Sayonara Senator Dodd. Hello Governor Malloy. Greetings Connecticut General Assembly. Good luck with the budget. Lots of city pols will sojourn to Hartford this week for Dan Malloy’s oath of office Wednesday, and a new legislative session. I assume Democratic Town Chairman Mario Testa will be among the masses. (Light a few candles for the city when you’re up there Mario.) Mario told Keila Torres of the Connecticut Post that the crummy 2010 economy was the most memorable story of the year for Bridgeport.
“The unemployment rate is high and a lot of people are still out of work,” Keila quoted Mario in a story the other day. Kudos to Mario’s candor, but gee Mario couldn’t you be a little more supportive of Mayor Bill Finch, your presumptive candidate for reelection this year? Some city pols are so full of crap their verbosity could overload the city’s two sewage treatment plants. Not Mario.
Mario makes a habit of succumbing to candor. The full of crap line, with a wink, would be “It was a great year for the city of Bridgeport all things considered under the green leadership initiatives of Mayor Bill Finch who kept our city together and has us poised for great green things in 2011.” Of course when city pols talk privately to Mario about Finch the chairman wonders, “What’s this green thing the mayor keeps talking about?”
Ah, the mayor’s green initiatives–rain barrels, sustainable environment, renewable energy. Mayor Green Jeans loves that stuff. Does this trump traditional issues such as taxes, budgets, crime and jobs? Maybe if the mayor keeps talking about this green stuff voters will forget about taxes, jobs and crime? Maybe … if there’s no opposition talking about taxes, jobs and crime. Wishful thinking for hizzoner? We’ll see what the opposition says in the next few months.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful change if Mario backed a real candidate who could actually do a good job? Instead he backs candidates who will keep his hanger-onners working in city hall and not working for the people of Bpt.
Well the mayor and his clean and green BS is costing the taxpayer plenty and at a time we are supposed to have an $8 million deficit.
He buys 5000 larger recycling bins for a section of the city that refuses to recycle I would guesstimate the cost at $50K-$100K. So far the damn rain barrels have not cost us anything that we know of. We bought new Mad vacs that he sent out to have painted green at what cost?
We have a sustainability director who deals with some of these issues at what salary?
We have a person in charge of the rain barrels at what costs and the list goes on and on. I would imagine we will follow the lead of New Haven if they pass the tax on rain runoff.
Happy New Year to all!
Mario’s concept of biggest story of 2010–that we are suffering with a ‘crummy economy’–rings true for me. Whatever side of the economic or financial coin you look at, there appears to be a lot more continuing and current contact with downside than upside, and also real confusion among commentators as to how long we will have to bear the workout from all of the problems, issues and concerns that have been deferred, ducked, kicked ahead, etc. at local, State and Federal levels.
In this context it would be easy to predict the economy will be the big story of the next decade. I will guess that short of a shock event affecting credit or stock markets worldwide, our lawmakers will continue to be slow to adopt the medicine and rehab program necessary for government to meet even reasonable future expectations, whatever they may settle to becoming. However, it seems clear the promises made and/or the benefits anticipated are way to rich for taxpayers, current and/or future, to fund in real current dollars. That means cutbacks, and perhaps the public is already wise to that in terms of consumer sentiment. Let the talking heads tell about how this Christmas season compared to another, but listen to a friend with a retail business tell you what he or she sees happening, and how they adjust to this new reality.
Watch our delegation in Hartford for early signs of who is preparing for hard decisions, and whether these will be fairly shared across the State landscape in 2011 and beyond.
Lennie with all the bashing of Testa on this blog now you nail him for telling the truth and for not blowing smoke up our skirts about all this clean and green bullshit? Do you think people who have been out of work for a long period of time are worried about freakin’ rain barrels?
Great green things in Bridgeport Lennie what the hell are you talking about?
TC, Happy New Year! The more things seem to change, the more they actually underneath the ‘spin (not spit) and polish’ they remain the same.
So if we are going to try to embrace the big picture about Bridgeport what have we got?
* The State’s largest population City with a relatively small land area.
* A large frontage of waterfront property both saltwater and riverine very undeveloped relative to its ultimate potential.
* I-95, Route 8 connection and RR/intermodal center.
And how does this fit into a future with increasing auto fuel costs and people seeking simpler yet varied housing choices with lower outlays than the suburbs can offer???
Where are the visionaries, small and large, who can see the opportunity for building the homes and businesses that will serve the new residents who enjoy the sense of space living near the water with all of the recreational opportunities this type of life affords? If the population that buys or rents into this scenery has fewer children than does our current adult population, then the school burden is lessened proportionately and perhaps the property tax payments can begin to make a dent in basic City services offered and necessary?
And if this is not your potential vision, what is it, that will allow for ongoing economic development, or more importantly, increasing the tax base?
tc, I’m just having a little fun. We know Mario isn’t thrilled with Finch as his candidate. But right now Mario feels he has no one else. Let us know if you’re hearing something else.
Don Mario should back fellow restaurateur Johnny G ~~~ oh wait ~~~ half his peeps would be UNEMPLOYED! Clean da House Gomesy.