The forum is being held on Saturday, March 16th on the first floor of the main branch of the Bridgeport Public Library, 925 Broad St. beginning at 2PM.

This article is also available in Spanish

• Foro Público por un Mejor Gobierno

Passage of this bill, co‐sponsored by Bridgeport State Representatives Jack Hennessy and Auden Grogins, will eliminate the clear conflicts of interest that currently allows city council members to vote on public policies that affect their personal lives. This bill should be embraced by all who believe in good government.

The event is being sponsored by a city‐wide nonpartisan group:
Citizens Working for a Better Bridgeport.

The group can be contacted at:
Citizens4betterbridgeport@gmail.com

Valdéz is a member of the First Baptist Church in Carolina, Puerto Rico. After accepting the Lord 40 years ago, she has been part of the intersection and evangelization ministries at her congregation.

Emelinda Valdéz is building a missionary house in the Dominican Republic. (Photo by Angel Reyes)

“I bought the land in 1970. It has been paid off for years. I had encouraged my children to do some investment or build for the family in it, but it has never worked out, there was always an obstacle. God works in mysterious ways,” she said.

The land is located in the center of Santo Domingo, the capital. It’s in the perfect spot for the missionary house being built, said Valdéz, because there are no churches around, and there is the need to spread the word of God.

Because of her age and health problems, it is difficult for Valdéz to move around, but her condition doesn’t stop her from traveling from Puerto Rico to Dominican Republic. With the assistance of relatives and a wheelchair, she manages to travel to see how the project is developing.

Very often she calls New York and Connecticut to motivate and encourage relatives and friends who have embraced the mission. That’s how she supervises the status of the fundraising in both states.

The missionary house, Christ Saves and Will Come, will host missioners from all over the world. It will provide community services such as food, health items and clothing to needy people. A space will be designed for a service twice a week. Valdéz envisions building a primary school on the second floor at a later date.

With the help of family and friends, Valdéz has managed to raise funds to clean the site, dig many feet into the ground to make sure there is good water, and build a cistern.
Now Valdéz has to raise more funds to complete the first stage of the project. Although they ran out of funds to continue the Missionary House, Valdéz, a woman with an abundance of faith, said, “God always provides.”

In an interview with the Fairfield County Independent, Valdéz said she named the ministry Christ Saves and Will Come because through 40-year relationship with God, she is convinced the Lord will come to earth for his church.

The first floor the ministry will include seven rooms to host missionaries, a service room, a kitchen, a prayer room, a dining room, and several bathrooms. Valdéz hopes to purchase a bus to pick up missionaries at the airport and transport them to the ministry.

Missionaries and churches will have the opportunity to utilize the services at different levels: They can either use the facility as a place to stay while their churches perform missionary work in the country. Or they can be part of the program of the Missionary House.

The mission is to spread the gospel by working on the following objectives:
1. To provide a place of contact and temporary residence to missionaries from all over the world.
2. To serve as a channel of health, food and clothing for families in needs
3. To provide primary school education.
4. To facilitate the missionary task through the work with local churches and to serve as a point of support and promotion of the missionary work worldwide.

The ministry is located at Calle 12 # 106 Ensanche La Isabelita, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

More information about the project can be found at www.Camicrisalvi.org or by calling 203-520-8211.

Said Emelinda Valdéz: “Come, visit us and let’s spread the word of God.”

“Go out into the highways and along the edges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.”
— Luke 14:23

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
— Matthew 28:19

Perhaps that was the result of the efforts of the many activists and ordinary men and women working to preserve the people’s right to vote.

Bridgeporter Jim O’Donnell wears a sign that shows his feelings about the Board of Education question. (Photo by Angel Reyes)

“Too many people have suffered and died giving blacks the right to vote for Bridgeport not to vote on Election Day,” the Rev. Al Sharpton told the 300 people who packed Mount Aery Baptist Church on the Sunday night before the vote.

It had been a battle from the get go. Although Mayor Finch got the approval of a charter commission he selected, and the City Council, he faced a strong challenge from many activists and residents. Very early in the process, residents from all walks of life opposed how the question about the Board of Education was phrased and finally appeared on the ballot.

