Good Turnout At Bridgeport Council Meeting

The turnout at the Bridgeport City Council meeting was quite large, certainly smaller than the last meeting, but still large enough to reflect a high degree of anger about the property tax hike. The business of the Council lasted all of 10 minutes and then the floor was given over to the public. Dave Walker and Pete Spain once again made the case for an independent financial control board to manage the city’s finances. I’m not sure I agree with Mayor Ganim on much, but, like him, I would oppose this move. Turning over the city’s finances to an independent board that does not answer to voters may seem like the quick and easy solution, and it might very well be. But it is totally anti-democratic. The way to move Bridgeport forward is to ensure citizen involvement in all areas of the city. Right now, this tax protest is coming from the wealthier residents in the city who have been hurt the most by the tax increase. If they could somehow merge that movement to address the concerns of other areas of the city, that would lead to the real changes Bridgeport needs.