Anyone attending Mayor Bill Finch’s neighborhood “community cabinet” meeting at Black Rock School tonight at 6? Any crashers? The mayor’s office issued invites to a select group of residents to check the pulse of the neighborhood as the mayor and city bean counters put the final touches on his proposed budget he’ll submit to the City Council likely on Monday. Rick Torres, Finch’s 2011 Republican mayoral challenger and owner of the popular Harborview Market, received an invite.
Mayoral spokesman Elaine Ficarra says this is the first of several meetings the mayor will host in the coming months.
Mayor Finch invited a large number of community-minded individuals in the Black Rock neighborhood to be a part of his community cabinet. In his invitation, he asked participants to recommend others who might like to attend. Mayor Finch has made it a priority to be accessible to constituents–examples include his weekly Brown Bag lunches, weekly email newsletter (Bridgeport City News), Twitter, Facebook and BConnected–on as many platforms as possible. The Mayor will be briefing participants on City issues and wants to hear their suggestions and concerns.
He’ll be holding similar meetings in other neighborhoods throughout the city in the coming months. (These meetings are separate and apart from the Budget 101s that will be held in April and May.)
There is great strategic sense in what the Mayor is attempting to accomplish with this meeting and any others he attempts. Military strategy calls for “divide and conquer.” In this incarnation, the Mayor sends email invitations to a select few as ‘community leaders’ to hear what they have to say about Black Rock issues (or in the future, maybe, South End, East Side, Hollow, etc.).
The fascinating issue is people are beginning to see such tactics do not serve Bridgeport as a community, because the most serious problems, issues and concerns facing the City are Citywide matters. City finances, economic development, checks and balance within City governance, turning the education process around, effective control of massive overtime over expenditures in public safety, etc. These are the matters that are sapping the resources of the City, impeding rational approaches and avoiding accountability by those in charge. They also cause our property values to fail to rise proportionate to overall market trends. And how about SNOW REMOVAL? That happened to the entire community courtesy of Mother Nature (assisted by Mayor Finch). What did he learn from the public LISTENING SESSION? Has he had time to write it up? Or has planning more listening sessions taken up his time? (Maybe a dog ate the homework?)
Finally, our Council representatives he visits with at least every other week as he presides over Council meetings. Don’t they share info with him? And the NRZ and the BR Community Council are active on multiple issues with the City and even send annual reports that get no formal response I have seen. Was the leadership of these groups invited? No matter. Hope the folks with invitations share the CITYWIDE issues with the Mayor and ask him for answers. Such neighborhood panels have no authority and the Mayor is not known for accountability anyway. (Look at his Charter violations, financial disclosures–Citywide issues, and failure to keep nearly 95% of Boards and Commissions serving with current unexpired appointments. Shoddy? Incompetent? Or merely strategic? Time will tell.
Mayor Finch is a joke. He is the least accessible mayor in memory, he thinks nonsense like his tweets, brown bag lunches and now these meetings are indicative of real substance and worst of all, the poor guy actually thinks people fall for his crap. If he ever really listened to someone other than his goon squad, he might know better. Finch should skip the meetings and do the work a mayor is supposed to do–like a budget that’s real and responsive and some economic development that isn’t about mattresses or water taxis. And while he’s at it, he should stay out of the business of education reform. He’s a spectacular failure there.
What a load of horses**t. This is a big ol’ fluck you to Black Rock to endorse and promote their agenda: nomination of The Very Conflict of Interest City Council replacement of the very smooth Mr. I will recuse myself Stafstrom, Sue I never met a Mayoral request I do not endorse, their smear campaign of WFP because this party does and will take away the DTC voting base they must have to stay in power, the success of a push by Black Rockers to move HB-5724 conflict of interest amendment forward to become state law, the here comes John Marshall Lee eye roll of council members because he is wise to and public about their money-moving practices–just for starters. The one thing the mayor does not seem to be aware of, while we may seem to be a community of elite well-heeled people, we are smart enough to know who and when to unite around. Being part of the mayor’s elite Black Rock Cabinet is not something most of Black Rock wants to belong to. Being the highest-taxed city in the US–and the part of the city that pays the most and highest taxes to the city–we vote with our wallets. Raising taxes is only going to unite us in our votes for City Council members, BOE members, the Mayor and the DTC. We have long memories and do not suffer fools.
