Bridgeport Economic Summit Attendees Praise Farrell, Call for End to Corruption
Attendees at todays summit meeting of regional political, business and non-profit organization leaders to discuss BridgeportҒs economic development repeatedly praised Westport First Selectwoman Diane Goss Farrell for calling the meeting.

About 150 persons attended the three-hour event, the Bridgeport as a Regional Asset Forum,Ӕ at the Housatonic Community College just off I-95 in the citys downtown area.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Bridgeport Mayor John Fabrizi were among those citing Farrell for her vision in organizing the meeting.

Farrell, who leads a Fairfield County coalition opposing casinos in Bridgeport, said her goal was promoting Bridgeport as a regional center as well as increasing cooperation between the city and its suburban neighbors.

The Westport official, along with many other speakers, said it was essential that Bridgeport do everything it can to shed its image of corruption.

“Bridgeport’s future must include an active commitment to open and transparent government that radiates from the top down,” she told the meeting.

At the same time, she said it was necessary for suburbs to come to the assistance of Bridgeport and other cities. “It’s in our enlightened self-interest,” Farrell said. “We on the outside of cities must provide support. We must make cities more self-sustaining.”

She praised efforts Bridgeport is making to change its image. “Good things are happening in Bridgeport,” Farrell said. “The problem sometimes is to break through the negative noise.”

The Westport Democrat promised to compile a list of ideas and suggestions made by conference participants in breakout discussion groups and forward them to Bridgeport’s mayor as well as all those at the meeting.

Among other Westporters attending the event were State Rep. G. Kenneth Bernhard, Representative Town Meeting members Gerald Bodell, Lois Schine, and Gordon Joseloff, and Louis Gagliano, a retired business executive who does volunteer work in Bridgeport.

05/09/2003 16:50 pm Comments (0) • Permalink

States Plan to Cut Back Park Services Spares Sherwood Island
The stateҒs plan to strip many state parks and recreation areas of site amenities and services due to budgetary cutbacks spares Westports Sherwood Island State Park.

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Deputy Commissioner David K. Leff said the cost-saving plan announced this week allows continued funding for Sherwood Island and Madison’s Hammonasset State Park, according to a report in the Norwich Bulletin.

He said these primary recreational areas will be the department’s main focus as far as personnel and funding are concerned.

The DEPҒs reduced spending plan allows some parks to revert back to “natural conditions” and limits access to others by restricting vehicle traffic. It also eliminates lifeguard stations at some parks, the newspaper said.

Fifty properties, many local recreation areas, will no longer have site amenities such as picnic tables, toilets and drinking water, according to a department statement.

05/09/2003 01:01 am Comments (0) • Permalink

Forty percent of Westport Households Earn $200,000 Annually
Sifting through the 2000 census data, the lobbying group for Connecticut cities and towns has come up with the statistic that more than 40 percent of the homes in Westport earn more than $200,000 per year.

According to the newsletter of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, one of every two households earns $200,000 per year in seven percent of Connecticut communities, but in others, less than one in 100 households earns that much.

The newsletter said Westport ranked fourth in municipalities in the state having the highest percentage of households earning more than $200,000 annually.

Those ahead of Westport: New Canaan 49.19 percent; Darien 48.02 percent, and Weston 43.37 percent.

In Westport, 40.44 percent of all homes, or 2,898 households, earned more than $200,000 annually.

Behind Westport in the top 10: Wilton, Greenwich, Easton, Ridgefield, Redding, Avon and Woodbridge.

05/08/2003 00:40 am Comments (0) • Permalink

Compo Beach Fireworks Fund-Raiser Underway
This years Westport Police Athletic League (PAL) invitation to its biggest annual fund-raising event is going out to thousands of Westport homes with some good news Җ the Independence Day fireworks display will be back at Compo Beach.

