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Mark Boughton

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Mark Boughton
Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 24, 2021
Acting: December 18, 2020 - February 24, 2021
GovernorNed Lamont
Preceded byScott Jackson
Mayor of Danbury
In office
January 1, 2002 – December 16, 2020
Preceded byGene Eriquez
Succeeded byJoseph Cavo
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives
from the 138th district
In office
January 3, 1999 – January 1, 2002
Preceded byDavid Cappiello
Succeeded byGrace Scire
Personal details
Born (1964-02-20) February 20, 1964 (age 60)
Danbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationCentral Connecticut State University (BS)
Western Connecticut State University (MS)
WebsiteGovernment website

Mark D. Boughton (born February 20, 1964) is an American politician who was the longest-serving mayor in Danbury, Connecticut's history. He served ten consecutive terms as mayor, from 2001 to 2020.[1][2] He was the Republican endorsed candidate for governor of Connecticut in 2018, but lost the primary election to Bob Stefanowski.[3] In 2020, Governor Ned Lamont nominated Boughton to serve as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.[4]

Education

Born in Danbury, Connecticut, Boughton graduated from Danbury High School in 1982, after which he attended Central Connecticut State University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in education and American history. Boughton went on to receive a master's degree in educational psychology from Western Connecticut State University, where he was on the Alumni Board of Directors.[5]

Career

Early career

Boughton was in the United States Army Reserve from 1983 to 1989 where he achieved the rank of Sergeant. He began teaching Social Studies at Danbury High School in 1987. He was a member of the Danbury Planning Commission from 1995 to 1998. He began his political career as a State Representative for the 138th District of Connecticut in 1998. He was elected to a second term as a State Representative in 2000 before being elected mayor in 2001. Boughton achieved a perfect voting record in the General Assembly and was a member of the Education Committee and ranking member of the Environment Committee.[6]

Mayor of Danbury

Boughton with Nancy Johnson, Barbara Henry, and Martin Foncello in 2003
Boughton addresses a crowd outside Danbury Library in 2009

Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform

On December 9, 2005, it was announced that Boughton and Suffolk County (NY) Executive Steve Levy were forming Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform, a group that would lobby federal lawmakers to overhaul immigration laws.[7]

The Danbury 11

A case that would make national headlines and play out for over four years began on September 19, 2006, when eleven day laborers were arrested in Danbury. A sting operation had been set up where day laborers were lured into a van whose driver, posing as a contractor, promised them work. The laborers were driven to a parking lot where, if it was determined they were in the US illegally, initial reports indicated that they were arrested by agents of ICE. In interviews afterwards, Boughton stated that ICE had acted alone, and that the City of Danbury played no part in the arrests.[8]

On Monday, February 4, 2008, Judge Michael Straus wrote in a public ruling that Danbury police did not exceed their authority during the undercover operation and that agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not rely on racial profiling to make the arrests.[9]

On March 8, 2011, it was confirmed a settlement had been reached in the case, on the City's insurance carrier's recommendation, whereby Danbury agreed to pay the laborers $400,000 (Danbury's insurance carrier paid the settlement plus legal fees of close to $1,000,000, less a $100,000 deductible). (The federal government agreed to pay them $250,000.) As part of the settlement, the City did not admit any wrongdoing and there were no changes in the city's policies or procedures. "I know we were right," Boughton said. "If someone's civil rights were violated, as they allege, you wouldn't settle for a cash payment, but you would want some changes in policy."[10][11][12]

City Line 311

In his 2006 “State of the City” address, Mayor Boughton announced that Danbury would be joining 25 other cities in providing a free 311 service.[13] On December 18, 2006, the service was launched and as of July 2015 City Line 311 is now 24/7.[14]

Prescription Discount Cards

In January 2013, Mayor Boughton announced a program that allows residents to obtain savings on prescriptions that are not covered under their current insurance plans. Prescription Drug Discount Cards were sent in the mail to every Danbury resident and are available at City Hall. By 2014, 2,326 prescriptions were filled using the card saving Danbury residents over $151,600 in costs.[15]

Clean Start

On May 23, 2016, the City of Danbury helped Jericho Partnership launch a homeless employment initiative called "Clean Start."[16] The program's goal is to provide job coaching and employment mentoring to the homeless. Jericho volunteers oversee the displaced residents pick up litter throughout the city. Each day after a number of work hours, the workers are paid with gift cards.[17]

