LCO No. 7156 1 of 3
General Assembly House Joint
Resolution No. 163
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 7156
Referred to Committee on No Committee No Committee
Introduced by:
REP. ARESIMOWICZ, 30
th
Dist.
REP. RITTER M., 1
st
Dist.
SEN. LOONEY, 11
th
Dist.
SEN. DUFF, 25
th
Dist.
REP. KLARIDES, 114
th
Dist.
SEN. FASANO, 34
th
Dist.
REP. BAKER, 124
th
Dist.
SEN. BRADLEY, 23
rd
Dist.
REP. HENNESSY, 127
th
Dist.
SEN. MOORE, 22
nd
Dist.
REP. ROSARIO, 128
th
Dist.
REP. STAFSTROM, 129
th
Dist.
REP. STALLWORTH, 126
th
Dist.
RESOLUTION EXPRESSIN G SYMPATHY ON THE DE ATH OF
REPRESENTATIVE EZEQU IEL SANTIAGO.
Resolved by this Assembly:
WHEREAS, on Friday, March 15, 2019, the State of Connecticut and 1
the city of Bridgeport lost a distinguished and beloved State 2
Representative with the passing of Representative Ezequiel "Chequi" 3
Santiago, at the age of forty-five; and 4
WHEREAS, he represented the 130
th
district with distinction for ten 5
years and to the date of his passing; and 6
WHEREAS, he was born in Camden, New Jersey, on April 20, 1973, 7
and raised in the South End of Bridgeport, Connecticut; and 8 House Joint Resolution No.
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WHEREAS, he attended Gibbs College, where he earned a 9
certificate in Computer Technical Support; and 10
WHEREAS, he was a city statistics analyst for the city of Bridgeport; 11
and 12
WHEREAS, he also had careers as a constituent representative for 13
the city of Bridgeport, a computer technical support representative for 14
On Line Marketing and an assistant teacher for Action for Bridgeport 15
Community Development; and 16
WHEREAS, he started his political career by volunteering on the 17
campaigns of his father, Americo Santiago, for State Representative 18
and Secretary of the State, and by assisting his stepfather, Mitch 19
Robles, with other local political campaigns; and 20
WHEREAS, he served on the Bridgeport City Council from 2005-21
2008; and 22
WHEREAS, during his tenure as a City Councilman, he addressed 23
public safety issues in Bridgeport and helped secure Community 24
Development Block Grant funding for the YMCA, the South End 25
Community Center and the Cardinal Sheehan Center; and 26
WHEREAS, he was first elected as a State Representative in 2008, 27
representing the South End of Bridgeport and downtown Bridgeport 28
in a legislative seat previously held by his father, Americo Santiago; 29
and 30
WHEREAS, he served for five terms as a State Representative, and 31
served as vice chairperson of the Appropriations Committee, chairman 32
of the Banking Committee, vice chairman of the Labor and Public 33
Employees Committee, and member of the Commerce Committee, 34
Environment Committee, Planning and Development Committee and 35
Transportation Committee; and 36
WHEREAS, he also served as Deputy Majority Whip in the 37
Connecticut House of Representatives; and 38 House Joint Resolution No.
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WHEREAS, he was selected by his peers in the Bridgeport 39
delegation to lead the delegation in the 2019 legislative session; and 40
WHEREAS, as a member of the General Assembly, he worked 41
tirelessly to, among other things, win approval for a Bridgeport casino, 42
raise the minimum wage, extend the foreclosure mediation program, 43
protect worker's rights, improve police training, increase local police 44
force hiring, increase minority representation in the court system, close 45
the achievement gap and protect funding for local social service 46
agencies; and 47
WHEREAS, he is survived by his parents, Americo Santiago and 48
Evelyn Robles; his stepfather, Mitch Robles; his three daughters, 49
Lenymar Matos, ILenny Matos and Chelsie M. Santiago ; his 50
grandmothers, Lydia Antonia Mercado and Olga Molina; his brother, 51
Eddie Omar Santiago (Jodi Anastasia Santiago); his two sisters, 52
Michelle Robles (Jason Rivera) and April Robles; and his girlfriend, 53
Paula Romero; and 54
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Connecticut 55
General Assembly expresses its sincere sympathy and heartfelt 56
condolences on the passing of one of its honorable members, Ezequiel 57
Santiago, whose death is a profound loss to the House of 58
Representatives, his family and friends, the residents of Bridgeport 59
and the entire State of Connecticut; and 60
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the clerks of the House of 61
Representatives and the Senate cause a copy of this resolution to be 62
sent to the family of Ezequiel Santiago, as an expression of the high 63
esteem and affection in which he is held. 64