Today, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) condemned recent hateful, anti-immigrant comments by Republican Mayoral candidate Lisa Brinton and Republican Board of Education member Bryan Meek.
“Yesterday’s hateful comments from Board of Education member Bryan Meek coupled with other recent anti-immigrant tirades from Republican Mayoral candidate Lisa Brinton prove that the takeover of the Norwalk Republican Party by Donald Trump is complete,” said Senator Duff. “Mr. Meek and Ms. Brinton will publicly avoid mentioning President Trump but they are using the same kind of fear and racist policies to appeal to certain groups. Ms. Brinton is taking the Republican banner and understanding her only path to City Hall is to scare voters and conjure up fear. Mr. Meek’s question and implication that these children are violent gang members is baseless, irresponsible, and xenophobic. Using these anti-immigrant tactics to incite their extremist base to vote is shameful. The people of Norwalk are seeing Trump’s rhetoric and policies coming to the local level here in Norwalk. Norwalk has a long and proud history of welcoming immigrant communities and this fear-based politics has no place here.”
COMMENTS FROM BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBER BRYAN MEEK
On October 10, 2019 during a meeting of the Finance Committee of the Norwalk Board of Education, Norwalk Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski presented additional information on a recent influx of Central American immigrant children in Norwalk schools.
In the course of that meeting, Bryan Meek, a Republican Board of Education member and chair of the board’s Finance Committee, was quoted in an October 11, 2019 article on local online website NancyOnNorwalk[1] as saying:
“Are we mindful that any of these children could still actively be part of those gangs or recruited locally?”
COMMENTS FROM REPUBLICAN MAYORAL CANDIDATE LISA BRINTON
On September 23, 2019 Republican Mayoral candidate Lisa Brinton commented on a NancyOnNorwalk article[2] arguing for the immediate end of allowing immigrant children in Norwalk schools.
“Even the politics are complicated, especially when a former police chief mayor has been bragging about Norwalk ‘growing’ and his challenger, myself, a retired corporate executive and former 15 year school fundraiser, PTA President, educational activist and seven year member of the District Data Mgmt. Team claims, ‘we need a time out!’”
“However, these sorts of enrollment numbers are unsustainable. The state’s sanctuary policy is out of step with its education cost share funding to aid municipalities like Norwalk.”
SOURCES
[1] “Adamowski: NPS needs $1.2M to deal with immigrant influx” https://www.nancyonnorwalk.com/2019/10/adamowski-nps-needs-1-2m-to-deal-with-immigrant-influx/
2 “Numbers tell tale of expected ‘retooling’” https://www.nancyonnorwalk.com/2019/09/numbers-tell-tale-of-expected-retooling/
