Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and Congressman-elect Jim Himes met Friday to talk about pressing financial issues in the city that got the former Wall Street banker elected on Tuesday. No Bridgeport, no Jim Himes in Congress. The election is over and now the young congressman must start thinking about producing for the city that produced a modern-record 23,500-vote plurality.
Let’s see now, the city is on the edge of the worst financial meltdown in 20 years; more layoffs are expected with the current budget millions in the hole and climbing, more than one-third into the budget year; the next budget year that starts July 2009 has a projected shortfall of $30 or $40 million, but who’s counting; the mayor is at war with most municipal unions, wants to reform civil service and is doing November novenas (even though he’s not religious) for the economy to turn around.
What can Himes do? Maybe a novena or two himself because he cannot do a damn thing for the city’s predicament in the short term. Remember that campaign promise to do something about the closed Congress Street Bridge? Campaigning is a whole different world from governing. Now the real work begins. Except it’s going to take Himes months and months to get up to speed about how things work in Washington to help the state’s largest city.
The good news is Democrats control the White House and Congress for the next two years. If Barack and Himes cannot produce for the city, there are no excuses. All this talk about infrastructure improvement, middle-class tax cuts, Brownfield investment, teacher-pay enhancement, affordable housing grants will shake out. What did Yahooy say about Finch’s promises during last year’s mayoral primary: a chicken in every pot.
Well, the pot is empty and the financial feathers are about to fly. I hope Jim Himes becomes the greatest congressman on the planet. I hope Finch goes down in history as the mayor that turned the city into the (what’s that slogan?) cleanest, greenest, most affordable city with schools and neighborhoods that improve every year. Hizzoner is just a few weeks away from his one year (can you believe it?) anniversary as mayor. In a few weeks I’ll be asking you for your report card. A year from now I hope things are much much better.
Joel Breaks Ganim Story
Click here to go directly to Joel’s report of Paul Ganim’s recent scrape with the police.
The person who most needs a novena in this country is Obama. I voted for him, but I don’t know if I did him a favor. Did anyone see the first politician to take a swipe at our new president during his victory speech? Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He held his first “state of the nation” address at the same exact time, blocking out Obama’s speech. He didn’t mention Obama’s victory, but instead spent the first half of his speech aggressively attacking America. Oh, and he’s moving missiles into Kaliningrad to confront our military posturing in eastern Europe.
I have a lot of hope for the Obama presidency, but I have a feeling Russia is going to be one of those very frustrating problems for a president that will keep him from being able to deal with other issues. This country needs to unite behind him to not spoil this tremendous opportunity.
A Chicken in Every Pot, indeed. The only problem is we don’t have the money to buy the chicken or the egg for that matter. Goomba fiscal policies have caught up to us and there is no solution on the horizon. Finch hasn’t got the brains to lead us out of this mess … a mess that is exponentially getting worse each day.
Sadly, it is time to seek help from the outside. The State must be brought in as quickly as possible. It’s 1991 all over again only this time the administration is stupider than Mary Moran.
I hope Himes broached that topic when he talked with Finch. BTW … that must have been a hell of a conversation. A Phi Beta Kappa self-made millionaire and, well, Finch.
Yahooy-I hear that Finch was pledged to TKB fraternity.
Tappa Kegga Beer!
Bill was also tapped at the end of his junior year to join the UConn Secret Senior Society, Skull ‘N Bonerz!!
Well, now that all the campaigning Rah! Rah! Is over, I’m glad to see that Lennie has let off of the rhetoric throttle long enough to make these two very obvious and profound statements:
“Campaigning is a whole different world from governing. Now the real work begins.”
I have a feeling that this blog will die down a bit – it’s kind of like finally landing that supermodel. The chase was a whole lotta fun, but the reality, well, that’s something altogether different.
And the second statement:
“The good news is Democrats control the White House and Congress for the next two years. If Barack and Himes cannot produce for the city, there are no excuses.”
Thank you.
Leave it to Grin to always bring a smile to my face. But it is time to get serious. I voted for Obama in the hope of positive change. Now with the dems in control of the city, state and fed gov’t can it be B’ports time? They have only a short 2 years before getting called on the carpet. We have a lot of vacant land to develop so c’mon guys bring on the development.
