Calling All Lawyers! A Supreme ‘Technicality’ Has State Amending School Takeover Language

“Technical training” for Bridgeport public servants is not really desired by the people in power! You know, they might learn something, something that contradicts the Bridgeport way of doing things! They might even have the audacity to ask questions of those same people in power, reasonable questions? And for sheer stubbornness they might expect a complete statement, written with sources noted, provided in a timely fashion!!!
How unrealistic was the CT legislature when they passed this law with specifications that are being readied to be thrown overboard? At least they are looking at the law and trying to ‘correct’ it ex post facto.
In Bridgeport, you can ignore the Charter requirement for 12 monthly financial reports to be provided each year and nothing happens to you. Ask Tom Sherwood who indicates the practice has been followed since the Financial Review Board left town. What the public doesn’t know hurts us. What the City Council does not know, hurts the public! Let’s see what the Charter Review Commission focuses on when they complete the first review, the redlining process. They have scheduled more public hearings. You can be heard. You must share what you know to be true of City process and citizen participation at this time. Do not count on them knowing as they have not been part of the hurly-burly of City governance process for years or at all, and that leaves them ignorant of how poorly is the system for public affecting City process: being heard; getting responses; seeing how any administration works its will through a broken check and balance process with waste of valuable time and resources. (Does anyone know where we keep the “armored personnel carrier” purchased in the 2011 budget year with $254,000 of Federal grants money, presumably? And why were those Federal tax dollars spent for that purpose by Bridgeport? And why is it no one wants to offer an answer on this? Is it absurd to question this?) Time will tell.

Revolutions are often described as “bloody,” whether we look at American, French, Russian, Hungarian, or more recent events including ‘Arab Spring’ variety. South American and African revolts often feature a military coup with limited blood spilled, and generous telegraphing of intent to overthrow that allows one military-style leader to safely exit ahead of the new military-style leader. Not much change for the citizen.

The near corpse locally that is the body politic in Bridgeport attempting to work at democracy is too far gone to suffer a bloody revolution, it would seem. Municipal lifeblood of money flow that caused the City to be attended by a State Financial Review Board (with savvy leadership including Carson, Milano and others) serving as fiscal emergency rescue over 20 years ago. Subsequent charter change allowed more empowerful Mayors to exercise their ego (and vision) to increase City debt, preside over a decline in “unrestricted, unreserved and undesignated City fund balance” to a level closer to 2% of City budged contrasted to almost 12% and generally keep sharing vital fiscal info from seeing the light of day publicly. Substantial economic development necessary to rehabilitate the City has been anemic and anecdotal, rather than serve as gross reforming change.

Flat funding of education by Mayor Finch in his first four-year term, and failure to use the money carrot plus the stick of the bully pulpit allowed local school leadership to wallow in low outcomes for City youth in so many areas and become frustrated in their mission to boot.

Accountability about finance, educational program, and results was equally limited and disappointing.

Does a sitting Mayor with a limited view of what OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE and TRANSPARENT governance looks like, as demonstrated in his first term, need to have additional authority or responsibility to become a genuine ‘player’ for education? Personally I don’t believe he has made a credible case for it, though the process of empowering a new educational leader in town, Paul Vallas and team may bring Bridgeport a long way towards necessary reform in ‘quick time.’ And you needn’t be happy with the secret, power process used to get Vallas and team to Bridgeport, and I am not.

Meantime, what revolution would you advise the Charter Review Commission to produce for the City? (We are likely to live with their changes, if approved by the City Council and subsequently voted favorably upon next November for another 10-20 years anyway.) Around fiscal checks and balance? Around “an information revolution” using new technology to share City info, to communicate it better at public meetings and allow fuller archiving, and to educate and train all municipal employees, elected representatives and the public itself in ‘best practices?’ What would you suggest to Charter Revision at their upcoming PUBLIC MEETINGS where the PUBLIC IS ENCOURAGED TO SPEAK? Help the City “clarify” the responsibilities of the elected and the rights of the people in terms of good governance. Time will tell.