Weldon Announces Timeline To Fill Bradley Vacancy On School Board

Analysis and Comment, Education, News and Events99 Comments

OIB reached out to Board of Education Chairman John Weldon about establishing a timeline to fill the vacancy of Dennis Bradley who resigned from the board last week triggering a 30-day window for the board to fill it. If they miss the deadline, the vacancy will be filled by Mayor Joe Ganim. Bradley resigned following his election to the State Senate in November.

From Weldon:

A Special Meeting is being planned for Monday, February 25th, at 7:30 p.m. in Rm. 324 of City Hall on Lyon Terrace, to establish a process and timeline for filling the vacancy created by Dennis Bradley, who resigned his seat on February 15th.

As a result of Mr. Sokolovic’s party switch from Republican to Democrat this past October, an “excess party majority” was created that now must be rebalanced through the process the Board is about to embark on.

We’ve been advised through legal counsel that, to conduct that rebalancing, the individual that replaces Mr. Bradley cannot be a registered Democrat, but can have any other party affiliation, or may be unaffiliated.

When the Board meets on Monday, it is anticipated that a timeline will be cemented to make the most efficient use of the remaining 20 days the Board will have at that time to elect an interested party to fill the vacancy. While an aggressive schedule, I do not foresee it being insurmountable. I envision a roughly 10-day window being established to receive applications, followed by a 1- or 2-day review period, with interviews taking place to allow for a vote to be taken in time to have the selected individual in place to begin service at the March 11th Regular Meeting–well in advance of the March 17th deadline the Board has to fill the vacancy.

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99 comments

  1. I guess party label don’t really mean anything if you can switch and make a law worthless.
    what is Paula going to do? Paula seems deep in the D’s. So I can’t see her switching party. Who on the board of going to switch party so Paula can have a seat as a Democrat? I say Jessica should switch to the WFP. She’s Por- Charter School anyway, which is ironic 🙂 Paula I say you make a deal with her. That’s BPT politics, Good job Joe with a D . 🙂

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    1. Thanks. However any party change has to be. 90 days to matter. Well past time for it to matter in this case. My read of the statute has the only exception applying to unaffiliateds switching to (not from) a party can take place immediately. However with the illegal actions this board has been taking recently, it just may end up in court.

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      1. You knew the law, so that makes all right eh? This Democrat, former City Councilmen, and parent of 2 district students must sit and wait till you bunch of opportunistic abusers stop playing this god damn game of political foot ball. The law must be changed to stop this kind of bullshit. Shut this damn loophole ASAP. Just another HENNESY on the BOE.

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    2. CT Post reporter, Linda Lambeck’s tweet says it all.

      “After canceling #bridgeport bid meeting on Monday the board chairman now calls a special one where public can’t speak.”

      John Weldon unilaterally canceled our Regular Meeting for Monday claiming there was no urgent business and out of consideration for staff, yet he has scheduled a Special Meeting for the exact same day to discuss our $60,000,000 three year bus contract and the entire timeline and procedure for filling a vacancy.

      Pure bullsh_t!

      Please join us as follows:

      Monday, February 25th
      7:30 PM at night. That’s right! 7:30 PM.
      45 Lyon Terrace, Room 305

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  2. How considerate of John Weldon to issue a press release to OIB BEFORE his colleagues on the school board have any idea of Monday’s Special Meeting, the proposed timeline, the party affilation requirements to fill the vacancy, and more.

    So let me tell you what slimy Weldon, in consultation with Mario Testa and Mayor Ganim of course, is upto.

    The plan is to have the Democrat they had lined up to fill the vacancy switch from a Democrat to an Unaffiliated voter then vote for that slimy person to fill the vacancy.

    There is a 90 day waiting period to switch from one party to another. There is no waiting period to switch from a major or minor party to unaffiliated.

    Once you switch from a party to unaffiliated you have to wait 90 days to switch back to a party which gives their slimy candidate until the end of May to switch back to a major party before the convention process.

    Got it!

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    1. Pardon me sir, exercising one’s right to switch from the Republican Party is slimy? In the Donald Trump Era many are doing so. Not my fault if people got their apple cart all upset.

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      1. Sir, I’m a simple person. Is that a code word for something. 🙂 Whoever said Slimy people don’t have rights? You just realized Trump was your President in October of 2018, after run for the board as a Republican? Why not switch to WFP who endorsed you? PS Slimy was using the Republican Party to get elected, and sell out the WFP .

