Do We Have A Deal? Plus: Catching Black Birds In The Night

Could there be headway in union negotiations? OIB posters were pretty much on the mark on Thursday reporting that Mayor Bill Finch and his labor negotiators are seeking zero pay increases from union leadership in exchange for job security.

I’ve spoken to folks close to the negotiations and it appears there’s tentative agreement among labor leaders to take the city’s proposal to the rank and file, in particular the key police union that could lead the way to millions of savings over the next couple of years.

The city’s pushing for zero percent salary increases for two years with a modest two or three percent in the third and fourth years. If union leadership can sell this to the rank and file it would be huge in the mayor’s efforts to close a projected $20 million hole this budget year while helping to shut down additional red ink starting the new budget year beginning July 1.

Sure beats having the threat of layoffs as we enter the holiday season.

Leave It To Lawyers

Okay, you ever try to catch a black bird in the night? That’s what lawyers for former Mayor Joe Ganim are trying to snatch in the latest effort to free Joe from the joint. Hey, if I had the power to let him go I would, he’s served enough. He’s been in since September of 2003 after receiving a nine-year sentence when it could have been substantially shorter had Joe copped a plea and taken his medicine for much less time. He chose to roll the dice and well, you know the rest.

The latest legal efforts after Joe was denied by the federal court of appeals is bunch of crap, claiming that the government somehow gave me a wink and a nod and let me keep $175K that they demanded from me as part of a plea agreement. Well, if they want to return the loot I’ll be happy to throw a jubilee extravaganza.

Here’s what the government said to me (early 2001) after I was stupid enough to play ball with Joe and finally walked away in September of 1999: we’d like you to cooperate, but we’re going to make this sting really hard. We’re going to take your house, shut down your business and you’ll probably do time. If you cooperate, testify truthfully, we’ll ask the judge to cut you some slick. But whether she wants to cut you slack is totally up to her.

Basically, they said, Grimaldi you can take a bullet in the head or a bullet in the leg. It was all so reassuring.

I was forced to sell my house to satisfy what the government wanted in return for playing ball with Joe and I was unemployable for the better part of four years. I took the stand and told the truth.

The prosecutors and judge in the case decided that the money I had to forfeit would be applied to back taxes and a fine. I took my medicine in July of 2003 did 11 months and began the process of rebuilding my life.

I don’t blame Joe for trying everything he can to seek his freedom but his life’s never going to be the same until he finally admits he fucked up. That, and selling his soul to Paul Pinto.

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26 comments

  1. *** I don’t see them letting Joe out anytime soon because they want to make an example of him, etc. Personally in my opinion, I’d like to see him released with the remaining #4 yrs. on parole, at least he’d be back with his family! We will see in time in what direction the wheels of justice will turn for Joe. Hopefully it will be towards the “left”! ***

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  2. A few comments on the ongoing fiscal mess in B’port:

    1. It is definitely in the best interest of all unions to do their part to help out. Take a zero or two, do the furloughs, and demand job security. Also demand an independent look at non-union staff for cuts. After all, if Finch gets even $5M from the unions, where is the other $15M coming from??? Hopefully DiNardo et al.

    2. This city needs serious financial oversight. IF the people don’t want it from the State then it’s up to the council (ha ha) to impose it. Stamford and Norwalk have bodies that provide some oversight of things before the councils get it. I’d be happy to see the budget committee use their teeth to cut waste in the budget than sink their teeth in stipends and job creation for family and political cronies.

    3. Joe Ganim has done enough time. He built us up just to let us down (build me up buttercup). Maybe he can offer Finch some advice.

    4. John Fabrizi is quiet on the state of local affairs as is our Hartford delegation. I’d love to hear some suggestions from those insiders. It’s a citywide problem needing across-the-board solutions.

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  3. Lennie,
    You are a most humble soul and you have indeed paid your dues to society. Thank you for all that you do to enhance Bridgeport and make her so very interesting.