Finch quiere mear en la cara y lo llaman Black Rock lluvia.
usted está buscando en Black Rock en aumento de impuestos del 5%.
Si vas a este encuentro de este sedán va a usar, para vender su plan de impuestos a otros grupos. Manténgase alejado Black Rock no tiene nada que vender.
Okay Fluckarella, this is the Google Translation. Well spoken but not sure about the sedan part!
Finch wants to piss in the face and call it rain, Black Rock.
You’re looking at Black Rock rising taxes of 5%.
If you go to this meeting this sedan will use to sell their tax plan to other groups. Stay away, Black Rock has nothing to sell.
This is an attempt at divide and conquer, as JML pointed out. It’s also an attempt to limit potential embarrassment. There are more than a few Black Rock residents who are still angry with Mayor Billy for his mishandling of the blizzard and the hurricane. (Acts of God seem to get the best of him.) So rather than face a roomful of people shouting “You suck!” and “You’re an asshole!” and “Get the fuck out of town!” he’s trying to handpick who is allowed to attend. (I didn’t receive an invitation. The mayor’s office knows I’d be leading the horde of angry torch-bearing villagers calling for his removal.)
*** Why a selected few and who did the picking, I wonder? How about the other usual forgotten districts in Bpt and who will pick the so-called selected few there? This seems like nothing more than the usual B/S smoke & mirrors P/R before an upcoming “stick it to you” move by the Finch Admin. *** HIGHER TAXES! ***
*** TIME TO UNITE AND EDUCATE THE VOTERS ***
Run Finch, Brannelly and Pullman Comley lawyers out of town, Black Rock.
Mojo,
Come on over to the school tonight as ‘select invitees’ are arriving. You know Donna Curran and probably some others. For myself I will guess it is not my activity in the neighborhood that failed to measure up, but rather my many questions and the fact I expect to hear answers (or I continue to pursue research, investigation and more annoying questions).
Soon we will be teaching the “freedom of information dance” with official Bridgeport steps. The footwork and timing are important in order to get what you request. While some Finch followers are primarily silent, there are always a few who put their feet in their own mouth, and then need to talk some more while attempting to extricate shoe, socks and all.
Remember the SNOWSTORM!!! I still have my shovel ready, just in case. We had to do our own shoveling and still do, just on other issues. For instance, when the Mayor did his selection of Cabinet invitees and ordered food from Harborview, what Line Item budget did he use to feed the assembled? City purchasing records are full of Departmental support totaling tens of thousands of dollars each year for food and beverages. Why? Oops. There’s another question that won’t be likely answered if I ask it.
And what is most likely is Cabinet members will be placed in the same location as the letters some of us wrote to volunteer for Charter Review duty last year. It’s a closed Cabinet where you go to gather dust. You are never heard from again. Time will tell.
More BS from Generalissimo Fincho. Franco would be proud.
*** What could the Finch Admin have to share but bad news, poor choices and P/R alternatives in an attempt to show transparency about decisions that have already been made? *** Don’t drink the milk, it’s sour! ***
Mayor Finch and his Administration made another big mistake in connection with tonight’s Black Rock meeting. He did not invite many of Black Rock’s leaders to the event despite his people’s assertions to the contrary. As a result, he has infuriated many Black Rock leaders. Did he spend taxpayer money for tonight’s “invitation only” and political propaganda event? He better not have because it would be irresponsible, unethical and possibly illegal since it was “invitation only.”
I’m surprised Rick Torres attended the event and allowed the mayor to blacklist the ones who are really out there doing the activism. I’m sure the mayor got the names from the ‘YES’ activist list. Lennie, can you give us a list of names? Anyone from P.T. Barnum Housing Facility invited? How about anyone in my side of the 130th district? Not a chance in hell.
Rick and Michelle catered the event. They know BS when they hear it and so do plenty of other people in Black Rock and around the city.