        P.S since I don”t know what your intent was by calling me sir, and you a kinda slimy I’ll assume it was not kind words. If I’m wrong please pardon me sir. 🙂
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng0olzfFzog

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      2. And Joe I didn’t say changing parties was slimy, Maria did. Your response though speaks for itself. J.S people get their apple car all upset because of the apples and oranges play politics with the kids and disregards what’s really best for them. As the fox once said, being on the board is not about what’s best for the students, (children) but what’s best for themselves and controlling the 200 million plus dollar budgets. That being said a none slimy person has to ask. Was switching party because of Trump or was it about control? I don’t expect you to be honest with a reply to that question. All I can hope for, at the end of the day, while the apples and oranges fight of control of the “cart” there’re are adults in the room looking out for what’s best for the kids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNuzgDrUXP0

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        1. Joel,

          You do not speak for me. Joe apparently changed his party affiliation in October. I can only speak for myself, however I had absolutely no knowledge of it until it was posted on OIB.

          Dave Hennessey switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican right before he resigned which directly impacted who could be selected to replace him which the rest of us had to live with. The vast majority of voters that elected Dave Hennessey were Democrats. He was the endorsed Democrat on Row A with Baker and Gardner.

          Joe Sokolovic didn’t switch to a Democrat as he was planning to resign and impact who we could fill his vacancy with. He did it because of Donald Trump and I believe he is supporting Marilyn Moore for Mayor. If she primaries Ganim she will need approximately 2,600 dem petition signatures. You must be a Democrat to circulate a petition for a Democrat.

          Finally, Sokolovic ran as an endorsed Republican, however he was also cross-endorsed by the WFP. No specific party affiliation is required to receive the WFP endorsement. Joe Sokolovic would have lost if it wasn’t for the WFP line.

          When I ran with the WFP in 2009 I was a unaffiliated voter. A year into my term I switched to a Democrat for personal reasons. It wasn’t because I was plotting or scheming. It was simply a personal choice.

          Do I think it is “slimy” to be a registered Democrat who the machine had all lined up to fill Bradley’s vacated seat, but they suddenly switch to an unaffiliated voter 10 days before the Board is expected to fill the vacancy with a ‘minority” party member in order to fill that seat? Absolutely!

          Kadisha Coates was an unaffiliated voter that suddenly switched to a WFP voter to fill a vacancy. She represented the Charter $school industry and privatization efforts of our public schools, something the WFP is completely opposed to, yet she is suddenly their representative on the Board of Education.

          Slimy? Absolutely.

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          1. Got it, crazy foxy lady. 🙂 But if you believe Joe only witched party because of Trump. You are not as smart as you think,or his sliminess is rubbing off. The only reason BOE members or candidates switching party’s is because the the law requirement. If the city council had the such a requirements Ernie would switch to a R to get a council seat. Well maybe not Ernie but Pete, definitely, Brooklawn and North End perhaps, even the East Side. could see a “Hennessy” switch. Hispanics are not die hard D’s. To the Latinos. 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHG0ezLiVGc

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          3. I wasn’t speaking Maria, I wrote it. Thanks for the clarification. I blind-sided by the report of the Sokoswitch. For weeks I was trying to figure out what avenue Moore was planning on taking as far as challenging Joe Ganim. I was also thinking about you. You surely won’t get the Democratic Party endorsement and I’m not sure how much of a working relationship you have with WFP. The other day I wrote: I see Maria Pereira running on the Marilyn Moore slate. One thing is clear now: Soko is likely to primary for BOE on a Moore slate.

            I will say the the state statute that permits these types of political maneuvering is slimy. Here’s one example you may like but, I think it’s unfair. Let ‘s say that a member of the Bridgeport DTC is interested in applying for the BOE spot. He or she must change their party affiliation to unaffiliated. This creates another delema; once a DTC member switches, he or she must vacate their DTC seat. This would not apply to a Bridgeport RTC member.

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    2. Joseph Solovic and I are not “friends.” We are colleagues on the school board.

      We have never had breakfast, lunch, dinner, a cup of coffee, etc., together.

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          3. TBK do you actually read your posts here on OIB? You are like the most worthless person on this blog. . I was being kind by calling you a loser in the hopes of lifting up your spirit. LOSER 🙂

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          4. Hey Robert T, did you see how Lennie Grimaldi OIBitchslap The Bridgeport Kid?

