Shark Attack! Plus: The Best Of The Finest

Do you wanna know a secret?

That’s what State Rep. Brendan Sharkey, also a seasoned Hamden-based land use attorney, would like know on behalf of the Committee to Ungag the People. The peeps have retained Sharkey to probe the private discussions, if any, involving zoning officials and special interests in the decision-making process regarding zoning regs. What could he uncover? Ya never know. At the very least this will shake things up a bit.

Sharkey has directed his FOI request to City Attorney Mark Anastasi who relishes the give-and-take of such requests. Mark is sorta like the dragon protecting the castle. He doesn’t mind breathing fire in return in the form of delay, stall, legal interpretation, etc. See the initial page of Sharkey’s request followed by specific info he seeks in the link. Fun, fun, fun.

I have been retained by the Committee to Ungag the People to represent them in this and related matters.

Pursuant to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FIOA), I am writing to inquire about possible ex partecommunications between City of Bridgeport staff and commissioners on the one hand and developers, special interests and land use attorneys on the other with respect to the recently proposed changes to the City’s Master Plan, zoning map and regulations. While this inquiry is general in nature, my client has specific concerns about proposed changes to the Plan, the zoning map and zoning regulations for following areas: (a) area on Main St comprising in whole or in part the Eastern side of Main St. one property depth in from Trumbull town line southerly along Main St. to Commerce Park Funeral Home and the Western side of Main St. one property depth in from Trumbull town line southerly along Main St. to south of Minturn Street; (b) area on Main St comprising in whole or in part the Eastern side of Main St. one property depth in from N.A.G.E. Union Hall property southerly along Main St. to apartment complex just north of intersection of Beechmont Ave and Main St and the Eastern side of Main St. one property depth in from former Calvary Episcopal Church southerly along Main St. to northern parcel on Fairview Ave and the Western side of Main St. one property depth in from Stoehrs Place southerly along Main St. to and including Lupe’s Drug Store; (c) 420 Anton Drive (abutting Commerce Park); (d) 9.9 acres of open space off of Greenwood St.; and (e) Testo’s Restaurant, 1775 Madison Ave. (the “Proposed Zoning Changes”).

Accordingly, I am requesting the opportunity to inspect and copy the documents and materials outlined below that may be in the possession of the City of Bridgeport and/or its Planning and Zoning Commission (the “Commission”), including the Commission’s members:

B’port FOI Request – 11-13-090001

Top Cops

Lots of good cops will be promoted tonight in City Hall, including Lynn Kerwin as assistant chief making her the highest ranking female police office in the city’s history.

I know a bunch of the police officers including Kerwin, William “Ron” Bailey and Armando Perez. Ten years ago when I managed a city image-building campaign I chose Lynn for a television spot promoting law enforcement success. It was one of the best spots of the campaign.

Bailey was a fantastico resource for my book Chased about the undercover work of city police officer Billy Chase who took down numerous drug dealers in the region including the head of the Number One Family which terrorized the West End. I was scheduled to do a book signing at Walden Books in Trumbull shortly after the book came out. The store received telephone threats of violence taking place at the signing. The store manager wanted to cancel. I told Bailey about this and he offered his time (on his own time) free of charge to be there. “They’re just curious, Lennie, these guys won’t do anything but throw out their chests.” The signing moved forward.

When I arrived for the signing dozens of surrogates of the Number One Family had filled the mall entry to the store. They saw me and then they saw Bailey whom they all knew. (I think I sold more books to Number One Family members in the joint than any other group.) Ron Bailey can flat fight. He’s a quadruple black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Once I saw him go through five boards with a single punch. Anyhoo, it was a nice book signing, a stress-free signing, because of Bailey.

A.J. Perez is a prince of a guy.

All these cops make for the Best of Bridgeport. If I’m Mayor Bill Finch I’m hoping Acting Chief Joe Gaudett and Kerwin finish in the top three for the Civil Service test to select a permanent chief. What makes me think there’s no rush to administer the test?

News release from Mayor Finch

Capt. Lynn Kerwin Appointed Assistant Chief; Promotion Ceremonies for 17 Officers Set for Monday, Nov. 16

On Monday evening, Nov. 16, Mayor Bill Finch and Acting Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr. will preside over the promotion ceremonies for 17 police officers.

At the ceremony, Capt. Lynn Kerwin will be sworn in as the Assistant Chief, only the third officer to be appointed to the position in the history of the department.

The following three officers will be promoted to Captain: Lt. Robert Evans, Lt. Armando Perez and Lt. Joseph Savino Jr.

