Open letter from Mayor Art Ward:
Greetings.
The City of Bristol was recently rated at the 84th Best Place to Live in the country for a multitude of good reasons, but probably one of the greatest reasons was the people of our great community and their resilience during times of distress.
Last Wednesday afternoon, July 21, 2010, Bristol became the victim of a tornado which left major destruction in its wake. Homes were damaged, businesses suffered interruption and devastation was evident throughout the tornado’s 1.5 mile path.
Within minutes of the appearance of this tornado, emergency services were initiated; Public Safety and City personnel were on site to address the needs of the populace and will remain dedicated to this objective until the situation is completely back to normal.
Citizens responded to the call by assisting neighbors and others adversely affected by this sudden disruption in life. We are most fortunate that no reports of personal injuries or fatalities resulted from this tornado. Property damage was extensive in some areas, but community spirit will continue to bring our City back to normal.
The National weather service responded on Thursday and after an extensive tour of our most ravaged areas, determined that we did indeed experience a tornado.
This determination will entitle us to request that Governor Rell apply for Federal funding to ease the financial impact of the disaster.
We are being assisted, with our contact from FEMA, through the efforts of Senator Lieberman, Senator Dodd and Congressman Larson with the hope of expediting relief as soon as possible.
I will always remain proud of the City, our citizens, our businesses, our City employees and those other organizations that rallied together in the face of this hardship.
Being ranked 84th out of 100 is quite flattering, but Bristol has truly earned a #1 rating for their community support.
*******
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
26 comments:
Steve, you left the town committeee meeting to soon.
Nicely said Mayor Ward!
Art Ward is right. Bristol is a good place to live. For a city it's size in Connecticut, Bristol is way ahead in quality of life. Let's try and keep it that way by supporting strong public safety, our fine police chief and Mayor Ward who all in all, does a pretty darn good job.
Amen 5:59 PM!
Ward should have been promoting Bristol all along as previous mayors have.
He is just jumping on the bandwagon, a little late.
Lets see if he keeps it up and joins in a promotional effort as has been suggested.
Lets see if he starts with the upcoming Little League tournament as has been suggested.
Art
POPULACE means common people.
Is that what you meant?
If Ward weren't Mayor this town would have gotten a better rating. Can't have a drunk running the town and driving drunk!
What happaned at the town committee meeting?
"darn good job?"
Well said Attorney Krawiecki who, along with his wife, is making a "darn good" living off the City.
July 27, 2010 10:21 PM:
Why does EK get credit for positive comments I write?
Yo "Jim,"
Bristol may have gotten a better rating if it weren't for a handful of juvenile, insecure, anonymous fools who feel the need to bash our town and its leaders in a public forum...sound like anyone you know?
8:25 PM: Ward has been promoting Bristol all along. I remember him pushing for the American Legion Series to come here to Muzzy Field and if I recall correctly, he was attacked and critized for his efforts. He's been on the bandwagon promoting Bristol all along and we've already seen what kind of support he gets from people like yourself...NONE.
11:47
If I remember correctly, it was suggested a short while back, to the city and to the chamber, that they start a marketing effort.
So far nothing has been done, and it certainly cannot be a one person effort.
And, what has Ward done to help promote the Little League Tournament?
Why did they wait until now to satrt the road reconstruction on Mix Street?
12:42 PM: Once again, thank you for proving my point! While you'd gleefully break your spine bending over backwards to find reasons to criticize, it appears beyond your capability to commend or even acknowledge achievements.
BTW, perhaps the Mix Street reconstruction was delayed by all the work being done to clean up the storm damage, construction of the new highway and repairing those damn potholes you've been whining about. At least it's all getting done, but then...not soon enough to make YOU happy now, is it?
2:32
The Storm damage was last week, where they before that?
I haven't seen much progress on the pot holes either, AND an outside form does all the paving.
Th new highway has nothing to do with this project, at all!
Lastly, a good manger plans things properly , and he should have known that the LL Tounament was the first week in August!
Clearly you don't know much about the city
to 9:58: you need to ask around, but it just proves that Ward lackeys post here, because no one other than you has inquired about the DTC meeting. all i have to say is the citizens of this city should be concerned.
