The Nov. 6 ballot question is not about improving schools, but a power grab to control education funds, charges Democratic State Rep. Jack Hennessy who represents the city’s North End in Connecticut’s State House. In a statement to OIB, Hennessy isn’t bashful, bashing the party establishment he’s been at odds with for a decade.
Hennessy statement:
“Only in Bridgeport” pretty much sums it up. No other municipality would put up with the shenanigans that go on here. Only this time it’s out in the open, couched in flowery terms, trying to fool the unwary with an inundation of glossy flyers that disguise the real intent–an underhanded power grab to control hundreds of millions of dollars of a school board budget where there will be no oversight or accountability. Nothing new here. This is the same old crony machine where appointments will be made, not based on ability, but on loyalty to politicians.
Every parent and taxpayer has a right to cast their vote on who’s running our school system.
OIB has asked the camps of several candidates to share their opinion on the ballot question. A yes vote means Mayor Bill Finch, who’s actively pushing the ballot question, would be empowered to appoint members to the Board of Education. Several organizations, Democratic Party pols and campaign operatives are trying to persuade electors to vote yes. A coalition of forces is also working against the measure.
Look for election day to be a wild ride with operatives in front of polling places urging vote yes and vote no. Yes supporters, backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars, say the question has a decent shot at passage. No supporters say the question, as printed on the ballot, is misleading.
On Nov. 6 city voters will decide this ballot question:
“Shall the City of Bridgeport approve and adopt the Charter changes as recommended by the Charter Revision Commission and approved by the City Council, including education governance reforms?”
No supporters say African American voters, in particular, loathe to give up their vote following the effort that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Could a backlash take place against politicians supporting a yes vote? A number of candidates for office don’t want to get in the middle of this argument, not exactly a profile in courage stance.
What say you? Would you be more or less inclined to decide your vote based on a candidate’s position on this issue?
The Billion Dollar Money Grab!
It’s all about school contracts, that’s what the City of Bridgeport lives on, school contracts.
$250 million here, $300 million there, that’s the industry that pays the most in kickbacks to the DTC and Mario Testa/Bill Finch and the Machine.
Fixing up schools, replacing schools; that’s the ticket!
NBC moves to Stamford with 500 jobs so who cares, right Mario/Finch?
NBC, GE, Modern Plastics, Derecktor jobs, who cares?
And the CT Post feeds off the machine, and the FBI sits on their ass.
Control the BOE and you control millions.
That’s been the industry of Bridgeport for the past 30 years.
Keep the taxes high and you keep manufacturing out of Bridgeport, right Mario/Finch?
See who’s writing checks to the Finch Camp and DTC, the same vendors and contractors that work on the schools.
If you have control of the BOE members, you control the school bids, right Mario/Finch?
Question: How will a Charter change help the Bridgeport BOE?
Answer: It can’t! Finch’s new appointed BOE members will control all school contracts and budgets.
Removing elected BOE members vs. appointed, puts the Bridgeport BOE on the road to corruption.
JUST VOTE NO!
Jim, for the most part, you’re right. I never heard Mario Testa call for mayoral appointment of BOE members. The plot started when Bill Finch started lobbying governor Malloy; behind the scenes is the acting Bridgeport Democratic Party Chairman, John Stafstrom–NOT Mario Testa. Mario has very little control in what the mayor, the City Council, and fearful Town Committee members do. Mario can’t hire them if Finch fires them. Mario Testa and his group of Town Committee supporters must step up and speak or risk losing it all when the shit hits the fan. At the end of the day, all blame (as you can see from blog posts here) falls on Mario’s plate. No, not his plate of pasta!
Is he living and working here? William “Willie” Sutton was a prolific U.S. bank robber. During his 40-year criminal career he stole an estimated $2 million, and eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison. For his talent at executing robberies in disguises, he gained two nicknames, “Willie the Actor” and “Slick Willie.” Sutton is known that he said he robbed banks “because that’s where the money is.”
www .youtube.com/watch?v=hKO704k0ZAA
They are running out of places to put political people. There are lots and mean mucho Mitch Robles family and Ayala families to support. Also Alana Kabel has many family members, Charlie C. got married so you have his and her families to get jobs for, they cant make a good living working at the checkpoints at parks. The list goes on and on. Control the BOE, control more jobs, mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money.
