BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Members of Bridgeport City Council have scheduled a meeting for Thursday to potentially terminate newly hired city manager Pat Ford. The meeting is scheduled for this Thursday at 5 p.m.
Ford was sworn in as city manager in October of 2024.
Ford was directed by councilors to investigate and correct the workplace culture in the city. Ford said the issues swirling around the meeting are reactive and are “grounded in deflection and avoidance of the present issues faced by Bridgeport.”
His service as city manager in Wardensville, West Virgnia from 2009 through 2013 is reportedly being questioned. Ford said Bridgeport officials attended his swearing in and the records from the West Virginia State Retirement Contribution would also verify his service.
While working for the city of Pittsburgh Ford was part of a team that found some “city officials accepting gifts and campaign contributions for development permits and other city favors.”
Ford said he also wants unsolicited contract buyout offers from mayor Andy Lang to stop.
He said the issues were likely debunked and investigated by the Bridgeport Police Department during his pre-employment onboarding process.
According to Ford, 78 city employees were asked to sign a petition asking city council to retain him as city manager and 73 of the 78 employees, or 98 percent of those asked to sign did in fact sign the petition. The petition said in part,” After more than two years of chaos in the city’s executive position, Mr. Ford has brought professionalism, organization, and leadership back to the City of Bridgeport. He has been tasked with making several necessary changes within the city and has not been given ample time for his vision to be fully realized.”
Ford said he accepted the job in his wife’s hometown in Oct. of 2024 with the intention of retiring in the area and that has not changed at all.
The meeting will be held in Bridgeport City Hall (515 West Main Street) at 5 p.m.