Port Authority Stars And Stripes

Thank you, Mother Rell.

Well it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? Well, so far. With a major assist from the governor, Mayor Bill Finch’s veto of the City Council ordinance dissolving the Bridgeport Port Authority allows the city to recast the quasi city agency.

The mayor’s decision became an easy one when Rell vetoed state legislation that created the frenzy over the future of the port authority. This started when former port authority Executive Director Joe Riccio had his lobbyist craft language onto an existing state bill to place the port authority under the umbrella of the state Department of Transportation.

The council, in a fit of anger directed at Riccio over home rule, scuttled the port authority. This issue was as much about Riccio as anything else. City Hall didn’t want him. In an effort to save the port authority, commission members led by board chairman Denis O’Malley moved in earnest to work out a separation deal with Riccio.

On Thursday, Rell vetoed the state legislation. See her rationale in the prior post. It’s nice for a mayor to have a governor he can work with, and Finch and Chief of Staff Adam Wood did a nice job persuading Rell to move slowly until they could figure out the ultimate ramifications of dissolving the port authority.

Now they have to figure out who’s going to run the agency.

Hello Bello

What are you guys cooking up this weekend? Burgers, dogs, steaks, ribs? Speaking of Fourth of July dogs, check out this one … the newest member of the OIB family. His name is Bello, Italian for handsome. Bello is a vizsla, just four months old and ripping apart Ms. Mo’s clothes. That’s my boy!

Enjoy the weekend. Check out my latest CT Post blog blog.ctnews.com/grimaldi/2009/07/03/every-day-was-the-fourth-of-july

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28 comments

  1. The Oracle of Omaha Steaks!

    Speaking of chow and the economy, I’m going to chow down on some puppies this weekend and play some Italian Marbles. With all the rain and talk of the economy about “Green Shoots” I’m taking my balls, measuring tape and lawnmower to play some Bocce.

    Have a safe Fourth and read the Life Behind Bars! blog;
    blog.ctnews.com/kelly.

    Cheers!

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  2. OIB RUMOR MILL:

    MCAT advises Governor Schwarzenegger in return for a free pass at California’s State Parks. Consequently, The Golden State has a balanced budget and MCAT has decided to extend her vacation a few more weeks …
    Happy Motoring!

    In other news, I live across the street from a dog named Bella which is Italian for handsome. If dogs were rated on their athletic ability, Bella would be an Olympic medal winner. Bow-wow-wow.

    There’s more: I can swim–does that qualify me to head the new Port Authority?

    My 4th of July plans are easy: my block is having a block party. Why do the wrong people travel, travel, travel when the right people stay at home?

    www .holidays.zingerbugimages.com/glitter_graphics/smiley_fireworks.gif

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  3. *** Happy 4th most OIB bloggers, except the usual lame ducks! *** And congrats to Mr. Curwen, new P/A Director, finally someone who will have Bpt’s best interests @ hand. *** R.G.V.F.D. ***

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  4. Happy 4th. If I were Oliver Stone I’d be sure to make a movie about a BPA conspiracy by certain people that would have resulted in this exact outcome. Maybe I am giving too much credit though. I’m in Yellowstone and have a room overlooking old faithful. I snapped a picture of a rainbow over the geyser. I hope it came out. I saw and ate bison. Watched elk, moose and deer. No bears yet!

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  5. Mojo; You may have hit the nail on the head. Curwen just may have a shot at PA director. He has spent a year planning the demise of the PA and its former head Riccio.
    He has had several meeting with the Ferry people as it relates to moving the ferry over to Seaview Ave. Curwen has been a loyal Finch soldier (despite his denials). Everyone knows Bob wants a policy making job. Time will tell.

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  6. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine

    The Hypocrisy of American Slavery

    By Frederick Douglass

    In 1852, invited to give speech in Rochester, Douglass delivered the following indictment of a a nation celebrating freedom and independence, while keeping slaves.

    Excerpted from:
    07/04/1852 — – Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

    What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.

    Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.

    Frederick Douglass – July 4, 1852

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  7. Happy Independence Day bloggers, as someone who has been cleaning up piss in schools for 4 years, I am glad to be free of the rule of a Dimbulb, and here’s hoping that the powers that be will not be blinded by the two custodians who never knew how to clean their schools but yet come and tell me if I don’t do my job right I’ll have to do it all over again, who are they to tell me anything? I says, got no respect for anyone who runs around thinkin’ with his little head and shouts threats with the other head’s mouth! He says we are family, stick together; yeah right. Ok, holiday time and my rant is done, all be safe and don’t drink and drive!

