OIB friend Bruce Hubler, a Republican, says he will become a Democrat “for the cause of moving Bridgeport forward.” A number of successful businessmen have bailed out on the city through the years. Hubler has stayed. He wants to vote for Mary-Jane Foster in an expected Democratic primary for mayor in September. Hubler says Foster has the kind of credentials the city needs to manage a workforce, build relationships around the state and attract new jobs.
Hubler knows something about managing people, setting a course and making it happen. He’s a retired corporate senior vice-president and executive officer of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. One of the keys to the Foster campaign is attracting new voters, including voter switches from the Republican and unaffiliated ranks, in addition to Democrats unhappy with the direction of the city. Not an easy task. In Bill Finch she’s taking on a well-financed incumbent with the majority of the political establishment and business community supporting him.
City municipal turnouts have become increasingly anemic through the years. In the old days, when turnouts were substantial, the anti vote always managed to make it to the polls. Those voters now tend to stay home. And that’s the challenge Foster and two other Democrats John Gomes and Charlie Coviello face. Finch will be the beneficiary of the base party vote. That, too, has dwindled through the years with a lack of party discipline. Still, a base is a base. Foster, Gomes and Coviello must create a base of support not controlled by the party faithful and party payroll. That requires the help of dear ol’ MOM–money, organization and message. In building an organization the opposition must galvanize Democratic voters seeking change and like-minded independents and Republicans willing to join the Democratic ranks.
June 13 is the deadline for Republicans to become Dems and vote in the September 13 primary. Unaffiliated voters have until the day before the primary. Hubler plans to become a Dem in the next week or so. Let’s see who else has the itch to switch.
Great news, Bruce.
You are a light at the beginning of the tunnel.
Thank You.
If Bruce Hubler were running in a Republican primary, I’d switch party to vote for him. I have the itch again Lennie. I switched a couple of months ago to WFP. I wouldn’t be able to vote in a Democratic primary. I’m thinking of running for City Council under WFP. I’m not sure if WFP is going to cross endorse and if so, who?
Bruce Hubler for City Council?
Hey Joel, what are the chances of the Republicans and WFP endorsing Mary-Jane? Imagine if we all put petty politics aside and supported the best candidate. We would make history in Bridgeport.
I see Governor Malloy has joined the Finch/Sherwood school of accounting. Here he is taxing the ass off of the residents of Connecticut and still submitting a budget with a built-in deficit.
Malloy said he is waiting for talks with the unions to be completed and he is hoping for concessions. What happens if the unions don’t roll over and give concessions? Malloy says he doesn’t know at this point what his next step will be. Great!!!
Hey countdown, how’s he doing now?
Any politician who needs a big turnout must follow the example of Steve Wynn when in the ’90s he got 40% for a non-binding referendum turnout. Get the registered voters’ names and start your phone banks early. MOST importantly is to give the people a SPECIFIC reason to vote for the candidate or issue. It must be in this case a selfish economic reason. Given the State’s unemployment went to 9.1% up as opposed to down for most of the States, this is a no-brainer. There still remains an overriding problem, which is Connecticut itself. The mayor MUST get the politicians who represent the city to have Hartford permit a tax-free zone. This will be a huge incentive. Let me clarify a tax-free zone. This is not devoid of sales tax but a large reduction in corporate tax for a given period of time.
*** Same old shit, no? Or just boring? *** Zzz zzz zzz … ***
That’s the question, Mojo.
What will wake folks up? Keep them awake, and get their juices engaged? It’s not a medication (or a product of defecation) as you suggest. It will be one or more sharp and simple ideas that have not been part of current governance, yet appeal at a level that once it awakens people, keeps them awake and engaged.
Will you be part of the focus group? How many hours of sleep are you getting these days? What are the three most exciting and engaging people or ideas you have encountered in your lifetime? What are the three most critical problems, issues or concerns that face you today (when you are awake)?
(Advance apologies to Local Eyes who objects to my ending a post with questions! As a matter of fact haven’t heard from him in awhile. Zzz zzz zzz.)
I would rather have water taxes than water taxis. Congratulations to Mr. Hubler and others who have itched to switch for Mary-Jane Foster. This is the antidote to the poison ivy that presently plagues our city.