            LennieGrimaldi says:
            February 22, 2019 at 2:48 pm
            Derek, you’re clueless about Downtown. Are you capable of writing anything positive about the city of your residence, or you just prefer to marinate in your misery? You trash the city because you despise the political leadership irrespective of the positive things going on outside the political establishment. Several good people in Bridgeport stepped up for you when you were down and out and homeless. Now, you live off the government tit, but trash the city that helps provide that benefit.

            Reply
            .

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  4. Maria
    The law concerning minority party representation is a state law not local. So you are saying the state allows one to switch party membership even if it violates the law?

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    1. No, Bob.

      Anyone who wants to switch from any party; Democrat, Republican, WFP, Green Party, etc., to another “party” has to wait 90 days to do so. However, if you want to switch from a “party” to unaffiliated there is NO waiting period.

      I am a Democrat. If I filed a voter registration card to switch to an unaffiliated voter on Monday, I would be listed as an unaffiliated voter on Tuesday.

      However, if I wanted to switch to the WFP I would not switch to the WFP voter list for 90 days.

      State statute requires minority representation on all boards and commissions. That means three of the nine school board seats must be from minority parties, which includes unaffiliated voters. There are only two minority school board members right now, Weldon and Taylor.

      Therefore, although Dennis Bradley resigned as a registered Democrat, and normally he must be replaced by a Democrat, the minority party statute takes precedence and the vacancy MUST be filled by someone registered as ANY other party other than a Democrat.

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  6. Why did Joe Sokolovis change party affiliation knowing full well that the BOE is subject to party affiliation legal rules. Joe seems to be a nice guy but this stinks.

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    1. Joe is a nice guy and changed parties because he wanted to be able to help gather signatures and vote for friendly candidates for CC BOE and the Mayors office. The rest is just a happy bonus. Admittedly I am A DINO. I still remain a fiscally conservative Republican at heart.

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        1. No, Bob.

          Anyone who wants to switch from any party; Democrat, Republican, WFP, Green Party, etc., to another “party” has to wait 90 days to do so. However, if you want to switch from a “party” to unaffiliated there is NO waiting period.

          I am a Democrat. If I filed a voter registration card to switch to an unaffiliated voter on Monday, I would be listed as an unaffiliated voter on Tuesday.

          However, if I wanted to switch to the WFP I would not switch to the WFP voter list for 90 days.

          State statute requires minority representation on all boards and commissions. That means three of the nine school board seats must be from minority parties, which includes unaffiliated voters. There are only two minority school board members right now, Weldon and Taylor.

          Therefore, although Dennis Bradley resigned as a registered Democrat, and normally he must be replaced by a Democrat, the minority party statute takes precedence and the vacancy MUST be filled by someone registered as ANY other party other than a Democrat.

          Bradley, Walker, Pereira, Allen, Martinez and Illingworth as Democrats.

          Chris Taylor and John Weldon as Republicans.

          Joe Sokolivic was elected as a registered Republican on the Republican line and cross endorsed on the WFP line.

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  7. One caveat to unaffiliated. One must be register as an unaffiliated for over 90 days.

    https://www.cga.ct.gov/2015/pub/chap_146.htm

    (g) For the purposes of this section, a person shall be deemed to be a member of the political party on whose enrollment list his name appears on the date of his appointment to, or of his nomination as a candidate for election to, any office specified in subsection (a) of this section, provided any person who has applied for erasure or transfer of his name from an enrollment list shall be considered a member of the party from whose list he has so applied for erasure or transfer for a period of three months from the date of the filing of such application and provided further any person whose candidacy for election to an office is solely as the candidate of a party other than the party with which he is enrolled shall be deemed to be a member of the party of which he is such candidate.
    (1959, P.A. 665; 1963, P.A. 592; P.A. 76-173, S. 1; P.A. 77-

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    2. It ain’t so, Joe.
      A few years back, Terrible Timmy Herbst needed to fill a seat on the Trumbull Ethics Commission. He’d be dammed if he’d appoint a Democrat and no more Republicans could be appointed because of the minority party representation rules.
      So, Timmy had the Deacon of the Antioch Orthodox Church on Park Ave (Bpt) The not so Reverend Slimeball (Sami Bal), a decades long registered Republican resign from the Republican Party and be listed as an Unaffiliated voter. and Timmy appointed this person in less than 5 days. The state upheld the appointment.
      When I dared to question the ethics of this appointee, I accused of attacking a ‘man of the cloth.’ Bullshit, I was attacking Terrible Timmy. As for the ‘man of the cloth, he should have donned sackcloth and atoned for his sin.

