SERVED MAY 28, 2010 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF HEARINGS • ':;>! 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 

IN THE MATTER OF 

CITY OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, 

Respondent. 

DOCKET NO. CP09NE0001 

(Civil Penalty Proceeding) 

DMS NO. FAA-2009-0977 

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE'S ORDER DENYING MOTION 

FOR RECONSIDERATION 

The Respondent has filed a motion, asking me to reconsider my order 

of April 29, 2010, granting the motion of the Complainant to impose 

sanctions on the Respondent for failure to respond to discovery requests. 

The Complainant has filed an objection, asking me to deny the motion. 

The motion must be denied. 

The record shows that the Federal Aviation Administration served 

discovery requests, consisting of interrogatories and requests for production 

of documents, upon the Respondent on February 12, 2010. The 30-day 

deadline for Respondent to answer those requests came and went, and there 

was no reply from the Respondent. Then counsel for the FAA wrote a letter 

to counsel for the Respondent City, calling its attention to its obligation to 

respond to the pending discovery and asking for a response by March 29, 

2010. No response was received. As a result, the Complainant filed a 

motion asking me to compel the City to answer its discovery requests. 

There was no answer to that motion by the Respondent. On April 15, 2010, 

I issued an order compelling the Respondent to answer the motion or submit 

the information sought by the FAA no later than April 26, 2010. Again, the 
City was not heard from. Therefore, on April 29, 2010,1 issued an order 

imposing upon the City the following sanction: it was barred from 

submitting during the hearing case-in-chief evidence on the issue of whether 

it had violated the Federal Aviation Regulations. 

Now, some three months after its receipt of the Complainant's 

interrogatories and requests for documents, the Respondent wants me to 

overturn those sanctions and leave it scot-free of any consequences for its 

persistent disregard of the Procedural Rules and my orders. This I will not 

do. The sanction was imposed after fair warning. It is appropriate to the 

offense, in that a party who has hidden its information from the other party 

cannot, in all fairness, be permitted to uncloak relevant information on the 

eve of the hearing. 

Finally, I can think of no lesser sanction that would be appropriate in 

the circumstances, and the Respondent has suggested none. To delay the 

hearing, which has been delayed once before, is not in the interest of either 

of the parties. This hearing is the result of an airfield inspection that took 

place in 2007, over two years ago. If the FAA is correct in its allegations, 

the airport at issue may be unsafe. Thus, the quicker this matter is resolved, 

the better off the public will be. There is no public interest in continuing this 

case and lengthening the period during which the allegedly unsafe 

conditions at Sikorsky Field persist. 

For these reasons, the motion to reconsider is denied. 

I Isaac D. Benkin 

Administrative Law Judge 
FAA Docket No. CP09NE0001 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

SERVICE LIST 

ORIGINAL & ONE COPY 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, S.W. 

Washington, DC 20591 

Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC^30 

Wilbur Wright Building—Suite 2W1000 

ONE COPY 

Honorable Bill Finch, Mayor 

City of Bridgeport, Respondent 

City Hall Annex 

999 Broad Street 

Bridgeport, CT 06604 

Mark T. Anastasi, Respondent's Counsel 

City Attorney, City of Bridgeport 

999 Broad Street 2"'* Floor 

Bridgeport, CT 06604-4328 

TEL: 203-576-8082 

FAX: 203-576-8252 

The Honorable Isaac D. Benkin, 

Administrative Law Judge 

Office of Hearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. 

East Building Ground Floor, Room El2-320 

Washington, DC 20590 

TEL: Attorney 202-366-2139 

Legal Assistant 202-366-2132 

FAX: 202-366-7536 

Richard G. Kascak, Jr. 

Associate City Attorney 

Office of the City Attorney 

nd 999 Broad Street, 2"" Floor 

Bridgeport, CT 06604-4328 

TEL: 203-576-3928 

FAX: 203-576-8252 

John R. Donnelly, Complainant's Counsel 

Office of the Regional Counsel, ANE-7 

New England Region 

Federal Aviation Administration 

12 New England Executive Park 

Burlington, MA 01803-5299 

TEL: 781-238-7043 

FAX: 781-238-7055