Republicans Throw Snowballs At City Cleanup

Statement from John Slater, Bridgeport Republican Town Chairman:

The Bridgeport Republican Town Committee condemns the handling of Nemo by the Finch administration and city council. The Mayor says we don’t have money in our current budget to deal with a storm of this magnitude. Rather than setting aside money to build another park, create green jobs or fund another “community program,” the Mayor and council should find a place in the budget to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in our storm response. The Mayor says we have “never experienced a storm of this magnitude,” however, surrounding towns and cities experienced the same storm and have had roads cleared and children back to school days before Bridgeport was able lift its “Travel ban” to make the main arteries of the city even reasonably passable.

The Bridgeport Republican Town Committee applauds the citizens of the city of Bridgeport. Their personal sacrifices and efforts made to clear their streets and help their neighbors were inspiring. The RTC shares in your disappointment of Bridgeport’s current leadership and will continue to be vocal in ensuring Bridgeport gets the leadership it deserves.

Any elected official who feels a sense of accountability to their constituency should make storm response and emergency planning among their top priorities. A proclamation that the entire city or town should be patient and wait more than a full week for roads to be cleared is simply unacceptable. Resident’s personal vehicles should not be towed away at the owner’s expense when only given little more than a few minutes’ notice. Response crews should not have been removed from the streets during the height of the storm to save on overtime. Never should a Mayor cast condescension on his constituents by referring to them as “yahoos.”

The City of Bridgeport has experienced one-party rule by the Democratic Party for the majority of the last 3 decades. The unconditional support has resulted in a lack of accountability and the lack of accountability has resulted in shameful results. The Democrats in Bridgeport have enjoyed too much power for far too long. The lack of pressure they face has provided them with the freedom to ignore their constituents and take their eyes off of the best interest of the citizens of Bridgeport. It is a basic responsibility of those elected to formulate a plan and put into action the necessary steps to respond to a storm like Nemo and they have once again proven unfit to handle the task.