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      1. Mr. Marcus I just looked at SEEC rulings for 15-16 and I can’t find it. Do you know where I can look? To read the decision. Do you recall who brought the case?

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        1. Joe….
          The case wasn’t brought, went to SEEC for an advisory (used to be able to do that) and they said the reading of the law didn’t require the waiting period going from a party to ‘U’ so no case was brought.

          BTW, Trumbull’s charter requires minority representation on our legislative council. So each party can run only one less candidate for the seats on the council in each district. This guarantees at least one minority party council member per district.

          I live in District 3 which has 5 council members, The Republicans and Democrats each run 4 candidates. During Timmy’s reign we had 4 Rs and 1 D, this past election the D’s picked up a seat and we have 3 Rs and 2Ds.
          Total council is 21 (11 D 10 R) no supermajority as Timmy had to rubber stamp things needing 2/3 majority. They have to work together to govern.

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      2. https://m.ctpost.com/local/article/Trumbull-Ethics-Commission-appointment-raises-6231819.php
        Is this the case you are referring to? It seems quite different on its face.

        One it deals with mayoral appointees to a commission that was said to violate TOWN a charter for the appointment of Alternates (according to the article).

        Two it seems to have been town committees approval of some subcommittee.

        Three this case will refer to an elected position where minority representation is mandated by state statute. I’m gonna try and find out more but on its face it really doesn’t seem to be a comparable case.

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      3. I think I know why this may have been upheld. Your town charter has provisions written in for some boards to follow state statute, and offers a minority representation provision as well. The only board I could see that refers to state statute is the board of finance. (Chap 6 sec 1) Chap 6 sec 17 does not refer to state statute. So the violation was to the town charter. Which likely due to line C’s exclusion (not quite sure if Trumbull fits) may not be enforceable by the state. Boards of Education explicitly and implicitly covered by state statute.

        2) The provisions of this section shall not apply (A) to any such board, commission, committee or body whose members are elected wholly or partially on the basis of a geographical division of the state or political subdivision, (B) to a legislative body of a municipality (i) having a town meeting as its legislative body or (ii) for which the charter or a special act, on January 1, 1987, provided otherwise or (C) to the city council of an unconsolidated city within a town and the town council of such town if the town has a town council and a representative town meeting, the town charter provides for some form of minority representation in the election of members of the representative town meeting, and the city has a city council and a body having the attributes of a town meeting or (D) to the board of directors and other officers of any district, as defined in section 7-324, having annual receipts from all sources not in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

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        1. Common/City Councils are not covered by state statute and do not require minority representation. If they were we wouldn’t have twenty Democrats on our City Council. They are the “legislative body” covered in your excerpt. However, a municipality could require minority representation in its Charter and it is perfectly legal.

          There is a state statute that does require minority representation on every board and commission.

          The Ethics Commission in Trumbull is governed by this statute, therefore both alternates could not be from the majority party.

          It doesn’t make a difference if the board or commission is elected or appointed. It MUST have minority representation.

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  8. I don’t want to get to involve in these laws, not my pay grade. I think Maria’s more on point then Joe with D, Is unaffiliated a party? So to turn back to your regular party you have to wait 90 day as an unaffiliated, as Maria stated. Either way I’ll bet on Paula. Besides these laws, right or wrong, don’t mean anything, right Judges. 🙂 Over all you’ll get a decent room, when it’s over, here. Treated like a punk, you know that’s unheard of. JS
    P.S Joe with the D. that’s the game right.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHKqKd1OWvI

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  10. Let him. We are going to eviscerate him on the campaign trail over education and the school board.

    He appointed Annette Negron, Rafael Fonseca and John Weldon. All three were/are useless and had horrible attendance.

