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Council right to approve Panuzio pact (opinion)

By ROB SULLIVAN    

One might wonder why the city sees fit to fatten the wallet of former mayor Nick Panuzio and his lobbying firm by $48,000 over the next eight months. Especially when all the budgetary problems have resulted in little noise eminating from City Hall Annex exceport for wailing and gnashing of teeth.

For one reason, we need all the friends we can get in Washington and Panuzio is a friend to the city. I doubt whetherthe former mayor's firm would have been retained since 2008 if he hadn't been producing for Bridgeport. Consider this an investment and measure it as such. The $48,000 paid to Panuzio and his partners could payoff tenfold.

Councilman Bob Walsh (D132) voted against the measure and, frankly, Walsh is fast losing his credibility. A hard working legislator yes, but he has reached the point where he is going to vote against anything that the Finch administration supports. The City Council could draft a bill calling for Walsh to be given a gift of $500,000 just because he is Bob Walsh and if Finch supported it, Walsh would vote against it.

A question for Ron "The Clown" Kilcoyne (Opinion)

Dear Mr. Kilcoyne:

You are the head of the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority, the oligarchy that operates our local bus system. The GBTA already boasts the highest fares in Connecticut. So with ridership tripled and gas prices plummeting, why are you increasing fares? And what are you going to do with that extra money Mr. Clown?

Sincerely,

Rob Sullivan

Passenger Advocate

On Pleasure Beach, Bridgeport needs to act on its own (Opinion)

By ROB SULLIVAN

Kudos to the group of community activists who recently rallied at the site of the burned out Pleasure Beach bridge to demonstrate support for the need for Bridgeport residents to have access to Pleasure Beach. Access that has been denied for 12 years.

Led by State Rep. Don Clemons (D-124), City Councilman Andres Baker (D-139) and East End Community Council President Ted Meekins, the group gathered to highlight how necessary access to Pleasure Beach is for the Park City, particularly East End residents.

In typical fashion, some Stratford officials, who wrongheadedly want to sell the adjacent Long Beach West to the federal government, sneered at the actions of the Bridgeport officials.

Stratford Mayor James "Tex, I'm packing a six-shooter" Miron, long considered the definition of incompetence at this address, led the way with a host of ignorant comments in this week's Stratford Star.

"They're wasting their time," Miron is quoted as saying. "It shows an utter lack of understanding of state government and the state budgeting system."

Wrong, Mr. Mayor. The rights of free speech and freedom of assembly are guaranteed by the Constitution but apparently Miron has an utter lack of understanding of that document. What he's really miffed about is these Bridgeporters disagree with him. He is worried that providing access to Pleasure Beach could disrupt his foolish plan to sell Long Beach West.

Mayor Tailgunner is also quoted as saying that there's been "no attempt to rebuild the bridge to Pleasure Beach in the 12 years since it burned because there's no support for it."

This ignorance would be extremely laughable if it weren't coming from the mayor of Stratford. Mr. Mayor, let me somehow explain to you that Bridgeport residents have wanted that bridge rebuilt since the night it burned down. I've got the writer's cramp from dozens of articles written about attempts to regain beach access to prove it. Mr. Mayor, you just don't know what you're talking about.

Here's a bit of advice. Residents of Stratford should worry about Stratford issues. Lord knows you have enough problems in that town, especially with Wyatt Earp Miron running the show.

Opinion: Close race expected in Fourth District

Voters in our area aren't as familiar with Democratic Congressional candidate Jim Himes as well they were with Diane Farrell, Westport's former First Selectwoman who ran against 20-year incumbant Congressman Christopher Shays in 2006 and 2004.

Ironically, though, Himes may have a better chance of actually defeating Shays than Farrell, who ran forceful, intelligent campaigns but who was up against Shays' well-tended reputation as a political moderate who takes middle-of-the-road or liberal stands on issues like the environment, women's rights, and so on.
This year, Himes has the advantage of a strong presidential candidate, Barack Obama, at the top of the Democratic ticket, and a generalized intense dislike among the electorate for the Bush administration and its various failings.
In a recent interview, Himes noted that he opposed America's involvement in the Iraq war, which Shays has strongly supported.

GBTA rate increase (opinion)

By ROB SULLIVAN

It would be charitable to say that Ron Kilcoyne's tenure as head as the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority has been mediocre: miserable would be the better characterization.

That aside, most in authority seem to be blindly nodding in agreement with Kilcoyne when he says that bus fares must increase. After all, gas prices are going up aren't they?

What really needs to happen is for GBTA mismanagement to decrease. The system is filled with arrogant bus drivers, routes to nowhere, inconsistent policies and questionable arrival and departure times.

Ridership is up, so where is that extra revenue going? Why is Bridgeport's bus system the most expensive in the state right now? And fuel prices are not locked in for October, like Kilcoyne wants us to believe. They've actually dropped in the last week because of increased conservation and that's a trend that could continue.

Don't let Kilcoyne get away with it bus riders. Make him accountable.