It all started with the surrendering of the Board of Education by six board members to the state. Later, the decision was reversed by a state judge. After the judge ordered a special election, which took place on Sept. 4, Mayor Finch appointed a five-member commission to review the City Charter. Among other recommendations, the commission proposed a new way of selecting Board of Education members: They would be appointed by the mayor.

The advice was not taken well by residents, activists and community leaders. It has been a real battle. Letters, comments and interviews through various media venues flowed for months.

People and organizations supporting the “yes” position said the students are not learning and the system needs a dramatic change. The other side claimed the decision made by the city administration was not about getting better education for students, but instead, about money. They claim the mayor wants to control the nearly $250 million budget assigned to the Department of Education.

Community leaders such as Max Medina, a prominent attorney, Ed Gomes and Ernie Newton, former candidates for state Senate, and Jeff Kohut and Mary Jane Foster, former candidates for mayor, worked tirelessly to preserve what they say is a constitutional right.

Two organizations with similar missions clashed on different sides: Excel Bridgeport, a newly formed organization whose mission is to advocate for better schools and education, was on the “yes” side. The Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition, an long-established organization that advocates for education, housing and poor families, was on the “no” side. They both advised residents to act accordingly.

At Thomas Hooker School, Tiffany Ladson-Lang said she voted “no.” She said, “Of course I want better schools, but I don’t want to give up my right to vote. We should not have to give up our civil rights to get good education. We should be able to have them both.”

On Election Day, most of the people voting at Luis Munoz and Barnum schools didn’t understand what the question was asking. Robert Davis and R. Smith were distributing literature for Senate candidate Linda McMahon at Luis Munoz Marin School. They said they were not clear what the question meant. After they understood that voting “yes” meant the mayor would appoint the members of the Board of Education, they said they would vote “no.”

Bridgeport state Rep. Ezequiel Santiago said he would vote “yes” because he was not satisfied with the results and the quality of education the students in the city’s public school system are getting. “If the mayor has the authority to select people with skills and knowledge on education, probably we will get better results,” he said in an interview with the Fairfield County Independent.

James E. O’Donnell was volunteering at Luis Munoz Marin School for those opposed to an appointed board. He said he voted “no.” “There are 71 changes in the 126-page amended City Charter. There are provisions that would allow the mayor to get rid of people if they don’t agree with certain matters,” he said.

Raul Ruiz, a resident of Kossuth Street, said he would vote “no.” “If we ever get a mayor who wants to put in all his friends, regardless of their capabilities, we would be in trouble,” he said.

Several supporters of the “no” movement have said that if the “yes” side won, they planned to appeal with the Election Enforcement Commission. They said the way the question was framed showed a clear intent to deceive the voters. “Most of the voters did not understand the question,” one voter said.

Ayala collected 3,143 votes, while her Republican opponent Manuel Batagua received 372.

Photo of Christina Ayala (Contributed Photo)

Ayala, 29, said she will now concentrate on serving the residents of Bridgeport.
Batagua, a native of Portugal, said that he knew he had no chance of winning in a heavily Democratic city such as Bridgeport.

Now Ayala has to report to court to face a pending case. One day after the primary, she allegedly hit a vehicle and left the scene. She returned only after a pedestrian chased her and convinced her to return to the spot where the accident took place.

A witness alleged there were two minors inside Ayala’s car when the accident took place. It also was alleged there was an alcohol smell inside the car.

The police officer who investigated the accident doesn’t mention any alcohol use in his report.

Ayala said she left the scene because she panicked when a man there began yelling at her.
A few days after the accident the chairman of the Democratic Party, Mario Testa, said he would not ask for Ayala’s resignation because nobody died in the accident. Tito Ayala, father of Christina Ayala and a former City Council member, commented that the other driver should have paid more attention to her driving.

On the day of the election Joe Maldonado, a business owner at East Main Street, said poll workers could not find his name at Luis Munoz Marin School.

“I went to vote around 10 a.m. There was such disorganization that more than 50 people left without voting. Finally, they found my name, but I had to drive to Barnum School to vote,” he said.

But she fell short of winning a victory over Democrat Chris Murphy, who collected 710,000 votes (or 55 percent), while McMahon won 605,000 (or 44 percent) of the total vote.

