Denouncing the lack of city women in political leadership positions and input into the selection of convention delegates, school board member Maria Pereira tears into Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa in this commentary declaring him a “tiny old man … After all, when you are ‘small’ in stature it is relatively easy to develop a Napoleon complex …” Testa did appoint Pereira a city delegate to state senate and congressional conventions but she claims he cut her out of what is customary input by a district leader. Pereira, a lightning rod in city politics, is the sole female district leader out of 10 city districts. Hmm, will Pereira be a candidate for state office this cycle? Commentary follows:
As a newly elected democratic town committee member, and the only female district leader in the entire City of Bridgeport; it is imperative that my voice be heard, but especially from the perspective of a woman who is passionate about the city I was both born and raised in.
Although I have only been in local politics since 2009, what I have consistently witnessed is the lack of respect that women are shown by the “boys club.”
In my 6 years of involvement, we have not a had a female mayor, or city council president. The vast majority of high level mayoral appointments are men, with only two women at high level appointments. Both of whom are not even residents of Bridgeport, and there is only one woman in our entire eight-member legislative delegation.
These were all contributing factors in my decision to organize a nine-member DTC slate in the 138th District. No one who was a city employee, or had a spouse, parent or child who was employed by the City of Bridgeport was allowed to join my slate. In addition, neither of our city council members were invited to join our slate.
Although Mayor Ganim, DTC Chair Mario Testa, and hired mercenaries from the 139th District all worked to defeat my slate; we took ALL nine seats. We are currently the only DTC in the entire city that does not have a city employee or city council member on it. That had not been the case in the 138th District in over 20 years. I was then elected as the only female district leader out of ten potential district leader positions throughout the entire city.
The majority of our nine-member slate kept our campaign promise to be independent of “Democratic Party Bosses” and did not vote for Mario Testa to be re-elected as DTC Chair.
On the Saturday before Easter both my members and I received a notice that DTC Chair Mario Testa had scheduled a meeting on Monday evening to endorse the delegates for U.S. Senate, Congressional, and State Senate Conventions. I found it troubling that as one of the ten elected district leaders that I would be receiving such short notice on the Saturday of such a holy weekend.
Nevertheless, I contacted his restaurant twice on that Saturday and was given completely conflicting stories regarding his whereabouts. Not one to lack persistence, I called his restaurant early Monday morning and was incredibly fortunate to have the illustrious Mario Testa personally answer the phone. I politely explained that I received his letter and wanted to know how many delegates I was being allotted so that I could provide him with the names of those individuals that I felt would best represent the voters of the 138th District.
Mr. Testa responded by notifying me that I would not be receiving any delegates and that it was his decision to make. I retorted by reminding him it is customary that each district leader be allocated a reasonable number of delegates, and that I was elected by the democratic voters of my district to represent their interests. He replied with “well I am picking everyone on the list and if you don’t like it you can challenge me.”
I found this “little” Italian man, or should I say this rather “petite” man to be quite arrogant and rude.
All nine male district leaders were asked to submit a list of proposed delegates to Mario Testa, but as the only female district leader; I was not allowed to do so. One must ask if I was discriminated against based on my sex which is a violation of both federal and state law.
For now, please be wary of a “tiny” old man by the name of Mario Testa. After all, when you are “small” in stature it is relatively easy to develop a Napoleon complex which in turn causes the individual to try to compensate for their own perceived physical shortcomings by belittling others through the utilization of bravado, arrogance, and speaking to others in a condescending manner. This is simply an initial opinion, and not a psychiatric diagnosis by any means. However, my “opinion” may be confirmed by a licensed professional in the very near future.
Congratulations on your appointments as a city delegate to both the State Senate and Congressional conventions.
