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Members of the Bridgeport City Council Monday unanimously chose Jack Banta to fill the vacancy left by Leticia Colon, D-131, when she returned to the school board.
Banta, a member of the Harbor Commission, had been her rumored replacement.
He was chosen by Democrats from his district and nominated Monday by Councilman Denese Taylor-Moye, D-131.
“This city, this state needed to hear something good, and you gave us something great,” Bridgeport Council President Tom McCarthy, D-133, told young Jeremy Rosa following a moment of silence for the Newtown victims that began Monday’s council meeting.
McCarthy and Mayor Bill Finch had just honored the 7-year-old with a council citation and mayoral proclamation for spending 19 days biking around his neighborhood and knocking on doors collecting 997 pounds of food (1,053 items) to donate to the Connecticut Food Bank.
“What a productive use of your time, Jeremy,” Finch told the boy, who was joined by his family.
Given a chance to say a few words, Rosa – with a bit of prompting from the mayor – explained why he undertook the project.
“The people in need needed stuff that they didn’t have,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Finch’s staff
All day Sunday, Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett shadowed Newtown Chief of Police Michael Kehoe.
It is a plan area police departments have in place when major incidents. The Newtown school shooting falls into that category.
Gaudett, a Newtown resident, said he basically acted as Kehoe’s assistant, answering emails and phone calls. The two talked a lot. Gaudett listened a lot.
“They are doing a heck of a job,” Gaudett said of Newtown law enforcement. “I am proud to be a citizen of Newtown.”
Gaudett said the quick response time to the school on Friday morning was instrumental in saving lives.
“When the chief and second in command arrived at the scene, the shooter was alive. We belief it not for that quick response there may have been even more loss of life,” he said.
Gaudett said attended Sunday night’s ceremony and was comforted by the remarks made by President Obama. “I am looking forward to working with others on the initiatives [the president] spoke about. Our children deserve that,” said Gaudett. “The time for that to start is right now. I have 440 officers I have to make sure get home at night and 20,000 kids to protect.
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