Photo of Chris Murphy (Contributed Photo)

Many say the fight for the Senate seat vacated by Joe Lieberman was the fiercest in years. Republican candidate Linda McMahon, a multimillionaire and former owner of a wrestling company, spent close to $43 million of her own money on the race, almost matching the $50 million she spent on her 2009 Senate campaign against former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

A considerable amount of the money spent by McMahon was on people. In some cases, her campaign paid workers up to $10 an hour to canvas neighborhoods.

McMahon aggressively attacked Murphy for being absent from more than 80 percent of his congressional committee meetings during the financial crash almost five years ago. She added that while he was absent from those meetings, he earned a salary of $180,000. She documented that Murphy took advantage of low-interest loan rates from a bank that benefited from the crisis.

On the other hand, Murphy accused McMahon of declaring bankruptcy on her company and profiting from it.

The race attracted national attention because the outcome could have affected control of the Senate.

Close to $10 million in independent expenditures was spent in the Connecticut race. Experts say that amount is the highest number ever spent in New England, as well as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

A Quinnipiac University poll taken a week before the election showed Murphy ahead by 6 percentage points. Other polls show the race was closer.

Murphy’s campaign got help from labor unions and the Working Families Party, which cross-endorsed him.

Both candidates spent a large amount of cash on advertising with Connecticut radio stations and publications, including the Hispanic media, such as radio stations Radio Cumbre and Radio Amor, and the La Voz Hispana and El Sol newspapers.

Although many Hispanic personalities endorsed Murphy and many business generated good profits from the campaign, they did not advocate for a forum in Spanish.

That diversity was not in the candidates, but in issues that past elections didn’t have:

• By the day before the election the campaigns of President Barak Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney had spent more than $1 billion each.
• The race for Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seat between Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Chris Murphy was plagued with negative campaigning.
• A political storm began brewing since Mayor Finch selected a commission to reform the City Charter. The commission came up with a recommendation to give the mayor the authority to appoint members to the Board of Education.
• Two days after winning the Democratic primary in the 128th District, on Aug. 15, Christina Ayala was involved in a traffic accident and reportedly fled the scene.

Presidential election

Despite Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s push in his last week of campaigning, President Barack Obama won the election for a second term as president of United States. Although Hurricane Sandy spoiled almost a week of campaigning, the president worked the swing states almost to perfection and won the final victory.

While the Democrats failed to regain control of the House of Representatives, they kept the Republicans from taking the Senate.

Barack Obama (Contributed photo)

Obama collected 303 electoral votes. He needed only 270 to win the election. Romney won 206 electoral votes. Final figures showed the president received almost 56 million votes while Romney got close to 55 million, and so Obama won the popular vote as well.

What seemed to be an easy target for Obama turned into a nightmare. By the last day of campaign it was a dead heat. Both candidates have been involved in several verbal confrontations in their quest for the presidency.

Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill estimated that 75 to 80 percent of the state’s registered voters turned out.

Obama was holding a considerable advantage before the first presidential debate. But some key errors during the debate gave momentum to Romney, which he kept through the end of the campaign.

According to the elections Finance Department, each candidates’ campaign spent more than $1 billion and together they bought three-quarters of a million ads. Most of the ads ran on television. During the last few days, the candidates used the Internet as well, including social media, to woo voters.

Romney blamed Obama for spending taxpayers’ money without reservation. In several appearances the Republican candidate made the point that grandchildren of this election’s voters, for decades after the election is over, will be paying for the debts created by President Obama.

On the other hand, the president stated that he inherited a country with enormous problems-and his spending is just the result of a situation created by former Republican President George Bush.

Hispanic leaders nationwide have criticized Obama for being too conservative on immigration. They said that since Obama took office, Hispanics have experienced the worst deportation numbers.

In an effort to grab the Hispanic voters nationwide, Obama managed to pass the so-called policy “Deferred Action.” Under this policy, children of immigrants who came into United States illegally and grew up in the country will have the opportunity to apply for a permit that will last two years. With the permits the youngsters will have the right to work.

Both candidates spent in advertising close to 40 percent more than the amount spent in the 2008 campaign. According to a Wesley study, Obama aired 503,000 ads since June 1, compared to Romney’s 191,000.

There was no doubt the president would win Connecticut, which is considered a blue state.

