Since the city started tackling illegal immigration, Danbury officials have sometimes been called underhanded and xenophobic—but not by other city officials in their own party.

That was the situation last week when the Common Council voted not to restore funds to the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury, a move that Councilwoman Jane Diggs says "was all racially motivated" and Councilman Robert Reilly says "made me feel embarrassed for the City of Danbury." Both are, like the council's leadership, Republicans.

The buildup to the Hispanic Center decision goes back a year and includes a lot of things that look really bad, but those involved say they have a good explanation for.

Last year, the center itself asked the city to freeze its funding as it "gets its house back in order." Its outgoing director was the outspoken Maria Cinta-Lowe, who railed against Danbury's immigration policies. Reilly says the standards were clear: The center stops being political and it gets funding from the city.

On May 22, Cinta-Lowe's successor, Eva Colon, came into an ad hoc committee, chaired by Reilly, that the U.S. Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement knew about and some of Common Council say they didn't.

"This hate group always seems to have inside information," says Reilly. "It's really a group that, for some reason, has an axe to grind with Latinos." The group has stood frigid with surgical masks on their faces before a Latino crowd, afraid to catch a disease from "the illegals," and ripped up a Mexican flag in front of a rally (despite the fact that most of Danbury's immigrants are from Brazil and Ecuador).

Meanwhile, "quite a few members were unaware," says Democratic councilman Paul Rotello. Of the 12 present, all but one were Republicans and all but one (Reilly) voted two weeks later to turn down funding. (The Danbury Common Council consists of 14 Republicans and seven Democrats.)

The minutes say that Council President Joe Cavo "stated that if there is funding restored, that it is understood that the taxpayers of the city will not stand for legislative advocacy against the city, state or country enforcing its laws." The Danbury News-Times said these comments match USCFILE's "statement almost verbatim"

Reilly compares the treatment of the Hispanic Center to that of Association of Religious Communities, which also took out an ad in the News-Times criticizing Danbury's immigration policies. He says ARC got about $7,000 from the city afterwards. "They just pelted Eva Colon with questions, and I felt embarrassed," says Reilly. (Colon isn't making any statements as of now.) "I don't think anyone on the council is racist but they don't do enough to change the appearance that they are."

City Clerk Jean Natale, a Republican, counters that she posted notices for the ad hoc meeting in City Hall and gave announcement via the city's website as usual. She faxed us a meeting noticed stamped May 19 at 9:35 a.m. and an email to an IT assistant to have the notice posted online, May 20 2:12 p.m., as proof.

Cavo says that "with the economy as it is, I couldn't justify giving money to any group that didn't truly need it." He says a look at the Hispanic Center's books showed that it was financially healthy, and that its political advocacy had a small impact. He says he didn't steal USCFILE's wording—it's vice versa. "I first used those words in reference to plans for the Hispanic Center about a year ago." He doesn't think that they are being fed "inside information," only that they take an active interest.

As for ARC, "They had just been warned once. I didn't think it would be justified to pull their funding after one warning."

Mary Teicholz, a fellow Republican councilmember, also denies that race played a role. "You'd have to ask [Reilly and Diggs] why they said that; I have no idea." As for an image problem for the council, she says, "I don't think most of the city knows what the Common Council is."