Maybe we can be the site for wind power. Install some windmills near city hall and the annex … there’s plenty of hot air being generated there!
Indy Soul- It’s always my pleasure.
MoonBeam is bringing in Big Foot to measure the carbon footprint of city hall and the annex. We are always tilting at windmills but that is positive energy. And a lot of hot air.
HereWeGo, Rhet is my middle name, and I got my hand on the throttle!
“Grin Ripper // Nov 7, 2008 at 8:42 am
Bill was also tapped at the end of his junior year to join the UConn Secret Senior Society, Skull ‘N Bonerz!!”
Actually Finch was thrown out of Skull and Bonerz for his inability to maintain and keep UP with the society standards.
Rhett ???
“HereWeGo, Rhet is my middle name, and I got my hand on the throttle!”
No disrespect meant, Lennie – I’d expect nothing less. Full speed ahead!
Lennie please correct your numbers it was not 21,500. That was when only 92% of precincts returning. With 100% of precincts returning the number is 23,943 plurality victory for Himes. That is an amazing number in 2004 Diane did not even get 23,943 votes and remember Himes did not get 23,943 votes that’s the plurality he beat Shays by. To me that’s just amazing how Himes beat Shays by a bigger plurality. Wow and with all precincts reporting Shays only got 19% of the vote in Bridgeport and Jim Himes got 80% of the vote. I still cannot believe these numbers. Shays only getting 19%, wow.
donj,
You are in the wrong place to report problems at the polls. The Connecticut Post had phone numbers listed just for that. This is OIB not SEEC. BTW, SEEC is the State Elections Enforcement Commission.
donj, noted and corrected.
Now for some “Breaking News”:
I could not believe my eyes. I work at the Police Department and I’m assigned to the booking area where those arrested are brought for processing. Judge Paul Ganim walked to the Police Department to turn himself in at 3:15p.m. today. He was charged with 3rd. degree assault on his wife (domestic violence) during an incident that allegedly occured recently.
A sad event indeed as I’m used to seeing people booked on these type of charges. But I never imagined seeing Judge Ganim in such a predicament. It is difficult to have a perfect marriage and these kinds of incidents are common everywhere in the world and in some parts are encouraged, acceptable and legal. My wife is a Christian and at times she says things that a “machista” would quickly react to violently. Before I sat down to write this, I had a conversation (it will continue) with her about why we need to look at our relationship and things we can both do to make sure this does not happen. Best wishes to Paul Ganim and his family.
Joel,
If you ever get into a domestic tiff with your wife, please don’t try to poke her in the eye.
Oh … I forgot. Never mind.
Joel, please shut up you should be crying after that loss you received on Tuesday. You could not buy a vote even if you told someone you would give them 100 dollars to vote for you outside the polls. You got destroyed on Tuesday and you will never win public office again in your life!!! Lennie how come you did not post election results on here by precinct??? I do not know what to do now since there is nothing more to talk about. I am hoping you keep us informed like you have been doing for so long. I want to take the time out to say thanks for all you have done because if it were not for you I would not be so interested in politics. The first time I came upon this blog was when I wanted to know who Caruso and Finch were and I typed it in on google and what came up was onlyinbridgeport and since then I have been hooked on this blog and registered to vote a couple months later so I just wanted to say thanks. Your information is the best and way better than anything on the Post.
donj on #19:
You and all those who didn’t vote for me cannot shut me up. You sound like you know a lot about buying votes. How much did you sell yours for? Let me guess!
A twinkie and a cup of Kool-Aid? You don’t even know what politics is, my Kool-Aid for a vote drinking friend.
“The first time I came upon this blog was when I wanted to know who Caruso and Finch were and I typed it in on google and what came up was onlyinbridgeport and since then I have been hooked on this blog and registered to vote a couple months later so I just wanted to say thanks.”
A new voter, congratulations. You have a long way ahead of you to go before you can even begin to understand what politics is about. You haven’t even begun or thought of looking into who Joel Gonzalez is, what he was like in the City Council and his approach to be able to initiate a process to deal with the issues facing Bridgeport in the mid ’90s. How old were you in 1995?