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  11. *** What’s the hurry to fill a warm-up seat on a board that’s irrelevant in everything they say or do? All the Bpt. BOE does is argue about issues that never affect the kids, one way or another. Time to abolish the elected Bpt. BOE for a State of Ct. BOE & give it a chance to “try & fix” some of the problems within 2 to 3 yrs. & then “maybe” if possible turn the board back to an elected city board if “deemed worthy” enough to continue the gains & future battles that pertain to the children’s education & not to each others personal fixations with one another. ***

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    1. Says the guy who never attends school board meetings. Oh my! We are going to fix all our BPS problems in 2 to 3 years simply by disenfranchising parents. taxpayers and residents from executing their right to vote. What a fascinating perspective. Paul Vallas and the illegally appointed Board were in place for 13 months. Please list every significant and measurable data point that was improved over that period which can support your completely unsupported assertions. I’ll wait… a VERY long time.

      Both Hartford and New Haven have a majority Mayoral appointed school board. In Hartford, the mayor appoints 6 of 9 members. In New Haven, the mayor appoints 7 of 9 members.

      Hartford spends about $100,000,000 more per year than Bridgeport. New Haven spends about $80,000,000 more per year than Bridgeport.

      Now here we go…

      Please post all the significant successes and progress that these two urban school districts have shown over the last twenty years with a super majority of unelected school board members.

      This is going to be good.:)

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        1. Mojo,
          You asserted that if the state took over our public schools our schools would be fixed in 2-3 years.

          The state illegally took control of the BPS for 13 months, therefore there should have been measurable improvements that can be measured. Some examples would be standardized test scores, attendance, graduation rates, minority teacher recruitment, teacher turnover and more.

          Please post specific data from the 2011/2012 school year which supports your assertions.

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          1. *** Really 13 months of bickering back & fourth as to who should be on the board & weather it was legal, etc.. and you want me to post all the wonderful things that were accomplished? With all the problems in Bpt schools; please! And the prior sentence was “try” &” fix” some of the schools problems in 2 to 3 yrs. & then “maybe”, etc… go back & read the blog again before posting B/S. *** The board you’ve been on for so long has done very little except argue about B/S, time after time, or am I wrong & the first one to complain? ***

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          2. Mojo,

            There was no “bickering” on the illegal Board. They voted unanimously on just about every matter with little to no debate.

            The “bickering” took place in a court of law which did not impact a single one of their dexisions.

            I posted a pretty impressive list of accomplishments the Board, mostly Ben, Joe , and myself, have accomplished in conjunction with the leadership of Dr. Johnson.

            Please do your part.

            Please post just three significant accomplishments that can be measured from the 2011/2012 school year.

            I’m waiting…

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          3. *** Blogging here on OIB with you is a waste of time, you only see things your way & that’s why you’ll always be in arguments concerning the BOE & the politics in Bpt. Your ways of fighting fire with fire are not getting the purpose of the BOE anywhere except to be considered, a thankless board that has accomplished very little in the last 25 yrs. Your ways of answering a question with a question or to point the finger of shame towards someone else are childish at best. *** PS/ as far a your 2 to 3 things are concern; every budget year the BOE & school admin. ask for more money, never give an accurate account as to how & what their spending their money on but always cry for more. The charter & catholic school systems have been doing much better in Bpt. cause the public schools are so bad & not safe! Teachers are leaving for brighter pastures or retiring much earlier than they used to, etc.. etc.. ***

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          4. Mojo,
            It is YOU who answers a question with a question.

            I have listed specific and measurable examples of accomplishments of the Board just over the last two years.

            You have not been able to identify three examples to support you baseless assertion regarding financial malfeasance. You have not been able to list three examples supporting your baseless assertion that a state takeover would likely fix the BPS in 2 to 3 years.

            All you have is rhetoric. ..

            I have only been on the Board for 6 years. Who’s responsible for the other 19 years of failure???

            The ECS Taskforce issued a report in 2012 clearly showing that Bridgeport is the most underfunded school district, on a cash basis, in all of CT.

            You are now talking about catholic and charter $hooks as if you could reference a single statistic to support a single statement you make. Two of the charter $chools in Bridgeport are on probation.

            I don’t think we have to worry about charter $schools right now. Governor Lamont has made it pretty clear he wants to put the brakes on them.

            You cannot quote a single data point on teacher retention, teacher retirements, etc.

            A massive exodus of teachers occurred under Paul Vallas. We got rid of him and it has significantly changed the landscape on teacher retirements and resignations.

            We have an incredibly transparent budget updated and posted on our website every quarter. I would bet $1,000 you have NEVER looked at it once, but you are still going to post another baseless comment.

