Anything about election day shock you? Barack’s national win? Chris Murphy’s 12-point win over Linda McMahon to replace Joe Lieberman in the U.S. Senate? Speaking of Joe, what’s his legacy? Were you surprised the charter revision question designed to empower Mayor Bill Finch to appoint school board members was shot down by voters?
The ballot question that shattered spending records for a city vote certainly emboldened the opposition that prevailed in keeping school board selection in the hands of voters. Was the ballot defeat a win for the students? Who are the ultimate winners and losers from election day?
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Three things shocked me. First how Obama won every swing state. I thought they said this election wasn’t going to be close Obama won 332 to 206 in the electoral college and will win the popular vote by well over 3 million votes. Second how Chris Murphy ran great in Bridgeport and how he ran great across the state winning by 12 even winning suburban towns. The charter was a big shock voted no but did not expect to win. Still waiting on the Black Rock precinct results for president.
If you have not figured it out yet, I am not really a political animal. Where parties stand, who is ascendant, and who is backing whom are of far less interest to me than the three things you have heard me write about for the past several years: OATs = OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE and TRANSPARENT governance process. Put the information out there, let the public get informed and use your bully pulpit to deliver your message, your story, with your unique spin. But get the info out there. When you fail to do that it is a disservice to the electorate for starters.
My surprise is the amount of money spent on the YES vote and the support of the CT Post. Let’s just focus on one word: ACCOUNTABILITY. The Post suggested in its “day after” commentary a YES vote offered hope of accountability. How so? What did Mayor Finch tell us at any time or even to the Charter Review Commission about accountability that would show school progress if he had the appointment reins in hand? Nothing!
Do people realize this is what the BOE and Superintendent are working on at this moment? Why doesn’t OIB become a bulletin board for suggestions as to what we should measure and put up on the scoreboard, for the whole community to see, as improvement measures that will show real progress and change in direction for the youth of Bridgeport. (Scoreboards and time periods are important. If we did not have them, all professional sports would look like practices or scrimmages, activity without real-world meaning.) Around $240 Million will be spent on educational operating budgets, plus debt repayment and BOE nutrition before grant money or Capital budgets for new school buildings is tapped. That $240 Million represents almost $50 Million of Bridgeport property taxpayer funds and almost $200 Million of State of CT taxpayer funds. Lots of people should be looking at the results.
Perhaps more interesting would be to see how the funds are fed into the system, who says how and when payments are made, where things are purchased and who has global review of the entire system. I guess we all assume the BOE has all of the facts immediately at hand. And if the Board doesn’t we will assume the Superintendent has such control. But what if the financial circus in the Annex has the control, and just suppose their concept of ACCOUNTABILITY falls short of what the community would consider important? What if that has been the problem for years? Who wants to know? Is the CT Post interested?
Finally, what letter was written to potential donors of the YES initiative to encourage such strong financing? Anybody have a copy? If you wrote a personal check for $2500 or a corporate check several times greater, to whom do you look for accountability on this one? If $1 Million was spent, wouldn’t that have been better spent promoting a grant for pre-K programs in the City? As a businessman, that’s how I might have directed “surplus funds” for educational change in the City. Remember, it’s about the kids!!! Who forgot that fact? Who is ACCOUNTABLE? Time will tell.
I was shocked to hear Susan Brannelly deliver a false statement on her ROBO CALL, that a YES VOTE on the New City Charter would help renovate and build new schools, when in fact Mayor John Fabrizi secured those school funds back in his administration.
This goes to show you Mary-Jane Foster is right, the Finch Administration and his team of Super Pacs are out of step with the people of Bridgeport. Again!
John, the problem is you want accountability, I want accountability and the general population wants accountability when it’s explained to them. The politicians don’t want accountability because it would force them to explain how they are spending our tax dollars. It would force them to actually explain what they are doing.
Mayor Finch never really explained how his appointed board would work and why it was better than the elected system. He said trust me I will be accountable. How would he be accountable? Once every four years we could vote against his policies? Even students in schools here are held accountable four times a year with report cards.
None including Paul Vallas has really stated how are we going to save the kids who are not going to college and are dropping out at an alarming rate. My feeling is the people at the top of the education totem pole don’t care what happens to them, otherwise they would have developed programs to keep them in school.
*** First surprise was McMahon losing by double digits to Murphy! Second, BOE vote “yes” question defeated and third, how much money was spent on the charter revision vote “yes” ads! No other surprises to report! ***
Shocked is a bit strong for me. I live in Bridgeport, nothing shocks. Mildly surprising was the margin by which Murphy beat McMahon in the city and state. I am not shocked the Ballot question lost, everyone I spoke with was voting no. A pleasant surprise was the 53% turnout. Way to go, BEPO.