If you just registered, what makes you so sure you know what you are talking about? Fulfill your curiosity and continue to seek knowledge and separate the bullshit that will be mixed with that knowledge. Don’t let your emotions (I love Democrats) get in the way of the vast solutions and ideas out there or within your own mind.
donj, don’t go on kissing other’s “culo” just because you like the party they are in, the suits they wear or their “suave” style. The promises made and process you saw during your first election are the same they’ve been as far as I can remember and I’m 43 years old. Seek the center always and don’t go too far left or too far right. Does everyone think and act the same? Then why did you vote down the same line when you voted? Because you were made to believe that is the right way. donj, one doesn’t have to be an elected official to force reform (I don’t like to use the word change) and progress. I’ve done more as an activist than some elected officials have done in their capacity. You have the main ingredient–you are curious–you are obviously interested in politics. Let me give you a few words of advice. I have seen many people with the potential of becoming good elected officials in the Democratic party. All of them allowed someone to take them under their wings and were flown to areas that could potentially destroy their reputation and political aspirations. Joe Ganim and Lennie Grimaldi are two examples. I advise you to be cautious, as you have been warned. I didn’t go into “politics” to be a politician, I did it to be a public-tician.
Hey Lennie, did I ever tell you that the chicken I got in my pot had a name tag on it? It read “yahooy.”
Back to his multi-posting ways, the OIB blogosphere gets to witness the sensitive side of Joel Gonzalez, a man whose heart barely fits inside his shirt. The general election is over but Joel still remains in the running for something–maybe it’s a position that hasn’t been created yet because he moves fast (zap). If speed were a country, he’d be its leader.
I think the election of Barack Obama as POTUS will lead to a new civility in the country. Not everyone is happy that an African American is now the nation’s leader, but that’s their problem. It is just as easy to accept another person for his or her differences as it is to not like ’em.
Joel Gonzalez,
I have not seen a Republican I would vote for. The only Republican I would vote for is Milton Johnson but he was not in my district. Republicans are full of it. Democrats did not split their ballots on Tuesday in Bridgeport that’s why Shays could not reach 30% the reason they are sick of what they did to this country and Shays was part of the problem. All young voters voted the straight line B for change and they did not stop at Obama they kept going down the line. Shays cared more about the suburbs than the inner cites in CT and to me that is why we gave him a pink slip. If someone told me Shays would get only 25% of the vote in the city I would say that is impossible but if someone had told me he would only get 19% of the vote I would say you are on crack but he did get only 19% and to me there had to be another factor there. I know many people in the city who voted for Shays in 2004 and 2006 said they would not vote for him again this year and what happened they did not vote for him and that’s why he did so bad in the city. Even Bill Finch could not get 80% of the vote running against Garrett. Shays did not even campaign in the city. Well the Himes win is a win for Bridgeport. And a Himes win is a loss for Darien, Wilton and those towns. So when Shays won in the past it was a lost for Bridgeport but a gain for the rich towns. Now it’s just the opposite; finally we get a win for the City!!!
Joel Your posting about Judge Ganim was irresponsible. You are in an area where you see a lot of stuff. You should keep it to yourself. It is embarrasing enough if one gets caught in a similar probelm and gets arrested for it. You divulging that information on this blog is downright wrong. Who the hell do you think you are? I hope that your superiors FIRE YOU for divulging that information on Ganim.
You phony shithead you wish Paul Ganim your best wishes after what you posted. I will be forwarding your post on and maybe just maybe you will learn a lesson.
I completely agree with Wondering. Joel, you should be brought up on disciplinary charges and fired, not bump someone else but Larry Osborne should slam the door behind you. So much for the public trust.
Wondering & countdown – you said it, I bet Joel’s running off at the mouth about Paul Ganim is going to get him in some serious hot water. You would think he would know better than to broadcast info like that. I think his big mouth is going to catch up to him this time.
I am not one to come in defense of Joel Gonzalez, BUT … He isn’t bound by any confidentiality matters unless there has been a case before a judge and a gag order is in place …
As for Paul Ganim’s issue, he is a public figure and his life is public. He f*cked up by beating his wife, not Joel …
He can now rule out running for Mayor in 2011 … I love it!!! That now leaves McCarthy and Rep Ayala as contenders …
Hey Joel, I have a new nickname for you, Manolo Cabeza de Huevo …
Celia Cruz: You are 100% wrong. Joel works in a sensitive area. While he may not have signed a confidentiality agreement it is something that is understood. In his work area he is privy to a lot of information that is not for public consumption. Posting what he sees at the PD is wrong. Look what has happened already. You assume that Ganim beat his wife based on Joel’s post. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? This is no different than a nurse in a doctor’s office who is privy to your medical history and posts it on a public blog it is just not done period.
