City Council President Aidee Nieves and East End councilor Ernie Newton assert there’s been an “increase in unbecoming, abusive and unparliamentary conduct, at City Council and committee meetings, as well as by City Council Members acting outside of such official meetings concerning matters regarding City Council, business, operations and fellow Members …”
They’ve submitted a resolution requesting guidance from the City Attorney’s Office about the proper course of action to reel in “abusive conduct.”
She’s not mentioned by name but Newton says the genesis of the resolution that follows centers on councilwoman Maria Pereira who’s not shy about expressing an assortment of opinions about government figures, and others, who violate her own standard of decorum.
Where will this really go? Pereira is certainly not liked by many council members and in some instances the feeling is mutual. She has not built lasting coalitions be it on the Board of Education or City Council. But she’s one of 19. Is it worth the battle of bringing attention to the conduct of one member who’s legislative reach is limited? Pereira is not one to shy away from a political skirmish. She gives as good as she take. She may even enjoy it.
WHEREAS, recently there has been a material decrease in decorum and civility, and a commensurate increase in unbecoming, abusive and unparliamentary conduct, at City Council and committee meetings, as well as by City Council Members acting outside of such official meetings concerning matters regarding City Council, business, operations and fellow Members;
WHEREAS, the decrease in civility and decorum and the increase in abusive conduct impairs the ability of the City Council to perform its duties and obligations under the Charter of the City of Bridgeport;
WHEREAS, City Council Rules of Order, Rule XXVI: Conduct in City Council provides standards of conduct for City Council Members to adhere to, as well as certain sanctions for violation of such standards;
WHEREAS, the City Council requires legal guidance and assistance from the Bridgeport City Attorney in order to ensure it proceeds according to law and provides members with all necessary and appropriate due process in actions it may determine to undertake to enforce decorum and to otherwise censure or sanction members for conduct that violates the City Charter, Code of Ordinances, City Council Rules of Order (including but not limited to Rule XXVI), Connecticut State statutes or regulations or any other applicable standards of behavior occurring during official City Council proceedings, including but not limited to meetings of the City Council, Council Committee meetings, public speaking forums and public hearings;
WHEREAS, the City Council seeks legal guidance and assistance from the Bridgeport City Attorney with regards to the extent to which it has the authority to prohibit, govern, regulate and enforce conduct by City Council members concerning City Council business and operations, that occurs outside of an official public meeting of the Council or one of its committees;
WHEREAS, this is a matter that requires immediate consideration in order to preserve good order and discipline in official City Council proceedings and to foster courteous and non-abusive behavior that reflects positively upon the City Council and instills public confidence in the body, particularly during these times of the COVID-19 emergency and the national protests and demonstrations concerning the need for substantive police reforms.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
The City Council hereby requests the City Attorney, and/or his designee(s), to provide it with legal advice, counsel, guidance, opinion and draftsmanship concerning the following subjects:
— a list of legal authorities governing behavior and decorum of Bridgeport City Council Members during official City Council proceedings, including but not limited to meetings of the City Council, Council Committee meetings, public speaking forums and public hearings, and the enforcement of such standards of conduct;
— a legal and proper procedural process for enforcing the provisions of such legal authorities governing City Council Member behavior and decorum, including but not limited to City Council Rules of Order, Rule XXVI: Conduct in City Council;
— the scope and limits of the City Council’s authority to prohibit, govern, regulate and enforce conduct by City Council members concerning City Council business and City operations, occurring outside of any official public meeting of the Council or one of its committees;
— revisions to the City’s Code of Ordinances and/or the City Council Rules of Order that would be recommended to assist the City Council with regards to this subject matter; and
— any other guidance and advice the City Attorney deems may be of assistance to the City Council in this matter.
Sounds like Maria is asking to many questions.Be interesting to see what Mario& Joe have Anastasi say about this though. They want to silence her for sure. Waste of time imo.. How about the council make up a resolution demanding Joe come clean about how much the taxpayer’s tab is now with the attorneys Joe is paying to defend his friends??.. None of them would ask for that though.
Harvey Weintraub, Joe and Mario don’t care about Maria because she is just one person and Maria is unable to any other council member to go along with her. This move by council is ridiculous, all they are doing is empowering Maria by giving her attention, Maria can’t hurt Joe, Maria or the council. The council can do what former Bridgeport mayor, Lenny Paoletta did and have the police at the meetings with the cameras rolling. Why waste time on someone who has no power.
Harvey, I concur with your observations that, “Sounds like Maria is asking to many questions.” She comes to these meetings well prepared and with a hand full of shit to smack them in the face.
