Finch, Rooney Promote Firefighters

Finch, firefighters 2015
Finch and fire officials at ceremony Wednesday night.

From city Communications Director Brett Broesder:

Friends, family members and fellow firefighters gathered in City Hall’s Council Chambers on Wednesday night to celebrate the promotion of six members of the Bridgeport Fire Department.

Mayor Bill Finch and Fire Chief Brian Rooney swore in Giovanni Sanzo and Robert Marrero to Fire Inspector; Samuel Mohammad and Joel Christy to Lieutenant;  Monique Pettway-Moore and Venus Scudder to Pumper Engineer.

“In Bridgeport, our first responders work hard every day to protect the kids and families of Bridgeport. As the father of four boys, I can sleep soundly at night knowing that the men and women of the Bridgeport Fire Department are bravely working to keep my family and families across the city safe,” said Mayor Finch. “Congratulations to the firefighters for their hard work and efforts in making Bridgeport safer every day.”

During his remarks, Mayor Finch noted that the Bridgeport Fire Department has been recognized as a national leader in installing fire alarms in the homes of Bridgeport residents. Through its Safe Asleep program, in partnership with RYASAP, nearly 50,000 smoke alarms have been installed in Bridgeport homes. Residents in need of a working smoke alarm in their homes can call (203) 335-8835.

Chief Rooney explained the importance of the position of Pumper Engineer.

“The role of pumper engineer is extremely important. It takes years of experience, along with endless hours of studying to become a pumper engineer. They’re the ones we rely on the Pumper Engineer to give us water when we’re crawling down a hallway.”

Fire Chief Rooney also recognized the family members who were in attendance for their support to the Bridgeport Firefighters.

“We can’t do this job if we don’t have the support of family members at home. Many nights on this job, we have to face tragedies. It plays on our hearts and sometimes we bring that home. That’s why having the support of the family at home is important. I can’t thank you enough for being here tonight,” said Chief Rooney. “Thank you for understanding that we can’t always stay home to protect our families because we have to go to work to protect the families of the City of Bridgeport.”

Also in attendance at Wednesday night’s event were members of the Bridgeport Fire Commission, City Council President Tom McCarthy and City Council member Melanie Jackson.

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14 comments

  1. Firemen and police are true heroes, putting their lives on the line every day. The fire this morning was deadly on Scofield Ave., could have been a sad day for many families had it not been for the expertise of all firemen working as a team. Great job and thank you to all firemen who put their lives on the line daily.

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  2. Maria, no assault but he asked for a meeting with a friend of mine from the East End looking for support and he called him the name of another black man. I guess we all do look alike.

    Nice words from Chief Rooney, although he fought like hell to keep from promoting the four blacks. They should have been promoted months ago. The Firebird Society called the CT Post with the story and sent a letter to the Mayor who can’t afford to look anti-black with the election coming and that’s what got them promoted. Anyway congratulations to all those who were promoted. The two black women promoted to Pumper Engineer are the first black females to hold that rank.

    On a side note, all four blacks came through a study group that prepared them for the hiring exam given by Ron Mackey and myself.

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    1. Donald Day, how embarrassing for Mayor Finch. Great looking out by both you and Ron Mackey for those who have followed in your footsteps.

      I am all for women shattering glass ceilings!

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    1. Steve,
      It’s not the blog! (Repeat after me, slowly.) It’s not the blog! (That’s better.) It’s not the blog! (OK, that’s quite good.)
      What it is, Steve? The Mayor isn’t looking for kind words. He is looking for “worship” after he controls the Monopoly Board. You may want kind words for yourself or for him, but in his mind, and that of his advisers, kind words have a short shelf life and may not last until November (or even September).
      Were you to review the thousands of words, many in question form, that I have addressed to the City Council and put on this blog (representatives of the people of Bridgeport are trained to be regular and obedient voters for the administration), would you see any areas for correction, change, reform, etc.? You never say. Neither does the Mayor. Nor do most Council persons. Learning about what you may not know or realize the importance of? Talk about distancing yourself from reality and humility? Kind words?
      Mercy. Fairness. Justice. A real job. A simple report. A truthful statement. Any or all can be applied when you spot a place to respond. Time will tell.

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    2. Steve Auerbach, that’s not true. Mayor Finch was in good spirits and he was very friendly, in fact he came over from the other side of the chamber and said, “hi Ron,” but I can’t say the same for Chief Rooney. Donald Day and myself had a dialog with every deputy chief and battalion chief who was there but not Chief Rooney. I’m proud of all six who got promoted but it was special seeing four Firebird Society members get promoted because Donald and myself didn’t even know any of them but to see how hard they worked in our study group to become a firefighter and then to apply themselves to now get promoted.

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  3. Steve, it’s not that a mayor should not attend and say nice things, it is that this mayor’s publicity director (ministry of public enlightenment) is using the event as part of his taxpayer-financed image campaign.

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    1. Tom, JML, of course the Mayor is using this as part of his campaign. People do want to know about things, Finch is the Mayor. Did you really believe he was as stupid as you all make him out to be? Is there one politician who does not do these events? Didn’t Ed Gomes go to UB for a photo opportunity like he never toured UB before? Didn’t Marilyn Moore go to a community garden for a photo opportunity? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It is what politicians do. There is an election coming up. Is Mayor Finch supposed to keep hush about positive things in the city? Guys and gals, I do not worship Finch. I respect the efforts he is making downtown and Steelpointe. Btw, I was there today and happy they finally put up a billboard. In huge letters, Bass Pro thank you Mayor Finch we Love You! Does anyone really have a problem with that? 🙂

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