Fabs: Carroll Scapegoat For City’s Response To Historic Blizzard

Former Mayor John Fabrizi told CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart that Charlie Carroll, who served as Fabs’ chief of staff, is the fall guy for the city’s response to the historic February blizzard that trapped citizens in their homes for days. Fabs is quoted:

“Charlie has demonstrated over his many years with the city he is a very capable individual in carrying out his duties and tasks,” Fabrizi said. “I’m surprised at this latest move and, quite frankly, in my opinion the administration is looking to blame someone for the challenges with the recent storm.”


Carroll, the city’s Public Facilities director in charge of snow removal, will return to the chief of parks position he had occupied before serving in dual roles for five years in charge of Public Facilities and Parks. Carroll has a history of loyalty no matter the mayor he serves. Sources in Mayor Bill Finch’s administration say Carroll’s feeling bruised at the timing of this latest move, but it has nothing to do with the snow storm.

Some City Hall insiders say Carroll is an efficient department head who had an awful week responding to the storm. Others maintain Finch absorbed far too much grief for the shortcomings of his team’s snow response. Finch, in his defense, has never publicly criticized an individual in the city’s snow removal efforts, saying only “we learn from each event.”

So what say you? Is Carroll a scapegoat? Is his return to Parks justified?

Lockhart’s story is here.

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21 comments

  1. I say it is totally political. Charlie has been out of the decision-making since the storm, shunned in other ways and is getting moved out so Finch has cover for his next run. Speaking of which, Fabrizi looks to be positioning himself as well. Fabrizi has a fat job at BOE as does his wife–in this administration you don’t bite the hand that feeds you unless you have someplace to run and hide. So either Fabrizi doesn’t care about his job security or he is protected. Mario is no fan of Finch or Wood and though few would believe it, wouldn’t shed a tear if Finch and Wood fell on their own swords. Might be flawed but Fabrizi is not a bad vehicle on which to ride back into power at City Hall.

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    1. Isn’t it always fun to speculate about the next election? Honestly, the next block of voters were 13 when Mayor Finch was elected. New High Schools under construction and Steelepointe will be well on their way. John is definitely pro-Bridgeport but he is not alone. Bill Finch may have issues to deal with but let’s get real. Does any taxpayer imagine anyone being able to unseat Finch without an amazing game plan? Remember that amazing Magic Johnson development proposal that brought the world, including John Ratzenberger, to Bridgeport. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT PROJECT SPURRING SOUTH END DEVELOPMENT. Well like many proposals that just fade away, Steelepointe has been on the drawing boards since the 1980s during the administration of Len Paoletta. Nearly 30 years later it will be Mayor Finch who crosses the finish line and I am certain once the shovel is in the ground it will finally become an exciting non-stop project commuters will see every day for 20 years. Unless Finch does something so incredibly ignorant (which I am certain he is capable of), I believe he will deserve to be Mayor until he is ready not to. I have not seen or heard of anybody I would walk the city to market. I would like to thank Mayor Finch and my new friend Adam Wood for my $143,000 a year job. You will have my loyalty forever!

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        1. When you work for the city and make this kind of money you just look at people like you and say–Let them eat cake and laugh! Only have to work a few hours and have 7 weeks off and the benefits are the best. Eight-year contract so I am set. yahooy, aren’t you glad you asked? Oh yes and free drinks and dinner two times a week at Mario’s for mandatory meetings. I do hope they do not interfere with my camping trips.

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  2. Blaming Charlie for the blizzard screw-up is unfair. Charlie depended on the PF supervisors and the advice of those at the EOC. Every neighboring town had their drivers out all night during the height of the storm. Charlie’s main supervisor who was in charge that night grounded everyone for 8 hours. The plow drivers were ordered to sit in the barn and do nothing but get tired. By the time they were sent out, the snow was overwhelming. Everyone knows this is what happened and everyone knows who that supervisor was. He didn’t even have the common sense to keep the PF parking lot clean. There have been numerous complaints about this same supervisor over his inability to manage, his lack of knowledge and his disrespect to the workers and the public. Finch did nothing.

