Dennis Bradley, who will receive the oath of office on Wednesday for State Senate in the 23rd District, announced on Tuesday his appointment as Senate chair of Public Safety, a key legislative committee where a proposal for a commercial casino is expected to be submitted.
The appointment made by Senate leader Martin Looney comes following the announcement that State Senator Tim Larson has accepted a position in the new gubernatorial administration of Ned Lamont.
MGM Resorts has proposed a $675 million waterfront destination for Bridgeport. The chair of public safety guides the agenda for what the committee takes up, or not.
Bradley says he’ll “ensure an equal and fair bidding process for a new casino. Bridgeport would be a great location for an entertainment/casino since we are America’s Park City … The process has to be open and transparent.”
The stakes have grown higher in the upcoming legislative session. Last year a proposal for an open, competitive casino process passed the State House, but did not come up for a vote in the Senate.
MGM has positioned itself as a viable alternative to Connecticut’s gaming monopoly in existence for more than 25 years in which the state receives 25 percent of dwindling slot revenue in exchange for granting the tribal nations that run Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun exclusivity.
Proponents of the MGM proposal argue the process should be opened up to maximize revenues with Bridgeport a prime location for a gaming destination given its proximity to the wealthy Fairfield County market.
Bradley, a member of the Board of Education, was elected to the Senate seat following the retirement of Ed Gomes.
This is HUGE!
The main question is how will be kept safe from Dennis Bradley. We have to remember that it was Dennis Bradley who was the leader of the ill-fated and irresponsible “boycott” on the Bridgeport Board of Education. Anyway,Dennis Bradley does nor know what “open and transparent” means. Let’s remember. this was a guy who was caught with election irregularities that led to Bradley being denied State Election Funds. the main reason he won his seat in his Senatorial District was the overwhelming majority of Registered Democrats and an city wide impotent Republican Party. Testa,Ganim,Bradley. Same peas in the pod.
Frank, I agree with you, Dennis Bradley has not shown that he has the ability to be a team player. I hope that he puts his mirror down in order to perform his duties this time because he sure didn’t do when he was on the Bridgeport Board Of Education, his claim to fame was a boycott.
Oh ya,this should go well.
I was not a supporter of Dennis Bradley’s campaign but I wish him well and good luck. Let’s all take a step back and give our Senator a chance to prove the naysayers wrong. I’m sure nobody on this blog is hoping he fails just so they could say, see I told you so. So I’ll get the ball rolling and say Good Luck Mr. Bradley I hope you succeed!
Dennis Bradley. With your new responsibilities as a State Senator,I call upon upon you to resign from The Bridgeport Board If Education. It is obvious that,along with your main employment as an attorney,you will be pushed to the limits as to how you can spend your time to the most value of your constituents. Please resign your seat on the BPT Board of Education and let’s move forward Thank you.
2019 will not be a good year for Dennis Bradley. I honestly believe he is going to be referred for criminal prosecution for attempting to bribe the DTC Chair and then Mayoral candidate, Stephanie Phillip’s, in Stratford.
The SEEC upheld every aspect of my complaint against Dennis Bradley which cost him his $95,000 General Election Grant. However, the SEEC has yet to assess fines/penalties which I believe will be at least $10,000.
I have been pouring over four separate committee/ PAC filings and have been working on a complaint that is close to 100 pages with exhibits. This includes a much more extensive and researched complaint against Dennis Bradley.
I have put in close to 200 hours on it.
Dennis Bradley is no different from Mayor Ganim and Mario Testa. They are all narcissists, self-serving, would betray anyone to achieve their objectives, but most of all, there only true loyalty is to themselves.
Anyone who thinks Dennis Bradley will be a good senator or good for Bridgeport is either part of the corrupt machine, ignorant, dumb and/or naive
Alice Walton donated $100,000 to the Build CT PAC to help get Dennis Bradley elected. They spent money on only one other candidate, State Rep. Brendan McGee who is also a huge charter $chool supporter.
Dennis Bradley and Brendan McGee are now co-chairing the Housing Committee. Hmmm.
Congratulations and Best wishes to Dennis Bradley. I believe you will do great things and your constituents will be the recipients. Uniting with the entire Bridgeport Delegation to Bring a casino to our city will be a major accomplishment. The responsibilities are great and I believe you will rise to the occasion and will not let the city down. You have a huge constituency that is cheering you on as well as members from different districts throughout the city. I have faith in the entire Bridgeport delegation and this is the year of BRIDGEPORT,
I agree with Joe Sokolovic, whether you supported the candidate or not we are all in this together and should be hoping for his success. Unfortunately, on this blog , People are actually hoping for his failure, because they are envious and jealous of others success. After an election, most move on and hope for the best. Other’s just waste their energy, time and effort. Stuck in a time warp and would cut off their nose to spite their face.