Citizens Government Academy

In an effort to improve transparency and to give citizens an opportunity to learn about the functions of municipal government, Mayor Boughton launched the Citizens Government Academy.[18] Throughout the course of the academy, students will hear from Mayor Boughton and will receive presentations from department heads to gain a better understanding of what each department does. Students also go on tours of the Danbury Police and Fire departments, the Public Works Facility, and the Danbury Museum and Historical Society.[19]

Sewage treatment plant

On 22 August 2020, Mayor Boughton announced he was renaming the sewage treatment plant in Danbury to the "John Oliver Memorial Sewage Treatment Plant", after television presenter John Oliver after Oliver attacked Danbury on his previous show.[20] Afterwards, Boughton said the offer was "in jest," and that he was not "really gonna name the sewer plant after John Oliver," to which Oliver responded by offering $55,000 to charities in Danbury if Boughton followed through and named the plant after him.[21]

On 8 October 2020, the Danbury City Council voted 18-1 to rename the sewer plant after John Oliver.[22]

Gubernatorial primaries

In 2010, after a failed attempt to gain the Connecticut Republican gubernatorial nomination, Boughton aligned with incumbent Lt. Governor Michael Fedele to run as his lieutenant governor. In the primary election, however, Tom Foley defeated Fedele for the party's nomination for governor while Boughton won his bid for lieutenant governor.[23] The resultant Foley-Boughton ticket lost the general election to Democrats Dannel Malloy and Nancy Wyman by 6,404 votes (0.56%)[24] out of 1.15 million votes cast.[25]

For the 2014 election, Boughton kicked off his campaign for governor in January teamed with Heather Somers, former mayor of the Town of Groton, for lieutenant governor. Shortly after the Republican convention, Somers announced she would run for lieutenant governor solo and withdrew from the partnership with Boughton. Boughton then moved to Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti as a running mate, but it turned out there was not enough time for Lauretti to get the signatures of 8,190 registered Republican voters in order to petition his way onto the primary ballot. Without a running mate to pool his campaign funds with, Boughton was unable to collect the $250,000 in donations required to qualify for public campaign financing. He withdrew from the race in June.[26]

In November 2016, Boughton formed an exploratory committee to run for governor in 2018.[27] On January 9, 2018, he announced he would run for governor.[28] On May 12, he won the Republican endorsement for governor at the State Republican Convention in the third round of balloting.[29] In the August 14 Republican primary, he lost the gubernatorial race to Bob Stefanowski.[30]

Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services

On December 10, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont nominated Boughton to serve as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services to succeed Acting Commissioner John Biello.[4]

Awards and Accolades

  • 2016 – Received U.S. Conference of Mayors “Small Business Advocacy Award” for his support of small business in the city.[31]
  • 2016 – Mayor Boughton held the elected position of President to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.[32]
  • 2015 – Received the Prescott Bush Award from the Connecticut Republican Party.[33]
  • 2013 – Business Insider list of "15 Politicians Who Are Killing It On Twitter"[34]

Personal life

Boughton was born February 20, 1964, in Danbury to Rae (Linstrum) and Donald W. Boughton. His father was a city councilman in Danbury, and also was Danbury's mayor and a Connecticut State Representative (109th District).[35]

He and his wife Phyllis divorced in 2016 after 19 years of marriage.[23][36]

Electoral history

2001[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Christopher C. Setaro 7,176 48.80%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 7,303 49.75% Republican gain
Independent Thomas E. Bennett 213 1.45%
2003[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Thomas J. Arconti 5,592 38.61%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 8,776 60.60% Republican hold
Independent Alexander Nahas 115 0.79%
2005[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Dean E. Esposito 5,803 41.97%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 8,022 58.03% Republican hold
2007[38]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Helena M. Abrantes 4,453 33.34%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 8,718 65.27% Republican hold
Concerned Citizens John J. McGowan III 186 1.39%
2009[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Gary M. Goncalves 4,365 34.17%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 8,409 65.83% Republican hold
2011[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Lynn H. Taborsak 3,458 28.81%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 8,546 71.19% Republican hold
2013[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Paul McAllister 3,285 29.64%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 7,797 70.36% Republican hold
2015[39]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 5,486 88.10% Republican hold
Independent Mark D. Boughton 741 11.90%
2017[40]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Al Almeida 4,475 36.52%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 7,779 63.48% Republican hold
2019[41]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Christopher C. Setaro 7372 46.16%
Republican Mark D. Boughton 8598 53.84% Republican hold

