From Mayor Bill Finch:
On Monday Mayor Bill Finch, together with Christoph family, principals in Bridgeport Landing Development, and local, state and federal dignitaries will break ground on the Transportation Investment Generation Economic Recovery (TIGER II) work on the Steel Point peninsula. The $11 million TIGER grant, the largest grant ever awarded to the city, will fund work that will create pedestrian and bike-friendly streets that connect neighborhoods to public transit, help open the Steel Point waterfront to the public and support commercial and residential development.
The infrastructure work is the first step toward unlocking the potential of the Steel Point peninsula, including Bass Pro Shops, waterfront walkways, hotel, additional shops, and a total of nearly 3 million square feet of private investment.
WHERE: 545 Stratford Avenue, Bridgeport CT – corner of Waterview Avenue
WHEN: Monday, May 13 at 11:30 a.m.
Now let’s see who gets the contracts to do this work.
Very exciting stuff. It will be a great day for Bridgeport. A great photo opportunity. I am certain it will be very well orchestrated as well it should. I am certain the Mayor will get plenty of mileage out of this and I hope he does. I wish I were available to share in the excitement. This kind of information is like shedding sunlight on all the vampires hoping to suck the life force out of the City. May 13th will be remembered as the day Bridgeport finally began its journey to greatness. Let’s all hope for the taxpayers’ sakes things begin to happen at an accelerated rate and create synergy with other projects in the South End by the University of BRIDGEPORT.
Perfect timing for free public relations with the visitors coming on 95 to the Vibes concert as well as over 100,000 cars passing through daily. Yeah … FUN performing at the Arena.
Sluuurp.
You can’t brown nose the mayor and mention UB in the same zip code.
Hey Chosen, not a sycophant here. No need to be. I want nothing but FINCH to succeed as our Mayor. Now Chosen, crawl back under your rock and take yahooy with you. Apparently you believe this blog is for anti-Finch people. The election is over and with economic development we all benefit. When you have something to contribute and positive to say I would listen and respect but to assault me because I am supporting positive Bridgeport news is a riot. I am not sensitive to ignorant comments so keep the assaults coming if that makes you happy. Let me know when you can find a candidate who will continue the progress. I am curious who you imagine would be able to knock out Finch with this kind of news.
A) I could care less than less about you listening to me.
B) If Fabrizi hadn’t done his son a favor he would still be mayor, still bringing movies to the streets of Bpt, and doing whatever it took to put the city first.
C) I could care even less than (A) about you listening to me.
Boo hoo Chosen 1 … guess you missed the memo and TV performance of Fabrizi endorsing Finch. But of course he didn’t benefit from that … apparently you are hoping for Fabrizi to rise to lower again. I thought John was great. He will never be Mayor again. Get over it! Remember Chosen 1, obsequious individuals are usually the beneficiaries of something that is the payoff for having their heads stuck up someone’s butt. I can assure you I commend when warranted and I am the beneficiary of nothing, so again I say Monday will be a great day for Finch and the entire city.
I’ve waited a lot of years to see something, anything happen on Steel(e) Point(e) so I am going to cheer for a groundbreaking I would have hoped and expected to have happened a long time ago. All that said, this Tiger grant was announced two years ago and a number of times since. Enough already. It’s like the mattress factory. Announce it often enough and it seems like economic development is hot in Bridgeport. Not. Happy to see the day but this is still the Mayor who can’t shoot straight. Sure can raise taxes though. What a guy.
Well as great a day this will be, it will not be enough of a diversion to help anyone swallow a tax increase. There isn’t any drink sweet enough to swallow that bitter pill!
This is good news and long overdue. A key part of the Mayor’s job is to grow the taxable grand list faster than the City budget. That will allow for tax decreases over time. Mayor Finch has failed miserably so far in this regard. He also needs to support HB 5724 and a state-appointed Financial Control Board for Bridgeport to restructure the city’s finances if he wants to avoid a bankruptcy filing. If he doesn’t do these things, he won’t be re-elected even if he decides to run. People are fed up and want real change.
Dave W.,
Net Grand List increases that are scheduled to contribute tax revenues of significance to the City operating budget are certainly to be desired. Word from OPED seems to indicate Steele Pointe is a special district with taxes dedicated for up to 30 years into the future towards repaying debt for the infrastructure and other parts of the project necessary to get it built.
You may have a projection of the effect of the project once built, but two questions automatically come to mind: How much excess income to the City general budget will be forthcoming? When will it be available at the earliest according to a schedule?
City Council members were looking really hard for revenue items last night as they continued to review the entire budget on a second or third pass starting with the Airport. (Did anyone ask a question of how valuable this non-essential service is to a City where taxpayers are subsidizing it some $300-400,000 annually? NO.)
Michele Lyons has been asking about services and equipment in many departmental budgets. She has observed the reform process in the schools this past year for efficiency and cost savings. She is finding it hard to get anyone to attend to the matter, other than to “study it” next year. “We don’t have the information” is the lament. There was an answer in the room to the B&A frustration, but the public cannot speak. We can only listen. It is sad. It need not be.
I am afraid to guess at how many (or few) of the 20 Council members have read or reviewed:
1) The City Charter
2) City Ordinances (that are a Council creation)
3) CAFR (external audits) for the past two years
4) Entire City budgets for the past two years
5) Any other reports to which they are entitled routinely, but may not be receiving with regularity including the Monthly Financial Reports.
What’s your guess? How many or how few? Which documents would you drop from required reading for an elected representative who should be representing you intelligently with up-to-date information? What do people need to know to perform their effective check and balance role in municipal governance? Time will tell.
John,
If they aren’t willing to do their homework they should not be on the Council. As you know, the situation is so serious they need to make decisions today and not study it for tomorrow. The goal for this year is No Tax Increase. They can study things that will help to make greater structural changes that will help to reduce tax burdens over time. Mayor Finch has already said taxes will never go down in Bridgeport. That may be true while he is Mayor. It’s also a primary reason why this will be his last term as Mayor. We need a leader who has not given up already. He should have been honest with people when he was running for reelection. He told us he would hold the line on taxes. Simply stated, he lied to us because his subsequent actions have been totally inconsistent with his promise.
*** IN THE LONG RUN, MORE WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY TO DEVELOP NOTHING MORE THAN A PIPE DREAM! ***