Michael Daly, editor of the Connecticut Post Editorial page, shares his take on Joe Ganim pondering a political comeback.
Is Bridgeport–is Joe Ganim–prepared for a Ganim run at redemption? In 2011 he told me that the city’s black ministers had been good to him after he got out of prison.
“They said ‘Let us come over and pray with you,'” he said at lunch.
Ganim’s appearance at the church on New Year’s Day was in part on behalf of a foundation from which he provides scholarship money.
This is a forgiving town. When he finished his brief remarks in the East End, the congregation gave him a standing ovation.
Full column here.
0
Ganim was convicted of public corruption in connection with his service as Mayor of Bridgeport. He can be forgiven as a person but he should not serve in public office again. Bridgeport has enough image problems already!
Very correct. He violated his oath of office. For that he can never be forgiven. He paid the price with seven-plus years of jail, but he never paid the price for what he did to Bridgeport. The same holds true for the likes of Ernie Newton or anyone else who violated their oath of office at any level.
If Dave Daniels, Bob Keeley, John Gomes, Charlie Coviello, Howard Gardner, Mary-Jane Foster, Bill Finch, and yes, Joe Ganim want to run, they should run.
The registered voters of Bridgeport will ultimately choose who their Mayor will be.
By the way, if you want to run Dave Walker, you should too.
Maria, thanks but I have no intention of running for Mayor of Bridgeport.
Maria Pereira, that’s why Dave Walker has resurfaced and come out of hiding because he wants people to say, please run and save us.
Maria Pereira, I forgot, Dave Walker won’t run because there would be competition and he doesn’t want that, he wants something given to him.
Ron, I love competition. Competition made America great. For example, I beat out over 60 people to be appointed the 7th Comptroller General of the United States.
Dave Walker, the key word, “appointed,” not elected.
Ron Mackey, I doubt brackets were used in selecting the Comptroller General.
Emphasis.
Maria, you are correct. JOE GANIM does have a following and if charter and law allow him the opportunity, why not. FABRIZI AND CARUSO MIGHT JOIN THE FRAY AND MAKE THIS AN EXTREMELY EXCITING ELECTION. If Joe were to win I see a book deal and a Lifetime movie. I see celebrity status. 60 Minutes and 20/20. Joe could become the poster child for second chances. Joe and Ernie could put Bridgeport on the map. LENNIE, YOU CAN HELP WRITE THE BOOK. The book would actually be a good read. HITTING The top of the New York Times best sellers list. LENNIE, YOU COULD WRITE THE SCREENPLAY. SEE, YOU NEVER KNOW. Run Joe, run.
Steve,
That story line has had a preview already with a very entertaining ‘public’ rogue up in Providence RI. Pasta and Politics was a good read. Perhaps there is a documentary out there as well. But Providence downtown looks a lot different than Bridgeport, and so do most of its neighborhoods.
If 80% of the registered voters stay home, where is the excitement? Time will tell.
Ron, I have been elected to many leadership positions over the years. For example, President of my class in college to Chairman of the United Nations Audit Committee by the General Assembly. Your comment was about competition not elected office. I had plenty of competition in these races. Candidly, the completion for the CGOTUS position was the greatest and it was a merit-based process. CT and Bridgeport have serious challenges that need to be addressed by real leaders. You should take them more seriously and try to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
Dave Walker, trust me, you know nothing about me, what I’ve been elected to, appointed to, served on or anything because unlike you I don’t ho around saying what I’ve done like you do.
Ron, anyone who reads this blog can see for themselves I respond to claims and comments by others, including some absurd ones by you. They can also see you are a chronic complainer but you are typically all talk and little action. I will let my record speak for itself. In the final analysis, I believe in facts not fiction and results not rhetoric. Finally, trust me, you know even less about me that I do you because I do real research.
Dave Walker, how long have you been here in Bridgeport, what is it just six years and still if you go around the city and ask who you are or if they heard of you what do you think they would say? Nobody knows you, you are a legend in your own mind. Did you say you were moving out Bridgeport after the election loss of Tom Foley but I see you are still hanging around?
Ron, my reputation is based on national and international issues, not local issues. Communicating with you is a waste of time. I have researched you and your background. There is not much there. Rave on!
Ron, I do appreciate your service as a firefighter. My middle brother was an undercover drug enforcement agent and later a State Fire Marshall in Florida.
Dave Walker, I do appreciate your brother’s service as an undercover drug enforcement agent. I know you served your country as Comptroller General of the United States from 1998-2008 and you also served at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), I also appreciate your service.
David Walker (September 28, 1796 – August 6, 1830)[N 1] was an outspoken African-American abolitionist and anti-slavery activist. In 1829, while living in Boston, Massachusetts, he published An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World,[4] a call for black unity and self-help in the fight against oppression and injustice
Ron, I am well aware of the David Walker you referred to. I’m a student of history and he was a positive part of history in his time.