Bridgeport, Connecticut, resident Phil Smith: Hiring Of Sikorsky Memorial Airport (KBDR) Manager Flies In The Face Of City Charter

Bridgeport resident Phil Smith, a student of the Bridgeport City Charter, files this commentary about the recent hiring of Pauline Mize as acting manager of the city-owned airport. Years ago Smith directed proposed changes to the City Charter presented to voters.

We appear to be well on the road to another controversy at Sikorsky Memorial Airport due in large measure to the Finch administration’s insistence on doing what it wants to without regard to the Charter, the city’s finances or the public good. I wish I could say I’m surprised.

This latest controversy is the result of the administration’s appointment of Pauline Mize as the acting airport manager following the termination/retirement of former airport manager John Ricci.

It’s important to note the airport manager is not a mayoral appointment. It is a classified, competitive position under the city’s civil service system and is subject to all of the rules of the civil service system, rules which are designed to prevent the politicization of city employment.

Those rules, set forth in the charter and the regulations of the Civil Service Commission, generally require positions in the classified service to be filled on the basis of a competitive examination. There is an exception to those rules which allows a temporary “provisional” appointment “if necessary to prevent the stoppage of public business or inconvenience to the public, but not otherwise.” (City Charter, Chapter 17, Section 214).

It’s fair to ask why the appointment was needed. The airport continued to function after former airport manager John Ricci’s suspension and has continued to do so since his subsequent termination. According to the Connecticut Post, on September 3 Mayor Finch told the Airport Commission that the airport’s longtime operation manager was in charge while a nationwide search was conducted for the position. In short, filling the airport manager’s position on an acting basis does not appear to have been “necessary to prevent the stoppage of public business or inconvenience to the public” as required by the charter. In short, it was illegal.

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