Calling for “new people” rather than old hands, Mayor Art Ward is pushing for two newcomers to join the West Bristol School Building Committee rather than filling vacant slots with two mayoral also-rans.
Ward said he would like to see the vacancies filled by a Bingham School parent recommended by its principal and by resident Jody Trestman.
“There’s been a cry out there for the inclusion of new people,” Ward said.
He said he “will not bring forward” the two names requested by three panel members: losing Republican mayoral candidate Ken Johnson and Democrat Ellen Zoppo, who lost to Ward in a bitter primary this year.
Ward said that Trestman and Tricia Theriault, the Bingham parent, would be less political and more objective in their assessment of the proper site for a new kindergarten to eighth grade school in the western part of the city.
The mayor’s picks raise the possibility of a showdown with the three committee members charged with making recommendations to fill vacant seats.
On Nov. 30, the three committee members who are mandated to make a recommendation – city Councilor Ken Cockayne, Board of Education member Chris Wilson and Board of Finance representative Don Soucy – unanimously backed Zoppo and Johnson for the slots.
Since then, Cockayne said, they’ve realized the meeting they held to pick the names wasn’t legal because it wasn’t posted and the public had no opportunity to participate.
Consquently, he said, the three will have to meet again.
“That’s where we stand,” Cockayne said, with no picks truly made and no decisions firmed up.Cockayne said the trio who get to nominate school building panel members are “going to wait until after the holidays” to hold meeting that will be posted properly in order to make picks that have legal meaning.
Though Soucy wrote in a December 3 letter to Ward that both Johnson and Zoppo are interested in serving, Cockayne said he’s since that Zoppo isn’t willing any longer because she decided it could conflict with her new position at the Family Center. He said Johnson is still interested, however.After hearing that Zoppo wasn’t in the running any longer, Cockayne said he phoned Mayor Art Ward to let the mayor know he would back Trestman, one of the two people Ward wants on the panel.Ward said that both Zoppo and Johnson would be inappropriate picks because they have already stated preferences on sites during the election campaign. Moreover, he said, Johnson has declared he’s running for mayor again in 2009 so anything he does could be construed as purely political.
The West Bristol committee recommended putting a new kindergarten to eighth grade school on a former sand pit owned by Scalia Construction off Barlow Street this fall. But the council shot down the proposal this fall and sent it back to committee.
Other sites in the mix include the former Roberts property on Chippens Hill and a former grocery store between Divinity and Park streets, which would also require buying dozens of homes.
The school board plans to open two new schools within the next four or five years and to shutter four older ones: Memorial Boulevard Middle School and three elementary schools: Bingham, O’Connell and Greene-Hills.The other new school is tentatively slated to be built on the former Crowley auto dealership on Pine Street, next door to the existing Greene-Hills School. The old school would be torn down when the new one is finished.Ward said he plans to begin negotiating to buy the Crowley site within weeks.
Who are Ward’s choices?
Tricia Theriault was recommended as a parent representative by the principal of Bingham School.
Her name was forwarded to former Mayor William Stortz by Michael Audette, the West Bristol School Building Committee chairman and principal of O’Connell School.
Stortz passed on the name to Ward, who agreed to back her because of the principal’s endorsement.
Jody Trestman is working on her real estate license.
She’s a former restaurant manager for both Carmen Anthony Fish House in Avon and Wethersfield and Max’s Oyster Bar in West Hartford.
Ward said Trestman, whose resume lists as her objective “to further my career in Democratic politics,” was the only person to request a seat on the school panel.
Ward said there were no political considerations in his support for the pair.
“They were the only names I had,” Ward said.
Ward said he doesn't know either woman.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
13 comments:
I belive Jody is a Bingham parent too.
If the Mayor wants new faces on city committees, then why did he place three of the same old faces back on the park board?
The Mayor's only choice in this matter is whether or not he will place the two names submitted to him by Cockayne, Wilson and Soucy on the agenda for the Council to vote up or down.
It would seem disingenuous on his part if he refused to offer the names to the Council after he consistently complained about former Mayor Stortz who refused to forward Rosenthal's name to the Council for an up or down vote on his re-appointment.
The Mayor's complaint that Zoppo and Johnson have already expressed an opinion on where the school site should be is a moot point. The seven members of the West Bristol School Building Committee have also expressed where they wish the new K-8 school to be placed, which was the Scalia site. The Council, prior to the last election, rejected the site.
It's quite possible that the Council may see the same site submitted to them again, even with Zoppo and Johnson on the Committee. One person, one vote, that's all you get.
If Ward wants "new" people to serve on boards so things are less political, then why did he insist on keeping the same old people on the Park Board? Oh I know why, it's because he wanted to reappoint his political flunkies Nelligan, Ragaini, and Defillipi.
What a hypocrite.
Ward is going to appoint Jody Trestman, who lists on her resume that her goal is "to advance herself in Democratic politics"?? That's a pathetic thing to list on a resume, and even more pathetic for a Mayor to comply with such a goal. Do we really want someone like this serving on a School Committee? Would she base her votes on what's best for the schools and kids, or what's best for her personal political ambitions? I say DUMP her.
As an aside, Ward said he asked the subcommittee to pick the two women the day before it unanimously backed Zoppo and Johnson instead.
I totally agree with Ward picking two parents, two parents active in their schools with their children, two women to provide some balance and two people that are not politically involved, that have debts to repay. We do not need people that won't listen because the have ther own agenda.
Stick to your guns Art, I support what you are doing.
And Johnson isn't trying to "advance himself" in the political arena?
What has he done other than be a performer on stage?
What has he done with his $10,000 contract?
Can't he make it in Real Estate?
Even with questionable contracts with the city?
Yes, picking a parent whose stated goal is to "advance in Democratic Party politics" is a real great choice.
You Art Ward defenders are pathetic.
This is a school committee. It should be populated by stakeholders - parents, not politicians.
Good call Ward.
How is it a good call by Art Ward if he is going to appoint a political wannabe? Can't you read?
And what are Zoppo and Ken Johnson? Both are self promoters, both are opportunists.
Lets get some new faces: the last administration did (of course, that infuriated the politicians)
The letter Don Soucy sent the mayor about why they picked Zoppo and Johnson was an extremly well-written letter and while I had not thought about all the plusses that both bring, I now think it would be good to put them on. This is not a cmte that needs people with learning curves on it. Good point about the library - its AWESOME.
While Ellen did do a good job on the Library, she wasn't the only one on the committee. Keep her on Park Revitalization.
As far as Soucy: great guy, but what is his goal?
As a Diamantis supporter, he certainly is not a Ward supporter.
Is he more interested in the West End, or the educational impact?
Ward has his program: we elected him on that basis. Lets let him use the resources he feels he needs to get that done. Lets not tie his hands.
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