The following three officers will be promoted to Lieutenant: Sgt. William Bailey, Sgt. John Cueto and Sgt. Brett Hyman.

The following 10 officers will be promoted to detective: Joseph Badolato, Mark Belinkie, James Borrico, John Burke, Jorge Cintron, David Garcia, Mark T. Graham, Martin M. Heanue, Todd Hoben and William Reilly.

The ceremonies will be held in City Council Chambers at 6:15 p.m., Monday, Nov. 16.

News release from Dem U.S. Senate candidate Merrick Alpert

MERRICK ALPERT COMPLETES HIS MARCH TO END THE AFGHAN WAR

New London, Connecticut – Since announcing his candidacy in May, Merrick Alpert has spoken candidly about his belief that the United States should be drawing down its forces in Afghanistan. Concerned about our continued military activities in Afghanistan, and convinced that our current course is mistaken, Merrick began a March across Connecticut this week to demonstrate his opposition to the war. The motivations behind Merrick’s March were to raise awareness and to promote discussion about the conflict, and to encourage our government to bring our troops home.

“Having served in the U.S. military, I respect and admire our fellow citizens who wear our nation’s uniform. It is my belief that we have a duty to these men and women, who have dedicated themselves to the protection of our country, not to send them into harm’s way unless (1) doing so is vital to our national security, (2) the military deployment has a clear, publicly-supported objective, and (3) the conflict can be won in a reasonable time. I oppose the American war in Afghanistan because it fails all three criteria. I am walking across Connecticut to publicize my opposition to this war. I hope others will join me.”

Merrick began his 117-mile March to End the Afghan War on the Connecticut-Rhode Island border on the morning of Tuesday November 10th. He walked approximately 25 miles each day along US-Route 1, reaching the New York state line in Greenwich earlier this afternoon.

“Having just completed a five-day, 117-mile walk across Connecticut to express my opposition to the Afghan War, I want to thank the thousands of people who showed their support, cheered me on, and joined me on the March.”

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22 comments

  1. It looks like Brendan Sharkey has signed up for his own IRA/401K.
    I would suggest to Brendan that by the time he has his zoning questions answered, Mario will have become a Republican, “Slick Sal” DiNardo will have paid his huge tax debt to Bridgeport and we will finally know what Timpanelli does for a job and that weekly $2000.00-plus job (happy taxes Bpt.)
    Brendan did you really take those Tooth Fairy fables your parents told you as being the truth?
    Brendan you will be old and gray before you get some truth out of your inquiries.

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  2. There is no doubt in my mind that the changes made to the proposed master plan are nothing more than spot zoning. The zoning board has had many members replaced and once this happened the spot zoning requests started to roll in from these new commissioners and from one or 2 of the sitting commissioners.
    The administration was part of this spot zoning mess and put commissioners in place that would play ball with the developers and attorneys.
    They put in place a chairperson that was weak and deferred to the administration. These items could have been prevented from coming forward if the chairperson were so inclined.
    Not one of the new commissioners has had any land use training and have shown an inclination to not attend land use seminars.
    The attorney representing the city in land use matters is weak and known for questionable opinions. Thus the mess we have now.
    To be honest the Ungag the People crowd are almost as bad as the zoning players and there is more at play here than worrying about spot zoning.

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  3. Congratulations to all of the above officers.

    Is there an “Assistant Chief” position in the table of organization in Charter or Civil Service? First Assistant Chief was the late Robert Mangano, followed by Karen Krysykie and now Lynn Kerwin.

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  4. *** What civil service or charter? A mere blast from the past nowadays. Simply put, it’s now “whatever serves the admin’s purpose”. Play ball accordingly & good things can happen (maybe), however resist & sooner or later pay the “V”-price. *** Pay attention folks, but to facts first, not outside the box rumors. *** Time will tell. ***

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  5. I love Kerwin. In fact she was supposed to be Acting Chief …

    BUT, the “prepared statement” she was reading from is a CROCK OF SHIT from the ADMINISTRATION!!!

