Hey, want to go on the Board of Education? Straighten stuff out. Cut this. Slash that. Do us proud. Make my job easier.
Well, Mayor Bill Finch hopes, wishes, expects, whatever that the two BOE candidates he pushed for endorsement by the Democrat Town Committee Wednesday night City Councilwoman Leticia Colon and former councilman Pat Crossin will help do his dirty work. The BOE budget represents one third of the overall city budget.
I don’t know Leticia well who’s aligned politically with South End District Leader Mitch Robles who carries a lot of juice with Finch. I know Pat Crossin well. Crossin and Finch are friends, they served together on the City Council. And both Crossin and Colon, at separate times, served as co-chairs of the council’s Budgets and Appropriations Committee.
Crossin’s not going to roll over for Finch, although the mayor hopes Pat obliges. The mayor likes pols that will play ball with him. Can’t blame him for that. But Crossin does not work for the city, his city-based industrial pump business does not depend on city business. He’s not beholden to Finch, a district leader, a city pol in any fashion. He’ll vote the way he wants on the important stuff.
Lots of council members flex their muscles about how they’d clean up the BOE, and then when they get there it’s a whole different story when they come to grips with the reality of complex issues of an urban education department: funding issues, staffing levels, school construction, parentless kids, poor students, drop out rates, test scores, drugs, crime. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
And, oh yeah, dealing with all of that for no pay.
(Check out my daily blog at www.onlyinbridgeport.com)
You should check out the video clips, from last night’s Democratic soiree,on Lennie’s other blog. They are out of this world.
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