The Trump-esque assault on Mario was not necessary. I hope he does not verbally embarrass you. That would be a Trump response. There are many woman on the town committee. If these woman feel like they are treated like second-class citizens, then they should have a meeting with Mario. Was Lisa Parziale treated with a lack of respect when she was a leader in her party and the council? Will the 138th suffer because of personal issues? Too much unnecessary drama. Seems like just a few months ago, Joe Ganim and Mario Testa walked on water. Of course I respect Maria Pereira’s personal feelings but I think a filter would be more professional and respectful. Honestly, I am sometimes amused by Maria P’s comments and always more amazed those who are the target of her acerbic remarks do not respond in kind. I am glad they do not give her a dose of her own medicine. It would be mean.
Come on Steven, is that the best you could do? How about some Mario Testa jokes? Here is one: Mario Testa is so small. How small is Mario Testa? Mario Testa stood in front of Maria Pereira and extended her an olive branch and Maria didn’t see him.
Mean, what in hell are you, in first grade? That women deserves everything that happens to her, plus.
Maria Pereira, this is just a suggestion, you don’t have to make comments like “tiny” old man by the name of Mario Testa and when you are “small” in stature it is relatively easy to develop a Napoleon complex which in turn causes the individual to try to compensate for their own perceived physical shortcomings. Maria, I’m no fan of Mario Testa, he’s never done anything for me but you can do better than name-calling to make your point which is a very good point but now you are getting into the Donald Trump and Ted Cruz area and you don’t need that.
You wonder why you have no delegates. Gee, I wonder why. It’s funny to me a fat older woman calling an older man names. You wrote the following “when you are “small” in stature it is relatively easy to develop a Napoleon complex which in turn causes the individual to try to compensate for their own perceived physical” We just got finished listening to bullshit from one of your none candidates and now you. It looks like we elected a group called voting with Bonzo.
Maria, you and your group of losers will never be delegates as long as you have the attitude you have, BTW before you degrade people look in the mirror.
I reiterate what I stated in a prior post, if there are no female district leaders it’s because the women have either given up or don’t have the desire to do the work necessary to become a district leader. In my time there were many of us leaders, the 132nd, 134th, 135th, 136th, 137th and 138th districts all had women leaders at one time or another. The Federation of Democratic Women was a formidable organization and men had to come to us for political assistance or they risked losing their challenges. It was a female district leader who convinced me to run for an opening on the City Council, the rest is history. Back to the Federation, while it still exists it’s nothing more than a social gathering with a membership no one knows. That’s our fault. We had a political vehicle that determined the outcome of many elections and we allowed it to become a relic of the past. I understand Maria’s frustration and that’s just what it is. It’s difficult to stand alone, overcome by all that testosterone and not hold back. I have personally witnessed on a least three occasions where she was ambushed unnecessarily. Her way of reacting may not be the best, but trust me my friends you don’t know the back stories. Steve, to your comment, I was not publicly disrespected because I was in a political position where it would have been foolish for any man to do to me what was done to Maria, plus I have patience and a good memory, my approach to frustration is different, I just wait for the right time to do what I have to do. I know there are good men involved in politics and public affairs, but the bad ones far outnumber them.
Never underestimate the little guy. Bill Finch (a very tall guy) did just that. The smaller man recruited another small man to take on the bigger man. The rest is history. El perfume bueno viene en frasco pequeño.
Joel my friend, no one should be underestimated. You’re a perfect example of that, I have always maintained you are the smartest man I served with on the council. I only wish you’d stayed, because they would have known they underestimated you. I never did and never will.
Maria, I strongly suggest you get a copy of the DTC rules and policy, the list of all the members on the DTC and talk to a few people who have been there and done that. You need to know the history of the DTC because you can’t play the game if you don’t know the rules of the game. District leaders are usually the persons who put everything together for the district, so that has nothing to with Mario.
If your district doesn’t like Mario as the DTC Chairman then your district didn’t have to vote for anyone, your point would have been made, but no, you guys put up Angel Figueroa to run against him and he only got six votes, he could not get all the votes in his own district.