A message to Police Chief Gaudett and Mayor Finch, we just had another in a long line of armed robberies up here in the 138th. This is the 12th or 13th in an 18-month period. Read below:
The Subway employee made his stand during an armed robbery at 533 Broadbridge Road late Tuesday just before midnight and survived.
How’s the community policing doing?
How are the Segway patrols doing?
How are the horse patrols doing?
How are the ATV patrols doing?
How is the detective bureau doing?
Thank God we do have 21 street cops on patrol otherwise this would be the wild west up here.
Hey chief, let’s get rid of all these specialized bullshit units and let’s get the inside lame and lazy cops off their asses and into patrol cars. Your system is not working. Are you waiting for one of these merchants up here to get shot before acting?
tc, you’re right, I would call the Guardian Angels or the Hells Angels before I call the Bridgeport Police. Lazy bunch of a-holes. Every one of them are waiting to retire. 21 cops per shift for 170,000+ people–what a joke!
You need a cop, call the State Police first or call the Fire Department.
If you need a Bridgeport cop, call Dunkin’ Donuts, it will take them 45 minutes just to get to you, if they show up at all, and if they do show up they’ll put you under arrests, the clowns. Tell them someone broke into your house and left a bag of donuts, maybe they’ll come sooner.
There’s a hole in downtown Bridgeport. The police are looking into it.
Seems to me the Bridgeport Police Department is doing a very good job, to the best of their abilities. Don’t blame Chief Gaudet’s shortcomings on the entire force. He’s a proficient administrator, nothing more. His appointment to the job reflects the desires of the political elite, not the rank-and-file officers who actually carry out the law-enforcement duties. When times are good most Bridgeport cops choose to stay here even though other departments offer better wages. That speaks volumes about their professionalism and commitment to the community.
Cops eat doughnuts? Big fucking deal. I bet you do also.
Kid: I want to clear one thing up, from my point of view the 105 street cops who are actually on patrol in 5 shifts are heros. They are trying to keep the lid on crime in Bridgeport. Lets look at the following. We have 21 cops on patrol at any given time. There are 5 shifts. We have 105 supervisors and 45 detectives. So far we have accounted for 255 men and women. We have slightly over 400 cops. Where the hell are the other 150? Many are inside, many are in specilized bullshit units. We have a nrcotics division that keeps tabs on the street corner junkies and doesnt do much else. The tactics that this chief is using are not working in my neighborhood.
Like I said, he’s not an effective administrator. I’ve had a couple run-ins with the BPD. If a person acts like an asshole the BPD treats that person accordingly. If you’re just a regular joe, they are courteous, professional and respectful.
Like a lot of city agencies the police department is mismanaged. The office of Chief is a political position. He has to bow and scrape and kiss the mayor’s ass. The only way to remove the current chief is to remove the current mayor.
I admire Bruce Hublers’ conviction for change in BPT. I offer another proposal for consideration.
Instead of being one vote for MJF, be the Republican alternative for BPT. It is a very real possibility both Foster & Gomes could conceivably lose the primary to Mayor Finch. In this event the disenfranchised voters could support a Republican just to get Finch’s regime out of city hall. Please consider this for all of us who will fight for change. Given the choice between Finch the Democrat and Bruce Hubler in the November election, consider who we would vote for. The last Republican mayor was Mary Moran who was elected to replace Democrat Tom Bucci under similar circumstances. How badly do we want to get Finch out of city hall? Keep an open mind, Bruce. I would support Democrats for Hubler in a Nov. election & I’m certain other voters would join our ranks.
Lennie:
I’m leery of the old tactic of raiding unaffiliates when so many people are already registered Democratic.
I’m sure there may be a couple thousand votes to be had from the unaffiliates–and who is a challenger to turn down votes?–but I think the opposition is going to have to find the bulk of the help from existing Democratic voters.
Based on previous OIB polling, the uneasy advantage goes to Mayor Finch at this point, before we know about the budget, or how well organized an opposition candidacy can get.
OIB polling, as I recall, was only of Democratic voters.
If there are enough leaning-Republican independents in the unaffilates, maybe there is something there for a challenge to a Democratic mayor.
That’s going to take a helluva organization.
On the other hand, I’m still having trouble believing Mario and Bill are tucked in cozy based on their previous relationship.