Elected Board of Education member Maria Pereira isn’t bashful about sharing opinions. Waiting to retake her seat as courts sort out a special election, she engaged Governor Dannel Malloy in a testy exchange Thursday night during the governor’s first road trip to promote his education reform package. Pereira was one of three elected board members that voted against state control of schools. From the Hartford Courant:
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s road tour to promote his education reform package began Thursday night in Hartford with a blast from a former Bridgeport Board of Education member angry over the state’s takeover of the board.
“On Tuesday, the Supreme Court overturned your administration’s illegal takeover of the Bridgeport Board of Education,” Maria Pereira told Malloy in a packed room at the Village South Center for Community Life, “and I want to know if your plans to reform our schools are all about disenfranchising parents in schools all over the state like you’re attempting to do in Bridgeport?”
Malloy responded with his own question: “How happy are you with the Bridgeport schools?”
Full story and video here.
Adjectively speaking, this best describes King Dannel.
smarm·y/ˈsmärmē/
Adjective:
Ingratiating and wheedling in a way that is perceived as insincere or excessive; unctuous.
Perception is becoming Reality with this Mob!
Alea Iacta Est! The Die is Cast!!! Beware the Ides of March!!!
Holy Thursday has come early this year.
If Ernie is the Moses of his people, then Bill Finch has become the Judas of our Bridgeport people.
In 2014 Bridgeport should Pass Over Dannel Malloy with their votes.
Grin Ripper, you are being to kind to the mayor when you said, “Bill Finch has become the Judas of our Bridgeport people.”
So Malloy’s response to Maria was: “How happy are we with Bridgeport schools”? What about this for him: How happy should we be the state broke laws here in Bridgeport with their illegal state takeover?
Thanks to OIB breaking the story last Tue, we were able to cover this topic last week even before it hit newspapers with a BOE member calling in.
And so, since we see nothing moving forward on this issue …
Announcing: The new Bridgeport Board of Ed citizen’s group, with meetings starting soon! Meetings twice a week on Tuesdays, one hour long, and televised live in full transparency.
The state constitution directs the Governor to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Based upon his words and deeds, this Governor’s bottom line seems to be the law be damned, the end justifies the means.
How sad.
For those tuning in late I will be happy to repeat:
HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A PEREIRA SCORNED
Good luck, Dannel.
Maria and others have been looking for regular, timely, accurate and comprehensive financial reporting that covers all of the revenues and all of the expenditures of the BOE. Monthly is good 12 months per year. That is what is called for in our Bridgeport City Charter for the City to produce about the entire budget including BOE.
Oops, will somebody tell Mayor Bill “ACCOUNTABILITY” Finch Tom Sherwood has not been doing that for many many years? No one can find the June year-end report in the City Clerk office. Thus OPM/Finance have been breaking our own local rules about fiscal reporting, thereby limiting watchdog knowledge, and frustrating the public with limited info. No June report that would list the entire annual revenues and expenses for all line items???
Just think what secrets are currently hidden in the massaged and managed fiscal activity recorded therein. And how many expense budget line items that show $0 at May 31, end up at $0 one month later but the public never gets to see that the “planned spending,” year after year, gets spent elsewhere? Does that upset you, frustrate you, or make you very concerned? OK, start asking your representatives for an explanation, come out to a session of Bridgeport Finances 101, or just wait for our first YouTube release in a week or so.
How can Governor Malloy trust Mayor Bill to be accountable? Good question, isn’t it? Perhaps Malloy has not had enough Bridgeport experience yet?
Back to Maria and educational reporting, OK? Just think if reports showing planned revenues and expenses came out monthly (12 months per year), and also showed actual revenue and expenses for the previous year, as well as the proposed and actual for this year for the BOE. Multiple variances can be seen, something impossible with current reporting. Can it be done? You bet. Will it be done? Ask Paul Vallas. He knows how important OPEN, TRANSPARENT and ACCOUNTABLE are in a situation like Bridgeport.
What more can you ask for in terms of numbers? Well you might want to see the number of employees presented at budget time (current, vacant, unfilled) and also track that same number in each monthly reports per department line item. Not too hard to accomplish. As a matter of fact the City used to include that info. How do good practices get dropped around here? Not because of technology … so it must be because of people?
Has anybody shared the UN ACCOUNTABILITY saga of Bridgeport with the elected representatives from communities around the State? They would not assist Mayor Finch get more power until he got more “training” for himself as well as others in the City especially about fiscal matters, along with specific “ethics in municipal government training” for all employees, volunteer and elected members of the public serving Bridgeport in any capacity. That hasn’t happened in at least four years!
Let’s bang this drum loud and clear … Bridgeport must be prepared to be responsible for its own problems just as it was more than 20 years ago. There was a deficit then, at first thought to be around $11-12 Million but it turned out to be around $57 Million. Lots of State action and a review Board with many recommendations were forthcoming. However, the City through our taxes had to pay for the bond principal and interest due. The State only guaranteed the bonds would ultimately be paid if we defaulted. The State did not bail us out then and should not be expected to do so in these times.
Let’s be sure we have genuine accountability in place before handing additional power over to any leader. A public meeting where the Mayor stands up and shows all of the June 30 reports for his years in office would be a start. Let the public speak, ask questions, and expect answers. Maybe for an encore he might offer a meeting where he can explain the several major revenue surpluses last year revealed in the CAFR as well as expense deficits. How will State ECS money over $2 Million meant for the BOE, but stuck with the City, get handled for the benefit of the kids this year? And what is happening with Library funds this year including $1.2 Million held by the City at 2011 year end, that allowed for a City cash surplus? Calling “Accountable” Bill Finch.