I agree with Wondering also. Joel you are a moron. As for Larry Osborne finding the door? Tom McCarthy might have to show him the way. Larry and Joel are two peas in the same pod.
yahooy on #17:
I don’t have to lift a finger to hurt my wife. All I have to do is call her “yahooy”.
Wondering confused wrote:
“Joel Your posting about Judge Ganim was irresponsible. You are in an area where you see a lot of stuff. You should keep it to yourself.”
Countclown seconds it:
“I completely agree with Wondering. Joel, you should be brought up on disciplinary charges and fired, not bump someone else but Larry Osborne should slam the door behind you. So much for the public trust.”
And of course Shitty Kitty steps on the dog shit:
“Wondering & countdown – you said it, I bet Joel’s running off at the mouth about Paul Ganim is going to get him in some serious hot water. You would think he would know better than to broadcast info like that. I think his big mouth is going to catch up to him this time.”
Wondering:
You are correct that I see a lot of stuff; I also hear plenty.
Should I report officers who unintentionally expose confidential information verbally? I know my limits and boundaries; on several occasions I overheard inmates speaking in Spanish about attacking a Black Detention Officer when he is brought out to be processed (fingerprinted and photographed) and I warned the officer. So I should have just “wondered” all day whether or not I should tell the Detention Officer about the inmate’s comment? After I was done “wondering”, I should have kept it to myself? People like you don’t belong where I work, you can’t even clean toilets as good as I do.
Countclown:
I just have to slap that frown off your face. Slapppp!
Sorry for the four finger marks. Now listen, stop crying you wimp and listen, there’s only four finger marks, I could have given you five. Who told you that I bumped someone? Finch or Larry? It doesn’t matter where you got your info from, it’s incaccurate. In theory I was supposed to bump off someone. In reality, everyone that was working in maintenace at the police Department is still there. The person I believe I was supposed to bump off happens to be related to the person in charge of the Deparment responsible to make sure that the hiring and layoff procedures among others are followed.
Shitty Kitty:
Lick your paws.
MEATBALL on #31:
This is the kind of comment we get when the “Meatball” is made with meat from a cow infected with mad cow desease.
“Larry and Joel are two peas in the same pod.”
I’m not offended; Larry is a smart man and if allowed to perform his duties without interferance he would make the right decisions. Larry and I, as all other City employees are supposed to follow the unwrtitten rule. We are not supposed to state our views (especially unfavorable ones) about the powers that be. Larry is not the Director of Labor Relations. He is the Acting Director and until he is officially appointed he has to make decisions that keep the mayor happy or risk losing his job. My job is to keep the police Department clean and I have the right to speak my mind, regardless of who is offended. Anyone named or offended here can register and participate in the discussion. I’m not worried about losing my job for speaking my mind and in the event I do lose my job, it would be with dignity and class. Can you imagine Joel Gonzalez 24/7/365, here and out there speaking my mind and unmasking those that would sink to such a low level to fire me for exercising my right of free speech? What I write and speak about here is just the minimum of what I can write and speak about.
Joel you just don’t get it do you? Telling an officer of an impending attack and blabbing privileged information on this blog are 2 different things and you know it.
Don’t start with the freedom of speech BS while you may have that right I would make sure you excercised that right as an ex-employee.
You are 100% right I don’t belong where you work. I would definitely be overqualified and not marginally qualified like you are.
Joel what you did on this blog was lower than whale shit but that’s where you operate best. Dust off the resume.
Good for Joel. His post about Ganim is a royal flush. Fore!
