Last Monday school bus drivers and education advocates jammed City Council chambers urging the legislative body to revisit an ordinance that restricts large commercial vehicles from parking on city streets carrying a $250 fine.
The school bus drivers seek a carve out from the heavy commercial vehicles impacting quality of life on city streets.
Two potent council personalities are on opposite sides. The litigious Maria Pereira promises a lawsuit (as long as someone else is paying the freight or doing pro bono work) if the council votes for an exemption for bus drivers, something Eneida Martinez vehemently supports, even slipping into a rubber bus at the last council meeting to hammer home her point.
Martinez, co-chair of the Ordinance Committee, rallied her peers to schedule a public heating for this Thursday September 17 in advance of the next full council meeting September 21. It appears there’s plenty of support among council members to amend the ordinance.
The last time Pereira sued the city was over the 2025 charter revision backed by city voters. A judge recently dismissed Pereira’s legal claim it was a faulty process.
Notice from council website:
A Public Hearing will be held before the Ordinance Committee of the City Council of
Bridgeport regarding “Whether Item #18-25 (Proposed Amendment to the Municipal Code of Ordinances, amend Chapter 10.12 – Stopping, Standing and Parking Generally) should be amended to take into consideration its impact on school bus drivers during the school day.” for Thursday evening, September 17, 2026 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace, Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The City Council is the elected legislature of the City from a practical perspective.
As the Ordinance Committee of the Council prepared this ordinance, they did not consider holding hearings for such a wide ranging law, and who it would affect daily among citizens driving school buses or work trucks for businesses that provided jpbs and earnings and perhaps some tax funds to the city. Why no hearings initially with the enforcement powers and fines for breaking such a law?
Why does the City of Bridgeport not have a Parking Commission? A common impression is that the Police Department issues tickets per regulations revised in recent years. Actually the enforcement of parking on metered city streets has its own force to handle meter collections, ticketing, and maintenance concerns.
Parking is a subject that the Police Commission has authority over as I learned some years ago when the subject of a pedestrian bridge to Metro/Black Rock RR Station in Fairfield was introduced. There has been no response from members of the Police Commission over the time period on how parking on the Bridgeport side of such a bridge might complicate resident parking in that neighborhood over time. Why not?
And recent complaints about cabs and trailers with out of state plates taking up space in other neighborhoods around the city have also risen. Does the City own land or know of land resources that might contain such temporary parking in a secure manner? Why not use the Ordinance process with potential hearings in advance of limited decision making rather than announcing to a full Public Speaking session that you already see the wisdom of a hearing process?
We participated in three Casual Civics Conversations on Saturday this weekend, in the 131 on Saturday at 9am, in the 130th on a porch at noon, and at 3pm on Saturday on a porch in 132’d Districts. Neighbors, talking, listening, and learning about municipal governance issues, which build respect and trust at this moment of challenges to democracy. Our goal has been to increase the responsibility of voting, when you are eligible and registered. Unfortunately more than 80% of eligible and registered ignore the responsibility entailed by the privilege and right to vote as they endure voicelessness. Web site for info:
yourbridgeportvote.com. Time will tell.
John, you once asked for my position on Aquaculture in the Port. While you have commented on the current ordinance regarding allowing parking for city school buses. What is your position, pro or con, for allowing the exception for buses to park on city streets in the original ordinance?
P.S. I think Speedy and Joe owe their neighbor, you, an apology for saying your words have no weight and no one is listening to. Good Job. 🤣
Your hard work is paying. However, being Port politics, I stand by my assessment. 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1639301324298478
Paying off 🙂
Assessment 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4qzPbcFiA
This is actually pretty cool/smart. Much better than that half-baked effort where the funds on the signage were spent, how the practicality and cleaner, well. We know how Port rolls. 🙂
The Port should have a comprehensive schedule for street signage, just like it has now, with that spring-to-fall odd-even restriction, but with an exact date and schedule that reflect reality more than equity for the spring and summer, fall months. Meaning Black and other neighborhoods don’t have to get swept as often as others.
Since the exact day is made known on that day, and the signs are out and posted, every car should get a 50 ticket. JS
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1858563668850045
The Indian of the “Italian” immigrants would be proud, Port. 🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sxwGlTLWw
Let the school bus drivers park on the street during the day.
They already have a tough enough job.
Is it really tougher than any other driving Job? Perhaps more challenging, being a large commercial vehicle?
The real question at hand is why create such an ordinance? The answer is obvious. To enhance the quality of life and the quality of the Port.
The exception to diminish the principle of the ordinance for which it was created is not based on a reasonable accommodation to alleviate any hardship that the drivers will incur because of the ordinance, but to accommodate the privilege of convenience for the drivers of not having to bring their bus back to the location in which they picked it up to state work.
Be it at the cost of the inconvenience and perhaps safety factors of residents and other drivers accessing the roads where the buses are parked on a daily basis.
The way I see it, every bus is used to pick up students for school last drop-off is at 9 a.m., and the first pick-up is at 2:30. That’s a 5-hour time gap for every bus in the fleet. Close to 250 buses, according to Google.
While I can’t see that all 250 buses are being kept between shifts, I never experienced living next to my “neighbor” who was/is a bus driver who parked their work vehicle (bus) in front of my living arrangement. I am sure it is an issue of quality of life to those who do. No doubt about that.
What are we really talking about regarding this exception? One drop-off and one pick-up of the bus at the company yard between shifts with is 5 and a half hours between lag time. You have to assume we are really talking about an extra 45 minutes to an hour of inconvenience for the bus drivers, (on the extreme level) to have to bring their company vehicle back and pick it up between split shifts. At the cost of 5 and a half hours of inconvenience to the “neighbors” who have to endure these buses that do park in front of their domicile.
While Maria’s position is correct from a governmental and quality of life/Port. I understand the driver’s position. Commute for work sucks, and any mean to alleviate it, I would seek too. But at what cost to their neighbors does it affect? Sure, a bridge over Port’s beach would not help them, but commuting and finding ways to alleviate are the things people 🙂
You can ask that question to the CC members, what benefit the driver (45 minutes commute time between shifts) to the 5-hour blight to the neighbors, and the overall quality of the Port,
Time will tell, right, John.
What do you say, rubber ducky? 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5ZLJWQmss
My bad
You can ask that question to the CC members. What benefit the driver (45 minutes commute time between shifts) to the 5-hour blight to the neighbors, and the overall quality of the Port, will you support and vote for?
P.S. John, 3 CCC in one day? Your CCC is like Jefferson’s cleaners of the Port. Moving on up. 🙂
Good Job, Honkey 🙂
You know what the Port CC should do, instead of allowing CC members to speak (bloviate) during public speaking, after the public speaking, they should have an open debate on the issue and positions, something like Britain does. It would be entertaining to watch. to say the least.
However, it would take a higher caliber of CC Member, elected official, I would think. More than a visual custom.
Think about it, Port. It can be part of the vision of becoming an entertainment destination. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsmUbAOatSY
Peace out, Port. Try to play nice.
The prophet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22tVWwmTie8
Clarity when I say.
“However, it would take a higher caliber of CC Member, elected official, I would think. More than a visual custom.” Not to say that Martinze is a low-caliber debater, far from it, consider the CC body as a whole.
Something that rate nest perhaps doesn’t want, considering. I would think. JS
Although I think Maria would take her in a debate on the issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba2VaalmijM
The Prophet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY&list=RDYVkUvmDQ3HY&start_radio=1