Labor Relations Grinch, Cinch To Win City Hall Door Prize

Poor taste???
Even if pointing fun at themselves, it is tasteless and classless.
Here is an office totally incompetent at doing their job (just look at the outside legal counsel bill this office runs up) but they refuse to negotiate, investigate or otherwise legislate long-term savings or proposals if Sherwood cannot verify with a simple calculation.
Let’s call for an investigation into the workings or not-workings of this office and we can call it Labor-Gate.

When someone goes to work (having a paying job) for any governmental entity, they are entering what is termed “public service.” Their position allows and expects them to provide a specific service to and for the benefit of the public, directly or indirectly. But the operating concept is “serving,” not reigning over. How does this door speak to you?

One of our most famous CT entrepreneurs is Stew Leonard who made satisfying and pleasing the customer a reason for his firm’s success. Now contrast that understanding with a buzzered and closed door with an attempt at Grinchy humor!!! The ever-smiling male behind this City door perhaps has no clue about the way this office has been corrupted by the labor practices outlined in this column for the past year anyway. The moves by Finch and McCarthy make City “labor relations” into a modern oxymoron!!!

The Grinch is green, as is Mayor Finch’s vision of a gated labor relations office and the “Bridgeportland” of the future. However, the Mayor’s financial scene is distinctly non-green, which is why reports to the Council and the public at large are basically secret, or underground. In Finch’s first year he went around the community with a spiel about the state of the City and a whiteboard on which he showed the pretty steady diminution through the Ganim and Fabrizi years of what once had been $55 Million of unrestricted fund balance, more than was required by City Charter. By the last audited year that sum was slightly under $10 Million and since no one is answering the question today, whether we have such a real value at this time is a probable NO!

It’s the type of number that on a Scoreboard would cause serious concern. The fact that no one knows or is willing to talk about it means no one is proud of the trend, nor can really defend being out of compliance. Of course, if you are already out of compliance with procedures in so many areas, why worry about another one.

I understand that certain Library employees were proposed for hire in June with compensation budgeted. Multiple signatures are required for the hiring I understand, yet six months later they are still proposed, Library has not been able to extend hours, etc. Yet another professional consultant to work on selling sewer viewpoints to Republican suburbs can presumably get those signatures in an ‘Annex minute.’ Surprise, it’s Bridgeport, but not a process that will get any governance awards. And many taxpayers would rather see open and accountable financial process as a representation of the ‘green machine’ than hear about more rain barrel programs. By the way, last week the CT Post talked about turning sludge into energy, didn’t they? Well if the City and one or more suburbs combine their systems under a regional WPCA, then the City would not have any sludge to sell, would it? Your s–t and everything else that would be drained, rinsed, settled and dried out leaving a remainder, sludge, (that cities like Milwaukee turned into commercial products like Milorganite) would belong to the WPCA, wouldn’t it? So what is Finch preparing for? Perhaps he is planning to turn over all of our CSO system assets and liabilities as well as future responsibilities along with a program for earning revenue (hopefully net of additional expenses). FIRE! AIM!! READY!!!