"REP. CLEMONS: (124^th)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be brief. I stand to support passage of this Bill, House Bill Number 6673, and I'd like to thank Representative Green and Representative McCrory for introducing this Bill.

This Bill grants Mr. Tillman, wrongfully incarcerated 18 years of his life, the sum of $ 5 million as settlement. While incarcerated, Mr. Tillman suffered many indignities, psychological and physical suffering.

While the value of the loss of freedom is incalculable, I think that this Legislative Body and the state as some compensation should pass this Bill for Mr. Tillman and his family, and I urge the Members of this Legislative Body to support this Bill. Thank you."

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From the "Biography" part of the website of Representative Clemons - copied November 10, 2007:

"Representative Don Clemons was born and attended elementary school in Bridgeport. As a result of a student recruitment campaign initiated by the Diocese of the City of Bridgeport, Don passed an entrance exam and was able to attend Notre Dame High School in the affluent suburb of Fairfield in 1966.

During his four years at Notre Dame he endured many cruel acts of racism; however, his experiences taught him to be a more tolerant person. He was accepted into Florida A&M College in 1970, and then went to Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport. Don, who was very active in sports, was offered a contract with the Atlanta Braves in 1972, but turned it down to concentrate on basketball and ultimately football. In 1976, he got invited to an agency camp for the Washington Redskins football team.

At the same time, he was taking the tests for the Bridgeport Fire, Police and State Police Department. As a result of the format and the fact that the test contained nothing they had studied, Don joined in a class action lawsuit against the City of Bridgeport for discriminatory practices in their testing and hiring.

An influential person and the reason Don Clemons wanted to become a firefighter was his uncle who became the first Black fireman in Bridgeport. He took the test for the police department in 1936 and scored in the top position, but was never offered a job as policeman. He instead was offered a fireman’s position two years later which he accepted. He served for 30 years in the fire department before retiring as Lieutenant in 1968.

As the years pressed on and it became more and more apparent Bridgeport was going to lose the lawsuit, they began to trickle minority candidates into the Fire Department. Don joined the fire department in April 1981. In July, 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that the City of Bridgeport was discriminatory in their hiring practices and ordered the City to hire those minorities that took the test in 1975 with credit and benefits retroactive to the date they took the test.

Don served as a firefighter for the City of Bridgeport and retired in 1999 after ascending to the rank of Provisional Lieutenant. Don became a City Council member in 2000 in a special election. He served on the Council for the remainder of the term and was elected to another two-year term. While on the Council, Rep. Clemons championed legislation to give residency preference to those individuals that pass any civil service competitive entry level exam. Upon passing the test, they are awarded 10 percent of their final score.

Don successfully ran for State Representative in May 2003 and has concentrated efforts on the improvement of education. He is a staunch supporter of Charter Schools and has worked to appropriate funds for building and development of the schools. He helped to acquire funding for a new charter school, Park City Prep, which begins operation in September 2006. He founded a program called “Hockey in the Hood” – a five-year physical education program starting in the fourth grade which involves the Board of Education and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers American Hockey League. Members of the hockey league teach young boys and girls the art of skating with the goal of teaching them to play hockey by the time they become high school freshmen. The program has been well-received by the community.

Don was elected by his colleagues to Chair the Black and Latino Caucus.  The Caucus is comprised of the Black and Latino legislators and works on issues of mutual import.

He is also an advocate of economic development, working with the Steel point project developers to insure and increase minority and women participation in contracts and sub-contracts associated with the project. He spearheaded a senior residential complex called Hall Commons and is pushing to increase the affordable housing stock."