The budget, the budget, the budget. This time of year it’s all about the budget and particularly how the City Council responds to Mayor Bill Finch’s spending plan that calls for $7 million more for schools financed by a tax increase that represents more than $400 more for the average city homeowner. The council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee has several sessions scheduled this week including a public hearing on the budget Thursday, 6 p.m. in council chambers, 45 Lyon Terrace. Will folks show up or has the mayor’s public budget presentations anesthetized residents? Should we call him Dr. Finch?
The City Council’s Ordinance Committee on Tuesday 6 p.m. is scheduled to meet at City Hall to weigh language regulating adult entertainment establishments, an issue that has galvanized residents to push for local and state legislation.
Budget Committee schedule
·Monday, April 23 6:00 pm, CAO/OPM, Wheeler Rooms
·Wednesday, April 25 6:00 pm, Police Department, Wheeler Rooms
·Thursday, April 26 6:00 pm, Public Hearing City/BOE, Council Chambers
·Friday, April 27 6:00 pm, OPED – All Divisions, Wheeler Rooms
·Saturday, April 28 10:00 am, Budget Overview, UB Bernhard Center
·Monday, April 30 6:00 pm, Finance Dept all Divisions, Wheeler Rooms
·Tuesday, May 1 6:00 pm, Capital Plan Discussion/Vote, Wheeler Rooms
·Wednesday, May 2 6:00 pm, Registrar of Voters, Wheeler Rooms
·Thursday, May 3 6:00 pm, Budget Overview/Committee Vote, Wheeler Rooms
·Friday, May 4 6:30 pm, Budget Overview/Committee Vote, Wheeler Rooms
·Saturday May 5 10:00 am, Budget Overview/Committee Vote, Legislative Services Office
·Monday, May 7 (Spec Meet) 6:00 pm, Tentative Full-Council Vote–Gen Fund, City Council Chambers
·Tuesday, May 8 (Spec Meet) 6:00 pm, Tentative Full-Council Vote–Gen Fund, City Council ChambersLocations:
·Hansen Education Building: Beardsley Zoo, 1875 Noble Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06610.
·Legislative Services Office: City Hall Annex, 999 Broad Street, 2nd fl, Bridgeport, CT 06604.
·Wheeler Rooms: City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace 1st fl, Bridgeport, CT 06604.
·City Council Chambers: City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace 1st fl., Bridgeport, CT 06604.
·UB Bernhard Center: 84 Iranistan Avenue 10th Fl., Bridgeport, CT 06604.
No Lennie,
Bill Finch has not anesthetized the taxpayers. The machine has.
I was approached by a waitress in the diner the other day who was totally beside herself. She was telling me how she and her husband own a house in Lake Forest that has lost $100,000 in equity during the recession and now Bill Finch wants to raise taxes to add insult to injury. She feels totally helpless and totally hopeless.
I gave her the phone numbers for her City council reps and told her to start by calling them.
But if everyone who has complained on this website has not called, e-mailed or pigeonholed their council rep then shame on you. And if everyone on this website has not already begun talking about who should be running for City Council next year shame on you.
It ain’t easy beating the machine. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. But quit looking for someone else to do it for you; start doing it for yourself.
Good point.
When is the deadline this time for getting signatures to run for Council? Do you think it would be more effective to run on the Working Families or the Republican slate?
In the photo above of the Mayor’s presentation at the Black Rock Library there are a lot of people with folded arms. We should unfold our arms and roll up our sleeves.
Bob … I’m still waiting for Michelle Lyons’ reply about the change of zoning for Testo’s Restaurant. If she refuses to discuss that with me, she won’t discuss much of anything else.
You noticed folded arms that probably indicate this audience was not buying what the Mayor was selling. If you were present you would have noticed clenched fists as well, because the Mayor went on too long about what he was doing before listening to the people, his constituents. That’s a bad habit at tax increase time. He is not a convincing speaker when he starts in on “sharing the suffering.”
Did you notice on the above schedule neither the Mayor’s department budget nor the Legislative budget are open to public review? The legislative offering did not provide GOALS OR OBJECTIVES for the coming year; nor comments on the current year; continues to post one “ghost position” with a salary and benefits worth $50,000; averages less than $120,000 spending of $180,000 stipend budget leaving $60,000 unspent in that line item; and in other services line spends no more than $3-5,000 of $90-100,000 adopted budget.
CONCLUSION: Legislative budget could cut SLUSH by $200,000 and not drop a beat of what they are doing with a proposed budget of $398,000!!!
What’s $200,000 misspending among friends?
It’s a formula for replacing a City Council, it seems to me. When people are faced with hundreds or thousands of dollars of extra taxes draining personally stretched budgets and have seen their residential values reduce by $50,000 to hundreds of thousands in the past several years, they will not forget abysmally poor stewardship on the part of Council members, perhaps?
Time will tell.
Has the Bridgeport DTC ever heard of implementing “Severe Austerity Programs?” We need to SLASH spending in these times of the worst economic conditions we have ever experienced post The Great Depression. A lot of people in this town are benefiting from our nickles. We just simply don’t have the nickles to spread around anymore. You cannot get blood from a stone. My taxes will go up about $880. That means I will not to be able to go out to dinner say 10 times, or get new tires for both cars, or buy gifts for my family. Who gets this money I have to cough up? Charlie Carroll … Alanna Kabel. Are we overspending on BOE goods and services so others may benefit? Enough. We need to motivate the brain-dead registered non-voters to rally.
I will be attending Thursday’s public meeting. I know it’s an exercise in futility. The council people will sit there, listen to complaints or ideas and will not respond other than to yawn. This public hearing is just as useless as the B & A hearings where the dumbest questions are asked. This is a closed shop, the outcome was arranged before the first public session.
I have a question, why do Hartford & New Haven take 90 days to put their budgets together and we take 38 days? Is there something wrong with this picture?
Maybe Finch could tell us why his political appointees can receive extra income from their management positions. As an example, Adam Wood received $35,322 in extra income and Andrew Nunn made $22,065 in added income. The mayor received $4,444 in extra income. These three alone were paid a total of $61,731. That does not seem like a lot of money compared to the overall budget but it’s just three out of 40 appointed positions. So what’s the total amount???
These positions are management positions not subject to union rules, so why the extra money? Is it unused vacation time? Is it unused sick time? Is it unused personal time? No matter what it should not have been paid and the industry standard of Use It or Lose It should have been enforced.
Thank you Andrew Fardy and John Marshall Lee. Please don’t give up!
From the Jim & Tom Show Wednesday 9:00 to 10:00 am WDJZ 1530AM
Please call your City Council person today. Tell them to stick the Mayor’s Budget up his nose, and if you vote for the Finch Budget we’ll stick it to you.
District
Keep Calling! The phone-a-thon is on! Don’t stop!
*** Sorry, but you can’t anesthetize “ZOMBIES,” no? ***