    Charlie should go back to Parks and ride out the rest of this mayoral term. Who needs this shit anyway?

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    1. Harry Truman, one of the underrated presidents of all time had a famous desk plate that said “THE BUCK STOPS HERE.” There has been no accountability with the administration in Bridgeport for over 30 years. It’s time there is!!!

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  3. The man in charge is responsible. Finch is also to blame for putting a political hack in such a responsible position. God help us. These bums are going to destroy our town.

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  4. Anyone close to seventy years old who has worked (loosely used word) forty years in a municipality should retire and let a younger QUALIFIED person take over. Greed isn’t good.

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    1. He still deserved better than what Finch did. At the snow meeting Finch sat on the side of the room while Charlie Carroll was front and center. Finch likes to take credit when things work, not when they go bad.

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      1. BRG,
        You are correct about the SNOWJOB meeting. Remember who conducted the meeting? Elaine Ficarra handled the mike, told people to sign up in the outside hallway with “CitiStat employees” (according to the current budget there are none … just a different variety of Ghost Position) and greeted the obvious “connected plants” who applauded Finch’s handling of the snow.

        The Mayor has subsequently at a City Council meeting indicated the snow shovel I have carried is a “distraction.” One of my Council persons has declared it not to be brought to her meetings. And yet for all of the listening by Finch supporters, workers and friends, the City has no comment from Bill on what HE LEARNED from the session. I’m sure Adam or Andy could cobble a few words together for CYA purposes but they have not. Bill keeps thinking if you ignore it, it will go away and be forgotten.

        But if the truth has not been observed in the first place and the falsehoods continue to be revealed then the poor practices are not forgotten. Does Bill think re-positioning Carroll (into duties that have been handled part time for some time) and hiring someone new without a full accounting of what went wrong is going to clear the air? Of course, Finch’s pattern of pointing fingers of blame at everyone who is in sight to escape responsibility is so well established at this moment, I imagine it does not matter what his story is. Time will tell.

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  5. Charlie got what he deserved. I have no axe to grind with Carroll but he was in charge of this fiasco and should have been monitoring the dumb-ass supervisor who took the plows off the street.
    He should have disciplined or demoted this dumb ass but did nothing. This is the problem with this administration. The unnamed supervisor has political friends and thus never gets disciplined even though he screws up on a regular basis.
    Don’t be surprised if the B & A eliminates funding for the parks director’s job.

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  6. Fabrizi, please stay with the BOE. You had your shot at running this city. You did an adequate job but nothing spectacular. I am afraid you will bring back all your past aides and thus nothing will change.

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  7. Honestly, does your average Bridgeporter even remember or care about the snowstorm? It has passed. —Sidebar to yahooy—You do realize I was kidding about working for the city and the entire hyperbolic delusions I mentioned earlier? Oye! Charlie Carroll being blamed by Finch? That’s part of his job. Suck it up! He gets paid a real good living and he did a &^$$-&@@r job! Besides, it was really an act of nature. Those city workers under most circumstances do an awesome job! They really do and it took 5 days to get Glendale Avenue plowed out. We all should be a little forgiving, no? It was nice John Fabrizi came to his defense. It is nice to have friends. Carroll does answer to Finch so he does not get a pass!

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  8. Steve, I don’t blame the workers, I blame management. Taking those plows off the streets for 8 Hours lost this storm. One Finch worker (there before Finch) stated the plows were off the road because of the driving ban. Steve I am not making this up, this idiot has a lot to do with city emergencies. Was he reprimanded for this dumb report? No, but if he worked for me he would be looking for another job.

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  9. *** BYPASSING THE TEMPER TANTRUMS AT TIMES AND THE STRAIGHT-SHOOTER ATTITUDE. IF ALL THE CITY DEPT MANAGERS WORKED LIKE C. CARROLL, THE CITY WOULD HAVE A BETTER WORKFORCE! *** MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE, NO? ***

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