Hey Joe, how about a few cocktails for your OIB friends to celebrate? Let’s throw another party at Tiago’s. From Brian Lockhart, CT Post:
Contractor. Restaurateur. Zoning Commissioner. Supporter of Mayor Bill Finch. Now Jose “Joe” Tiago can add Bridgeport city employee to his resume.
Sources said–and the city confirmed–that on Tuesday Tiago started work in the Public Facilities Department as a mayoral appointee. The city has not yet provided a salary.
Full story here.
0
This is another bullshit move by this administration. I want the unions to look at this, another hire while you gave back wages and time to this administration because of a budget shortfall.
Did this job come as a result of hours upon hours of time spent at the bar with an open tab? This is a favorite watering hole for top administration people who like to keep a tab running when they are there.
This is the job description, Garcia said Tiago will be in charge of cracking down on utility companies and other private contractors that bust open city streets, then do a poor job of patching them, causing more damage and more expense for taxpayers. I thought we paid councilman Holloway $89K to do the above described job. To the unions, it’s time to stand up, how many times is this administration going to get givebacks and then hire a political stooge?
Will the administration continue to frequent an employee’s bar now that we have given him a big salary to do nothing? What excuse is Finch going to use when he raises our taxes again this year?
God almighty, how I wish I had copyrighted “Only in Bridgeport.” This is so profoundly in your face offensive, absurd and cavalier that no other expression could apply. Bill Finch needs a 12-step recovery program on spending. Stop it. The city is essentially bankrupt and your taxpayers don’t have more money to give you for this and all your other nonsense.
And now we have to wonder what the astonishing Joe Tiago will do next. What gap in his resume can he fill? Got the business thing going, planning, zoning, developing, city/street thing going. What’s next? Inquiring minds want to know. Does the mayor have a dog? Can Joe be a dog walker too? Does he babysit? How about the DSSD–they need help. Maybe he could supervise their street cleaning efforts. So many hours in the day and such talent. So many opportunities for this special guy. Can hardly wait for the next bit of news …
Hmmm. Well I have to admit I enjoy both Bare and Tiago’s. Both very nice establishments. He a zoning commissioner and now a job with public facilities. I cannot see this as being a very smart move on the part of Mayor Finch. This was probably a friendly payoff for Adam Wood as Wood’s wife is a regular there. Tiago seems like a very nice guy and although on the surface it seems like pure patronage, it is and that is how it is and the Mayor like any mayor has the right to put his people where he wants. I say this with all fairness, if Joe Tiago is at work every day and working the same schedule as other employees then great. He is no slouch. If this is a no-show job which I doubt then the Mayor will have a hard time living it down. I believe it will not be an issue. I hope this is not an issue.
Steve, you are a great guy and bright and thoughtful besides. Joe Tiago cannot do all these jobs at once and even if he can, he cannot do them without being conflicted. And I say that in the spirit of liking both his establishments, applauding his commitment to Bridgeport and his development efforts (however languished they may be) and besides I wouldn’t think of depriving the Woods of their watering holes. However, he has no business collecting a paycheck from the city of Bridgeport. This defies description. Next thing you know, Joe Gaudett is going to be Deputy Director of Public Works or maybe Andy Nunn will get a second paycheck as Assistant Tax Collector. Maybe Alanna Kabel can run BEDCO for a second salary too. Like I said, OIB.
Steve, do you think the budget is a bottomless pit and let’s just keep hiring our friends and the budget and taxpayers be damned? BTW how many management people do they need in public facilities?
It’s already an issue, Steve. He is proposing a tax hike. Where is the $91k for this job coming from? Although I understand the fact the people in charge have the right to put their teams in place, if they are qualified, and when it’s feasible. It’s not feasible. This is where MY tax dollars are going and I’m pissed. Who the hell is this Mayor to spend MY money like this while my street has not been paved for 12 years? This guy is insane. Oh wait! Chickens will make it better, never mind.
🙂
I really don’t know what to say, this is just disgusting, giving a supporter a job making sure the utilities patch the streets the right way??? How about instead, hold the utility companies accountable to fix the damned holes the right way all the time, or risk a hefty fine. Does Finch get this city is on the verge of bankruptcy? Its citizens can’t pay any more taxes, what the hell is going on here? A $500,000 driveway to a supporter, making up a job for another supporter and getting the city tied up in a 20-year lease for a damned solar field, that will come back to haunt us long after Finch is gone with a utility company who coincidentally is a, you guessed it, supporter. Where are the feds, we need help here, things are out of control.
Is Finch out of his mind? Joe Tiago? A made-up job in a city that is disintegrating before our eyes? And the idiot wants to raise our taxes? Oh my g-d. Where are the FEDs? As a wise man said to me recently, “our city has been run by criminals and idiots,” what a legacy.
How is this new patronage job different from the city job city council member James Holloway has?
My guess, better salary, title and benefits.
Tom, I guess Holloway is overworked at $89K and has been doing such a wonderful job Finch and company decided two guys were better than one guy.
Just a question, do you think any bar tabs were or will be forgiven as a result of this appointment?
A message to the budget & appropriations committee, don’t forget to add this new salary to the public facilities budget.
This was tried and failed in Westport–why not here?
www .westportnow.com/index.php?/v2_5/comments/marpe_zappi_withdraws_from_operatons_post/
HOW MANY FREE DRINKS AND LUNCHES DOES IT TAKE TO GET A CITY JOB?
Mayor Finch is tone deaf. He doesn’t hear the cries of an overtaxed overburdened city. A couple of months ago I ran into Gene O’Neil in the bathroom. I said hello and asked what he was doing there. He told me he was working for Economic Development. Tiago is just another friend that must be repaid for his loyalty.
