Charlie Carroll, who has served the dual role of director of Public Facilities as well as director of the Parks Department, will return as the full-time director of parks, according to a statement released by Elaine Ficarra, Mayor Bill Finch’s communications director. Public Facilities is a super-agency that oversees sanitation, parks, the airport, street paving and snow removal. Carroll was paid $154,506 in 2012, according to a list of the top municipal wage earners. He is not receiving two full-time salaries, according to Ficarra.
Carroll has been a loyal and trusted Finch department head. Finch took a lot of heat from citizens as a result of the city’s response to the historic winter storm that trapped some citizens in their homes for days. Finch has always been publicly supportive of Carroll’s efforts on behalf of the city. Administration sources say Carroll’s move to parks, when it happens, is not linked to his department’s response to the snow storm. The city has funded the parks chief position for the budget year starting July 1, so it’s possible Carroll will resume those duties after the start of the budget year. Ficarra issued the following statement after inquiries by OIB and CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart on the status of Carroll:
“It has always been understood, between the Mayor and Charlie that he will be returning full time to the position of Parks Director at some point in the future since he began serving in the dual position capacity. The Mayor appointed him at the beginning of his administration to double-duty after Charlie volunteered to do this on a temporary basis. Five years later, residents have been well-served by his serving in both capacities–saving taxpayers money and accomplishing some great things. At some point later this year, Charlie will be transitioning back full-time as Parks Director, and the city will be selecting a Public Facilities Director, which is a position that serves at the appointment of the Mayor. The Mayor will continue his past practice of hiring the best and brightest available person to fill this extremely important position.
“Simply put, no he is not getting paid two full-time salaries.”
Charlie Carroll was in charge of snow removal.
*** I’m not a fan of many things the Finch Admin. proposes at times but I personally think Mr. Carroll does a good job with what he has to work with at Parks & Rec overall. There are a lot of parks now in Bpt, too many! And from what I see and hear, there doesn’t appear to be enough full-time personal, equipment or money to keep up with just the general maintenance let alone any real vast improvements the parks are in desperate need of in order to raise more revenue and better use of the parks by visitors in general. Mr. Carroll cracks the whip when needed and is a straight shooter which some people get turned off to, however if given the green light and money, I believe our main city parks would be the jewels the designer and nature intended them to be, no? *** What’s Bpt Got Left Other Than The Parks? ***
What’s Bpt Got Left Other Than The Parks? ***
Mojo. Take your house off the for-sale market!!!
Bpt would have nothing left.
And don’t take a part-time job in the parks.
You can take Charlie Carroll out of the hollow, but I can’t take Jerry’s Pequonnock Pizza out of my head.
What’s anyone able to do when there isn’t enough money to make things right???
The Clinton/Ganim days are long gone and they make do with what they have.
Yes, some friends of friends get a bigger piece of the small pie, but all in all the job does get done, sort of kind of.
I can’t wait to see who the political AK is who gets Charlie’s public facilities job. Who is Finch kidding, this is a demotion for the poor snow removal. Why would Carroll take a demotion where he is no longer the top dog? If Finch wants an improvement in PF he should demote the entire management team. Carroll isn’t the only one who screwed up.
Rich White.
Off topic. I went to the meeting of the Fire Commission last night. I was impressed with how their meeting was conducted and how smoothly they went from one agenda item to the next. Kudos to the Fire commission. All board and commission meetings should be like this one.
Five years of Finch and those who serve his priorities and plans for the City is adequate time to assess what has happened (or not) as the case may be. What Finch calls ‘plans’ others may call ‘brainstorms.’ They appear in the news with fanfare, and later are left to fend for themselves.
Think about the education of the 20,300 youth (when the Mayor in early 2012 claimed accountability in talking with the hand-picked Charter Reform group) after flat-funding the BOE for several years. But he went to the mountain (read Hartford) and came back with a change agent, the new superintendent, who balanced the initial budget and moreover attempts to raise the level of open, accountable and transparent process in the Public schools. Vallas brought some added money from the State to Bridgeport (even though he is not an elected representative in the Legislature). He balanced the budget for 2012 in the several months he was first relocated. Part of that included a forgivable loan from the State that had requirements attached. The balancing also had the City taking upon itself certain work or managing responsibilities that had nothing to do with students in the classroom.