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  8. Ron: You have got to let go. You have to reach back to 1852. Everyone is aware of AMERICA’S warts but it is still the greatest place in the world to live. Going back to slavery–well over 500,000 Americans died fighting to rid the country of slavery.
    Ron you use slavery as a crutch. What do you know of slavery other than what you have read and maybe what has been passed down through your family tree?
    This is the first 4th of July that we have a Black President yet you don’t see the progress. We have had 2 black secretaries of State. We have black generals leading our military. We have blacks leading fire departments, police department and fortune 500 companies.
    Is America perfect? No it’s not but may I suggest that instead of carping and polluting this blog with a speech from 1852 you actually do something to make America better.

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  9. Curwen head of the Port Authority? Has there ever been a bigger set-up and conflict of interest? Wasn’t Curwen a prison guard? Does that qualify him to run the PA? Does he even have a college degree? OMG Only in Bridgeport.

    As far as Ron’s comments … I can only say that I am very proud that Obama became President in my lifetime. I feel the world has finally changed and we can put the sins of the past behind us. Let’s move forward as one … brothers and sisters … and make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren. After all,”We are the World.”

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    1. *** “Leave it to beaver” to throw cold water without really knowing people’s backgrounds. Mr. Curwen was not only a Prison Guard (which you could not do) but worked his way up the ladder to become a Training Captain for the D.O.C. which is a job which takes many types of training hours to achieve. The job is not about brute force in prison because as a guard you carry no weapons while watching & controlling certain block areas. 1 officer to 100 inmates in many cases & if you cannot gain their respect they will not listen to your orders. A know-it-all like you would not last 8 hrs. locked up in population units. Mr. Curwen was in charge of special training conducted per D.O.C. regions in CT. You would be surprised at what the man can do! What special city job do you do that you haven’t learned over the years through experience? *** And regardless of America’s dark past during slavery times, up to its prejudiced faults today, it’s still the best country in the world to live in & most countries in their own history @ one time or another have dealt with slavery in one form or another. Unfortunately it’s in man’s nature to want to dominate over other races or cultures since the beginning of time! You see it here @ times in the blog responses & in 3rd-world countries as well. *** Remember, there’s nothing to fear except fear itself! ***

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  10. “town committee,” you have chosen to interpret what Frederick Douglass said and then you say, “Ron you use slavery as a crutch.” You have no idea what I think in posting that speech; if you want to know then ask me. If you plan on being an elected City Councilman I suggest that you gather the facts first before making statements. I am a Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War and I serve my country proudly for four years as a firefighter during that time.

    If anyone took the time to read about Frederick Douglass they will see someone who was an outspoken critic of power not being use to help ALL AMERICANS. Here is a little American history and background about Frederick Douglass:

    In 1872, Douglass became the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States, At the 1888 Republican National Convention, Douglass became the first African American to receive a vote for President of the United States in a major party’s roll call vote.

    Black abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass was an early critic of President Lincoln. Douglass became an admirer of President Lincoln after the Emancipation Proclamation and helped the Union Army recruit black troops. In August of 1863, Douglass went to President Lincoln to urge equal pay for black soldiers.

    Nearly a year later on August 19, 1864, Douglass returned to the White House at the President’s request. Douglass was impressed that President Lincoln prolonged their conversation despite the arrival of Connecticut Governor William A. Cunningham. Douglass recalled: “Mr. Lincoln said, ‘tell Governor Buckingham to wait, for I want to have a long talk with my friend Frederick Douglass.'” Douglass commented: “This was probably the first time in the history of this Republic when its chief magistrate found occasion or disposition to exercise such an act of impartiality between persons so widely different in their positions and supposed claims upon his attention. From the manner of the governor, when he was finally admitted, I inferred that he was as well satisfied with what Mr. Lincoln had done, or had omitted to do, as I was.”

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  11. I have read extensively on Mr. Douglas and he was a true fighter for all not just blacks but for native Americans and women.
    The point is you posted the speech with no remarks as to why and to what purpose. You are not the only one that served his country.
    I am not the great Kreskin and I was commenting about you not Mr. Douglas’s speech.

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  12. Here are a few quotes from Frederick Douglass, who was born a slave in 1818.

    “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

    “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”

    “Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.”

    “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”

    “The white man’s happiness cannot be purchased by the black man’s misery.”

    “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.”

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  13. “Time To Say Goodbye” to Ken Abriola of Abriola’s Funeral Home. A great man who was very committed to our city and consoled many a family on the loss of a loved one. Condolences to his family. Calling hours are Sunday (today) 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

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  14. “town committee,” seeing that I was talking about someone black and July 4th, The New York Times had a editorial concerning someone black and July 4th, in the July 4, 2009 edition:

    New York Times
    Editorial
    The Great Black Hope
    Published: July 4, 2009

    It was on the Fourth of July 99 years ago that Jack Johnson, the proud and gritty African-American boxing champion, outraged the world of bigotry by retaining his heavyweight crown against the “Great White Hope,” Jim Jeffries. Riots ensued across the country as racists took to the streets, while black ghettos celebrated the triumph of their own flamboyant champion, the son of former slaves.