Maria, you are a hard worker and you are very knowledgeable about the BBOE and I’ve voted for you each time you ran, but Maria you need to have tactics and strategy to make changes and an ability to win friends and to influence people.
Ron, that was a kind and smart response. You’re one of the good ones!
Ron, I have a quick story to tell you and hopefully you’ll see how it relates to Maria’s decision regarding the DTC vote. When Senator Penn was still with us he was Director of Affirmative Action while serving in Hartford. Budget time came around and I realized the members of the Budget Committee were cutting funding for his job. To this day I don’t know why, but 19 members of the CC went along with it. When the vote was taken I was the sole vote against this action. I didn’t have a chance, but it was important to me that my vote go on record. Apparently the majority of the 138th members didn’t want to support Mario. They could have let him be elected by acclamation, but it was their decision to let their vote be known and counted. In both situations there wasn’t a chance the outcomes would be anything than what they were. Sometimes principle trumps the obvious. I heard there was another TC member who abstained rather than cast a vote in favor of Mario. I would say he chose his way of not voting for Mario. The argument the 138th District will be deprived of what the residents are entitled to is pure bull. I would love to know of any public figure trying that.
Lisa Parziale, oh I remember it well but for another reason. I had real big issues with the decision to do away with the position of Director of Affirmative Action. I ran into John Fabrizi just before the action was taken and I questioned him who was going to do the work the Office of Affirmative Action performed and he said the black and Hispanic council members were on board with getting Alvin Penn out of the position but he never answered my question. Well to this day there is NO ONE monitoring the hiring and promotions in Bridgeport except for the police department because of a court order to have a “special master” to watch over the police department. This was nothing but taking Alvin Penn out of a City job and taking power from him and those in power made it happen but the black and Hispanic community lost the Office of Affirmative Action.
I hope that action resonates in the minority communities. To this day, we don’t have an Affirmative Action office. We’re now into the third administration since that infamous vote, and still no talk of replacing that position. I remember Joe G1 sitting watching that happen and he was as helpless as I. I believe he would have corrected that ambush if he had time. It was shortly after that Joe had to leave and Fabrizi took over. Maybe now he will do what he couldn’t stop back then.
Here is what the residents of the 138th have gotten in recent years. NOTHING!!! We have no commission or board members, we have no representatives on important council committees. We have no residents on the mayor’s staff and so forth and so on. None of this to date is Maria’s fault or the fault of her TC. That being said, her recent antics and their dog and pony show at the TC election will ensure that keeps up. Lennie, you can blow smoke up her skirt and it won’t help.
Andy you are absolutely right. There was a time when District leaders and council members from the respective districts insisted on representation from their districts on Boards and Commissions. Now the council members and some district leaders are occupied with taking care of themselves and it never dawns on them they’re there because of the voters of their districts. I don’t know how we get back to those times; it’s probably too late because the last few administrations like it just as it is.
Ron and Lisa, I am throwing a pity party for Maria on the second Tuesday of next week. She put herself where she is and too bad. Just look at her antics on the BOE. Look at her antics when my wife and Ann Barney ran for the council. Maria has gotten almost as much as she deserves. It’s too bad neither one of you have her renting in your district.
Maria then ran a slate against Mario with six votes, now if that is not a big FU then I don’t know what is. She and her six got what they deserved.
Andy, you are correct. MP plays the victim role when she wants, always forgetting she gives far more than she gets. Then when she feels wronged, she writes one of her patented letters/commentaries where she plays victim, but then hurls personal insults at her target. This has always been the case.
Lisa, you have witnessed Maria get ambushed three times? And others do not know the full story? You can bet MP on more than one occasion has done her own fair share of ambushing without warning. Remember when she staked out the Charter schools and videotaped the school resource officers responding to an incident? She felt they should not have been there.
