Passion is high in Black Rock over beach conditions at St. Mary’s. From Democratic mayoral candidate Mary-Jane Foster:
Mary-Jane Foster’s Solutions for Bridgeport
Problem: Mayor Finch is unable to strike a compromise over clean up and conservation at St. Marys by the Sea.
What Finch Has Done: This weekend, Mayor Finch had the Bridgeport Public Facilities department plow a large section of St. Mary’s by the Sea, removing sea grass that is essential to preserving the sand dunes and its wildlife. Conservationists want to protect the natural habitat and prevent further destruction of the sand dunes. Others want to see the beach is properly cleaned, maintained, and used for family friendly recreation.
“Mayor Finch, once again, is demonstrating his administration’s total inability to work with residents to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” said Foster. “The mayor claims to be a conservationist but his actions are careless. He says he is committed to preserving the environment but has his staff plow over a sensitive natural habitat. Once again, there is no communication with the neighborhood, no planning, no foresight.”
Solution: Rather than listening to one side and acting unilaterally, the mayor should have brought the community together to understand the sensitivities and find common ground.
What Mary-Jane Foster Will Do As Mayor: “With the neighborhood divided, the mayor must work with residents to find a compromise that strikes a balance between conservation and quality of life. This is the Park City after all, and our parks and waterfront are for everyone to enjoy.
“Bridgeport deserves a leader who can bring people together for the good of the entire community. There are ways to inform people about what is being planned and seek input to make sure all sides are heard. That’s what the Neighborhood Revitalization Zone boards are for and that’s why we have neighborhood community councils. When a mayor consistently ignores the systems in place to solicit public input, it is time for the residents to make their voices heard and vote for a leader who has a solid reputation for bringing people together to make real progress happen. That time is now.”
Finch talks the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk.
St. Mary’s be damned
Rich White knows better than to destroy a dune, if this was Fairfield Beach Road Association Dune Restoration Project, his head would be on the block.
It starts with the City Council people to keep all parties informed.
Finch & Brannelly couldn’t care less about dune protections for Black Rock.
For Fairfield to come up with 60 thousand plugs of sea grass is not the answer we need. Let Fairfield restore the dunes and plug the grass.
I say, from now on, dredge the channel from the Fairfield Side, and keep the trucks off our beach.
Jim Fox for City Council!
This is another great example of Foster’s ability to communicate with people and seek a solution. Finch and his cohorts’ solution is to plow everyone over. He’s the gleaner and meaner mayor.
First of all this is blown way out of proportion. Maybe half the beach is “cleaned up.” That leaves the other half for wildly overgrown, not maintained, tick-infested growth. I see it as a 50-50 split. Pardon the pun but ‘only in Bridgeport’ and especially ‘only in Black Rock” do we try to hide any form of open space for public use. Once again the folks who moved into ‘the rock’ feeling their entitlement and let’s keep this area overgrown so no one can use it.
Because this still seems like a one-sided argument (with the exception of burman), I repost:
Denis OMalley // Jun 27, 2011 at 10:12 am
These comments seem either a bit hysterical, egotistical and/or elitist as it relates to the Parks Department doing some work at the end of St. Mary’s.
Most of the comments relating to this “beach” emanate from the Ash Creek conservation group. While their goal is to be admired, they seem to forget that humans are at the top of the pecking order, not behind the piping plover.
As I understand it, that beach was replanted by volunteers not all that long ago. I do not recall any public hearings, furor, etc., about planting over where people used to sit.
Many people enjoy just sitting at the tables or on the sand, enjoying the view.
Just drove down to see all the carnage … Talk about a tempest in teapot! The sea grass was trimmed back a bit but nothing has really changed. This seems like a perfect compromise.
In full disclosure, Councilwoman Brannelly is my sister-in-law and while we often vehemently disagree on matters political, this isn’t one of them.
Brannelly’s statement is just so much bullshit. Black Rock’s interests have been seriously compromised by the DTC vetting process for selecting candidates to represent the 130th City Council district. Susan Brannelly and Marty McCarthy were drafted for their willingness to toe the DTC’s (and Mario Testa’s) line. It’s all about the privileged few, not the greater good. If McCarthy and Brannelly had been informed of the attempted beach conversion at Saint Mary’s by the Sea neither of them communicated this information to their “constituents.”