Here’s your chance to toast Henry Haitz, publisher of the Connecticut Post. Actually, he’s the group publisher of Hearst Connecticut Media Group that owns four daily papers in the state, including the one at 410 State Street. You can ask him about local news coverage, all those free house ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley and his underpaid reporters he privately claims make too much money. Then watch him duck.
Haitz will appear at the University of Bridgeport Ernest C. Trefz School of Business, Mandeville Hall, 126 Park Avenue. “Guests are warmly welcomed,” according to the UB announcement. It’s also an opportunity to see up close the many program offerings UB makes available to the community.
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Thanks, Lennie.
Publishing is a major industry in the USA. I am attending with my International Management (UB undergraduate) class so they can hear how the media impacts our lives. The media has an influence on American culture and the way we conduct business. I am looking forward to what Mr. Haitz says and to the questions posed to him.
Steven Auerbach WILL be there to ask about the Marina replacement housing and why hasn’t the Post been more vocal about opposing it.
Actually Bob, thank you for mentioning that. I thought I was talking to the wall. I am not planning on running for Mayor and since no other potential candidates have voiced outrage, then it is Finch. It is what it is. If it weren’t Finch putting Marine Village housing there it would be Foster or Fabrizi. I however could get 100,000 signatures stating it is a bad idea. I am tired of being the lone broken record. I do not read the Connecticut Post unless I am writing a letter to the editor. I get my news from many sources. I may spend 5 minutes on line with the Post but I certainly have no interest in hearing this gentlemen speak, although I did have a nice conversation with him at the Mechanics and Farmers, Landmark One tour. Bob, thank you for making me feel like a celebrity … on the gong show. 🙂
Steven Auerbach, it is your cheerleading for Mayor Finch that has scared off other candidates from throwing in their name.
Ron Mackey, my cheerleading for Finch has not scared off any candidates, I can assure you. I will wait and listen to any and all candidates who can win an election with a platform, not someone who wants to be Mayor or a one-focus candidate who is either against charter schools or for the Hennessy bill. Both of those platforms are of zero interest to me. I want an aggressive pro-development candidate. If I could scare one off then they should not be running. Finch is doing an okay job. I am not working on his reelection campaign and his reelection does not personally benefit me one way or another. I have been very supportive of him and he on the other hand has done nothing for me in any way shape or form. I like Foster and I like Fabrizi and I believe there is going to be another candidate who is going to make the next race extremely lively with enough money to match and crush Finch if that is the goal. Bridgeport could be on the verge of great things. Today with development at a snail’s pace, there are no guarantees.
Just what Bridgeport needs, more low-cost housing.
Anyone and everyone who complains about the Post’s coverage of local government, i.e. Fardy, Lee, and I thought Auerbach, should be present to hear how this budgetary balancing act is performed.
That’s the problem Bob, you thought!!!
I’m sorry, Andy. I forgot you and JML are professional whiners. Point out things you don’t think are right and whine.
Maybe one day you can actually become productive. Do some research. Tell us specifically what other cities and towns are doing. Draft up ordinances. Get council members to buy in and sponsor.
Oh that’s right. That’s too much work. Whining is easy.
That is a lot of work but I am surprised you know that. When you were on the council you accomplished nothing but you did become the inoperable hemorrhoid you still are today.
You know Bob, it’s funny you talk about research, we have done a ton of it. I would try to explain it to you but I know it’s over your head. This sitting council is no different than when you were on it, a bunch of dumb asses who only do what Finch tells them to do, except R Torres.
Troll, wake up, it’s a beautiful day. To quote you, “Whining is easy” and you are doing it again.
Do some research? Did you read my column Lennie posted from September 16, 2014 City Council meeting? No comment from you, so maybe not? Here it is again:
We are in the hurricane season where the storms roar up the Atlantic Coast. Combined days of rain, with high tides and wind-borne waves can damage low-lying properties and harm residents physically and financially.
