Rick Torres’ campaign bus was torched a few weeks ago at a storage lot in Stratford. He was planning to use the bus as a transport for his City Council race in Black Rock. So Torres went out and did the only sensible thing under the circumstances, he found himself a new set of wheels: a bike built for two. His council running mate is Phil Blagys. Hey, Phil, are you getting on that thing?
“Improvise,” says Torres, owner of the popular Harborview Market, about his new transport. When it comes to campaigning improvise is certainly the operative word. Republican-endorsed Torres and Blagys are challenging Democratic incumbents Sue Brannelly and Steve Stafstrom is what is the highest profile City Council race in the November general election. Shut out of council seats for several years, it’s a chance for Republicans to become relevant on the city’s legislative body.
Brannelly and Stafstrom are hard workers who’ve been going door-to-door in the district for several weeks. Black Rock School is the highest percentage turnout area of the city. Torres and Blagys will perform well at Black Rock School. Brannelly and Stafstrom will do the same at the Aquaculture School, the district’s other polling place. The battle in Black Rock will be something to watch. Will Brannelly and Stafstrom find their own bicycle built for two? Hey, don’t forget to pack absentee ballots!
Very cute. Not sure if the color scheme was well thought out. Makes me hungry for Solomar, Omanels, Dolphins Cove, Chavez Bakery or just a trip to the seacoast of Portugal. Those were the good ol’ days. Rick, good luck to you and your creative thinking.
Typically, my friend Rick manages to consistently lose lately. Some think he could run unopposed and lose. The fact of the matter is we need Rick Torres in office this time. He has all of the personal qualities and characteristics to do this job very well. I support him totally.
Rick made it very clear he is a strong supporter of tea party positions on a number of issues that would be problematic in cities such as Bridgeport. As a candidate for Congress Rick took a very strong stance against gun control. This coming from someone who lives in a city with a great deal of gun violence. The GOP had a chance to prove it viable and instead has gone for tea party extremists like James Keyser … and people wonder why in the face of a corrupt machine, when faced with a two-party race they either don’t vote or go with the status quo.
Would love to see an analysis on how many GOP candidates are tea party candidates and how many actually live in the real world of Bridgeport’s tough urban problems.
Are you the same Black Rock Guy who posts mostly hateful and derogatory comments on the rag known as the Connecticut Post? If so, I suggest you go to the Harborview and talk to Rick directly. You might get an earful as to how to properly run a business and, by extension, a government. The basic tenets of the Tea Party (of which I am NOT a member) are to control excessive governmental spending. You cannot spend more than you get in revenues. We are in a dire fiscal crisis nationally, statewide, and locally. As you probably know, the Finch Administration is inept and clueless. It is also broke, both fiscally and morally.
Here is my video of the Absentee Ballot Fraud press conference at City Hall:
www .youtube.com/watch?v=BoOaH1ALfA4
Lennie, any truth to the rumors Blagys fell off the back seat of the bike and Torres left him behind?
That is something I would have loved to see.
Is gun control an issue the B’port City Council will concern itself with?
It’s an issue the city has to deal with and one that has not been dealt with adequately. And part of the problem is the easy availability of guns on Bridgeport’s streets. To have a member of the city council who is in accord with lax gun laws in other states … states where some of the guns in Bridgeport are sometimes purchased by straw buyers does not send a good message. Torres may say he is against the gun violence and I am sure he is … but he has stated he is against the laws that are needed to start reducing the huge numbers of guns in the streets, a problem that affects cities all over this country. Read the article about the 107-year-old man that was in the Post.
BRG … most of the deaths caused by illegally obtained guns are in states with the most stringent gun laws. And … most of those are inner-city problems. Look at Chicago, LA, NYC, Bridgeport, Cleveland and Detroit. The issue with Newtown was, regrettably, an aberration of that norm.
There are strong federal, state and local laws against illegal drugs. How is that working out? These ‘strong laws’ just help push up prices. Then that money goes to buy illegal guns. Then those guns are used to kill people. Guns laws are a lot like minimum wage or welfare. It sounds like a good idea, but in practice it just does not work.
*** The city council is still trying to get the school time youth curfew implemented, never mind gun control!
Moving on, I believe Mr. Torres would be a better city councilperson for the 130th district than what they have now. However, due to some of his GOP (tea party) right-wing way of thinking, I would not vote for him for Mayor! On the issue of the bike as opposed to the bus for campaigning, it’s probably more up close and personal riding a bike through the streets of his district than passing by on a big bus, no? *** GOOD LUCK! ***
Anyone get the impression BlackRockGuy is a political whore? I believe this was my first OIB analysis. It’s almost two years old, but it will always be relevant in Bridgeport Primaries and Elections. This coming Tuesday is the day for all OIBers to step up to the plate and make the OIB comment of all the time they’ve read or posted on this webzine. Here is what you will be up against:
/speedy-gonzalez-breaks-down-machines/
See my comment at 9:20 on Sep 8th above. I agree.