At Central High School, Jeff Cruz said he voted for the president because he deserved four more years. “It was difficult to solve so much in only four years,” he said.

The year was 1942, and the owner of the newly-opened Merritt Canteen, Lorraine Koehm, hoped to attract hungry travelers looking to take a break as they drove from New York to Boston on the nearby Merritt Parkway.

Staff prepare food at the Merritt Canteen. The restaurant recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. (Photo by Reginald Johnson)

Offering hot dogs for a mere 20 cents, soda for 10 cents, grinders 40 cents and ice cream, the little restaurant was a hit right away.

Dozens of restaurants have come and gone in Bridgeport in the last 70 years, but the Merritt Canteen still operates at the same location, at 4335 Main St., at the corner of Main and Vincelette streets.

Despite the presence of diners and fast-food outlets that weren’t around in the 1940s and offer a lot of competition for the consumer dollar these days, the Canteen still gets a steady stream of customers, lining up at all hours for hot dogs, burgers, fries, clam rolls, soup and a variety of other items.

“We have good prices, quality food, strong service, convenience and a good location,” said Jay Rodriguez, the proud owner of the Merritt Canteen.

Rodriguez and his 35 employees recently celebrated the Merritt Canteen’s 70th anniversary with a gala. Some 150 members of the Trumbull High School band belted out tunes as they marched down Vincelette Street while a Bridgeport Little League team gathered at the restaurant. Mayor Bill Finch rode in on a hook and ladder fire truck, and later a DJ played music off a flat-bed truck.

“We sold hot dogs and french fries for 70 cents to mark the occasion,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, 42, has run the Merritt Canteen for the past 11 years, taking over the eatery from his father, Jehu “Yawho” Rodriguez and Ray McPadden. Rodriguez Sr. and McPadden had bought the eatery from Koehm in 1983.

Rodriguez has made a number of changes and upgrades, but stopped short of a complete overhaul.

He’s added a second kitchen to serve more customers, expanded the menu, and extended the hours on the weekend to 4 a.m., which has helped the Canteen pick up the late crowd, particularly students from nearby Sacred Heart University.

The menu at the Merritt Canteen today is more health-oriented than it used to be, said Rodriguez, who stresses fitness. You can get different salads, veggie burgers or a “bison burger” at the Merritt Canteen. That burger, topped with “our homemade buffalo sauce,” Rodriguez said, “is low fat and high protein.”

The menu at the Canteen has also been adjusted to reflect the more diverse population of Bridgeport. A recent special, for instance, listed lamb burgers, which Rodriguez said may appeal to people from Mediterranean countries who prefer lamb over pork and beef.

But a big part of the business is still traditional American-style hot dogs and hamburgers. On a busy day, Rodriguez said, the Canteen sells about 1,000 hot dogs and a similar number of burgers.

“We’ve made changes, but I wanted our loyal customers to keep coming, so we haven’t changed too much,” Rodriguez said.

And the Merritt Canteen does have loyal customers. They keep coming back, from the suburbs or even from out of state. Sometimes they come with their kids or grandkids.
A number of customers wrote in to the national TV show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” on the Food Network, and asked the producers to feature the Merritt Canteen in Bridgeport. They agreed and a show on the Park City eatery appeared in March of 2011.

Dan Blaze, 53, of Easton, has been coming to the Canteen since he was 18. “I’ve never had a bad meal here,” he said. “I love all the workers. They’ve got such a good attitude.”
Jim and Cristina Giannatasio, of Bridgeport, are also frequent patrons. On a recent day Jim was enjoying a chili cheese hot dog, while Cristina had a clam roll with onion rings.

Jim was brought to the Canteen more than 40 years ago by his parents. “One of the things I really like here is you place the order, and then you can watch the food being cooked. The kitchen is open, nothing is hidden,” said Jim, 46.

He also commented, “When you come in here, you see a lot of the people you grew up with. It’s almost like a neighborhood church.”

Protect Our Voting Rights Coalition, consisting of local citizens and activists, is urging city residents to vote “no” on the ballot question. Voters’ approval or rejection of the ballot questions will determine their future right to elect members of the Board of Education. The group asserts that the right to vote on city matters should not be taken away from voters under any circumstance.

