As we enter the municipal election season, Hartford Counrant Columnist Kevin Rennie joins the LONG list of residents, and politicos on the local and state level who continue to question the wisdom of the Danbury Democratic Town Committee under the leadership of former mayor Gene Eriquez as he faces domestic violence charges.

Rennie, DAILY RUCTIONS:

Danbury’s Democrats have fallen on hard times and will continue to have troubles mounting credible municipal campaigns as long as Gene Eriquez continues to serve as head of the local Democratic party. Eriquez, a former mayor of Danbury, was arrested in the spring for assaulting his wife. The violent attack included Eriquez pushing and punching his wife in the face, as well as preventing her for calling police for help.

As someone who, along with just about everyone who is not affliated with the city's town committee, is still scratching his head over Eriquez's inability to comprehend that his leadership is a net negative for the entire party, I wholeheartdly agree with Rennie's assessment of the Democratic party in Danbury.

If a Democraitc candidate for mayor wants to be taken seriously next year, he or she will have to keep safe distance from the town committee's current leadership and restrict Eriquez's presence with the campaign to being an effective messenger as town committee chair, work on getting candidates for office and getting out the vote. Anything outside of that simple task, or having Eriquez front and center in any large-scale campaign capacity, would risks the possibility of the former mayor inadvertently harming a candidate's mayoral campaign by being an unneeded distraction.

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VIDEO: Eriquez temporarily steps down as Danbury DTC chairman

Speaking truth to shame

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