            You know, I have people say to me, “Maria, why didn’t you post a comment about _____ on OIB?” I simply will respond that if I don’t have direct knowledge or factual information on that topic I will not weigh in as if I do. I certainly read about the topic and the comments made so that I can better understand it and view a variety of perspectives, however I am not going to pretend I have a well informed opinion on a matter when I don’t

            I am going to strongly urge you to consider doing the same.

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    2. Actually,I think Ganim does not care one bit about the Bridgeport Board of Education,The Bridgeport School System and the Twenty Thousand(give or take) young people/students. IMHO.I think Ganim has given this completely over to Testa because Testa is playing with BPS jobs. My opinion. thank you.

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  12. *** Why don’t you list all the wonderful accomplishments you & your sparring partners have contributed to the Bpt. BOE & the city schools? *** Please don’t start the sentence with, “I”. ***

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    1. Right, just as I thought. You can not list any specific data to substantiate your baseless assertions.

      When you make assertions you cannot possibly substantiate you instead chose to try to change the topic and make it about me. That is when you should know you have lost the battle, sir.

      Your response was to deflect and to insinuate that it’s all about me, which is absolutely not true.

      You really shouldn’t post such comments when you do not possess any direct or indepth knowledge on the matter. You simply lose any and all credibility.

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  13. Really who cares who is the replacement?..All the board does is get together every now and then and argue with each other, it’s a joke at this point.
    How about coming up with 3 names,then have the board vote who they rather argue with?
    The upcoming meeting will be the same, nothing will get done.Everyone will take a seat, ring a bell, then argue&accuse each other of improper procedure for an hour or two.

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  14. Mr. Weintraub,

    The vast majority of our meetings are productive, especially if Chris Taylor is not present. He is the new Kenneth Moales.

    The reality is the vast majority of critical policies and initiatives that have been worked on by the Board have been initiated by Ben Walker, Joseph Sokolovic and myself.

    If your expectation is that those in the minority should acquiesce and sit silently as the super majority orchestrates coups and demonstrate unethical and illegal behavior, that is simply not going to happen.

    The majority has the right to govern, however the minority has a right to be heard

    By the way, Ben, Joe and myself were elected by over 22,000 votes. More than than all five in the majority combined.

    That doesn’t mean that our voice is more important. It simply means we are equals and all of us should be heard.

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    1. You are speaking about Kenneth Moales Jr. the son and not Kenneth Moales the father who was a highly respected and known preacher, song writer and singer around the world.

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      1. Correct. I was speaking about the school board, therefore I thought it would be clear that I was referencing Pastor Kenneth Moales Jr., not Bishop Moales.

        Thank you for clarifying the matter.

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    2. Not to play the devil’s advocate, Maria. Mr. Weintraub described the public’s perception of the Bridgeport BOE: “.All the board does is get together every now and then and argue with each other, it’s a joke at this point.” That pretty much sums it up, nutshell optional.

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      1. Mayor Ganim, Mario Testa and the entire Bridgeport City Council members have no problem with the inaction and direction of the BBOE because they had problem in not funding children education for true amount that was needed plus they don’t give a damn about the dysfunction at BBOE meetings.

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  15. The Bridgeport Kid, all I can tell you is that the vast majority of those that attend Board of Education meetings, including staff, are with Ben, Joe and myself.

    Just look at social media. Grassroots outrage over John Weldon and his cohort’s conduct and behavior. It is authentic, un – coerced, and sincere.

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  16. The Weldon School Board is the worst that we have ever seen in BPT. Go to a Weldon/BOE meeting and you will be shocked. JOHN WELDON…RESIGN NOW.. THIS IS NOT METRO NORTH TIMETABLES… YOU HAVE EMBARRASSED YOURSELF.

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  17. Derek, I think the perception is as you and Harvey describe, “All the board does is get together every now and then and argue with each other. That perception for the most part and by most of us is garnered by reading OIB and the CT Post and not attending in BBOE meetings. Perception is not reality, just the reality of that individual.

    What we do know absolutely, is that the Bridgeport school system is woefully underfunded and for the children of Bridgeport to succeed academically money is of critical importance. Until Mayor Ganim and the city council care more about the children of Bridgeport and less about being a good DTC member then the children will continue to suffer academically.

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    1. The City Council is not made up of 20 apathetic individuals. As a parliamentary body it is hobbled by a political party apparatus that regards the BOE as an amusement. Pete Spain, Christina Smith and a few others are working to change the play but it is an uphill task with the DTC puppets in the room.