The headquarters, located at 1242 Stratford Ave., will be used to engage voters one-on-one over the next month until Election Day. The group will be making phone calls and knocking doors to family, friends and neighbors to defeat the ballot question on Nov. 6.

At the rally, Jehan Abduraheem spokesperson for the organization EMPOWER, said: “This nation was built on the basis that we the people decide with our vote. If we allow this to happen, what is going to stop them from taking over the City Council?”

The crowd gathered in a congested room. One by one, community leaders, elected officials and former candidates expressed their discontent with the question that will be on the ballot. Bob Walsh, a former City Council member, said: “Shame on us if we let anybody to turn the clock back.”

Scott Hught a city library employee, spoke about his experience a few years ago when a group of residents unified to get a question on the ballot to get funding for the library.

Former state legislator and candidate for the state Senate, Ernie Newton showed a lot of emotion telling the crowd how hard in the past people fought to get the right to vote. Incumbent Sen. Ed Gomes, who recently lost the Democrat primary to Andrés Ayala to represent the 23rd Senate District in the next election, said he is opposed completely to the question. He encouraged the crowd to join together visiting friends and relatives and tell them to vote “no” on the question.

In his remarks, Max Medina, chairman of the movement, said: “I know people from Greenwich who hold hedge funds that are interested in education reforms in Bridgeport. I would advise them to take over the Board of Education in Greenwich. If we lose this, they will be coming back for more,” he ended.”

Andres Ayala, who will be in the ballot in November, was not at the rally, nor did he return calls from the Independent to express his position on the matter. Historically Ayala has always aligned with the city’s political establishment. The consensus is that he will side with the administration because Mayor Finch supported him in his campaign for the state Senate.

Sauda E. Baraka and John Bagley, members of the Board of Education and Working Families Party, were at the rally and oppose the question.

Many people at the rally said the matter has nothing to do with improving education in Bridgeport. They said the idea is to get control of the approximately $250 million allocated to the city’s Education Department. Ralph Ford, a Town Committee district leader said to the crowd that normally in this country there are two ways to get things done — with money or with people. He said: “They have the money; we have to get the people”. Councilmen Andre Baker and James Holloway also were present at the rally.

Recently Mayor Finch appointed a five-member commission to review the City Charter. At the end, the commission recommended placing the question that will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. The City Council as well approved the question.

John Gomes, a candidate for mayor in last year’s mayoral election, said in an interview with the Fairfield County Independent that if the mayor wants real reform, he would appoint an impartial commission to review the City Charter-and would ask the citizens whether they think the City Council should include people from other parties. Jeff Kohut, candidate for mayor in the 2011 election, also supports the “no” movement.

Stopping at pre-designated spot to drink water and rest, they followed the route to East Main Street, Boston Avenue, Noble Avenue and returned to Washington Park, where several people addresses the group.

The march was sponsored by the Greater Bridgeport HIV Care Consortium. Raphael E. Muniz, president of the organization, said, “We have executed the walk for 24 years to bring awareness and to ask for donations to help people with AIDS.”

Residents take part in the recent AIDS walk on Bridgeport’s East Side. More than 100 people turned out for the event. (Photo by Angel Reyes)

Taking part in the walk were people from the neighborhood, other parts of the city and the state. Representatives of other organizations that treat AIDS patients also took part.

Lillian Pagan, who works for the Recovery Network Program to assist AIDS patients, said that she has participated in the walk for several years. She said the goal of AIDS activists is not only to help patients with the disease, but also find a cure.

Muniz said that groups participating in the walk also will be part of the celebration of World AIDS Day on Nov. 20 at the University of Bridgeport.

Other organizations that participated were Bridgeport Health Department, Optimus Health Care, Southwest Community Center, GBAPP and CASA.

After the walk all the participants gathered at Washington Park. Various speakers described their experiences struggling with AIDS or those of relatives who have AIDS.

At Washington Park, speakers said that people should tested for the AIDS virus. He said the test is very simple.

Speakers pointed out that there are effective medications for AIDS. In the 1990s the life of a person with AIDS was relatively short, but now with all the medications available, people with AIDS can live normal lives.

For more information visit www.optimushealthcare.org

The lights of patrol cars flashed at street corners, officers in helmets biked up and down the sidewalk and security guards wearing yellow vests with the words Safe Corridors on the back walked out of the school to shake the hands of returning students.