A good manger (mayor) stays on top of things!
4:03 PM: Once again, so sorry that the work on our city streets isn't being done fast enough for you. It is indeed unfortunate that the little league tournament attendees may be inconvenienced by the road repairs. I'm sure if YOU were mayor, all work would be done in a timely, tightly scheduled fashion. (Clearly YOU don't know much about the city).
BTW - The storm damage from last week was cleaned up and repairs made in a timely fashion...hmmmmm....good management maybe?
First, all the cleanup is NOT complete, and all the repairs have not been made.
Second, we have thousands of visitors coming to Bristol to the Tournament: it would be nice if they received a better welcome. It might be called marketing the city.
Road repairs: this mayors shortsightedness regarding funding and repairs will cost us for years to come. The past winter was bad, this one will be worse.
Ward brags about 16 years in office: clearly the only thing he has learned is how to make himself look good.
First: Oh please....maybe not ALL the cleanup is complete, but immediately after the storm the City was clearing streets and assisting citizens in need. Even if you won't admit it, it was an organized, well-managed cleanup.
Second: The little league tournament doesn't start for almost a week. The city has plenty of time to finish the road so those "thousands of visitors coming to Bristol" won't be SOOOO put out by the fact that we're improving our town...it might actually be called "marketing the city."
Thirdly: This mayor is not responsible for the road conditions. The rough winter was to blame and repairs are being made, in spite of the fact that it was a tough economic year.
Lastly, I've never heard Ward "brag" about his 16 years in office. It's just a fact.
BTW, if, as you say, he's doing such a poor job running the City...how the hell can he "clearly make himself look good?"
i have proved my point again ... ward lackeys! dtc is in shambles and will continue to be. do i detect a conflict of interest in the ranks?
7:39
The cleanup work did not go that well, and it is far from done. Nothing to brag about.
Lets see how it looks in 3-4 days, certainly it won't be paved, nor cleaned up the way it should be.
All this could have been done months ago, if their was any leadership in city hall.
Pot holes happen as you say. So why not be prepared to fix them, promptly. And by underfunding this basic service, the problem will only be compounded in months and years to come.
HE was teh one that bragged about his 12 14 16 years of experience as he campaigned/campaigns.
He tries to make himself look good with fluff pieces and avoids the difficult issues.
5:11 PM, You haven't proven anything other than my point...Your obvious grudge sounds more like a personal problem.
#1. "The cleanup work did not go that well, and it is far from done. Nothing to brag about."
I and many, many others beg to differ, however, as stated earlier I am certain that you will never admit that our city managers are doing a good job, so I won't waste anymore time.
#2. "Lets see how it looks in 3-4 days, certainly it won't be paved, nor cleaned up the way it should be.
Yes, let's see...
#3. "All this could have been done months ago, if their was any leadership in city hall."
Bad weather, unexpected delays, emergencies, etc., etc...even the best laid plans can, believe it or not, run awry when you are managing an operation as large as the City of Bristol...ya think?
#4. "Pot holes happen as you say. So why not be prepared to fix them, promptly. And by underfunding this basic service, the problem will only be compounded in months and years to come."
Ah yes, the GD potholes (again). Tough winter. Horrible year economically speaking. Getting fixed. End of story.
#5. "HE was teh one that bragged about his 12 14 16 years of experience as he campaigned/campaigns."
Gee golly, someone running for office describing their history of community service...shocker. Maybe he should keep it a secret?
#6. "He tries to make himself look good with fluff pieces and avoids the difficult issues."
Give me a break. If he's as bad as you say he is, all the fluff in the world couldn't hide it. Maybe you need to consider the possiblity that he looks good because he's doing a good job...but then we all know THAT is not going to happen now, don't we?
I think 9:00 AM hit the nail on the head - "sounds like a personal problem."
Wow, the City got all that pesky road work done in plenty of time for those thousands of visitors coming for the little league tournament! Guess we've got a good manager who plans properly after all!!!
10:18
Why don't you go down there and take a GOOD look!!!!
Worst I have seen in years.
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