From Mayor’s Office:
Mayor Ganim joined City Employees and Board of Education this afternoon at the Margaret E. Morton Government Center to announce that essential workers, first responders, and City and Board of Education employees who worked during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 will receive a one-time premium payment. From March 16th, 2020 through March 15th, 2021, when the mayor proclaimed a state of emergency for the city.
At the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, city personnel persevered in the face of adversity, police officers and firefighters, teachers and school staff, health care professionals, sanitation workers, and others stood up to face frightening and unsafe and health hazards when everything was suddenly halted. The City and the Board of Education partnered together last fall to contribute a few million dollars to local businesses and storefront renovation initiatives in the community. Furthermore, the City and the Board of Education coordinated to disburse millions of dollars in ARPA and ESSR funds to youth programs, affordable housing, Second Chance, the religious communities, and many others.
Mayor Ganim stated, “As we look forward to better days, we want to look back and say thank you to all our teachers, firefighters, sanitation workers, police officers, healthcare professionals and many more who through this extremely difficult time took it upon themselves to be leaders, critical thinkers, activists.”
Premium Pay was authorized by Congress as part of ARPA. In addition to their usual income, City Employees and Board of Education will receive $1,500 in premium pay.
— City of Bridgeport Expense: $3.25 million
— Board of Education: $$2.1 million
— Overall Total: $5 millionThe City of Bridgeport mourns the loss of valuable city workers and members of our community who died as a result of the devastating coronavirus outbreak.
As a result of the changing COVID pandemic of more than two year duration, all of us have changed our patterns of life including work, family, spiritual, recreation, and social to greater or lesser extent. Many have been struck by COVID and some bear subsequent impairment of health while a number have died and are lost to us.
Perhaps OIB can raise the names of those who have passed and acknowledge the cause publicly. All of us can use that information in rounding out the legacy of an epidemic for which we were poorly prepared and at times were misled. We were part of a world wide war on a virus, not for the first time, and not likely to be a “never again” experience. Time will tell.