    This landmark moment in the struggle up from slavery still has not been set right in history. Jack Johnson fearlessly personified a kind of uncivil disobedience–an outspoken contumely toward the nation’s racist taboos. He had a gift for taunting hypocrites from outside the ring and inside, where shouted racist slurs only galvanized his boxing arts. His was an amazing form of resistance when Jim Crow lynchings and pro-white sports reporting were standard Americana.

    Johnson paid the price three years later when vindictive authorities twisted the Mann Act’s strictures against prostitution to convict him before an all-white jury for having dared to travel with a white woman across state lines. He did a year in prison.

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  15. Frederick Douglass is dead; so is MLK. Both were truly great Americans who saw the ravages of inequality and acted. The men “walked the walk”. Their spirit will live on eternally and will inspire great personal achievement.

    This past graduation season shown many minority students not only graduating but attaining highest honors. The numbers are not only impressive, they are gratifying. I look forward to watching these minority graduates take full advantage of their achievements as they make significant contributions to mankind in the course of their careers.

    To those who continue to use the past as a “crutch” justifying an inability to fully meet personal goals and aspirations I say your time has passed. You need to find your inspiration from those just like you who work for a better way of life.

    I believe firmly that the Supreme Court was just when they found on behalf of the white firefighters in New Haven who were denied promotions because no minorities attained acceptable grades on a promotion test. Clearly any minority who sat next to these whites in the classroom had the same opportunity to learn. Today it is a weak excuse to claim bias from lack of achievement. There are just too many minorities working hard to fulfill their aspirations to think tests are prepared so only whites can pass them.

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  16. ***Remember, time may help heal all wounds but does not help in forgetting them! *** America’s original laws, and constitution’s intent were not written with people of color in mind to be able to benefit from or protect! But by dwelling in the past, leaves room for it repeating again. So man must learn from his mistakes in the past to be able to move forward in the future! ***

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  17. Went on a wild west white water rafting trip today. Half way through I noticed ribbons of lighting striking the snow-capped peaks that jutted into the big sky. Soon we were pelted with sideways rain while trying to paddle down the rapids. Thor our aptly named guide had us paddling backwards to avoid getting our eyes poked with rain pellets. I loved every second. If you are ever in Gardiner MT check out Wild West rafting and ask for the god of thunder.

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  18. Mojo, I like you and I like Bob Curwen. You are both good people with the public’s best interests in mind from what I have seen. I have to say though, that although Bob had a lot of responsibility at his job from what you write here, it doesn’t seem like the type of background for a Port Director.

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    1. *** R.W.& B.; I can only write what I know, I don’t know his entire background during his lifetime other than he’s an Air Force Vet., City Council member and D.O.C. I do know that if Joe Riccio could run the P/A, I believe Mr. Curwen would have no problem once he’s acclimated to the job. ***

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  19. “yahooy,” I am in agreement with what you wrote expect for the Supreme Court decision in New Haven. If you read the 93 page court decision you will see that ruling was against the city for doing nothing after the test was given.

    The Supreme Court NEVER ruled on law of the US Federal Guidelines on Employee Selection Producers, when a test has “disparate impact” and those exams have NEVER been validated to see if that meet the standard of what a supervisor must do. These issues are headed back to court.

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    1. *** Mack, you can’t explain anything rational with Yahooy-Pooey. He’s a complete spineless jerk with racist undertones that radiate every time he blogs on OIB! Plus he doesn’t even live in Bpt.! *** Forget about it! ***

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    2. Ron Mackey

      You are an illiterate asshole. Why don’t you have that dickhead ***Mofo*** explain the Supreme Court decision. He’s smarter than you and he’s real stupid.

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      1. *** See what I mean, I used to have to put guys like Yahooy in (protective-custody) units to keep them from getting used & abused, called Maytag-Fag’s. I usually can spot the type by all the B/S they talk @ the drop of a hat. Behind their closed door, they were “bad” like Michael Jackson and know it all’s. But when you popped there cell-door for Rec. they would quickly shut-it again and not go out into population. Sometimes the door would re-open just in case a surprizing change of mind but they would quickly shut it again before any other inmate noticed! Difference of oppinion’s priceless, yahooy’s B/S, “Spineless”. ***

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  20. “Mojo,” I see what you are talking about; if “yahooy” knew how to read he would have read what I said in the New Haven Register, July 1, 2009 by William Kaempffer. He is the type who hides but gets off on a blog, he won’t say what he said to my face.

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    1. *** Mack, differences of opinions are bound to happen on a web forum like OIB. At times as you type your response on a particular item, you may hit a wrong key or misspell a word or two, it happens! However, bloggers like Yahooy, C.H.S., & a few others take those oportunities to show their ignorance by making @ times disrespectful comments, etc. behind the mask of a web handle. Comments that they would never have the heart or jewels to make face to face! Now you tell me if that ain’t a “kick in the head” or “hole in the boat”? *** Forget about it! ***

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