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  18. *** Fund the Bpt. schools system with all the money in Ct. & it will still mismanage the money, the BOE will still be dysfunctional @ best , the high schools will still un-safe for students, teachers & staff, etc… ***

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    1. Here we go again…

      Please post three examples where the Board has “mismanaged the money” in the last three years.

      We have made over $38,000,000 in budget cuts in the last three school years and have balanced our budget every year.

      No Vaz Brothers, GPIC, scrap metal, etc. scandals on the BOE. No line item blown by over $2,000,000 like the BPD overtime budget And, then they fail to pay the officers who worked the OT in an attempt to hide the gross mismanagement in violation of state labor laws.

      Yup! There is definitely “mismanagement of money” by members of the City Council and Mayor Joe Ganim, but I highly doubt you will be able to point to three examples on the BOE.

      Let’s see what you got. Please post three specific examples to support your additional baseless assertions.

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  20. Mojo,

    In the last two years we have had key accomplishments after making over $28,000,000 in devastating cuts:

    1) We have increased graduation rates by 8%

    2) We have significantly expanded our advanced placement course options, the number of students taking AP courses, and have increased their performance in AP courses by over 10%

    3) We are the first District in CT to require students to take and pass a course in African American or Hispanic/Caribbean studies as a graduation requirement. We have received national media coverage for this achievement. We are only one if three school districts in the country that has instituted this requirement.

    4) We have focused on minority recruitment of teachers. We hired 48 this school year and currently have the largest number of minority teachers in CT.

    5) We have significantly improved special ed. compliance which was decimated by Paul Vallas. Our legal fees were spiraling out-of-control exceeding $350,000 annually. By monitoring special ed compliance our legal fees plummeted to less than a $100,000.

    6) We reigned in our policy to ensure all goods and/ or services valued over $25,000 must go out to bid. Every bid is reviewed and approved by the Board BEFORE it goes out. We review the bids and award them. Every contract over $25,000 must be approved by the Board before being signed. We have saved significant amounts of tax payer dollars to be redirected into schools and classrooms.

    7) We revised our Control Transfer and Magnet School Policies to allow more students, especially economically disadvantaged minority students, access to better performing schools, and instituted specific policies to make it more difficult for administrators to force students out of control transfer and magnet schools. Parents now have the explicit right to appeal any decision regarding reassignment all the way up to the Board.

    That’s just a few.

    Now you meet your burden of proof. 🙂

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  21. You know even with the problems of the BBOE it would be great to give hope and opportunity to Bridgeport school students to know that after they graduated from high school that they could find a career right here in the city that they reside in and become members of the police and fire department. This can be very easily by giving Bridgeport residents who pass the exam first choice until there are no more city residents on the list. As long as they are residents before taking the exam, now they don’t have to stay in Bridgeport after they accept the position. This is a jobs program that’s a win, win for the city.

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  22. Mojo, allow me please. 🙂

    A. Thanks for showing that money is not the sole solution to BBOE problems in gaining good results. Even with the 28,000,000 cut in funding. You were still able to increase graduation by 8%. 🙂

    B. Not sure what actual role the BBOE has on the curriculum being taught, but can you do something about common core? I hear it’s a disaster. 🙂

    C. Nice to here the board has saved 250,000 being spend on legal fees going to lawyers because of bad actors that should be use for the students. P.S How’s yours and Joe, with a freshly painted D, fundraising efforts going to suit the BBOE? 🙂

    C. I like to give a shot out to your ex-board member, now a State Senator for introducing a bill to require minority teacher hiring. 🙂

    D. Nice to see you put a policy to ensure the BOE funding is being spend accordingly and good and services are put out to bid, Good job. Even a broken clock is right two times a day. 🙂

    F. ” We revised our Control Transfer and Magnet School Policies to allow more students, especially economically disadvantaged minority students, access to better performing schools, and instituted specific policies to make it more difficult for administrators to force students out of control transfer and magnet schools. Parents now have the explicit right to appeal any decision regarding reassignment all the way up to the Board.”