*** Joel is only doing what each & everyone that blogs here likes to do, tell a story! Whether it’s true, made up, rumor or just personal opinions and current events. Joel has no signed nor understood agreement not to run & tell everything he sees at the station. Basically he’s there to clean period, whether it’s the offices or the holding cells, it’s his job to keep certain areas clean. But many people today tend to have a reporter’s type of mentality. That’s the need to run & tell anything & everything you’ve heard or seen! However sometimes there are things better left unsaid. I guess if you’re a stand-up type of person, you understand that at times people’s personal domestic problems are just that, “personal”! Myself, knowing P. Ganim like I do, I would not have said anything to anyone. Why? Because things like this can happen to any couple at any stressfull moment @ times. But I will agree with a prior blogger’s comment about bothering to wish Ganim good luck after you’ve talked about the man’s personal problems on this website to be a bit tasteless.
To Wondering, Countdown, City Kitty and Meatball:
What is your beef with Joel? He posted the Ganim story here on OIB at 4:06 on Friday. The CT Post reported it at 6:52 on Friday. Joel out-reported the Post, OIB beat the Post, so what is your complaint? Did all of you log into connpost.com to express your anger about them reporting the news? Of course not but that’s all Joel did. If Joel were wrong that would be one thing but he apparently is right on the money. But instead all of you little-minded people attack Joel simply because you don’t like him. If simple-mindedness was a crime Joel would be seeing all of you in central booking.
The Bridgeport Kid writes “I think the election of Barack Obama as POTUS will lead to a new civility in the country. Not everyone is happy that an African American is now the nation’s leader, but that’s their problem.”
Well let’s see how civil the Kid is when it comes to Joe Celli and BRAC.
The Arbitrator ruled that Joe and BRAC are here to stay, not everyone is happy but that’s their problem.
Right, Kid?
This is what I love about OIB. Anyone can be a reporter, a scribe, an info provider. In fact, my best leads come from readers.
Maybe we could have a weekly session called “The Grudge Report”.
Joel, Larry should be making decisions that make the taxpayers happy. After all that’s who pays the bills. Grin Reaper, you’re right I just don’t like Joel. He runneth off the few fingers too MUCH!
Countclown more on #26:
“I completely agree with Wondering. Joel, you should be brought up on disciplinary charges and fired, not bump someone else but Larry Osborne should slam the door behind you. So much for the public trust.”
Let me slap that frown off your face. Slappp!!!
Sorry for the four finger marks. Now get a grip, stop crying you wimp, I could have left five finger marks.
Disciplinary charges; fired? Sounds scary and as bad as the end of the world.
Whoever told you that I bumped into my position is giving you inaccurate information. In theory, I was supposed to bump someone. In reality, no one was bumped off. Every janitor who was working at the Police Department is still working there. Apparently the person I was supposed to bump happens to be related to a City-appointed official in charge of making sure that the firing and hiring rules and procedures are followed.
The City’s position as to the reason for my “selection for layoff” was budget related.
Before the layoff took place, Lennie Grimaldi interviewed Gregg Dancho (my boss at the Zoo) who stated how important my position was to the Zoo’s security and its accreditation and what a model employee I had been. Soon after, I noticed that the boss was acting kind of different and avoiding responding to some important request I made to him.
A month into the 2008-2009 Budget, I decided to look into the City’s budget, especially the Zoo. I noticed that for the title position of Zoo Manager there was a pay raise of $11,651. Before the budget was approved, I spoke with Gregg about the budget and he told me that there was no increase at all in the budget and that the only position they were losing was the security position.
OIB = ONLY IN BEARDSLEY
MEATBALL on #42:
You are right, Larry should be making decisions that make the taxpayers happy. There are a lot of different angles in every single labor matter that he must also consider in his decisions. The reality is that he answers to someone who is in a position to let him go at will. I understand that reality in which many are caught up in.
Now if Larry, my Department head or the mayor wants to tell him (Larry) to lay me off, so be it. There are many City employees leaking all kinds of information that really should not be leaked. Some hide behind handles to come here and do just that.
On Paul Ganim Criticism:
Would the critics have been happier if I had posted the Paul Ganim arrest using a handle to hide behind? Would ya’ll have been happier if I had used my cell phone and taken a picture of him getting processed? Want to see the picture? Like Grin Reaper said, the Ctpost put up the story on the same day and before Ganim even arrived it was known all over the building.
Wondering is right (finally) that I see (and hear) lots of things at the Police Department. I hear and see lots of things everywhere. On a daily basis I see people in booking brought on similar and worse charges.