I expect Dennis Bradley will put Bridgeport on the map and people will take notice. We have a strong contingency going to Hartford. We should all be excited and hopeful.
Congratulations to all being sworn in Later today. I would love to be there. I wish you all great success!
As previously stated, ANYONE that thinks Dennis Bradley will be a good senator is either a “part of the corrupt machine, ignorant, dumb and/or naive.”
Steve, most OIB readers know which categories you fit into.
Please stop saying those opposed to Dennis Bradley are envious and jealous of him. There is no merit to your assertions. Dennis Bradley has an abysmal record on the school board and has betrayed many people solely based on his ambition.
I agree, Bridgeport will be highlighted because of Dennis Bradley. Just like Bridgeport was placed on the map by then Senator Ernest Newton and Mayor Joseph Ganim.
We shall have to wait and see..
Maria, Maria, Maria, you introduced me to Dennis Bradley at a Joe Ganim fundraiser. You told me he was amazing,talented and just plain awesome. As a matter of fact,I was your guest at Ganims fundraiser. You were on tge town committee as a member of this corrupt machine. Nobody on this Town committee ever teisted my arm. You have burned nearly every bridge. Now you are left with sychophantoc malcontents. I support all of our elected officials. As a taxpayer inthis city it serves my purpose to do so unless there is a reason not to.
Steve, you were my guest at a Ganim fundraiser at O’Manel’s. If you recall, Dennis Bradley arrived very late. I generally don’t use the terms you stated to describe politicians.
I ran a slate in the 138th to challenge the slate Ganim and Testo supported in 2016 and won.
We also put up a challenge to Mario so that we could keep our campaign promise not to vote for Mario.
Our slate, excluding the Fonseca’s, never did one thing to support Mario Testa or Ganim. We ran to offer ethical and honest representation in the 138th District. No one who knows anything about Bridgeport politics would say otherwise.
Did you know one of my favorite songs from the disco era was “Burn Baby Burn, Disco Inferno?” LOL!
I miss our spirited conversations for sure!!
Let’s see, at January 9, 2019 at 9:11 am Steven Auerbach made his post on OIB while he’s working on City time being paid by the taxpayers. Did Steve get permission from Mario or Joe to make his post?
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Ron , Stevie was on lunchbreak.
Jim,
Stevie is out to lunch.
Take a pill and lie down on the office couch, Stevie: “MGM Resorts has proposed a $675 million waterfront destination for Bridgeport.” The operative word is PROPOSED. It’s not carved into stone. The only reason you want a casino is because it will hide the Stratford Avenue corridor from downtown.
Bridgeport has always been on the map. Its the State’s largest city. It gets noticed nationally. All the time.
I think Looney, just handed a gift to the Tribes.
The member of this committee may be surprised how rarely Bradley will show up to meetings. If his track record as a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education is an indication he may show up twice during his tenure.
Regardless of Dennis Bradley’s performance on the Public Safety Committee, with a Gold Coast Governor and (other) Gold Coast oligarchs controlling Connecticut, there is 0 chance of Bridgeport getting a casino for at least four more years, barring some electoral siren that pulls Ned to DC and rearranged the seating at the table in Hartford, putting Bridgeport at the head (as Jeffersonian political logic would indicate…). Dennis’ Bradley’s performance, regarding the casino, will be moot at the end of the casino-debate-day in Hartford this session — and thereafter, unless and until we get a truly pragmatic governor who operates on that basis… With this guy, we’ll see the municipalities played to Gold Coast Advantage — with bones with a little meat on them thrown to Hartford and New Haven, and Bridgeport given an empty dog-food can to lick, such that, essentially, it will be a political game of both sides (Htfd-New Haven) played against the middle (Bridgeport) by the Gold Coast-Stamford… This situation is being reflected in the evolution of the makeup of the Governor’s Cabinet and in the power-structure of the GA… And truly, there are no surprises here. It is just more of the same, per the shift in power to the Gold Coast over the past five decades, with an increasingly heavier thumb being kept on Bridgeport in this regard…
“Someone ” must have called Looney. Dennis Bradley is one of the most lackadaisical public figures, He hardly shows up at any of his public duties.
Dennis Bradley during his time has a elected member of the Bridgeport Board Of Education has been a “show horse” and not a “work horse” so there’s no reason to think that he’ll change. This was one of the perks Governor Lamont has given to Bridgeport for Bridgeport unbelievable support in voting for him instead of Bridgeport so call savior Joe Ganim. This is a very powerful position but Dennis Bradley as not shown that he is a team player, he is basically a follower of what Mario Testa or Mayor Ganim and the other 35 State Senator know that because they read OIB, a boycott won’t work in the State Senate. We will be able to see what type of a team player he is on CTN channel 59, so he will really be using his mirror now.