‘IT’S JUST NOT RIGHT’
Bridgeport council upset over acting police chief ’s absence from budget meeting
BRIDGEPORT — A scheduled teleconferenced meeting for the City Council to examine one of its most important municipal budgets — for the police department — with top officials from the force was curtailed Saturday after the chief and an aide did not attend.
Whether the parties will be able to meet before the council finalizes its budget by May 10 remains to be seen.
“For us to do this and then we don’t have people to show up, it’s just not right,” said Councilman Ernie Newton, a chairman of the Budget Committee, which has been meeting almost daily with various department directors to analyze Mayor Joe Ganim’s draft of the 2022-23 municipal fiscal plan.
“This is just another poor reflection on (police) leadership,” Councilman Matthew McCarthy said.
Three different reasons were offered during the meeting for Acting Chief Rebeca Garcia’s absence: She did not want to work on Saturday; she had an unspecified prior commitment; and/or she had an unspecified health issue.
Garcia in an emailed statement to Hearst Connecticut Media afterward clarified, “I am recovering from a procedure which I respectfully will not expound upon.” But, she said, she attended “the Christian flag-raising” at City Hall for the Easter holiday and had thought her prior request to postpone her budget hearing had been accepted.
“I know the importance of the budget and the amount of time the council has dedicated to it and the personal sacrifice of each involved,” Garcia continued. “At no time should my absence be considered a disregard to the hard work and effort of all involved in the budget process. I look forward to presenting at our next meeting when scheduled.”
The committee must vote on a budget and forward that to the full council for final approval in early May. Councilman Scott Burns, Newton’s co-chairman, said in an interview Saturday he was not sure whether the group would be able to reconvene with Garcia or when it might happen.
The police department has been on the calendar for an April 16 review since that schedule was released April 5, and the chief ’s presentation is typically one of the more highly anticipated. The public safety category this year makes up 29.5 percent of the proposed $605.1 million Bridgeport operating budget, and the force has ongoing manpower and overtime issues.
Burns and Council President Aidee Nieves had expressed some uncertainty this week about whether Garcia would attend, but the committee went ahead as planned
Saturday, at 10 a.m., hoping she or a representative would appear.
Burns told his colleagues he had heard during the week through Garcia’s office that she was opposed to discussing her budget on a Saturday and wanted to reschedule, but nothing was finalized. He noted weekends are typically an unpopular time for department heads to meet with the Budget Committee but said it has to be done given the group’s tight schedule.
“I was not advised that the postponement request had not been honored and that the committee would be going forward, otherwise we would’ve been present,” Garcia said in her email to Hearst on Saturday.
At one point, Lt. Manuel Cotto, an aide to Garcia who helped to prepare the police department’s fiscal proposal, phoned in to the teleconference. He said he was out directing traffic and got an automated alert about the budget meeting.
“I thought we requested to postpone this meeting,” Cotto told the council members. “The chief had a priority community engagement she could not break for this . ... I don’t know where that rumor came from that the chief does not work on Saturdays. Unfortunately, this was booked and nobody checked with her schedule.”
Budget committee members initially tried to forge ahead with the help of municipal finance staff.
“We are all volunteers and we’re here on a weekend. If you are an employee and leading a department I think you should be here,” Councilwoman Jeanette Herron said. “I think we should move forward.”
But it soon became clear they could not accomplish much without Garcia and Cotto. Members hoped Cotto, who was still listening in, could participate, but he told them, “I’m working on a road job . ... I have no paperwork in front of me. I told you guys the chief had a community policing engagement . ... She does work Saturdays. Her engagement was worked out prior to this budget meeting. She tried to get out of it. I do think the community comes first. Some people might think otherwise.”
Cotto offered to phone Garcia and ask her to break away from her event if necessary. But Newton said, “I’m not going to keep this committee all day . ... I know you all got things to do and I’m not gonna do that to you all.”
A few minutes later, Burns said he had just spoken with Garcia and she advised him of “some health issues.”
“That was not communicated with me (before Saturday),” Burns said. “She is willing to meet with us. Today’s not a good day.”