who are not from the “right” side of town are excluded from the process.

2. From what I have read about the CAA deal, Mr. Goldson was exonorated in court, I remember something about a $90,000 plus settlement.

3. I’ll bet a nickel to a dollar that none of you live in the 30th ward, I do, and I support the man.

4. Westie - check your facts, the city’s own website lists Al Marder as a Rep. (http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/Government/Boards_Commissions.asp#Boards)

posted by: stacy on July 25, 2009  10:13pm

Mr. Goldson I really think that you should really way out your options about running for such a public office. Did you forget that your wife used the credit card from CAA at victoris secrets and who to say she wont do it again and you expect someone to trust you!! I DON’T THINK SO!!!!!

posted by: Who are you on July 27, 2009  12:28pm

Are you people dense? The guy sue CAA and won, he did not commit a crime, yet you continue to harp on that same old stuff. Amazing!!! Every time someone, particularly someone black, speaks up, he is personally attacked. Talk about the issues, not some rumors and lies spread by anonymous people.

posted by: morris cover on July 27, 2009  8:04pm

amazing.

posted by: sandstorm on July 28, 2009  10:50am

The axiom that “power corrupts” may be somewhat true; in the case of this candidacy, we already
have a candidate who has demonstrated his skills in that arena. Mr. Goldson has abused funds, power and ethics in every position he has held. He has undermined public trust.

What a sad reflection on his neighborhood his election would be!

posted by: Insider2 on July 29, 2009  12:23am

SANDSTORM: I am not a Goldson fan. But the election of Goldson would be no more tragic than the continuous election of DeStefano for the last 16 soon to be 18 years.

posted by: New Havener Too on July 29, 2009  8:35pm

Insider:

“the election of Goldson would be no more tragic than the continuous election of DeSyefano”

Lord Have Mercy!!!!

If you’re willing to put up with Goldson’s mess then this means that this city is in worse shape than I thought.

Here is some food for thought:

A poor, demeaned and debt stricken people will give into whatever comes their way, whereas an educated, healthy and prosperous people will run the government some day.