    The Assistant Chief position was created shortly prior to Chief Norwood’s departure. The deal was he would be able to choose someone that he could work with and be his right hand because he didn’t trust some of his 4 Deputies who were more loyal to the Union than the PD Chief …

    SO basically, the statement that this position was created by demand from the Court to replace the Special Master is BS … I think the Mayor was just scared if he didn’t say it like that, he would get flack for adding an Asst Chief position at $98,000+, with 4 Deputies …

    BUT, best wishes to Kerwin, she deserves it …

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  6. Congratulations to Officer Kerwin on her appointment to the Assistant Chief’s position. Now, on to bigger and better things …

    A discussion with the Lenniemeister tomorrow evening at the Black Rock branch of the Bridgeport Library. Let’s rock and roll; Lennie will be explaining to all and sundry just how politics work in this wonderful city, how our elected officials, when not preening and primping for a judicial appointment, are actually accomplishing something for THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF BRIDGEPORT. If any of you self-interested schmucks are reading this, let me remind you what you are supposed to be doing in the office WE elected you to: REPRESENTING OUR BEST INTERESTS, NOT YOUR OWN.

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  7. *** Let’s see if I come close, since I know my numbers are somewhat off! *** About 428 P/D officers (total) on the Bpt. P/D. Now there’s the chief, an asst. chief, 4 deputy chiefs, ? majors, captains, lieutenants & sgts and of course the “political” boss, the Mayor on a 4-year term. And overseeing all that is the police commissions board. Quite a large management # or Top-heavy brass for an average-sized P/D with fewer than 500 officers! My guess is that in New York’s smallest burough, the brass is not that top-heavy & there’s probably more police & crime. Just one example of big “$” overspending by city government on the wrong things @ the wrong times. Too many chiefs & not enough good qualified indians in general, throughout the entire city of Bpt’s (civil service) jobs community. That’s just part of the reason city worker’s morale is down, city service is poor in general, raises are far & few, doing more with less is becoming more frequent, layoffs & forced early retirements are on an increase & sued cases against the city are increasing leaving the city’s legal dept. having to get outside firms to handle the cases @ much more $ than if the city handled it. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Which in the long run will mean an increase in city taxes! *** Time will tell. ***

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  8. I keep reading about the so-claimed mismanagement of P.F. written by CHS and Meatball. How does Meatball write all that is wrong with P.F. and then CHS swears to it as if she herself wrote the blog? In my opinion, all these two do is attempt their continued personal attacks on certain individuals who happen to manage the Public Works Dept. The way these individuals talk, you would think the sky is falling. Rumor has it that his Honor himself has finally realized that CHS is nothing more than a thorn in his side who creates battles that don’t need to be created. He is keeping as far away as he possibly can from her. Your Honor, “GOD BLESS YOU” for making a very firm stance on not putting up with the bullshit! You will get enormous amounts of respect from your true core dedicated employees who work hard each and every day for you and the citizens of Bpt. This person has for far too long used the power of your office for her own personal agenda. For far too long good employees have suffered because of her vicious attacks. To finally bring her down a few notches so that her arrogance doesn’t prevail deserves to be recognized. If you set the example with her and her other half, then others just may get the message. The message is clear: The COB is a place of business, it is not a romper room or a war zone. Employees must be evaluated by their hard work, their dedication and their professionalism! They must not be judged or punished because of dirty politics, or jealousy, or personal agendas.

    To His Honor, Mr. Carroll and the rest of the administration/city employees I salute you on the hard work you provide to the citizens of this great city. For too long, these personal attacks have been posted with no defense. I blog here today to defend your hard work, to let you know you have support.

    CHS AND MEATBALL: Read and weep! Remember this: Your ugly ways will always get you in the end …

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  9. ct, I don’t want to blow my cover but I don’t want you getting an innocent employee in trouble either. You need to stop with your insinuations. Hint: I no longer work for the COB.

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  10. ct and Mojo have been trying to “out” me for awhile, and in the process they have raised suspicions towards several people who have nothing to do with my blogging. So please stop. If you disagree with what I write, by all means let me have it right back. Tell your side of the story. But don’t make random guesses that could hurt innocent people. Thank you.

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  11. CHS, You are an IDIOT. You have just confirmed my position all along! Rumor has it you were extremely nervous today because your true identity has been revealed. Now, you expect everyone to honestly believe you no longer work for the COB? Come on CHS, I would even have to give you more credit than that. You my dear are running scared and trying to cover your tracks. The party is over for you, but it has just begun for me! I stand by my comments posted above. Pay back is a bitch. Your time is near … Good Riddance and God Bless! See Ya, Wouldn’t want to be you …

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  12. CHS, Read your prior blogs! How does one blog about what was overheard in the hallway of the Annex if he/she no longer works for the COB? How does one post all the mismanagement claims of what is/is not being done if one no longer works for the COB? You should think before you blog!

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    1. ct: Well, gee, I don’t know … could it possibly be that someone who still works for the city and knows CHS from when he/she used to work for the city picked up a phone and told her/him?

      Or is this just too much of a leap for you?

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