By the way, last evening at the City Charter Review meeting, Tom McCarthy quietly announced near the end of his remarks that we have not had an INTERNAL AUDITOR in the City in many years. He suggested though that we still had INTERNAL CONTROLS. Tom, which person or persons is handling the multiple tasks of internal control or as internal auditor assigned as part of City best practices and or Charter and ordinances? Tom, if you don’t know, is the rest of the City Council in doubt on this issue, also? The subject was not discussed at any length at the Information Session. Why is it raised to the Charter group at this time? Do you desire the Charter Revision Committee look into it in depth? You did not say so. How healthy are the City fiscal watchdogs? Stay tuned for answers and more. Time will tell.
CT–I agree. It seems like the last board had underlying personal issues that were allowed to seep into the business of running the school system. I am not for rubber stamp approvals and all members should speak their minds, but sometimes the fighting overshadowed the real business and impeded progress. I would suggest the new board meet privately (retreat perhaps) to work on team building, etc. They tried that early on with the elected Board and that did not work. If anything, the newly elected board should sit and observe the state appointed board and how they interact with each other, the public and Vallas. One thing people on all sides agree upon is the meetings now are better run and respectful of all parties involved. If this new election turns into an ugly fight, then that is a sign of trouble. How well will the reinstated group work with those elected who have ties to Finch/Testo? We truly could have another situation where the Dems have the majority again. All of the candidates (and maybe even those returning) should speak in open public forum on what their credentials are to be on the board, and what their top ideas are for the Bpt school system. We cannot return to the board dynamics we had before. In the end it should always be about what’s best for the children; not the Mayor, his supporters, or any individual board member.
Lifelong Bpt, here is what I don’t understand. Mayor Finch and the BOE President control the meeting and have the votes to win any issue that comes before them, they have 6 to 3 voting power, what can three members do to stop or change anything with the BOE? The mayor already has the power to run the BOE, the problem they have is they don’t know how to run a meeting.
Ron–
I completely agree with your post. You miss my point. I clearly state the new election may not change the 6-3 dynamic. I do suggest the newly elected group:
1) observe how the interim board operated and how they run effective meetings
2) cast aside party/personal agenda
3) show the reinstated and newly elected cannot have an “us vs. them” mentality.
My concern is it’s going to go back to how it was. As far as the meetings–yes–the president is in charge, but the whole group has to respect, not love, each other. Their bickering carries over to the public. I know everyone wants to demonize the 6 and make saints of the 3, but all bear a responsibility in the last fiasco.
I mean–Finch had 6-3 no matter how the meeting went, and yet they still gave in.
The big key this time will be the public/parents. How do THEY get involved this time? BOE votes are not large-turnout events. The media and blogs like this need to educate the parents/public on the impact of the Board, who is running for the board and how it impacts them. The public must let ALL members of the board know what they find acceptable in the meetings and how they do business.
Don’t be surprised if Maria shows up at every one of the governor’s educational forums. If the state legislators are going to pass a law that voids a Supreme Court decision affecting only Bridgeport, then the people in those towns should hear from the other side–the ousted BOE members and the disenfranchised Bpt voters. Shame on Nancy Wyman for trying to push Maria away from the microphone. Shame on Governor Malloy for being part of this whole sham. Makes me want to change party affiliation.
Lifelong Bpt, I do agree with you but we need to understand the Bridgeport Board of Education is a reflection of Bridgeport as a whole. Bridgeport is a “dysfunctional” City, just look at the last three mayors. The City has a one-party political system that has NO vision of the future but instead it looks for big pie in the sky deals to turn Bridgeport around that NEVER work. Now, we expect the Bridgeport Board of Education to function with this mayor in charge.
Ron–completely agree. That’s why the people need to step up in election years. Missed the chance with this last election, maybe the next one (mayoral). But it’s tough for all the reason you cited (one party, etc). Glad to see we can discuss without resorting to insults, etc.
Ron–that last part was meant as joke, got cut off. Take care.
Ron, if the Republicans ever got off their bar stools there might be some opposition in Bridgeport. Unfortunately, it seems it’s the Democrats who are a multiple party within a party. So if you win a primary you’re practically guaranteed election!!!
Many of the Democratic opposition won’t create a new party or join the Republicans. And that is what Bridgeport needs … A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY!!! Without the likes of either Mario or Stafstrom.
They did that in the Old South when Blacks and properly thinking Whites ousted the old Dixiecrats and made the Democratic Party their own … a sort of tea party, if you will.
The genesis of the Dixiecrats: At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, a group led by Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota proposed some controversial new civil rights planks of racial integration and the reversal of Jim Crow laws to be included in the party platform. Southern Democrats were dismayed. President Harry S. Truman was caught in the middle for his recent executive order to racially integrate the armed forces. As a compromise, he proposed the adoption of only those planks that had been in the 1944 platform. That was not enough for the liberals. Truman’s own civil rights initiatives had made the civil rights debate unavoidable.
The planks were adopted and 35 southern Democrats walked out in protest. They formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party, which became popularly known as the Dixiecrats. Their campaign slogan was “Segregation Forever!” Their platform also included “states’ rights” to freedom from governmental interference in an individual’s or organization’s prerogative to do business with whomever they wanted.
***Living in the past won’t prepare you for the future! ***
Bob, you said, “A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY!!! Without the likes of either Mario or Stafstrom.” Bob, remember there is a lot of money to be made from vendor contracts with the BOE and favors to pay out and those in power will do anything to keep that power.
Ron … So THAT is why the Governor is expending his political capital on this issue that supports a Finch initiative. It is about the Stafstrom Connection. No?
Failure to understand your past will keep you in the same place.