Press release from Republican mayoral hopeful Ken Johnson, issued Friday afternoon:
Ken Johnson the Republican nominee for Mayor of the City of Bristol hailed the remarks from DOT Commissioner Ralph Carpenter as a sign of good things to come for the City of Bristol. Commissioner Carpenter announced that the ground breaking for the new Route 72 expansion would take place in October.
Johnson took this opportunity to assail Democratic Mayoral hopeful Art Ward for his recent comments regarding the Bristol Downtown Development Corporation (BDDC.) Ward recently called for the BDDC to halt all of its work until November. The Democratic candidate is opposed to having a separate corporation working on downtown development and believes that the Bristol Development Authority (BDA) should have charge of the project.
“This is a clear example of what’s wrong with Bristol politics,” Johnson added “The BDDC is clearly beginning to get off the ground and make progress with regards to the mall property and a seasoned City Councilman is asking them to stop.”
“I get a kick out of it when a member of the City Council says we have to prioritize – where have they been?” Johnson asked “They have a vote on the City Council to help set the agenda – they don’t do it and than they blame the world for the lack of progress.”
Johnson stated that as Mayor he would be asking the BDA to use their efforts to finish the Southwest Industrial Park that has been dormant for several years, and to use this new opportunity to ensure that we have a solid plan of development along the new Route 72 corridor.
“I believe that we should begin the process now, of starting to talk about what we want this corridor to look like,” Johnson continued “My fear is that this area will soon become a mini Route 6 if we are not careful about development.”
Under a Johnson administration the BDA will have plenty of work to do and developing them Mall property should stay with the BDDC. “I find it hard to believe that a veteran City Councilman of 14 years cannot understand the concept of the BDDC” Johnson said.
“This type of opportunity will go a long way in increasing our tax base and helping to stabilize taxes in our community if not lower them,” Johnson concluded “ This nonsense of starting and stopping projects has to stop.”
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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
11 comments:
Everyone has their ideas & opinions on what should be done. Ward was looking out at the cost of tax dollars paying the BDA & this new Corp.
As for prioritizing - Ward made that comment when Zoppo jumped in with all her projects,(Roberts, Plastic turf, dog parks, senior tax breaks, etc...) the parks needed to be addressed, downtown, then the schools jump in with a new K-8 project. Ward bascially was saying these things can happen, but we need to prioritze them so the taxpayers don't get slammed! Generate revenue before creating big price tag items all at once. Trying to put a new spin & twist the whole situation is what Stortz did when he was running! Please don't start this process all over again. By making a comment like "where was he" you try sitting in the council seat and work with council members only looking to build up their resumes is not easy or productive.
M. Beckham
Bristol
Mr. Ward has served on the counil for 14 years long before Mrs. Zoppo-Sassu came into the picture.
Mr. ward was "Deputy Mayor" under the defunct Couture adminsitation. He voted to buy the mall for 5.5 million dollars with no public input. he participated in the conversations and did not have the foresight to by out the Ocean State Job Lot lease before we purchased the mall which has caused the delay with the Mall. Ina ddition, Mr. Ward sided with Attorney Nicastro and voted againist the agreement with OSJL in March. We could have been three months into the mall coming down.
Therefore, Mr. Johnson as every right to ask "where he was" as should every voter in the City of Bristol.
You forgot to include Zoppo in this whole issue - she too voted against the buy out of OSJL and voted to purchase the mall! Guess who we all know you are a Zoppo supporter.
Is Zoppo responsible for global warming too? God forbid someone actually tried to move projects off the dime. I am in favor of the Roberts site, but that aside, Art Ward was a member of the Roberts Task Force that did nothing for years except sit around and look at each other. Prioritize? He doesn't know the meaning of the word because he never got that involved.
It's easy for Johnson to throw stones from the bleachers since he's never played in the field.
He has a rude awakening if he thinks that the mall issue is as easy as he trys to make it sound.
Wow, I just started reading these blogs and it amazes me that the ADULTS that I live in the same town are so petty! I never cared about politics at all but I am very interested now. I suppose that most of the bloggers are adults with children, grandchildren blah blah blah, is this what is being taught in the home, to mud sling? It is disgusting that citizens have to go through the wringer to get into a public office. How sad! All 3 candidates im sure are good people and they are made to look like fools! Who are all of us to judge,I cant because I dont walk in their shoes! We do need a good panel of leaders in our town,I havent decided who to choose, but I think that Mr.Johnson will be IT. No dirty laundry so far except for the personal vendeta that Mayor Stortz seems to have for him in regards to this Municipal Energy situation and a few others that our town people have so openly gossiped about! Good luck Mr.Johnson and to all that cannot say anything positive, Im glad you all are not running for offices at City Hall! I would be even more concerned for my childrens futures!
Actually, there IS a plan for the re-development of Route 72. A citizens committee was formed several years ago and came up with an excellent plan back in April 2005, under the guidance of City Planner Alan Weiner.
Ken and Art should read it. I know Ellen has.
http://www.ci.bristol.ct.us/filestorage/3326/3328/Rte%2b72CorridorStudyAapprovedVersion2.pdf
It's too bad the mall is an issue. Zoppo and Minor were two of the biggest supporters of it's purchase from the beginning. If it wasn't for them there would be no issue to begin with. They are incompetant.
The Bottom line is this... Art Ward, Ellen Zoppo and since he chose to weigh in on this issue, Craig Minor all supported Attorney Nicastro with regards to the OSJL buy-out.
Ward, Zoppo-Sassu and Minor each voted to buy the mall with that lease still in place instead of trying to work out a deal with OSJL before the purchase.
They all have no vision, and now they all want to priortize spending. They act as though they will be the saviors and the visonaries when it comes to downtown Bristol.
Please remember they are the ones who got us into this mess. If they want sonething to happen downtown then support the Mayor's plan that he proposed in March and get it done.
Put Democratic and Republican politics aside, your own campaigns and do what is right for Bristol!
And please Craig and Frank told the world that we would have a surpreme court decidion in two weeks back in April. It's now five months later with no answer.
Let the lawyers advise us on legal matters and let Attorney Nicastro stay, a former traurant officer, Mayor and a City Councilman and a State Representative, I don't think he has time for law school as well.
minor, your rationale is the reason that I agree with the comments of the person who posted above your posting.
I was originally against buying the mall, but after thinking about it more, I realized that the cost of doing nothing outweighed the cost of action. So far as I know no candidate for either Mayor or City Council has said that we should not have bought it (let me know if I'm wrong, please). So what "issue" are you referring to?
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