As the municipal election season in Danbury is winding to a close, and with weeks until Election Day in Danbury, I can no longer contain my pessimism and disappointment with the elected and appointed officials we have entrusted to move the city forward. It's apparent to this writer that political hijinks have paralyzed any sense of meaningful progress for Danbury while surrounding communities are prospering from profound years-long revitalization efforts.

My descent into pessimism was complete after attending the recent Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce debate between Mayor Dean Esposito and Democratic mayoral challenger Roberto Alves, where my hopes for a civil and honest discussion about the future of the city were replaced with behavior from both candidates that no parent would not tolerate from their children.

Instead of hearing plans for addressing the city's problems, business owners and chamber members witnessed a diatribe of inside baseball political nonsense that has no bearing on ANY issue facing working families, who only desire their basic quality-of-life concerns be recognized without their intelligence being insulted.

If you are a resident who wants to know more information from the candidates at the debate about their plan for revitalizing downtown, improving alternative means of transportation, updating and improving the city's aging infrastructure, addressing developmental concerns on the city's west side, addressing educational complaints from teachers and paraprofessionals on the frontline, and the lack of progress on downtown revitalization, then you were out of luck. 

If you are a resident who cares more about inside baseball politics, and enjoy political toxicity that is more common on partisan political cable TV shows, then the recent debate performance from the mayoral candidates is fodder for your soul. For the majority of working families who struggle to make ends meet, the debate was an insult to their intelligence.  

Maybe I'm just becoming the crabby old man who complains about the clouds in the sky and asks too much of our political leadership. Perhaps I was too optimistic in my desire for local politicians to do the right thing for every Danbury resident's betterment. Whatever the case, one thing is for sure: I've joined the ever-growing list of residents who have thrown their hands up into the air and given up hope that things in the city I love are ever-improving for the better.

Danburians deserve better than this…