Paul Ganim was different in that he was a public figure and I knew that the media would jump on the story and there was no way in hell that it was going to be swept under the rug as many people knew even before his arrival. Now, here is where I think the newspaper falls short. The Post falls short when they only report the Paul Ganim allegations and not others that involved just as much or more violent allegations. For some reason my critics didn’t read the part on post #16 that states:
“an incident that allegedly occured recently.” Allegedly is the key word.
Are my critics going to blame me when reporters show up in court for the arraingment? Are ya’ll going to blame me when OIB correspondent Joel Gonzalez has a live report from the court house? Back to you Lennie!
Lennie Grimaldi:
“Hizzoner is just a few weeks away from his one year (can you believe it?) anniversary as mayor. In a few weeks I’ll be asking you for your report card. A year from now I hope things are much much better.”
What’s your beef with the mayor? The mayor is not the only official responsible for the problems we face. Finch is not the only City elected offical who shall be put under the micrOIBscope. There are twenty City Councilpersons and many of them are much more accountable than Finch as they also served under Fabrizi. Start by looking into their attendance record and their stipends to see what they have been paid for. Only that way will we be able to give them all a deserving grade.
Best Obama jokes I’ve heard so far:
Why did all Black people have to drink lots of water the day after the elections?
There was nothing but “Salty Crackers” left.
Obama letter to all whites on November 7, 2008:
All white people, report to the Cotton Field for orientation at 4 a.m. sharp.
Lennie; the following story (at the end of this comment) from the Connecticut Post should be grist for the OIB readership and writers. All of the Connecticut Post blog comments concerning this story were permanently removed shortly after they were posted.
BTW; I received an e-mail about a public hearing on the new zoning regs scheduled for this Monday, the 10th, at 6:00 PM, City Hall Council Chambers … I hope that you and your readership/writers will be covering this very important meeting. (The new regs are designed to help the administration give away the Bridgeport “candystore” to the usual developer-parasites who perennially profit from the “no-money-down, no taxes due, sell-it-back-to-us-at-a-million-dollar-profit-if-you-can’t-find-another-sucker” on-going land-grab that the city sponsors just for their benefit.)
How come Bob Walsh and Andre Baker are the only councilpersons who seem to be able to recognize the huge conflict of interest presented by having the BRBC (our second municipal government–and another bad one at that!), through yet another one of its prime lackeys/front persons (the prime lackey is hizzoner, of course) controlling yet another extremely important aspect of city government (by chairing one of the city’s most important commissions)?
The BRBC now controls The Mayor’s Office, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Board of Education–through the positioning of its dependent, profiteering lackeys. This (bankrupt) city government continues its disastrous, corrupt custom of making a lot of suburban developers and businesspersons wealthy and keeping a lot of incompetents in high City/Board of Ed positions–with the city having only “holes in its pockets” to show for the relationship. Bring back the state Financial Review Board and the FBI!!!
Joel,
You referred to me as a “Chicken”. I take great offense to that.
As far as I’m concerned, you can stick it up your … OH! … I forgot. Never mind.
Joel you just don’t get it. Let me ask you a hypothetical question. Let’s assume you work in a doctors office and a well-known person comes in for an exam. This well-known person is told that he has a sexually transmitted disease. Do you feel it would be right for you to report to this blog the person’s name and the type of disease?
Are you trying to tell us something, Wondering?
Wondering on #50:
I have friends, relatives and associates who work in doctor’s offfices all around. Some of them have slipped about medical conditions of patients and ’til this day, I haven’t told anyone about your STD.
Claude Balls on #51:
He sure is trying to break the news to us. He might as well; I’m not breaking that news.
capitalistpropaganda on #48:
I attended that Council meeting. Bob Walsh presented the most powerfull argument anyone could make against such an obvious eyebrow-raising bad choice. Bob quoted from BRBC’s mission statement on their website and it was unbelievable to hear Solis supporters on the Council response. She is a nice person. So was Joe Ganim and John Fabrizi. Before all this took place, the Ordinance committee presented their fee hike proposal. Daniel Martinez opposed the fee increase to Barber shops (City Kitty) and Sandwich licenses, pointing out that the fees were already raised. Paoletto countered by stating, “there was a public hearing and no one came here to speak against it. When the solis appointment came up, two elected officals presented the best argument I have ever heard and it simply fell on deaf ears. There were nine absent Council members. In every meeting I have attended, I see the same method of operation as in the Joe Ganim years.
yahooy on #49:
So I was right; it was you.