Thank you Jack Hennessy for stepping forward and speaking truth to power.
Thanks, Jack! The rest of the delegation is serving “Duck and Cover” this election! What a bunch of lame ducks.
It’s a day late and millions of dollars short for this representative who has done nothing for Bridgeport except show up for a photo op or election.
People from Greenwich do not do something for nothing. There is plenty of money in private charter schools, they can supply everything cheaper, then make like it works. All of a sudden everyone is smarter. Check out who owns these large charter school programs. Anything that is for profit ends up cutting corners to make more money, it’s the venture capitalist way, find a new angle to the dangle. If there is a way to make money feeding the poor s..t and convince them to like it, Finch and his friends will put it up for a vote, George Estrada will eat it on live TV and say give me a second helping it’s good for me.
bpt guy, it’s all about the money. The rich get richer and the poor stay down in the gutter. That’s the way Finch the closet Republican wants it. You think it’s bad now with all the unqualified incompetent politicos, just wait ’til they get control of the BOE. It will be a free-for-all of jobs for everyone. Mitch Robles and Mario are licking their lips. Alanna Kabel can hire more of her son’s friends. Charlie Carroll can hire ALL of Lisa’s relatives. Martha Santiago and Mario’s gumad will have jobs for life. BTW, how are the absentees at the senior center going, Martha? After all, I’m sure your Spanish seniors clearly understand the charter revision language. If not, I’m sure you will explain it to them. Wink.
I am voting no at Black Rock school come Nov 6.
As my good friend Ed Gomes likes to point out, someone gets screwed when you privatize. It is either the workers because they will be paid less at lower benefits with lower qualifications or the customer (in this case the children) because the level and quality of services being offered is reduced.
How else can a private company that is motivated by a profit margin do more for less and still create their return on investment?
Or as AFSCME puts it, Privatization = Corruption because eventually the private entity keeps on changing the contract and the government entity goes along because it was not doable from the get go.
You mean AFSCME 1522 who supported this crook?
Jack H came forward. What about the rest of the deadbeat delegation?
Andres Ayala–The poster boy for the saying “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.”
Auden Grogins–Former President of the BOE. Is it dysfunctional or not, Auden??? If it is dysfunctional today but wasn’t when Auden was on it, then it was the most recent dysfunctional President who simply couldn’t do the job and not the manner in which the BOE is selected.
EZ Santiago–Oh that’s right, with two paying political jobs he will do whatever Finch tells him to do.
Paging Senator Musto–Excuse me but your bias might be showing. Elected BOE in Trumbull but appointed in Bridgeport because B’port voters don’t know what they are doing? If Musto has a double standard then Musto must go!
Grin Reaper, what about Rep. Clemons and Rep. Stallworth?
Good question, Ron. I am sure they will do their best to duck the issue. Le’s see what kind of juice Lennie actually has and if he can force them to respond.
Paging Charlie Stallworth …
Paging Charles Don Clemons …
Paging Lennie Grimaldi
(I think this is what they mean when they talk about Congressional pages)
Requests for responses are in. Right now most of them are ducking.
Ron, you just mentioned the two reps who cover our area in the 138th. They are both zeros. I will give Stallworth the benefit of the doubt as he is new. Clemons is another story, he has done zip, nada, nothing for his district except take up space. Still waiting for that freaking ferry to Pleasure Beach.
This State Rep will be special guest on Bridgeport Now TV program next Tuesday at 8pm, to discuss the benefits of a ‘No’ vote on charter revision.
Let’s hope they show up, Rob.
Here is a well-thought-out assessment on the BOE question from a reader of the CT Post:
www .ctpost.com/news/article/The-real-Charter-Revision-question-3981866.php
And there is also this one:
www .ctpost.com/opinion/article/Let-voters-decide-school-direction-3971902.php
*** It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see and understand the charter revision tricky question is and leads to underhanded political motives by the Finch Admin towards control of not only the BOE but the school system’s entire budget. Education improvements are a mere possibility and; totally up to Mr. Vallas & Co. with credit in the end going to the Mayor’s office of course, no? ***
www .PoliticalPunkster.com
Grin Ripper, also what is the position of The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA), the organization of black ministers in Bridgeport in which Rep. Charlie Stallworth is the vice president? Rev. Anthony Bennett of Mt. Aery is a part of the “VOTE NO” group.
