Wet Day For Early Dem Voting: Lamont-Elliott For Governor, Ganim-Bradley For Probate Judge

Joe Sokol is working for Bridgeport citizens on the Board of Education and looking at Democrats running for office in the Statewide election.
The City of Bridgeport, with $35 million of last-minute funding coordinated by State and local officials, does not have enough money to fund a CIVICS curriculum supervisor at this time. Does that mean that Civics is not infused into course work, or that a whole and meaningful lesson is not learned by system students? I am not sure myself. But when the % of folks registered for elections and voting is only 10% of the total number eligible we know that too many neighbors do not respect their voice which is their informed vote. They settle for voicelessness and we fail to be informed about what our townspeople are thinking. See my comments to the City Council last evening relating to participation on Boards and Commissions.
City Council Comments August 3, 2026
I have previously called attention to members of the City Council who failed to register with the Town Clerks office in January 2026. It’s not a new Ordinance having been created by the City Council to deal with officials of the city, either elected or appointed, who have an address outside of the community or district. Last week there were five Council members with forms missing from the register. The BOE is an elected body of nine members likewise responsible for registering annually. Only two have done so.
There are roughly 150 positions on Boards and Commissions who share this annual obligation. Only Library Board members have signed up, likely because they are unaware of this duty. So aside from the vacancies on Boards and Commissions, no one in Bridgeport administration is attending to oversight and enforcement of the rule. Why is that? Are Boards and Commissions important to operation of the city? Do individuals know the why and the how of each Board and Commission on the City website? Have you, as Council members and District leaders, looked at the website lately? Is this listing accurate and the best that Bridgeport can offer to residents who pay taxes, and wish to become active in public service? Doesn’t this have to do with CIVICS as I have stressed for over 2 years?
Is it an error to indicate that the City Council is a Board or Commission? Is the School Building Committee open to the public? Is the Charter Review Commission alive and well or a group with a limited term? Last week there were 20 B&C listed with vacancies, but further review showed Public Purchases, Police, Fire, WPCA, Walk of Honor, and Civil Service do not have a vacancy, at this time. Misleading?
That leaves 13 B&C with a total of 46 vacancies to fill. What is the city doing about that? Where is the administrative direction from the mayor to assign training, annual reviews, and standards for each B&C? When you re-appoint B&C members as is on your agenda this evening, what standards do you use? Where are those on the website? What is the Citizens Union, otherwise not mentioned in the Charter or website, but used to indicate resident participation in HUD CDBG funding? Is every district equal in that oversight?
How will you deal with the subject of HOUSING? How did Fairness die? Or was it assassinated by the withholding of volunteers trained and interested in public service? What is the responsibility of each part of the governance structure to be aware of the role of finding good citizens to volunteer, learn, and grow, as they serve their neighbors? Is the result of allowing the status quo to happen without concern why we have such low voting % of registered voters. Time will tell.

One speaker last night admitted that he did not know what District he resided in, did not know who the two Council persons were, and said he did not vote regularly. Then after I delivered my talk above, Council persons Pereira and Cruz spoke to their fellow Council present, but per City Council rules no Council person reacted or responded. Lots of local talking. But how much listening is a strong component of good conversations. Seek out more info at yourbridgeportvote.com. Time does tell.