The fireworks, which had been held last year at the state-owned Sherwood Island State Park, will be held Thursday, July 3 at 9 p.m. with a rain date of Monday, July 7. Car passes are $25 and will be $30 after June 6. Public sale of the passes will begin next week.

PAL was forced to relocate the display to Sherwood Island last year after being unable to secure a barge for launching of the fireworks. This year the group has hired a unit of the well-known Grucci fireworks family which arranged for a barge.

05/08/2003 00:38 am Comments (0) • Permalink

Bernhard Rejects Budget Plan as Too Heavy on Tax Hikes
Westports State Rep. G. Kenneth Bernhard says he opposes a new budget plan offered by the Democratic majority in the legislature as too heavy on tax increases.

The plan, according to the Republican legislator, would increase income taxes, sales taxes and business taxes on top of the stateҒs already heavy tax burden.

In a news release, Bernhard said the plan would boost spending above Gov. John Rowland’s proposed budget by $353 million over two years, and require additional tax increases of about $1.7 billion.

Bernhard also predicted that the budget also would exceed the states constitutional spending cap that was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 1992.

“My response to this budget plan can be summed up in four words: Too many tax hikes,” said Bernhard.

“No one disputes that we need to meet the needs of the people we serve,” Bernhard said, “but doing it right requires balance.

ғHow can we justify voting for a budget that promises to restore state aid to cities and towns, but does so by raising taxes by an average of $1,000 per family? I can’t support that.

05/08/2003 00:22 am Comments (0) • Permalink

The Town Clerks office has released the text of a petition being circulated by former Representative Town Meeting member Michael Gilbertie who is seeking a $5 million cut in the townҒs $128.6 million budget for the next fiscal year.

The petition asks signers to endorse the following language for a referendum to be held if 1,592 signatures of registered voters are obtained in the next two weeks:

Shall an appropriation approved by the Representative Town Meeting in the sum of $128,626,779 to meet operating expenditures in the Town of Westport annual budget for fiscal year 2003-2004 be decreased by $5,000,000 to the sum of $123,626,779?Ӕ

If the required number of signatures is obtained, the Board of Selectmen, under the town charter, must call a special election as soon thereafter as practicable.Ӕ

The charter further requires that the Board of Finance extend by five days after the referendum vote the date for determining the town tax for the year following the appropriation.

The charter requires that any referendum must be decided by a vote of at least 20 percent of registered voters, which is 3,184.

05/08/2003 00:09 am Comments (0) • Permalink

Westports State Rep. Ken Bernhard Votes for Smoking Ban
WestportҒs State Rep. G. Kenneth Bernhard was among House of Representatives members who voted today for a smoking ban in Connecticuts bars and restaurants.

After almost four hours of debate, the House voted to ban smoking by a 103-43 vote. The state Senate passed the same bill last week.

Gov. John G. Rowland said he is not happy with the legislation, but said he would sign it into law.

Once Rowland signs the bill, the ban on smoking in restaurants will begin on Oct. 1. The ban on smoking in bars takes place on April 1, 2004. Private clubs, such as Elks clubs, are exempt.

05/07/2003 22:48 pm Comments (0) • Permalink

Westports Black Duck Cafҩ Seeks Permit to Construct Small Marina
It may soon be beer, burgers and boats—or, if you prefer, suds, salads and sails—at Westports Black Duck Cafҩ.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the well-known restaurant whose home is a one-time barge on the Saugatuck River is seeking a permit to construct and maintain a small commercial marina providing 11 slips for vessels up to 20 feet in length.

The Corps is asking for public comment on the proposal with a deadline of June 2.

Details of the application are available on the Corps Web site.

The Black Duck Caf, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, is located on a former sea-going refrigeration and ice storage barge that was built around 1840.

According to a history of the restaurant on the Black Duck Web site, the barge was refurbished in the early 1900s and had been anchored in Westport since 1961.

The restaurant is named for a legendary rumrunner that operated off the New England coast during the Prohibition era.

05/07/2003 18:26 pm Comments (0) • Permalink