Federal investigators have asked City Council members if any influence was exerted to submarine the recently approved legislative action to regulate adult entertainment in the city, according to multiple sources. The ordinance was approved unanimously (with several members absent) Oct. 1 after narrowly passing a committee vote. What Bridgeport’s nightlife might lack in variety it makes up for in abundance, and adult entertainment is big business for a variety of interests across the city. FBI agents are asking if club owners conspired with some council members to try to torpedo the vote.
The ordinance provides local police and city health officials more tools to regulate adult entertainment including a provision for how close a dancer can approach a patron. State Rep. Auden Grogins and City Councilwoman Sue Brannelly, hearing pleas from their vocal Black Rock constituency, pushed for regulation of the ordinance that had received some push back from council members for more than two years following its proposal by then-Councilman Bob Walsh. Neighborhood residents in Black Rock to the East Side have led a chorus of complaints about adult entertainment establishments. Supporters of the ordinance maintain that adult entertainment establishments curtail quality of life, attract drugs and crime and reduce property values. Mayor Bill Finch supported the ordinance. It’s also an issue that was brought to light by 2011 mayoral candidate Mary-Jane Foster.
Adult entertainment supporters argue the regulations infringe upon legal businesses already regulated by the state and add unfair financial costs to operations.
Just because the feds are poking doesn’t mean it will go anywhere, but their probe is causing much angst in some city circles.
Welcome Feds! Anyone on the City Council who worked for, now or in the past, directly or indirectly, and did not disclose a conflict or potential conflict, should be questioned. This issue is quite apart from whether you think lap dances and massages for losers are a good thing for the city you represent … it’s a question of integrity. Just kidding–know that doesn’t apply to you!
The REAL questions the Feds should be asking is which if not all of the city council members who voted in favor of this were PAID, PROMISED A JOB, PROMISED A RAISE, HAD WORK PERFORMED AT THEIR HOMES BY CITY WORKERS OR CONTRACTORS FREE TO THEM and on and on and on, and who made the promises/offers. There are many forms of extortion, from bribery to coercion and threatening. Which city officials are the responsible ones for these threats and coercion? These are the people who should be questioned by the feds.
As the SOB who started this SOB Ordinance I say “Good for them.”
Hmmm … since the city council vote was unanimous with the council members who were present, I’d like to know who were the four council members who were absent at the vote.
Here are the minutes to the committee meeting:
www .bridgeportct.gov/CityClerk/Documents/Committee%20Minutes/Ordinance/Ordinance2011-2012/2012-09-25.pdf
Council meeting minutes aren’t up yet!
I thought you would be in the know. Who covered this for the paper?
Interesting that the Post hasn’t offered any reportage regarding the Mayor’s children attending Black Rock School. Don’t want to pick on his kids, but how about my kids?
Here is the CT Post article about the vote:
www .ctpost.com/default/article/Bridgeport-City-Council-approves-strip-bar-3910736.php
All the Feds need to do is read OIB and they will find out what they want to know. They will find the council person who used to deliver paychecks for a strip club owner.
Was that a Pole or a Poll question?
Marty McCarthy pushed real hard, to shoot this down, up until the FEDS came into the picture.
Word in Black Rock is Marty McCarthy wants to open a new strip bar in Black Rock, aka *The Lucky Lady*
“Crime Watch” tonight on Bridgeport Now live at 8pm for 30 min. State rep call-in, then interviews with locals on crime, cops and curfew.
Councilman Baker and I first got involved in this after a constituent of mine had e-mailed me some local ordinances already in place in the state of CT.
To select the best one to use as a model, we took an ordinance that had twice been successfully upheld in the courts in CT.
Our goal was two-fold:
1) To add an additional level of control over local land use boards (this was at a time when zoning was dealing with some adult entertainment issues) and
2) To provide additional safeguards where none were in place, i.e. establishing hours during which massage parlors could be open, establishing rules and regs for bars that lost their liquor license and were operating as if they were still a bar, etc.
The city (City Attorney’s Office) at first simply stalled the process. Then finally came up with some recommended changes to our proposal and then stalled again.
I am sure if the FBI went back to the original submission and followed the changes made by the city they could quickly determine who was the beneficiary of those changes.
As to the mayor’s claims he supported this legislation, I believe that is all window dressing. If he truly supported it then it would have happened two years ago.
Hey Bob, whenever there are matters or ordinances pending before the City Council and they reach the end of the council session or term, don’t they automatically die and must be reintroduced when the City Council reconvenes?
Was this ordinance refiled or reintroduced after you left? How much was it watered down in comparison to what you proposed?
*** Well it’s always nice to know the FBI is at times looking over city government’s shoulder to help check themselves before they end up wrecking themselves; ’cause one never knows, do one? *** OIB ***
“The Feds are wondering if some council members are playing footsies with club owners.”
“Just because the feds are poking doesn’t mean it will go anywhere, but their probe is causing much angst in some city circles.”
Lennie, you really believe the feds are just wondering? Yeah, maybe wondering around the state. How many times have you stated when the feds come to ask questions, they usually know the answer to the questions? Remember April 14, 2011? That’s the day I learned via OIB an individual posted a YouTube video of me, Tito Ayala, and Charlie Coviello attacking Mary-Jane Foster’s choice of her underticket. In the YouTube video, it claims Charlie Coviello lines his pockets for bribes from strip club owners with ties to organized crime. A very serious allegation if you ask me. It’s interesting the poster is a supporter and contributor of Mayor Bill Finch. The poster seems to have first-hand knowledge to be so bold as to make a YouTube video like the April 13, 2011 YouTube video titled Mary-Jane Foster’s Establishment. I think it’s time for the feds to pay a visit to this guy and ask him about this allegation he made. If any federal agent is reading this and takes my advice, give the gentlemen the middle finger for me. Here is the link:
www .youtube.com/watch?v=vkRxR5lh52M
You folks think the strip joints and massage parlors are a problem? Wait ’til you hear about my new venture called Malaidsian Car Wash. The first one will be located in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. Here is how it works:
landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=10557&sitesection=&VID=23840939
Joel,
You may be more successful in renting an office space in Black Rock’s OR zone to craft more offerings of genuinely funny commentary. We miss your often wild offerings! As far as your video business proposal, it appears to be a genuinely “mixed use,” but will be difficult to clean up or scrub down to pass muster under current regulations. I’ll see you at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. Time will tell.