BRIDGEPORT — Sa-Mahj Bell, 11, and his friends were so excited to see the Trumbull Garden community center open, they dropped their bikes and ran inside.

They assumed it was for them, when they saw the parking lot filled with cars.

Instead, they came upon U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, among others, who were there for a forum on stemming the city’s ongoing gun and gang violence.

“This building needs to be open,” LaTira Nesmith, a Trumbull Gardens resident, told officials when asked for community ideas on avoiding a repeat of of last summer, when one incident of gunfire outside the apartment complex killed one man and injured eight others.

Others said youth programs need to be better focused.

“You’ve got to touch the right kids,” said Dawn Spearman, who is a member of You Are Not Alone, a support group of families affected by violence. “Are we touching who we really need to touch?”

Spearman said many efforts are not being focused properly to provide community centers and jobs for the children who are struggling the most.

Called by Murphy, the community conversation included state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, Mayor Joe Ganim and Police Chief Armando Perez.

With summer on the way, Murphy said, his intent was to get community input for what he called an “epidemic.”

“A lot of what happens in the summer is that kids have nowhere to go but the streets,” he said.
“We have an obligation to take action,” said Blumenthal, who like Murphy is a Democrat. He called Congress complicit in not helping communities like Bridgeport. Blumenthal said he wants stronger gun laws, but he needs community input, because he doesn’t have all the answers.

Lee Byers, director of the city’s Housing Authority, pledged the Trumbull Gardens’ community center would open within two weeks. Ganim said he hopes to have five locations open this summer for youth activities, including Trumbull Gardens.

Perez talked about the 100 new police officers the city is providing. Moore said some $87,000 she receives from the state will be used on youth anti-violence programs. Other minority lawmakers, she said, are getting similar sums.

“My hope is you come together to figure out the best way to use that money to keep our children out of the streets,” Moore said, “and do some real work before something happens, not after.“

Others at the forum told officials that drugs were the problem, that not enough was being done in the schools to help and students are allowed to acquire a gangster mentality.

“Until you address that, it will be business as usual,“ Francis Pressley said.

Jamier Diaz, 10, said all he wants is a place to play, other than outside on the street.

“You can’t do that after dark,” he said.