Denied support for another two-year term by East End political leaders, City Councilman Andre Baker says he will be a candidate for Board of Education.
Democratic Town Committee members from the 139th District have announced endorsement for James Holloway, the longest-serving member of the council and East End activist Eneida Martinez-Walker, a caseworker for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Baker says several town committee members have urged him to run for a citywide school board seat. He says he will oblige.
“I have a lot of support city wide and will be running with a great group of people who have the same strong commitment for the education of our kids here in the city of Bridgeport,” Baker emailed OIB. “So now I have a chance to get things done and also see where my strengths and weaknesses are citywide for the future (2015?)”
Mayor Bill Finch is up for reelection in 2015. Baker has been a consistent Finch critic.
The 90-member Democratic Town Committee will endorse candidates for City Council and school board Monday night at Testo’s Restaurant. If Baker is to win a school board seat he’ll need to wage a September primary against the Democratic endorsed candidates. To earn a spot on the ballot he must secure more than 2000 signatures from registered Democrats.
Going into Monday’s meeting a lot is swirling among candidates positioning for endorsement and potential primary challengers for five school board slots, three occupied by Democrats and two by members of the Connecticut Working Families Party.
Andre Baker is a hard-working City Council person, keeping a good attendance record at committee and council meetings. More than showing up though, he has asked questions frequently about issues that are presented by the administration with little or no reference data. He is a student of issues and a long-term learner. The answer he has received too often has been: “We can get that for you.” But more often than not what he has received is disappointment when the questions are not fully answered or the answer never arrives.
He has also opposed the budget vote the past two years and that does not make one popular at City Hall. But he often appears at Budget & Appropriations meetings to ask questions or to review the tardy monthly reports and there is another reason why ‘management’ has not placed him on that committee lately.
Personally, I will be pleased to knock on doors and ask for legal signatures from registered Democratic voters for this primary fight. Baker’s uphill battle on behalf of ordinary people of the City needs to be heard and his integrity, courage and voice will be valuable in building more respectful accord on the Board and valuable direction for the public school system. Time will tell.
Don’t be surprised if Detroit’s bankruptcy throws Bridgeport’s City Council into the national spotlight. Significant and potent political forces are already mobilizing their efforts to use existing laws to advance their goals. Connecticut is the dart board and Bridgeport is the bullseye. Video cameras and nightly cable coverage of CC meetings might be a convenient result.
www .thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/20/detroit-s-bankruptcy-raises-questions-that-go-far-beyond-the-city-limits.html … read this.
I read where Detroit retirees will get 10 cents on every dollar in their pension plans. Is that possible? Can that happen here, being that Bpt is bankrupt? What happens to their hourly wage now, is it reduced as well?
Thanks to Bond Girl and Local Eyes for providing stories of fiscal struggles getting into deeper water than they can handle (and remember we are in historically low interest expense territory). We are likely to see more of this and we are also likely to see pragmatic decisions made at local, state and federal levels to muddle through. After all is said and done the population that voted for the obligations have moved on or out and the population that benefits the most from the retirement benefits are not living in the obligating communities for the most part either. Fascinating demographics will figure into solutions I predict.
Discussion on restructuring are better left to another day, but those seniors who are retired and receiving benefits (and never participated in Social Security, for instance) are most likely to be affected little or not at all, if the sense and spirit of past adjustments or restructuring out of Washington are followed. But those same people have no representation in those former employers on Pension Boards and no representation from their former Unions either, as retirees. Who speaks for them? Interesting question also … and I expect Andy, Ron and others to comment and make suggestions on this neglected topic.
My topic of interest at the moment is: How has Mayor Finch (and the City Council if they approved of the public safety labor contracts in 2012) planned for the doubling of those retirement incomes (especially for police with greater outside overtime opportunities)? Is the City of Bridgeport totally off the hook for what looks like the doubling of pension obligations for Pension B public safety still working? And if that is the case, why did the State of CT go along with this plan inasmuch as they have serious underfunding problems already? Let’s not keep this a secret. Time will tell.
While there are some similarities between Bridgeport and Detroit, there are also vast differences.
A bit off topic, but …
www .moneynews.com/Headline/Harrisburg-State-takeover-pennsylvania/2011/10/20/id/415197#
Best wishes to Andre Baker.
When compared to Detroit, Bridgeport looks better. The same federal policies that ruined Detroit, crippled Bridgeport (The Park City already made that movie). The upcoming Detroit bankruptcy story will show similarities and contrasts to Bridgeport.
Here’s your head start: the story began almost forty-eight years ago on July 30, 1965.
Andre Baker, a true public servant, one who listened to citizens and worked to make sure their concerns were addressed, and questioned the city on any item on the agenda that did not serve or promote the long-term best practices of city government. Thank you for your dedicated service, and I know you will do great things in the future.
Good luck to Andre Baker. Running for the board of education, the entire city gets to support him.
Does Moales have to run again or does he keep his position?
He is not up for reelection this year.
Andre Baker,
As one of your City Council mentors you have made me proud. You have done a fantastic job on the council as the lone voice. You can count on me to help with petitions and in the campaign. Good luck, my brother.
*** I feel in Mr.Baker’s heart, he’s “not” really into running for a “thankless” position on the BOE. He probably would like to run again for city council but does not have enough support on his local DTC. They’re getting rid of him because they can’t really control him is my take! They always get rid of the ones who actually do some work or they have trouble controlling completely. He’s stuck either way in having to get lots of petition signatures while trying to run two funeral parlors in CT and used to own three at one time. Either way, the taxpayers in his district will be the ones to suffer in the end in a place that’s been and continues to be treated like second-class zombie citizens who always seem to get city leftovers! *** GOOD LUCK, ANDRE! ***
We should be thankful Andre is not content to simply continue serving on the council because that is the easiest thing to do. He is willing to put his political profile at risk in an effort to expand his growth and his service to a larger community.
It is for this reason many people who are concerned about Bridgeport’s greater good should be willing to pitch in and help Andre out in getting the petition signatures and winning the primary.
Based on my observations at City Council meetings, Andre Baker takes his job seriously and tries to do what he thinks is right for the City and his constituents. The DTC political machine does not like him because they can’t control him. Andre will not allow himself to be treated as a mushroom like most of the other Council members.
“… as a mushroom like most of the other Council members …”
Hmmm. Let’s hope they don’t make it out of the Vibes Festival.
So you want to be a school board member? Your first assignment is to read the article from the link below. The article doesn’t mention anything about using a school board seat as a springboard to higher office. You know who you are! Be ready to pick up the petition forms and if you knock on my door to request my signature, be ready to answer a few questions from the article below.
www .cabe.org/page.cfm?p=64