Garcia returns to Bridgeport to head schools facilities department
BRIDGEPORT — A longtime civil servant and Bridgeport native has returned to the public sector.
On Monday, Jorge Garcia, public facilities director under former Mayor Bill Finch, began a new position overseeing building operations and facilities planning for Bridgeport Public Schools.
He will work on behalf of the Board of Education alongside Bobby Hammond, who represents the city, to manage the school district’s properties and supervise custodians and other trade workers.
“I grew up here, I went to school here, I worked here and I worked my way up,” said Garcia. “To have the opportunity to come back and be part of the district means a lot.”
Garcia spent more than two decades working for Bridgeport in the city’s and schools’ public facilities divisions.
He headed public facilities in Bridgeport from 2014 to 2015, maintaining the roads, sidewalks, parks and municipal buildings, managing the airport and handling garbage and recycling. In December 2015, Mayor Joe Ganim, who ousted Bill Finch as the city’s top executive, replaced Garcia with John Ricci, a campaign ally with 40 years on the municipal payroll.
Bridgeport Public Schools posted the job opening shortly after the new year. The hire fills a longstanding vacancy on the Board of Education’s side of facilities management.
“It was really time that we filled the void with someone permanent,” said Superintendent Michael Testani, who offered Garcia the position.
“From the interview process we went through, the references, he was by far the strongest candidate,” Testani said. “We had quite a few applicants, but not with the experience and presentation that he provided during the process.”
Most recently, there was an effort to have Ganim re-hire Garcia to replace Ricci, who left the post at the city’s public facilities department in December 2019.
“I’m excited to be back,” said Garcia, “to give back to the city that’s given so much to me.”