Hey, to hell with the taxpayer, Bill’s friends come first. Nothing new. I will vote against any tax increase. Period.
I like Gene O’Neil, he has got to be 100 years old and still working for the city, amazing. They should have put Gene in charge of Economic Development years ago, then you would have seen some action.
Andy,
I had heard Gene was working for the city and he was in Economic Development working on the fuel cell project at Seaside Park … OIB!!!
Wonder if it qualifies for a city car?
Rick Torres doesn’t understand taxes. He does not hear the city charter moaning for a balanced budget on a yearly basis or the pleas of its Mayor to complete his executive mandate. No loophole exists there.
To vote for paved roads while blocking any tax increase is to endorse/accept/tolerate continued debt for Bridgeport and put potholes ahead of prudence.
But it’s okay to make up a pretend job for a friend and pay $1/2 million on a driveway in Stratford for a friend? Go away LE–worry about things in Trumbull.
Here is the latest bullshit from our director of public facilities: “A city ordinance makes utilities responsible for such patches for five years.
“But we really haven’t had the kind of eyes on that that we’ve needed,” Garcia said.
He said Tiago will also be involved in other road work, demolitions of blighted property and be a good extra set of eyes on construction projects.
“Jose Tiago’s resume was tailor made for a project manager for roadway construction because pretty much everything he’s done in his 20-plus years in his career has been directly related to roadway repairs,” Garcia said. “He actually (had) a company at one point that did utility cuts and repairs.”
And, Garcia emphasized, Tiago’s local.
The one thing Mr. Garcia did not state clearly is this is a made-up job for Mr. Tiago. There was no such job in his table of organization. At a time Finch has been raising our taxes every year he has been mayor at a time unions have been giving back time and money to the city at a time people are losing thepr homes Finch finds money $100K or close for a job that basically means nothing. Isn’t it ironic the owner of this administration’s favorite watering hole gets this job? How many rounds did this job cost?
Tiago is local but he interviewed for the Deputy Director’s job that was given to Cottrell from Monroe. So it’s okay to be from Monroe for one job but the made-up no-show job needed to be given to a local, I get it.
Where did Garcia, a trained janitor with no college get such power in the Finch administration?
While we are talking politics I have a question. Who is the Council Person who had the votes to dethrone McCarthy as president of the council during this last election a few months ago? This was a done deal, McCarthy was out but lo and behold the magic JOB pencil came out and a job was found for this person’s wife and he was given permanent status for a job he has held for a few years.
In Politics Everyone’s Gotta Eat–Even Joe Tiago
Mangia Mia! In Bridgeport they say see a fork in the road and eat with it. Problem is everyone eats with two forks.
This is such incredible BULL! This is ballsy even for this administration. This piece of garbage mayor has the gall to expect the honest city employees to give up salary and he turns around and shoves this right down everyone’s throat. THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS GOT TO GO!!! Good people of Bridgeport, please wake up and get rid of these crooks once and for all. They are doing whatever in hell they want with your taxes, the money YOU work hard for.
I was doing a little digging today. I found out Tom McCarthy’s brother was hired by the board of ed as a carpenter/maintenance person. Who here thinks he applied and got hired through the proper channels?
McCarthy’s brother is a union carpenter and a good one at that, I have heard nothing bad said about him or how he was hired.
Well hell REBEL, since you are obviously afraid to post using your real name, who do you think in the city is going to question the hiring of the brother of the head of Labor Relations? You are not a rebel, you are a contradiction in terms.
REBEL, I’m not saying anything bad about the brother. I’m sure he’s a good carpenter. My point is how did he get the job? You know as well as I.
And I guess since no one said anything bad about Paoletto’s father and Andres Ayala’s father being hired as seasonals they must be good, too. Got to say the same for half of Lydia’s family and let’s not forget Mark Anastasi’s son. And the list goes on and on.
Why does the BOE have a carpenter on its payroll?
Checked further, BOE has three carpenters on the payroll for close to 40 schools, Walsh you are so negative HELL won’t accept you. All I said was he was a UNION carpenter who paid his dues and replaced someone who retired, the job was not made up for him.
Read your post. You said “union carpenter and a good one at that, I have heard nothing bad said about him or how he was hired.”
Where or when did you decide to make up or add all of this other stuff???
Next time you post, use your real name. Wuss.
And REBEL, my point is if it is not good having city employees on the council then it is not good having family members being given city jobs.
It is all a disgusting part of a politically corrupt organization.
Just got a tip the city just purchased six new Ford Fusions at a cost exceeding $200K. These folks are out of control.
Tips provide the juicy stuff around here.
But fully loaded city cars cost beaucoup bucks and drive on city roads paved by borrowing approved by out-of-control city councilmen already committed to avoiding any furthur tax increase. Let’s see how that one turns out.
I have nothing bad to say about Tiago because I don’t know him. But over the years I have seen members of the current mayor’s staff sitting at Tiago’s bar both during and after work hours. Now maybe Tyrone had a part-time bartending job when he was behind the counter mixing a drink for Andy Nunn. I don’t know but it does look like typical pay-to-play Bridgeport politics.
Glad to see Tyrone has a trade to add to the one that got him on Mayor Finch’s staff. His first qualification was he could turn the lights on and off at Democratic headquarters and not miss a day. Now we find out he knows how to be a bartender. Definitely overqualified for the Finch administration.
The problem here is the politicians who went to Tiago’s seldom paid for anything.