The Department of Children and Families went to Bridgeport last night to try to explain, after the fact, why they want to put a secure facility for juvenile girls in a neighborhood in the east end of town known as Nob Hill. It did not go well. The meeting, rather bizarrely located in the carousel house at Beardsley Zoo, drew more than 100 people thanks to the flyers circulated before the meeting by Bridgeport Rep. Chris Caruso. It quickly took on the feeling of those "town meetings" this summer on health care -- in other words, a shouting match.

Folks living in the neighborhood where the $15 million, 36,000-square-foot facility is to be built apparently didn't know about it until it was taken off the agenda for the bond commission by Gov. M. Jodi Rell after Caruso and others, including Mayor Bill Finch, objected vehemently. That's pretty late in the game, and Bridgeport residents didn't appreciate it.

"Admittedly we arrive at less than perfect circumstances," said Brian Mattiello of the DCF in a classic understatement to begin the meeting. "Your voices deserve to be heard. We regret this informational meeting didn't come about before tonight."

The message coming through from Bridgeport residents, loud and clear, was that they are tired of getting all the jails and detention centers and halfway houses, while the suburbs get the shopping centers and condominium developments. "There's a stigma to Bridgeport already," said Marjorie Williams, who lives in the Nob Hill neighborhood. "We have enough garbage surrounding us and causing us problems."

After the meeting Mattiello said he would report back to Commissioner Susan Hamilton, but he couldn't say what the next step would be for the project. The state owns the approximately four acres the facility would be built on, and could move forward with the project in spite of neighbors' objections if the Bond Commission authorizes the money.