Lisa Morrissey Resigns As City Health Director

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On the job for less than a year, Lisa Morrissey has announced her resignation as city health director effective January 15, according to a news release issued by the mayor’s office.

Morrissey replaced Maritza Bond now health director for New Haven where she’s received acclaim for her work.

Why was Morrissey’s tenure short? City Hall insiders explain that her strengths center on professional academic credentials and a strong public face of the department, but her management skills are challenging, especially during a health crisis in the state’s most populous city.

She was also receiving pushback from several politicians unhappy with her management who began a clandestine campaign to oust her.

In addition, the former Danbury health official balked at moving into Bridgeport, something that has brought criticism in the OIB comments section. She has now left two positions during the Covid crisis. Is New Milford her next stop?

Tammy Papa, who has served city government in several roles for nearly 30 years, including the city’s Lighthouse Program and Deputy Housing Code Director Audrey Gaines, will manage daily operations of the health department with oversight from the Chief Administrator’s Office and support provided by the State of Connecticut, according to the release.

The search and selection for a new Health Director will be announced in the coming weeks.

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10 comments

  1. Here we go again. Lennie, did Mrs. Baptiste retire from the city? She lives in Bridgeport; a long time city employee who worked towards a degree in the field. Great personality and very professional.

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  2. OMG!!!
    WTF!
    So the Health Director resigns because of her management style rubbed some politicians the wrong way? Maybe I would have gotten to like her.
    I don’t know much about Audrey Gaines but I do know Tammy Papa and the politicians love her. And I am pretty sure she doesn’t know shit about the Health Dept. But not much is going on so she got time to grow into the job.
    What? A pandemic? A new strain that makes it much more contagious? And a vaccination that isn’t get done quick enough? All in due time.
    OK. But if you’ve got someone who needs a job, I can handle that.

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  5. Come on Ron and Don,
    The city says “search and selection for a new Health Director will be announced I the coming weeks.”
    Who is going to announce it? Little Eric Amato?
    When are they going to replace Eric with a qualified Civil Service Director?
    When are they going to begin the process of hiring a permanent Police Chief?
    This is the exact mind set of Trump and where had that gotten us???

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  6. And where is Aidee Nieves?
    Instead of conducting her Kangaroo Courts for crossing her, she should be dealing with the REAL problems the city is facing.
    Who is responsible for removing the council President when he / she is not doing her job?

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  7. The signs indicate a financially-/politically-collapsing city that needs to be officially subsumed by its parasitic neighbors. A petition requesting state intervention/assistance in the municipal rescue-reassignment of definable geographic areas of the city, according to demographic/infrastructure logic, should be undertaken before further socioeconomic destruction renders such intervention destructively problematic to all parties involved — including the state…

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  8. Jeff
    That is not going to happen. Not now. If you are claiming that the city does not have the financial wherewithal to fund it than the state will say raise taxes. We have seen that with the FRB.
    If you are saying it does not have the political will to elect a different mayor they will say your last election demonstrated that you do by coming within a couple of hundred votes of electing a different mayor.
    Fix your own problems Bridgeport. Don’t make the state the first resort. Make it the last resort.

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