Joel as I suspected you just don’t get it.
As much as I hate to say this, arrest reports are a matter of public record.
*** Well, that seems to be the norm nowadays when the Bpt. city council is confronted with tough decisions to make. About 50% of the council won’t show up, claiming all types of excuses! If you really want to know who’s doing what on the council, etc. pick up a copy of the council meetings agenda from time to time & see exactly what & where the city’s business proposals & steps towards increasing overall revenues($) are headed. You may notice that overall simple local dist. attention on everyday things & concerns have been forgotten. Things like handicap signs or a needed stop sign @ a busy neighborhood street intersection. Sometimes it’s the small things that make a bigger impact with the voters than having one’s picture taken with a bunch of developers with shovels! Never forget where you come from or the local dist. people that voted you in! ***
I don’t think it is really the point whether Joel had the right to do what he did. It is the fact that it is classic Joel. I stopped posting awhile back because I got tired of Joel’s irrational ranting. His posts feed his insecure ego like a vampire feeds off a baby’s neck, not because he has something constructive to contribute. Joel will latch on to anyone’s misfortune like a parasite on feces. He needs to be that legend in his own mind. Case in point: he most likely thought he could actually be some kind of cause celebre by cutting off his finger. All that it brought was the final affirmation that this man is suffering from some kind of mental disorder. The world doesn’t care, in fact he had 5 minutes of infamy based on people’s pity, with no lasting shock value. I sincerely hope the City conditioned his employment on him getting some kind of counseling.
He isn’t stupid, he just can’t stand the feeling of being insignificant, to the point where he loses all rational thought. That type of person is a ticking time bomb. I am afraid this blog feeds his delusions of grandeur by letting him know that he gets under your skin. He is not the next Matt Drudge or a political player. He is a blog poster who takes himself too seriously, and probably hosts a long list of vendettas. I am only even mentioning him because he makes me not want to read this blog and in fact I ignore his posts. But so many people are validating his posts, even the ones ridiculing him (like this one). He takes up too much space and time and mostly keeps me away. I post purely for my own amusement and perhaps a glimmer or two of insight and creativity. For me he is a major detraction from OIB.
It could not have been said any better. #58
capitalistpropaganda: thank you for posting the Bill Cummings article on the Planning and Zoning Commission appointment of the Chamber’s Executive Director. I didn’t attend the Council meeting so I didn’t hear what Bob Walsh and Andre Baker said. Is there a way to find out exactly what advice the Ethics Commission gave regarding the Solis appointment? That Zoning Commission is chronically struggling to achieve quorums and it has a hard time getting enough voting members on an agenda item for the applicant’s lawyer to present the required information. If she abstains from hearing a petition and voting when a BRBC/Bridgeport Chamber member makes an application to the Commission, she will be doing that a lot. In fact, she won’t be able to vote much at all. So is that what the Ethics Commission told her to do? That wasn’t clear from the article.
It seems like poison fruit. If the BRBC member applies for zoning action and is approved, someone who opposed the development could appeal to the Court to overturn the decision citing conflict, either perceived or actual.
In my opinion, The Bridgeport Chamber’s Executive Director is a sold member of the Bridgeport Community. She lives here, she works here, she is dedicated to Bridgeport’s success. However she seems to have been put in a very awkward position by the Mayor’s appointment. The appointment has also put the Planning and Zoning Commission in an awkward position. Not good.
#59- Sometimes even the OIB forum needs a bit of comic fictional blogging to entertain the readers! Some OIB alumni seem to take things a bit too serious on this forum @ times. Whether it’s giving an opinion or criticizing one in general, bloggers tend to grow bigger than normal balls @ times under the cover of a fictitious web name. Maybe that’s why a jester like “Joel” can break the ice @ times after reading some of his self-bio postings & political ranting’s as well. It’s almost like a psychotherapeutic web couch for some of the usual bloggers that like spilling their thoughts here! ***