This airport story in the Connecticut Post has irritated Mayor Bill Finch who hasn’t been bashful about criticizing city scribes regarding coverage of the airport land deal that continues to be a source of embarrassment for his administration. In a Twitter battle of semantics the mayor claims it wasn’t a “driveway” that cost taxpayers $400,000, but a “dirt access road.” Post reporter Brian Lockhart tweeted Finch to check the record.
Finch tweeted this Friday morning:
CT Post wrong again. @CityofBptCT never paved anyone’s driveway. We relocated a dirt access road to 4 homes near Airport for safety fixes
Lockhart responded to Finch:
The paperwork for this project filed in Stratford states it’s a “driveway”. Do you need copies?
Whether a “driveway” or a “dirt access road,” once thing’s for certain, it hasn’t turned out to be a sound financial deal for the city. Superior Court Judge Dale Radcliffe ruled that taxpayers were under no obligation to pay developer Manny Moutinho all that dough to improve his waterfront Stratford property as part of an airport safety plan.
Mayor Finch has once again proven just how out of touch he is. The issue isn’t one of semantics. The issue is the mismanagement and failed oversight of a project that has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I repeat:
So the mayor thinks it is better to tell the Bridgeport Taxpayers we are paying to build roads in Stratford and not driveways???
I think the mayor and Elaine F got it wrong again. We shouldn’t be building either for Stratford taxpayers. A skunk by any other name stills stinks.
Let’s see what a new council can do.
And Manny Moutinho, what are you thankful for this year?
“I am thankful for my friends the taxpayers in neighboring Bridgeport for building me a safe access road.”
Ah screw it. I’m thankful for Finch for building a $400,000 driveway to my Stratford home.
In a way, Brian Lockhart is wrong. The driveway, road, or relocated access road has cost the city way past $400,000 at this point. Now if Brian needs the paperwork to prove it, he’d better FOI them and wait.
Joel,
You are wrong. He has FOI’ed them and is still waiting. The CT Post needs to lay the pressure on big time. Finch thinks he can simply ignore FOI.
Kudos to Brian Lockhart. Somebody needs to hold these guys accountable. THE CITIZENS OF BRIDGEPORT deserve better than what has been in office for 6 years. It’s a JOKE and the surrounding towns will continue to laugh at us all. All this guy cares about is bgreen2020 … give me a break!
Jennifer Buchanan has FOI’d them and they are simply laughing at her. They truly believe they are above the law. What does that oath of office say???
Geez, sounds like our Federal Government’s sort of behavior. Is there no true accountability at any level of government? It seems they all wait months or years until the heat is off to release a limited amount of info so they are no longer “responsible.”
She who laughs last, laughs best. 🙂
For the Mayor to take to twitter to defend himself must mean the pressure cooker’s about to blow. A little tree-shaking and Lord knows what else might fall out.
Hey Lennie,
Do you feel embarrassed? Humiliated? It seems as if Finch’s City Hall is all a twitter when Brian Lockhart writes something negative about them but they don’t even break a sweat when you do.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Meanie. 🙁
Maybe this is part of the legal defense strategy Mark A has come up with. The city will now refer to the driveway as a safety access road so if anyone asks about a driveway they will make believe no one knows what they are talking about. Genius, pure legal genius.
Words in a sentence I’ve have yet to hear:
Mark A, strategy, genius.
Certainly an oxymoron putting Anastasi and genius in the same sentence.
Chosen 1, thank you for your comment. When Jennifer Buchanan filed for her FOI on this I replied to Jennifer on OIB telling her good luck and welcome to the world of Mark A who would delay, delay, delay, delay and she would be lucky to get everything she was seeking.`
Coach Ron,
Glad you wished JB “good luck and welcome to the world of Mark A.” Jennifer is learning the steps to the “FOI Dance.” She is not the only one. But you do not have to get everything … because there seems to be so much that is not shared … even a few facts that were not previously known are valuable when they get connected and point the way to what is ongoing.
I guess you are still on the “injured reserve” list but I do look to the day when you can get off the sidelines and out and about to have a face-to-face cup of coffee. Call me. I’ll be waiting. Time will tell.
Take it from me. I have filed many FOI requests from the City of Bridgeport. I have always received the info I requested. The strategy? Use the system. The FOI Commissioners have no allegiance to Bridgeport. You submit a request in accordance with the FOI, and they have but four days to respond. When they don’t, have your letter to complain to FOI ready and send it off immediately. They will respond, and contact all ASAP. If you follow the law and have your paperwork ready to go, you will have a hearing sooner rather than later. The real delay comes in the Commissioners presence, but it doesn’t work as well when they get a load of the BS the City tries to pull. It’s pretty entertaining sometimes. Yes, you have to drive to Hartford, but so do they and they HATE it!