I comment on municipal financial topics and not on the weather, but there are connections. When you hear the word “underwater” in a conversation today, what comes to mind? Is it a house, auto or other property that has been overrun by river or seawater? Or is it a residential property originally purchased at market value and financed with little or no down payment and a large mortgage? Today, with market values reduced, is the debt larger than the property is worth?
Underwater property is understood in Bridgeport. Too much debt financing in the last real estate bubble has caused debtors to walk away from their homes today as there is no equity left. If the owner likes the property and can wait for values to rise in the future he may continue to pay principal, interest, taxes and insurance, despite the current “underwater” condition. Then the banker is happy. However, many of the properties become vacant, less well maintained, and find their values reduced and in turn reduce values in their neighborhoods, generally. Why worry?
The Council knows the City-approved operating budget is about $520 Million annually including public schools. When additional grants are added to the City and BOE, another $150 Million of appropriations are spent annually. From the total of $670 Million, local property taxpayers contribute only $290 Million towards annual City revenues. Do the math, please. $670 Million of expense less $290 Million of local tax revenue leaves the City depending on other sources for $380 Million or more annually to meet City spending. The State of CT or the Federal Government provides 60% of our City operating revenue. We live on the kindness of others. We cannot pay our way and have not been able to do so for years. Why worry?
Well, let’s look at the recent maneuvers at City Hall to keep secret the revaluation results from the taxpayer. Property Values as of October 1, 2008 had decreased by October 1, 2013, but they did not do so uniformly. So some in Bridgeport are paying too much and some too little when we use the 2008 rather than the 2013 numbers for our tax payments this year. Is this just or fair? No, but the Mayor and later the State have made it possible. With assessments down 30, 40 or even 50%, the City mil rate would need to rise to compensate for the tax dollars necessary to meet the budget, but if the budget were level, the total tax revenues would stay the same despite the higher mil rate. The mil rate is not voodoo, but a rising mil rate is not a good sign to taxpayers or folks looking to put their capital into economic development. Is it a reason to worry? Or a matter of justice?
City assets like land, buildings, and buildings in construction amount to nearly One Billion dollars. The external audit for 2013 tells us we have $7 Billion of taxable grand list assets, based on the 2008 assessment. Other non-taxpayers also are on the Gross Grand List, even though they pay no taxes. If 2013 showed a 30-40 % average decrease in City land and building values, perhaps the City assets on the balance sheet reduce to $600-700 Million. Is that enough to wipe out all recorded net worth in the City? Why worry you say? As long as Federal and State programs continue and people pay their taxes, who cares about the City net worth, I have been told. But what happens when one or both does not happen? Are we looking at a Detroit situation? Land and buildings not intended for sale currently are pushed onto the market and fetch what they can. The Detroit Museum of Art is an example. Ultimately the balance sheet is of concern. And a shrinking balance sheet is a ‘telltale’ for a bad trend. Reason to worry?
Why does the Council not request the results of the revaluation? It is important to the City and to taxpayers. What will the balance sheet look like when revaluation assessments are applied? And how long can we operate with such little planning and fiscal oversight before “underwater” and decreasing government revenues leave us without a paddle or enough water taxis? Why worry about it today? Why not do something about it? Time will tell.
Bob, you have not been at Council meetings on even an irregular basis for years. You sit on your butt, complaining wholesale about others while standing guilty of what you accuse others (wrongfully). That’s hypocrisy, Bob. Make fun of others. Does any reader think Council members know the state of the City financially? Yet they make important decisions every other week at meetings without discussion. They assume other folks must know and they go along. Bob, you may remember New Haven supports its Aldermen with 5-6 legislative aides. Our Council has no assistants for research and development. As an alumnus of that body Bob, why aren’t you part of the solution?
As to the CT Post, today they seem part of the “oppressive machinery” to me. I have another commitment on Tuesday evening at the same time period, but hopefully will get a question or two raised at the Haitz gathering. Time will tell.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=iWUBmO1hVhk