Brookside’s new mayor, Rich Kurner, sits at his desk inside the village municipal building. Kurner plans to help with the village’s parking issues by increasing police presence in the community.

BROOKSIDE — Newly appointed Brookside Mayor Rich Kurner has made it one of his goals to make the village a safer place for residents and those passing through by increasing police presence throughout the community.

One of the residents’ biggest complaints is that there isn’t enough police presence in the village and, as a result, there is a slew of parking issues and violations. Kurner said he plans to ensure that is no longer a problem and has requested the Bridgeport Police Department patrol the streets more often and administer parking tickets to those parked illegally.

“The problem we have right now and has been for a long time is parking. We have trouble with people parking on the yellow lines on the corners of streets and it makes it difficult for emergency vehicles or delivery vehicles to get around, and we’ve got people parking in front of fire hydrants,” he said. “Another problem is people leaving their cars on the streets for weeks at a time. That’s another thing that’s going to be cracked down on.”

Many of the parking issues are safety hazards and have become a point of contention among, Kurner said.

In the coming weeks, the police department will be patrolling the village on the lookout for parking infractions and doling out tickets to those who continue to park illegally. Kurner said he wanted to provide residents with a heads-up about the upcoming crackdown prior to it going into effect.

“We want to crack down on the parking on the corners, parking on the yellow lines, parking in front of fire hydrants, and people who are permanently parking vehicles in spots that they shouldn’t,” he said.

Kurner said he also plans to begin fixing some problem areas in the roadways. In the next month, the village’s street department will be out identifying which areas are most in need of paving. Although the village cannot afford to do whole streets, it will begin to pave small sections that are identified as problem areas, he said.

Kurner recently took over the position after former mayor Roy Terek decided to retire after 11 years with the village. Once Kurner assumed the mayor’s position, a vacancy was left on council. The village is now accepting letters of interest from those interested in filling the seat. Letters can be mailed to the village at 875 National Road, Bridgeport. Interviews will be conducted at council’s next meeting, which is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 8 at the municipal building.