News release from Republican Town Chair John Slater:
Republican Town Chairman John Slater today called on the Bridgeport City Council to “do the job it was elected to do” and demand answers from the mayor and other city officials concerning the $400,000 roadway built to the home of a politically connected developer in Stratford.
“Every day, new questions about this project are being raised in the newspaper, online and in private conversations. The only place it seems questions aren’t being asked is by the Bridgeport City Council, the very body charged with oversight of city officials, departments and expenditures.”
Slater said that the lack of questions was part of a “pattern of inaction by the city’s legislative body when it comes to oversight of city government.” “Our city charter grants the City Council broad powers to obtain information, including the power to subpoena documents and witnesses,” Slater said. “It does that so that the people’s elected representatives can properly oversee city government.”
“Unfortunately, this City Council appears to have little interest in doing that job. Remember all those questions Council asked about the botched snow removal last winter? If you don’t remember them there’s a reason, they were never asked. The voters and taxpayers of Bridgeport may have been outraged but you’d never know it from the interaction of their elected representatives.
“The continuing disclosures about the $400,000 roadway project have raised serious questions about both the project and the actions, or inaction, of Mayor Finch and a number of officials in his administration. The City Council and its committees, including the Contracts Committee, should be seeking a full, public, explanation from the Mayor and other city officials,” he said.
Slater noted that the project had reportedly been discussed during a closed caucus of Democratic City Council members on Monday night. “Private explanations are no substitute for public accountability,” he said. “Questions need to be asked, and answered, in public and on the record. That kind of accountability is already overdue.”
You would think, especially in an election year, our City Council members would be asking questions; even if it is only to keep up appearances. Sorry to say, MOST are too dumb to even do that. They have already ruined their credibility, and now it’s time for the people to collect on this overdue accountability by voting them OUT come November.
Sunshine–The time to ask questions was before the vote to approve funds, and you are correct, they need to–must be voted out of office.
If having the “internal investigation” handled by Labor Relations set a record for “low comedy” and being totally out of touch, Andy Fardy and I met today to make our own offer of assistance to Mayor Finch and others who are twisting in the breeze at this moment.
Andy Fardy’s career as a firefighter then developed into arson investigation publicly and privately. He knows how to conduct an “official” investigation, by the book, and became a court qualified expert witness. My own career in personal and business financial services for nearly 50 years provides some background. Also, my research into Bridgeport finances and governance over the past five years in more depth than most of those elected by Bridgeport voters along with the multitude of questions I ask may provide some status to my volunteering as well.
Andy and I are ready to join a community team, to review testimony, research such paperwork as there is, look at the way the issue developed. There is a strong possibility shoddy process following business as normal assumptions by the City Council and use of the easiest explanations, with very little put in writing for review has left everybody looking lost because they have no explanation for what happened. Surely no one wishes to go through this again. Maybe a return to present process that was not followed would help? Maybe there is additional reform necessary? Surely more discussion and dialogue would help the oversight process when public funds are spent.
Mayor Finch, Mark Anastasi, Tom McCarthy please feel free to call upon us. We’re not holding our breath (or our questions) but such strange things are happening in Bridgeport these days, welcoming us to the “investigative team” just might be less crazy than it seems at first blush. Right, Andy? Time will tell.
Both of you guys give yourself far too much credit. We need to hire an independent special investigator who can conduct an objective examination of the facts to present to both sides of this issue. From this, action can be taken.
For once yahooy is correct. This needs to be done by someone who is a professional who audits government organizations for a living with a specialty in forensic auditing. Amateur hour is over.
BlackRockGuy, forensic auditing costs big money, who will pay for it to be done?
Not sure, Ron … but if the corruption is ever going to stop it has to be done. There have been too many shady deals going on for far too long.
JML–I think it is fantastic you and Andy Fardy are willing to lend your time, talents and expertise to aid in the direction of the city. It shows real commitment to wanting to make things better. Unfortunately, you know and I know and all the readers reading this know they will never take you up on it for that would mean real work and it does not seem this group of Council members (save a very few) are up to the task. You and Andy should think about running for Council. Then you, as real watchdogs, could get the insider view and make real change happen from within the system. I’d vote for you both in a heartbeat.
Lennie, this topic is some type of joke, right? A Republican Party in Bridgeport, please, there is no such thing. A lot of blame for the problems in Bridgeport is because of the Republican Party, they have been nonexistent, they have allowed Bridgeport to be a one-party City with the Working Family Party now the second largest political party. The Bridgeport Republican Party is a disgrace.
Ron, you usually know what you are talking about. This is an exception.
Phil Smith, thank you for your reply. I believe in a loyal opposition that has its own ideas to make government better and who will point out their differences. When it comes to blame I always look at myself first and see what is it I have to do to help solve an issue but first I must gather the facts at hand.
Voter “apathy” is the number-one problem in Bridgeport. A four-year term for the mayor makes it even worse, how upset will he voters be about Mayor Finch and the snow removable problem by election time?