References

  1. ^ "Mayor Mark Boughton".
  2. ^ "Danbury GOP endorse Boughton for record eighth term as mayor". July 24, 2015.
  3. ^ http://www.courant.com/politics/elections/hc-pol-republican-convention-nomination-governor-20180512-story.html Mark Boughton Wins Republican Endorsement For Governor, But Primary Battle Looms
  4. ^ a b Keating, Christopher (December 10, 2020). "Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a Republican, to be Gov. Lamont's next tax commissioner". Hartford Courant. Tribune Publishing Company. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  5. ^ "Mayor Mark D. Boughton". Danbury Republican Party. DANBURYGOP.com. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  6. ^ "Mayor Mark D. Boughton". Danbury Republican Party. DANBURYGOP.com. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  7. ^ Driscoll, Eugene (December 9, 2005). "New immigration strategy". newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  8. ^ "Lawyer for the Danbury 11 exposes Danbury's involvement in raid". HatCityBlog. Hat City Blog. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "Judge denies request by 'Danbury 11'". February 5, 2008.
  10. ^ Somma, Ann Marie (August 16, 2014). "Where are they now? The Danbury 11 not forgotten". newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  11. ^ Perrefort, Dirk (March 9, 2011). "City officials reach $400,000 settlement with Danbury 11 day laborers". newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  12. ^ Robinson, Alfonso (June 24, 2010). "The public deserves to know the truth about the Danbury 11 case". Hearst CT News Blogs. Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  13. ^ NewsTimesLIVE (December 15, 2006). "Mayor Mark Boughton announces CityLine 311" – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "City of Danbury 311 Expands Its Hours to 24/7 - Tribunact".
  15. ^ "Danbury Residents Save Over $150,000 With Prescription Discount Cards". May 12, 2014.
  16. ^ "Danbury's Jericho Partnership launches 'Clean Start' to help homeless". February 2016.
  17. ^ "Litter pickup plan ready to go". April 22, 2016.
  18. ^ "Danbury recruiting new class for citizens' government academy". March 3, 2017.
  19. ^ "Citizens Government Academy". July 22, 2019.
  20. ^ Jazmin Goodwin (September 6, 2020). "John Oliver may get his sewage plant honor ... or he'll settle for a port-a-potty". CNN. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  21. ^ "John Oliver: Name Sewage Plant for Me, I'll Give To Charity". NBC New York. August 31, 2020.
  22. ^ Sparks, Hannah; O'Neill, Natalie (October 9, 2020). "Danbury, Conn. sewage plant officially named John Oliver's 'poop factory'". New York Post. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  23. ^ a b Perrefort, Dirk (July 28, 2013). "Powering up: Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton". ctpost. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  24. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ Rigg, Mackenzie; Vigdor, Neil (August 7, 2017). "Boughton to undergo brain surgery". Hearst Media Services CT LLC. The News-Times.
  26. ^ "Republican Mark Boughton suspends run for Connecticut governor, endorses Tom Foley". New Haven Register. June 18, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  27. ^ Vigdor, Neil (November 22, 2016). "Boughton creates exploratory committee for governor". ctpost. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  28. ^ Ryser, Rob (January 9, 2018). "Boughton makes run for governor official". newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  29. ^ Dixon, Ken (May 13, 2018). "Boughton is delegates' choice for governor". newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
  30. ^ Murdock, Zach (August 18, 2018). "Danbury's mayor weighs his options following GOP primary loss". NewsTimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut, LLC. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  31. ^ "Mayor Mark Boughton to Receive Small Business Advocate Award". March 21, 2016.
  32. ^ "Connecticut Conference of Municipalities".
  33. ^ Courant, Hartford (May 5, 2015). "Mark Boughton To Receive Prescott Bush Award".
  34. ^ "15 Politicians Who Are Killing It On Twitter". Business Insider.
  35. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Donald W. Boughton".
  36. ^ Ryser, Rob (March 24, 2016). "Boughton on marriage break-up: "We still care about each other"". newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  37. ^ a b c d e f "Danbury, CT Mayor". ElectionsInfo.net. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  38. ^ "Danbury CT Mayor". ElectionsInfo.net. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  39. ^ Bustraan, Jeff (November 3, 2015). "Election 2015 results". ctpost. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  40. ^ "Election results". Danbury, Connecticut. City of Danbury, CT. November 9, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
  41. ^ "Election results". Newstimes. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
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