Ron, I concur with your observations that, “all they are doing is empowering Maria by giving her attention.
She’s abrasive, loudmouth, foul-mouthed and an aggressive pain in the ass, but if they come after her, they better be absolutely correct or she will eat them alive. She is presently researching all that bullshit they put in their worthless resolution and you can rest assured, she’ll ready with an answer or a lawsuit.
It’s a WHEREASS Resolution!
It seems like the city’s attorney already weighed in. they kept Maria’s name out of it Maria one Council zero. Ernie I think Maria won this round😅
I find it ironic that the City Council is asking Hamilton Burger for his legal opinion on what to do about Maria as if that’s good to scare her, please, Maria is going to embarrass the council with this stupid idea that has no power. This is the same Hamilton Burger that that directs the council on to vote.
We’ll see, one thing I will promise you. The City Council won’t become the Board Of Education.
Ernie, the Bridgeport Board Of Education problem was with the BBOE President Dennis Bradley who was the leader of the “boycott” for Maria to give up her elected position on the BBOE because he didn’t know how to run a BBOE meeting so no business was taken for the 21,000 plus school students.
Ron
You know Maria made that Board dysfunctional it’s not going to to happen on the City Council. Bobbi Brown has been a bright young lady working with young people in our city and state. Maria has taken on Black and Brown people on the City Council she doesn’t realize you need to work with your colleagues if you want to get anything done.She a lone Wolf. Ron like you said before she can’t get 10 other Council people to buy into her anti Ganmin and Mario bull Shit
Ernie, what Maria is doing is nothing new, every City Council member knew Maria’s past history from the BBOE and every council member knew that Maria wasn’t going to change. Ernie, you allowed Maria to trick you into a piss contest by challenging you to take a urine test, why Ernie, Don and myself told you not to do it because you had nothing to prove. The City Council will not put Maria her place they way you guys want her to act. What the hell is Hamilton Burger going to tell you to do. You are giving one person who has no support, friends, she has no Ally but now you want to give her exactly what she wants,all eyes on Maria.
So Ernie, I guess when she’s right about something you and others won’t go along because of the “way she is”; oh…….I get it. AND….please enlighten us all as to how “the people’s business” brought out into the light via a letter to a newspaper OR BY ANY other means, is wrong? Are you insinuating that ANYTHING that happens in the chamber council is so secretive that “the people” should not know about it?
Maria is smart, hardworking, but she is petty, probably pent up angry inside, who knows her deal. That’s her downfall in politics. (JMO)
Don’t buy that, just ask Lennie. You, Ernie, on the other hand, will work your base, but they really shouldn’t expect too much. It’s about you. Don’t by that, just remember you actually took a drug test over one of Maria’s petty arguments to prove something to them.
You even compare her to Trump, really, Trump. Work that race angle because it’s all you have been given your constituents and what the system tells you, like stop and frisk. If Maria had called for it after a kid got shot and killed, as you did, she would you would have been called her a racist and who knows what by you and many others. JS
Lennie@medium 🙂 Bam I am out of here, can’t resist a Maria thread, Maria burn the tapes. 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=278478373534231
Oh, please, Ernie. The council had racist rants, and physical fights and who knows what else, and now you are going to ask for some decorum. 🙂
Sounds like the Chickens are coming home to roost, …….soon!
Does a Grand Jury still only pay $50 a day?
We hope so!!
Cheers!!!
Next month the Council will have a 3 hour discussion on where to place trash barrels in Beardsley Park…
I hope Maria was not the one who divulged that to anyone outside of the council!!!!!
You can frame Maria’s ambivalence by calling it anti Mayor Ganim, Mario bullshit, but the true reason for her equivocation is that most if not all of the City Council members have their heads up the ass of Mayor Ganim, Mario and the DTC!
Maria is a bigger asshole than those city council members who have their heads up the Mayor’s ass. Instead of excoriating the Mayor during the last election cycle her ignorant ass fought hard to see the Senator Moore wasn’t elected so now she is stuck with contemporaries that can’t stand her and who will stop at nothing, on behalf of Mayor Ganim, Mario and the DTC to put her in her place. Maria’s role on the City Council is governed by the four corners of Bridgeport’s City Charter and it says nothing about the City Council being able to overturn the will of the people that voted for her. Quit being the bitches that you are and take time to learn the rules of the game so that you can shut her down within the framework of said rules. Maria knows that won’t happen because you lazy bastards aren’t going to commit the necessary time or energy to learn and study all the rules that govern your meetings. Instead you call upon Hamilton Burger for Council, the same person that have been blowing smoke up your ass for decades. Maria is the least of your problems, not having an independent thinker among you is a bigger problem.