The Republican Party has been nonexistent in Bridgeport. Phil Smith, if I’m wrong please correct me.
Ron Mackey–I agree 100 percent. If there were two parties the city would never have been so paralyzed. There are no checks and balances. There have been no checks and balances since Moran was in office. The Republican party didn’t even help her get elected. It was a group of youthful folks called the NRV, New Republican Voice. The 1989 election was Bucci’s to lose. Republicans never win an election in Bridgeport. Democrats lose. I was actually a Republican for a short duration back then. Charlie Valentino and Linda Grace ran the party and they certainly were party faithful. Now look at the mess Valentino is in. Sorry Phil, to believe there has been any presence in Bridgeport of the Republican party is just plain naive. It is an embarrassment. I may be a staunch Democrat these days, but I am always willing to listen to a candidate. Maybe the party can find a female African American lesbian who is fluent in Spanish and willing to go against the Republican platform since it is archaic, out of touch and downright pathetic.
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A good campaign and candidate looks at the lists of who has voted in the last two primaries, general elections and national election, and targets those voters with door to door, mail, phone and event invitations. Engaging those who need to be registered, those who do not usually vote, will garner a small percent of new votes, sadly most people do not realize how important voting is, especially at the local level.
The 1989 election was Bucci’s to lose? Steve, not exactly. Bucci was already heavily damaged from tax increases and seeking a state bailout as well as high crime. When Moran was elected, Bridgeport had roughly 13,000 registered Republicans. It has roughly 4,500 today. During the 20-year period from 1971 to 1991, 10 of those years were occupied by Republican mayors–Nick Panuzio, Lenny Paoletta and Mary Moran. When Moran was elected she was joined by 10 Republicans on the City Council. Unaffiliated voters those days leaned Republican. Yes, things began to change when Ganim was elected because of his Republican roots. His father had served as GOP chair and was even a candidate for mayor decades before Joe. The local GOP did no party building even after Ganim’s political implosion. The GOP decline in Bridgeport has been largely the past decade.
Didn’t Ganim run a primary against Bucci that year with Testa’s backing? I found that a little strange as Testa is related to both of them.
BRG, Testa was not town chair in 1989 but he did back Bucci. Chris Caruso managed Ganim’s primary challenge in 1989. Ganim finished third in a large field. Testa and Bucci are cousins.
I agree with most of what Lennie wrote, including his description of the electoral climate in 1989, a political environment that almost totally reversed itself by 1991.
I think it is also important to note some other significant changes that took place between the 1980s and today. Back then there were two daily newspapers (morning and afternoon), which, while commonly owned, operated, as far as journalistic content was concerned, largely independently. Each of those newspapers had at least two people covering city government and politics full time, often more. That doesn’t include the reporters assigned to specialized beats like the police, education and transportation. That’s not true today.
More importantly, the focus of those newspapers was on Bridgeport and, to a lesser extent, its suburban communities. Today, our sole newspaper has a much smaller “news hole”–the amount of space devoted to news–for Bridgeport news in general, let alone political news.
Back then, there were also two radio stations, with relatively large new staffs, covering the city of Bridgeport. Today, radio news coverage is almost nonexistent.
The changes over the last 20 or so years (not to mention the reductions in newspaper readership) have greatly reduced the amount of information about city government and politics that’s available to the general public. As anyone who was run against an incumbent, whether it’s in a primary or general election, it has also made it more difficult for challengers to get attention and coverage.
Consider this fact: Between 1971 and 1991, five Bridgeport Mayors were defeated in reelection bids (Curran, Mandanici, Paoletta, Bucci and Moran). Mayors defeated between 1991 and 2011: None. I think that statistic is telling.
I also think over the last two decades there has been a significant decline in what I’ll call civic engagement, the number of voting-age adults participating, in one way or another, in the electoral process. That too makes it more difficult for both general election and primary challengers.
Lennie, in my gut I knew you would set me straight. I always liked Tom Bucci, though you wouldn’t have known it during the Moran campaign.
There most certainly is an active Republican party in this city. Unfortunately we are in a position to do our work and get our message across as private citizens, as we do not have any Elected public policy makers in the city. I can only speak to the past few years that I have been directly involved, but we have consistently run a full slate of candidates in every election, made public our opinion on many of the city’s mismanagement episodes, and even held several rallies against tax increases. We are very much in a constant battle to be heard and I for one will continue to fight even if we are outnumbered 10 to 1 as is currently the case. Republicans may not have the platform those in control (the Democrats) have but we will keep putting forward honorable candidates on election day and attempt to be heard by anyone who takes their head out of the ground long enough to listen. If anyone would like to see the state of the Republican Party firsthand they are welcome to join us every third Tuesday of the month at the North End Library. You might be surprised at what you find. You can also get our info at our well-maintained and informative website bridgeportgop.com or the continually updated Facebook page.