A family walks to Warren Harding High School on the first day of school on Tuesday, Aug. 28 as the schools and police debut the Safe Corridors program, which features a greater police presence on the streets surrounding each of the high schools. (Photo by A.J. O’Connell)

Wearing a similar vest and armed with a walkie talkie, Lyle Hassan Jones stood outside with an umbrella. He works for the schools as a truancy officer, but he’s also the school’s first Safe Corridors volunteer.

“I know most of the kids,” he said. “They know I know them.”

The Safe Corridors Program – a response to violence among youngsters – takes a three-pronged approach to school safety: streets, or corridors, around Harding, Bassick and Central High Schools, manned by police, volunteers, and security cameras; after school programming designed to keep older students in school longer, and a revamped disciplinary code, aimed at keeping children and teens in school.

“We’re going to get out of the business of suspending students and sending them home,” said Superintendent Paul Vallas at a press conference on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

While residents entered Cesar Batalla School to cast ballots in the primaries, Vallas, Mayor Bill Finch and Police Chief Joseph Gaudet stood outside the school doors, discussing the new safety initiatives.

“We want to reduce the number of arrests in our schools,” said Gaudett.

The program is headed up by Shively Willingham, special assistant to the superintendent for safety, security and school climate. Willingham, a former principal who worked with Vallas in Philadelphia, says that similar Safe Corridors programs have been put in place in both Philadelphia and Chicago.

The backbone of the Safe Corridors program is a team of volunteers, like Jones.

Superintendent Paul Vallas speaks to security guards about the upcoming year and the Safe Corridors program at the Aquaculture School on Thursday, Aug. 23. (Photo by A.J. O’Connell)

These volunteers — who are expected to act as the eyes and ears of the police — will be trained, given vests and walkie talkies. The job of the volunteers is to go into the corridors while students are walking to and from school.

Some volunteers will serve as “safe havens.” Those volunteers, who will undergo a police check and sign a contract – will provide shelter for any student who feels threatened on the way to and from school.

The program is a work in progress; the security cameras will be installed by the second week of school, and as of the end of August, there weren’t parent volunteers.
“We haven’t got the parents yet,” said Willingham. He said that parent recruiting will begin as soon as the school year starts.

There are some volunteers, however. According to Willingham and Vallas, 39 Bridgeport churches are engaged in the Safe Corridors program. Parishioners from those churches, said Willingham, will be patrolling the school corridors.

For Jones, work as a volunteer dovetails with his role as a truancy officer.

“Our biggest problem is kids getting to school in the morning,” said Jones.

His hope is that the Safe Corridors program will prevent students from being delayed or distracted on the way to school.

“It’s good, but different,” said Tavaun O’Reggio, a school security guard. O’Reggio was interviewed at a meeting on Aug. 23, when the schools welcomed back security personnel. “We’re hoping it will have a good effect on the kids.”

Police officers stand in front of Warren Harding High School as the schools open on Tuesday, Aug. 28. Harding is the site of one of the first three safe corridors. (Photo by A.J. O’Connell)

O’Reggio says that many of the students are afraid to go home at night.

The Safe Corridors program hopes to also entice students to want to stay in school for longer hours. The schools are creating a middle grades sports program for seventh- and eighth-grade students and are working with Lighthouse to provide a tuition-free high school extended day program.

According to Vallas, schools will be open to at least 5:30 p.m., and in some cases later.

The schools are also working closely with the police, says Lt. Albert Karpus, who said that the Board of Education police officers and school resource officers have now been brought under the authority of the Bridgeport Police Department.

“We’re bringing everyone together,” he said.

Although the program is beginning at the high schools, it is designed to expand to all schools.

“The three high schools are the base sites,” said Willingham. “The we’ll move to the feeder (schools).”

Though the cameras are being installed closest to the high schools, the schools nearest the three high schools — Geraldine Johnson, Bryant, Cesar Batalla, Curiale, Edison and Luis Muños Marin — are also covered by the Safe Corridors program.

Karpus says that he doesn’t know what to expect from the Safe Corridors program, but that he’s determined to see the program succeed.

“We’re going to make it work no matter what it takes,” he said.