In regards to the treatment by Mario and crew. What did she expect after her falling-out with the Ganim campaign and calling him (and his crew) out ever since the election? She wants to be the piranha and bite when it suits her, but then when those bitten bite back, it’s poor me. She shrouds her rhetoric in “I’m in it for Bridgeport,” but it’s more what’s in it for her.
I have never met Maria, and I don’t know what she has had to deal with in the background of her efforts to be of service. I can imagine it is not easy (although not impossible, either).
The impression I get of her is she does truly care about her community, and she is intelligent and is able to get things accomplished. She also looks like a hard worker. That being said, I can also say to the person who does not know her (but sees her publicly), she does not act in a way that I would ever trust her. She seems to fly off the handle quite a bit. I have seen a photo of her giving the finger. She’s hot-headed and crass in the way she goes after people she does not like (as in this article). And what she does not realize is every time she acts this way publicly, she is lessening her power because she is limiting herself. Who wants to deal with that? I am not suggesting she sell out and become a “good girl” or “super sweet,” not at all. What I am suggesting is she become a little more presentable, or approachable by way of being aware of how she presents herself in the public eye. If she wants to blow up in private and let off some steam, go for it. But in the public, she needs to take it down a notch. The people who have voted for her and see her in power (now) are counting on it.
Maria obviously doesn’t like Mario Testa and for all I know, she may have good reasons, but I find it hard to condone judging or criticizing anyone based on their appearance, be it height, weight, or any other attribute she or anyone else finds unappealing. This lady comes across tough as nails and volatile in every situation where she feels she is not in complete control. She may be intelligent, but her persona certainly doesn’t depict that. She’d catch a lot more bees with a little honey. Maria needs to step down from her bully pulpit and try to get her point across without venomous attacks.
Just an afterthought, I recall seeing Maria and a couple of men in a photo on OIB giving the middle finger. I don’t know who or what that gesture was intended for, but in my opinion, it was crude, distasteful and disrespectful. This is a perfect example of her F***-you attitude that leads people to think poorly of her.
Maria! Those Fidgets are robbing the DTC!
www .youtube.com/watch?v=KrlTDExQwhk
Maria, contact the Fairfield County Democratic Party and Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC). 860-560-1775.
Don’t let those Fidgets steal your votes!
www .youtube.com/watch?v=KrlTDExQwhk
Jim, what votes??? Keep fanning the fire.
Andy Fardy, you definitely got that right.
Great advice coming from a retired arson investigator.
Equal Division of District-Level Delegates and Alternates
a. In order to ensure the district-level delegates are equally divided between men and women, delegate positions within each district will be designated by presidential preference beginning with the highest vote-getting presidential preference. This assignment of delegate positions, alternating by sex as mathematically practicable, will continue with the next highest vote-getting preferences in descending order until the gender of each position has been assigned. (Rule 6.C.1 & Reg. 4.8)
b. In states where delegates are selected in caucuses or post-primary caucuses, the delegate positions shall be pre-designated so that the gender of the first position to be filled by the winning presidential
candidate is pre-determined. Once the allocation of district delegates among presidential preference(s) has been calculated, the remaining delegate positions can be assigned to the presidential preference(s), in
order of vote won, alternating by gender.
c. After the delegates are selected, the alternates will be awarded, using the same process described above.
*** Maybe Ms. Maria can run next time to be Chair for the Bpt DTC. I’m sure she would get lots of support from the sitting 90 members looking for better positive change and more ladies on political leadership positions, no? *** WHOOP ***
Mojo, Maria is truly new in her dealing with the DTC, if she became the chair of the DTC she would expect the same loyalty from the membership as Mario. I must say she is doing better by not saying anything on this topic because she needs to win over people instead of just name calling, a lot of wisdom has been said here for her to use hopefully.
Bullshit.
*** Just being sarcastic there Ron, Maria would never get more than maybe a few votes from her local town committee co-members at best. She seems to be a local media political attention seeker at best! Lots of loud talking but saying nothing of real substance most times! *** WHOOP ***