Ron,
You are in the wrong pew asking me this question. I believe you meant the Grin Reaper. However, I will be voting NO on Election Day. So I guess we are in the right church and pew.
Seems to me they have always been too comfortable up there, not accountable to anybody. They are pampered and self important. What do they really get accomplished? For the most part they are an embarrassment though they don’t even know it. We are sending another embarrassment to them from the East Side this fall.
It is impossible to have an underhanded power grab whenever an election/charter revision is concerned. This story is front-page news–there’s nothing underhanded about it.
The power grab has already occurred and is tolerated by the “no” crowd. A “no” vote upholds the status quo and impedes progress.
At present, there is no oversight for their actions–the GOP-funded audit was never completed, right? Maybe Rep. Hennessy is trying to hide something because there’s nothing special about Bridgeport’s BOE. These conditions crop up in all 50 states. They don’t happen only in Bridgeport.
I live 200 yards from the North End where my influence is impressive. November 6 is the day we find out who has more clout in that district. If Hennessy isn’t afraid to contact OIB then I’m not afraid to contact him.
Bulletin to Local Eyes,
The latest BOE meeting (10-22-12) was repeated on Public Access TV last evening. I watched about 90 minutes of it. Not the most elevating dialogue. But what I did hear, based on Board Member Bobby Simmons, CPA questions on the Gibson report and Supt. Paul Vallas response is the report in three volumes is in print and available for the public to read. The expenses for the report came from State of CT Governor Rell, BRBC sponsorship and City BOE. Whether the report did all the things Mr. Simmons or anyone else expected, the words ‘forensic audit’ are frequently used, the actual process took a lot longer, a lot more money, and most importantly was completed under the Ramos regime. It seems to be history in that sense, and while the recommendations have been reviewed and considered, it would seem Mr. Simmons is arguing for a situation where if the report isn’t complete, the BOE might get a refund?
That seems to be where he is headed. If so, Rell is gone, the BRBC have what they want, and the guys with the black bags have left town with their consulting money. It’s time to drill down on the current numbers that are provided, which are more in depth than ones I have observed previously. This Education office appears to be setting a standard for OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE and TRANSPARENT financial process. It allows those genuinely interested in how City money is spent to analyze where problems are currently or may be expected. It allows all to see whether the State is delivering what it has promised and how well the City is acting as a “trusted partner” in the educational venture. I expect to be asking some new questions along those lines very soon. Time will tell.
Local Eyes, sad, sad, sad, you need to rest your eyes because your points are real weak, just ask the mayor and Excel for some talking points. Try again and tell us what Rep. Hennessy said is wrong.
Local Eyes,
The audit you speak of had multiple funding sources. When it originated it had a deadline. But the project kept contracting and expanding because of what was discovered/uncovered, and so on. There have been reports on what might prove regular and dependable savings and the current system is likely to use some of these recommendations.
However, the form of audit favored or understood by OIB readers, which might show poor decisions, improper transfers of funds, money spent on things that seem very far away from students in the classroom (like $190,000 spent in budget year 2010-11 on RESTAURANTS, FOOD, Entertainment, comprised of about 300 invoices … you do the math … and charged to the Education Grants area), and consultant expenses with no clear explanation of what has been funded … these have not been explained.
I do have some recent documents that may shed some added light on why calls for audits have been around for so long. They may require some answers from City Hall, because the “educational governance reform” that has hit Bridgeport was not responsible for these expenses nor their pattern. Please go to the Bridgeport Public schools site and look at the Budget and School model reports. You will get to see a greater body of info than entire Boards of Education were exposed to. That would be very frustrating if you had been a Trustee (as their policy reads) and not had the information and data with which to monitor and exercise oversight. More on this subject soon after more study and reflection. Time will tell.
*** Anyone with common sense can see and understand the reasons behind the BOE “tricky question” and the overall outcome should it pass! *** IF IT’S REALLY FOR THE BETTERMENT OF BPT PUBLIC SCHOOLS, THEN WHY THE TRICK QUESTION? ***
What some call a tricky question, others call a clever strategy.