By Rit Carter and Jack Krampitz
Following a cold, blustery day, the Bristol City Council met Tuesday night for their monthly meeting.
The early part of the meeting was dominated by public comments concerning the Project Labor Agreement for City Hall renovations that the city council rescinded in December.
Led by Mike Petosa, the president of the Greater Bristol Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, speaker after speaker (10 in all) addressed the city council to express their anger and frustration with the council’s December vote to rescind an agreement reached between the previous council and the labor group.
Petosa told the council, “A PLA would have ensured that a skilled workforce consisting of local residents and various trades would have been employed on this project. They’re the same people who pay taxes on homes, shop in Bristol, and support non-profits. What you did is slap them right in the face.” Members of the City Council stared blankly ahead, unmoved.
Petosa continued that at the December council meeting, “Councilwoman Thibeault stated that it was $3 to $4.5 million over. That was totally off the mark.” Petosa stated that at a subsequent meeting at Manross Library, Thibeault said that she got the budget figures from the architect. And Petosa again disputed the accuracy of the number stated.
Dave Roach, former president of the Connecticut State Building trades, pointed out that in a school building project in Meriden, 30 percent of the workers were local, but in the last school project in Bristol without a PLA, the number was 8 percent.
Also addressing the council with a great deal of passion was Joe Toner, Executive Director of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council.
Toner admonished Mayor Jeff Caggiano and Councilwoman Cheryl Thibeault for their votes on the matter. Toner told the mayor, “You’re not pushing Big Pharma door to door three to four hours anymore; you’re in the big leagues now, right? You’re not in the pharmaceutical sales anymore. You have to do your due diligence when you’re affecting people’s livelihood. It’s terrible.”
Toner took another jab at Caggiano, “Your good friend, Erin Stewart (New Britain mayor) not only uses PLA’s, she promotes them.”
He then turned his ire to Thibeault. “Your husband’s a union carpenter. I hope you love the union benefits provided to you! Because you know what happens to these poor folks out of work, they run out of benefits…and the Cobra is $1,500 a month.”
One of the final speakers, Randy Blanchette, asked the mayor, “Is it possible that this PLA can get reversed?”
The mayor’s answer, “You’re welcome to ask questions like that. But we’ve already made that decision.”
Blanchette followed up, “So we’re not going union?”
The mayor replied, “This project is open to all bidders.”
(Note–anyone who would like to read a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of PLA’s can do so by clicking on this line: PROS AND CONS OF USING PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS)
There was one final speaker in the public comment session, Tom Berrill, representing the Coalition for the Preservation of Marriage and Innocence. Berrill requested that the City of Bristol refrain from flying the LGBTQ Flag during Pride Month this year.
He stated that the LGBTQ leadership has become completely radicalized, pushing an agenda “that in their own words, is to destroy the oppression of the heterosexual norm, which means to eradicate the idea of the nuclear family from the next generation.”
The mayor stated that the Board of Public Works has the flag item on their upcoming agenda. DPW can go to the Ordinance Committee, and then it would come back to the City Council.
Mayor Caggiano did say, “Then it would come back to this team, and we’re ready to tackle the issue.” He did not comment further.
Following the public comments, the council then tackled the city’s business in quick order.
Among the business items, the Council authorized the mayor to negotiate the purchase of Lot #16 on Church St. in Forestville for the purpose of building a much-needed new fire station on the property.
Potpourri
The meeting started at approximately 7:06 p.m. and paused at 8:21 p.m., so the city council could go to executive session.
The City Council emerged from the executive session at approximately 8:34 p.m. The March meeting then formally adjourned at 8:39 p.m.
Not including support staff, lawyers, and media, only five audience members remained to the end.
After the proceedings, council members briefly mingled and talked amongst themselves.