So, what are you going to do when Maria tells you to “stick your efforts where the sun doesn’t shine?” She’s an elected official, Connecticut has no recall provision so forget trying to get her off the Council. She’s also protected by the First Amendment. I can understand the frustration of some members who can’t hold a candle to her, but suck it up. While you spin your wheels, she’s laughing her butt off. It’s no secret that too many members of the City Council are intellectually challenged, so listen and learn from her.
Here here!! Well said from someone who knows!!! Ty Lisa. Cheers!!
The council played in “ghetto” themselves. Lisa, Maria my be smart but she has to win elections not just petty battles and that’s a different game. Where likability plays into it. I’ll bet she lost her next election though. JMO
ghetto politics,
P.S whoever is Bobbie Brown. She should move into Maria’s district and run against her. That would be interesting. 🙂
Honey, you and Don have summarize the story up as good as it can get. Maria realize that she couldn’t win in a citywide election so she decided to run for the City Council because knows the voters in her district like and support her by voting for her. Again the City Council is giving power to Maria and she will embarrass the council with this move.
I don’t understand what all this noice is about. Mark has already ruled on this. In my he ruled that the Common Council could kick me off by a similar vote and strip me off my elected office. Period.
And this was fora private message left on one individual’s cell phone and it was made public by that individual just to show how upset she was.
So if he back peddles on this ruling he is setting himself up.
Come on Mark. Let’s see you weasel your way out of this one.
Question was this ever referred to in your case?
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2002/rpt/2002-R-0076.htm
NO. If you know Mark Anastasi you know he does refer to anything in his opinions except ‘his’ opinion.
In HIS humble opinion, it only went to the council rules. And he ruled the council rules!
*** Why bother, if the other 19 members feel the same just isolate her from as many committees & meeting’s as legally possible under C/C rules & regulations. She won’t be able to pass, amend, zero-zipp let alone get a stop sign for her district if she wanted to! “No man or woman is an island”, when it comes to city council business. Time for the old, “Freeze”, no? ***
Mojo, BINGO!!!!! Everybody knew how Maria was going to act, this was no surprise, Mayor Ganim and Mario Testa and the entire City Council knew what Maria going to do and you would thing that they would know how to act to one person on the council who has absolutely no power, no support from any council member but yet in still the entire council is scare of Maria. Mojo, Maria tricked Ernie Newton into a piss contest where they Maria and Ernie both took a drug test, what the hell for? I’ve never seen so many elected Bridgeport democrats so scare of one person like they are of Maria.
ralphie, you surprise me with that comment. Unless she’s violating a charter provision, she answers to her constitutes only. They voted to have her represent them. If they feel she is derilect, they will decide if she’s reelected. To suggest that the other elected members should purposely hamper her efforts to represent her constuents is just not the Ralph I know and admire.
Lisa, the only to take Maria out is for the voters in her district to vote her out of office and that’s not happening at this time. Lisa,my reading of what Raphie said was not about her being removed from her elected position but to freeze her out of certain things.
*** Honey, baby, honey! There are 3-strikes called in baseball & then your out! To get things done on the council you cannot be a anti-social, name & integrity bashing, finger-pointing, I’am smarter than you are type player. Yes, if her constituents feel she’s doing her job, they can vote to re-elect her; however the other 19-city council members that have had their personal, 3-strikes & your out issues with her while on city-council business, need “not at times” play-ball. *** Sir Newton- “for every action there is an equal & opposite reaction”. “What goes around, comes around”. In other words, “Karma” functions within the backdrop of our lives! ***
Ron, I know that Ralphie didn’t mean remove her. My reply was confusing. When I served, Ralph was one of my favorite colleages, and is still one of my favorite friends. What I meant to say is that we had some challenging colleages when we served, but we never deliberately disrespected they’re style of serving, we would just vote as we chose to. For the members of the City Council to purposesly shut out a districts representative is wrong, and borders on unethical. Ralph Mojica was an excellent councilmember. I’m proud to have had the privilege to serve with him.
*** And just for my city-council record; my 2- main wonderful political coaches that I never hesitated to call or go to with a personal council problem or question’s were Lisa Parziale & Mary Bruce. Sometimes they each had different approaches on political issues but both answers lead to the same promise land. Bpt. was & still is lucky to have 2- lovely ladies that cared about the city’s past, present & future for its residents. ***
Ralphie, I love you. I know that sounds hokey, but it’s true. I haven’t seen you in a while and I miss you.
Lisa, you know I haven’t seen Mojo in while, I would run into him from time to time and we would chat about everything.