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  4. City employees I hear what you are saying. Of course it is not your fault that the city is financially strapped. The blame can be directed toward numerous subjects. However, the only way to make a dent is to deal with labor since labor is the most significant factor. Hence you take a hit. In the present economy, and apparently for the foreseeable future, the entire northeast and especially CT and Bpt are in for very tough times. Sacrifices must be made. It is better to have a job with your medical benefits than to be without them. I believe the mayor’s negotiators have presented you with a fair package, given the present conditions and you would do well to accept it. In my humble opinion, you would be foolish to reject it. I agree with you that the mayor must now set an example and halt all hiring especially these “political” discretionary positions and must do so immediately in good faith to all of you. Thank you for considering this offer and for your sacrifice.

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  5. This is the memo dickhead Finch should have sent …

    CITY EMPLOYEES (Union members or otherwise) …

    Here’s the deal …

    No raises this year (Guess why) AND I’m still going to have to lay off about 250 people just to get the budget turned in the right direction.

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  6. Lennie wrote “Hey, if I had the power to let him go I would, he’s served enough.”

    If they gave him twice as long it would not be enough. The city will be paying 18 years for the 9 that he’s doing.

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  7. I guess that Ganim by going this route is acknowledging that he solicited and accepted bribes and payoffs as the leader of a criminal conspiracy. If there were no payoffs to Ganim there would be nothing illegal to what Lennie and others received in performance for their work.

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  8. The Oracle of Omaha Steaks

    My choice for this holiday stuffer is Bill Finch.
    He is a real TurDucken. That’s a culinary trifecta combo of Turkey, Duck and Chicken stuffed into one another and traditionally deep-fried.

    We are getting gobbled, quacked, clucked and plucked by the Birdman.

    I guess I’m in a fowl mood today.

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  9. From the Connecticut Post:
    “Grimaldi said the claim by Ganim’s legal team is false. ‘It’s not true. I wish I had all that back,’ he said Thursday.”

    I’m sure our blogger didn’t really mean to say that he wishes he had the $175k in bribe money back for his personal use, buried in the back yard, say, for a rainy day.

    I’m sure what he meant to say was that he wishes he had the chance to donate his ill-gotten gains to charity, or at least to see it returned to the companies he, Ganim and Pinto extorted it from, as opposed to forfeiting it to the feds.

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  10. Bridgeport doesn’t need financial oversight. Mayor Finch has temporarilly shelved his plans for The Park City in order to balance the city’s books. OIB bloggers understimate his efforts on behalf of the city. He’s made the tough decisions nobody here has had to make. I support The Mayor of Bridgeport and hope his strategies work.

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  11. I’m in a fowl mood because my Donny Berkshire Hathaway Fund is down 43% year-to-date. Donny Hathaway produced some great R & B in his day. However this market has me all funked-up. I may have to go to Timothy’s in Black Rock for a Deep Banana Blackout Split.

    If this market gets any worse I may end up off the Gravy Train and down on your scrap heap at the junkyard.

    Warren has just taken a major position in Sleepy’s. A new innovative mattress with a hidden wallet for sausage or cash wrapped in a natural casing. He says he’s not going to take this standing up or laying down.

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  12. Local Eyes- Finch trying to balance the books is like a high-wire act. He’s no Flying Wallenda. Whatever happened to those OPICs you used to write about?

    Hey Warren- Speaking of positions; Ben Dover just called and said you shouldn’t assume that position.

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  13. ‘Tis sad that Ol’ Warren hasn’t been feeling himself lately.
    Bob Fredericks wants to share the wealth with a chicken in every pot. I prefer chicken pot pie.

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  14. Local Eyes: I’m sorry but I need to take some exceptions to your blog.

    “Bridgeport doesn’t need financial oversight.”
    Every organization that expends funds needs oversight, and one that has public funds has a greater responsibility. Where is the oversight in B’port? The one that spent down our reserve and has taxed homeowners to death?

    “Mayor Finch has temporarilly shelved his plans for The Park City in order to balance the city’s books.”
    What plans? Every proposed eco devel proposal has been pulled. His proposal to balance the books thus far is only geared to city employees. What’s his plan to get cash from tax beaters? (We don’t need any more foreclosures!)

    “OIB bloggers understimate his efforts on behalf of the city. He’s made the tough decisions nobody here has had to make.”
    I don’t think people here underestimate him as much as they may not trust him. He’s not out before the public making his case. Wanna talk tough decisions, how about those without jobs trying to struggle through the cold and holidays. Not everyone in this town makes a salary like him. Let him walk in other people’s shoes once in awhile.