For the current year 2012-13, he lowered the BOE ASK from City taxpayers from an initial $7 Million as part of the 2012-13 budget to $5 Million. He also qualified the City for Alliance District funding from the State. During the first week of budget hearings a Council man attending the B&A session asked Tom Sherwood about the City contribution and Sherwood confirmed it was $5 Million. The follow-up question as to whether that was paid received an affirmative response from Sherwood. But the BOE has not received $5 Million from the City yet for this year. Where does the truth lie? Or does the teller need to consult the records for a more accurate answer. Or do we continue to make up the story as we go along.
One way to look at the annual budget review is to see it as a game of “hide and seek.” It is Sherwood and company laying out their ask, and the Council members, in desultory fashion, most years trying to find out some truth of what is presented. But they are not spirited in their looking for hiding places from the questions they ask, as well as those they forget to ask. AND THERE IS NO MONTH-TO-MONTH OVERVIEW OR MONITORING WORTH BEING CALLED THAT BY B&A. Look at their minutes, when those meetings are not canceled!
During the past two years Budget Oversight Bridgeport reported the existence of many vacant positions that were proposed by Finch, studied by the Council and approved, yet were never filled. BUT THE MONEY GOT SPENT! But the Council could not tell because the monthly financial reports were late and irregular as were B&A meetings themselves, until the past year and there was no 12th month report to see where the money was spent ACTUALLY! This past June, 2012 the first 12th month report showed, but the Finance Director called it a DRAFT and B&A did not discuss it.
Those vacant positions we called GHOST POSITIONS BUT WERE IGNORED, approved by the Council for at least two years to the tune of $4 Million to $5 Million annually, mostly disappeared in September 2012, but no comments from B&A, from any Council member, and no narrative from Anne Kelly-Lenz to share the $3.6 Million overtaxation from last year!!! And CT Post observers? Not yet.
Where are the budget targets of the ‘hide and seek’ game this year? Does it matter? Do Council persons listen and converse with City taxpayers routinely? Not really.
With respect to the Capital Budget: Will Council members (and the public) have a listing of the past five years of authorizations and approvals they have made towards City capital spending before they vote on the Capital Budget this year? They asked for this last Saturday morning. Why isn’t it ready as a report on the City web site?
Take a look at the increase in BOE Debt Service that has been trending lower for a couple years, and stands at $14,777,193 currently but the Mayor has added almost $1.5 Million more to debt service. (Page 365 of the budget where a reduction of $900,000 of BOE Dedicated Use, referring to Supportive Contributions is also mentioned. MEANING?)
The Mayor’s cover letter indicates he “has pursued a very aggressive school construction initiative” but where is a list of the projects, price tags, start and finish dates, effect on future budgets, funding methods, interest rates and duration, etc.? Anywhere?
The Glossary for the budget says: “Debt Service: Principal and interest payment on bonds issued by the City to fund Capital and Other Projects. This includes debt service on past bond issues, as well as those anticipated in the current year of Capital Improvement Projects.” Where do we find the group working on the School facilities? Who serves on this group? Where and when do they meet? Where do they keep minutes of meetings and decisions that are made? Does the State of CT that is providing 80% of the funding for hundreds of millions of dollars of Capital projects (while we are providing 20%) care? Do Bridgeport citizens who will be paying on bonds for decades care? Time will tell.
John Marshall Lee // Apr 18, 2013 at 11:52 am
To your posting …
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Yours is encyclopedic comprehension of the Bridgeport system of governance that is, and continues to be … corrupt, chaotic, conflicted. I look forward to your analysis … always.
I have a question for the B & A committee. Why should we fund a full-time salary for a Parks Director when the job was adequately filled by the Director of Public Facilities? It would seem to me you would eliminate that $100K-plus salary and keep the parks department under the public facilities director.
I have a question for the B & A committee. Are you going to cut the budget requests or is Tom Sherwood going to cut the budget requests he put in?