    What economically disadvantaged minority students are you talking about. It’s a public school system not a private one, and 80% of the Port’s students are minorities. Now you can appreciate Jessica”s stance on her pro charter school because of the under performing schools in the Bridgeport public school system. 🙂

    G. To all those haters of the Foxy crazy lady, Ernie!!!. You can appreciate Maria’s hard diligent work to improve the Bridgeport system, that has been failing students and being taking advantage for decades. be it by the board member with R’s who become D’s or the D’s who become R’s and so forth. None of you put in the time, work or energy on behave of the students then Foxy Lady. 🙂 JS BAM 🙂

    P.S Joe if you think anyone believe you only changed party because of Trump and didn’t hear him on his campaign trail. You either are Timmy or think we are Timmy. 🙂

    In the jungle of Bridgeport politics there not tigers just a bunch of lyins. 🙂

    I’m going to work on my study skills. I was T- immy before I was an R- obert. Even so Joe I still don’t believe you lame slimy excuse for switch party because are a LION BAM 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgTMvjsvFn0

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    2. Pardon me Tex SIR. This is the reason I switched in response to a query above. Joe is a nice guy and changed parties because he wanted to be able to help gather signatures and vote for friendly candidates for CC BOE and the Mayors office. The rest is just a happy bonus. Admittedly I am A DINO. I still remain a fiscally conservative Republican at heart.

      The following was in response to some fool SIR insinuating that I was slimy “Pardon me sir, exercising one’s right to switch from the Republican Party is slimy? In the Donald Trump Era many are doing so. Not my fault if people got their apple cart all upset.” Note it does not say I changed because of Trump but that many are. For the record I did my vote for Trump as I grew up in NY and was aware of his buffoonery.

      So, SIR, kindly go back and reread and understand what you’ve read for reading is fun for mentals. Er SIR I mean reading is fundamental.

      This is the last I feed the trolls. Don’t like me? Vote me or my actions? Vote me out if I decide to run on any party line in November 2021. Until then I do what I think is best for my son and his 20,000 plus school mates. Good day sir I must go because my advocacy extends far beyond OIB.

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      1. I re-read, duly noted. Done kid yourself though, you’re not a Dino you’re a lion. 🙂
        If you kindly go back and re read thread. Maria call a candidate slimy.

        Maria:
        “The plan is to have the Democrat they had lined up to fill the vacancy switch from a Democrat to an Unaffiliated voter then vote for that slimy person to fill the vacancy.”

        In which I say:
        Well is it any slimier them what your friend on the board, Joe did?., That makes it even easier for Paula. 🙂 JS

        Then you said:
        Pardon me sir, exercising one’s right to switch from the Republican Party is slimy? In the Donald Trump Era many are doing so. Not my fault if people got their apple cart all upset..

        No mention of ” I switched in response to a query above. Joe is a nice guy and changed parties because he wanted to be able to help gather signatures and vote for friendly candidates for CC BOE and the Mayors office. The rest is just a happy bonus. Admittedly I am A DINO. I still remain a fiscally conservative Republican at heart.”

        So when you trolled my response to Maria’s comment where you lion when to said you switched party’s because of Trump?

        P.S is this nice guy going to tell me (timmy) why he’s calling me sir? And thanks for stop by on OIB 🙂 Hope to see you at Moore’s equal pay lemonade stand this summer. 🙂 and don’t under estimate OIB reach.
        http://onlyinbridgeport.com/wordpress/moore-how-sour-is-your-pay/

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  23. The damage is already done. The powers that be are knocking down Bassick. I heard Bassick is not opening next Fall
    Two gymnasiums, a world class telescope and a music hall- gone!
    All for “the kids”, right?

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  24. To be honest, not that upset. The kids need more then an ornate gymnasium, telescope and music hall.. The outside of the old building was going to be hidden. To work around to preserving it would handicap a better designed building. Now someone on the city side has to explain why preserving the Davidson Building, handicapping what can be developed there. SMH

    https://www.ctpost.com/business/article/Deadline-arrives-for-Bridgeport-block-historic-13203926.php#photo-820076

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      1. Auditorium , my bad. Still saving the facade by having it in a court yard that will be practically unusable is not great lost. Salvaging it and placing it on the font on a new building seem like a worthy fight. IMO

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  30. Derek, I know you support all things Black Rock, but wasn’t it councilwoman Christina Smith who made a motion to go into executive session based on Not hearing completely what the city attorney by saying, ““I make a motion to go into executive session for whatever he said,” Councilwoman Christina Smith offered.

    This is an example of good governance? Would that response be the response of a DTC puppet?

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