    “I support The Mayor of Bridgeport and hope his strategies work.”

    God bless you supporting him. I would love to support him and will once he starts acting like a leader and not a politician.

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  15. Warren,
    Hang in there–it can only improve–it cannot get any worse. You will be okay. Stop opening those envelopes. Let them pile up until the late summer. It is too upsetting right now. You’re a good person, you will be okay.

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  16. Lennie, totally sorry you spent time in the concrete motel, hope you weren’t jail purse. ROTFLMAO–“Ben Dover” good one–Warren what kind of sausage are you stuffing in that wallet hole?

    Are raises supposed to be a sure thing? I thought you only get raises if you do a good job. At least that’s what it’s like in the book store, so I’m told, only been here 3 months. I met the Mayor once when he came in here. Seemed like an ok guy, except his grandchildren were driving him nuts. I only knew he was the Mayor ’cause a customer recognized him.

    Lennie, do you know if you search for Bridgeport blog yours comes up first? Except it’s kind of a downer everybody losing their jobs and all. But I got into Obama and Sarah Palin made me wanna puke. Did anyone see her talking when they were cutting off turkey heads in the background? How sick was that?

    Where’s a sweet spot to hang in Bridgeport, any place to dance?

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  17. #7- Tough words from someone who used to be a B/R amigo of the ex-mayor! You seemed to have made out alright after your political exit, why so negative towards a man you knew well? Is it because he decided to venture to the dark side of life? You know there’s a saying that “money is the root of all evil” yet “the answer to all our problems”. ***

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  18. Up On Bridgeport–there’s never been a better time for OPICs or One Person Internet Companies. Conditions continue to improve as numbers grow.

    Warren–All U Can Eat–Buffet chases poultry in motion and THAT puts you in a fowl mood. When it rains, everybody gets wet–even The Sage, duuuuuude.

    independent soul spent 4 paragraphs telling bloggers I’m no good. Conclusion: he’ll not be invited to my next birthday party.

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  19. The City budget situation appears to have turned off all of the decorative street lighting in the downtown including McLevy and Baldwin Parks. Last night the city was dark except for an occasional UI light pole. THIS CANNOT CONTINUE. The safety of the downtown, perceived and actual, requires that those lights turn on as soon as the sun goes down. PLEASE, let the City know that this is not a smart cost-cutting decision. I am told that the cost of the lighting per year is $70,000. One safety incident will prove that such a decision is a pound foolish … more like a ton foolish.

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  20. Just spent some time looking over the city budget and thought I’d share what to me was blatantly obvious …

    Mayor’s Office
    2005 Actual $551,592
    2006 Actual $585,587
    2007 Actual $611,900
    2008 Current $633,850
    From the 2005 – 2008 budget there is a 15% increase

    Finance Department
    2005 Actual $287,822
    2006 Actual $320,956
    2007 Actual $352,197
    2008 Curent $382,139
    From the 2005 – 2008 budget there is a 33% increase

    Legislative Budget (City Council)
    2005 Actual $122,268
    2006 Actual $165,466
    2007 Actual $189,103
    2008 Current $335,436
    From the 2005 – 2008 budget there is a 174% increase

    Office of Policy & Management
    2005 Actual $327,601
    2006 Actual $386,416
    2007 Actual $380,238
    2008 Current $441,766
    From budget year 2005- 2008 there is a 35% increase

    Police Department
    2005 Actual $40,481,827
    2006 Actual $41,300,825
    2007 Actual $42,327,558
    2008 Current $43,158,843
    From budget year 2005 – 2008 there is a 7% increase

    Fire Department
    2005 Actual $23,268,708
    2006 Actual $22,313,489
    2007 Actual $21,549,539
    2008 Current $24,128,533
    From the budget years 2005 – 2008 there is a 3% increase

    After looking at these numbers I have to ask the question … who do you think is doing more with less? The unions in this city have been holding the line for years and we are being scapegoated by one incompetent administration after another.

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  21. #24- I think your numbers are a bit off, (example); part of the council legislative budget alone every year on council stippends is $180,000. That’s not counting the #2 job line items for the council liaison’s office, etc. Or the line item for council office supplies, minor meeting expenses, etc. Bottom line is it tends to stay about the same every year, how you get a 174% increase over 4 yrs. does not add up? ***

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