Holy Ben Franklins! One of Chris Dodd’s Republican opponents for 2010 Tom Foley of Greenwich, former Ambassador to Ireland, has announced he’s already raised a cool $500K.
Another Republican, former Congressman from eastern Connecticut Rob Simmons, says he’s in the $600K range.
Poor Waterbury Republican State Senator Sam Caligiuri, mired in legislative session, has only managed to raised $125K. I suspect Sam will also raise a lot more when he’s not working on the state budget.
Dodd’s Democratic primary opponent Merrick Alpert told OIB he’ll announce his fundraising totals next week.
Dodd, hemorrhaging from every hole in his political body, is in the fight of his life. As a result, the State Democratic Party (that would be Party Chair Nancy DiNardo) has brought on firebreathing Dem flak Colleen Flanagan to protect Connecticut’s senior senator from GOP mudballs, dastardly blog allegations and, oh yeah, the truth about Dodd’s record. Truth hurts, doesn’t it?
Ah, Colleen has never faced the likes of Yahooy, Town Committee, Bob from BePo and a whole bunch more.
This is gonna be fun. So since Colleen is now on the state party payroll protecting Mr. I-took-care-of-myself-while-Connecticut-residents-were-croaking, time to ask her the most fundamental question: what has Chris Dodd done for the state’s largest city in 30 freakin’ years in the United States Senate? Let’s see, a road? A bridge? A building? Cannot wait to hear the answer.
Knock, knock … anyone home? Oh, meanwhile, Dodd gets a mortgage deal, a land deal in Ireland, heapings of campaign contributions from the financial industry that raped taxpayers. Yeah, Colleen, we cannot wait to hear from you.
You Want An Endorsement?
Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa has set July 22 (whew! the day before the OIB party at Taco Loco) as the DTC endorsement session. This is an off cycle, but key endorsements will be made for citywide Board of Education seats and district City Council races.
The DTC endorsement session is always a good show.
Pizza Prince
OIB friend Tom Kelly pays a perfect tribute to Arthur Yiotos. See an excerpt below, or click Tom’s Life Behind Bars link under Favorites to post some memories.
Bridgeport has lost its Pope of Park Avenue. Arthur Yiotos of Famous Pizza has passed on to the big pizza oven in the sky. He was seventy-one years old.
Artie and Famous Pizza were the beacons of light in Bridgeport’s South End.
It was one of the best kept properties in the city. Even the kids who would play spray tag hesitated to touch this Pizza Parthenon’s white stucco facade. There was a legend, that if you got caught messing with Arthur’s place you would get a pretty stiff dose of a pizza pounding in the back of the building. They called it getting a “Pizza-‘d-Action”.
Arthur was a tough street kid who sharpened his elbows, and his set-shooting eye at the Middle Street Boys Club. These skills that he honed, as well as the lessons he learned from his parents, who were Greek immigrants to Bridgeport’s South End, propelled him to run one of Bridgeport’s most successful restaurants.
He suffered from the affliction of the loneliness of the long distance runner, and at times could be held in the deep, dark, dungeon, known as Depression. Arthur was a vulnerable man and got burned many times, and it wasn’t from the pizza ovens. If his office door was open, it served as a welcome mat to sit, speak, and stare at the bank of security cameras like a Las Vegas Casino. If the door was closed, well let’s just say you knew better not to knock.
Arthur served as a Homecoming King, for many of those who had left their roots in Bridgeport’s South End, but who would religiously return to make their weekly pilgrimage back for a Famous Special.
Arthur Yiotos loved the South End and Bridgeport.
And we loved him.
Walk In The Parks
OIB friend Val Sorrentino passed along the info below for Walk In The Parks, an annual event started by Mayor Bill Finch and Health Director Marian Evans.
Join Mayor Bill Finch
&
Department of Health & Social ServicesThursday, July 9th
Seaside Park at 5:30p.m
Meet at the parking lot by Diamond 1 (Near the Perry Arches on Park Ave.)Wear comfortable walking shoes & clothing
Bring your neighbors, family & friends!For more information call 576-7680
Come Early to Register
** 1st 25 registrants will get a T-Shirt! **2009 SCHEDULE
Thursday, July 9th Seaside Park
Thursday, August 13th St. Mary’s By the Sea
Thursday, September 17th Beardsley Park
Thursday, October 15th Seaside Park
Registration for all walks is required. Walks start promptly at 5:30 p.m.
You are right about this what has Dodd done but if it comes down to this I will vote for Dodd no matter what. I don’t want a right-wing nut Sen opposing everything our great president has to offer; it’s better to have Dodd up there. But if Merrick Alpert shows me he can beat the republican and is not just like Ned Lamont I will vote in the Primary for him. I wonder if Brian Crowe will truly not seek another term.
Chris Dodd should be in jail never mind reelected. This guy has not brought back one thing that helped Bridgeport. I challenge anyone to tell me what 1 good thing he brought back to Connecticut.
His complicity in the mortgage scandal is well documented.
When there were cries on capital hill to reign in Fannie May and Freddie Mack, Dodd and Barney Frank fought off tightening the rules on these mortgages.
A lot of people lost everything they had because off this. The poor and middle class were allowed to get mortgages at over 100% financing and allowed to pay interest only for the first few years. When the principal kicked in and was added to the interest-only payments people started losing their homes.
The poor and middle class had the rug pulled out from under them and they lost their homes and whatever they may have invested in these homes. Talk about a kick to the groin.
In the meantime Dodd was getting special mortgage rates from Countrywide mortgage Company. He is championing Health care reform while his wife sits on several health company boards.
BTW Dodd’s alleged $600,000 home in Ireland is actually worth a hell of a lot more than he claims. There is a property adjacent to Dodd’s that is selling for $1.2 million. The houses are the same; the one difference is that the house selling for $1.2 million is on one acre and Dodd’s sits on 10 acres. You do the math.
This guy needs to go and now.
You’ll have to be a Dough, Dough Bird to beat Dodd.
I might vote for Yahooy before I’d vote for Dodd.
Dodd and his cohort Barney Frank are the worst thing that has ever happened to humanity. I hold Dodd personally responsible for the global financial meltdown. He is despicable. I will watch in great humor as he attempts to remediate his reputation. There is no one on earth who deserves to be run out of DC on a rail. But given certain proclivities; if the choice was Anna or Dodd … I’d vote for Dodd.
The Pope of Park Avenue Has Passed.
Please read of Arthur Yiotos’s, of Arthur’s Famous Pzza, passing by going to blog.ctnews.com/kelly. Or just click on the left hand side link under blogroll on www .OnlyInBridgeport.com.
Frankly, I thought the pizza was common, but Arthur Yiotos was anything but. We need more in this world like him.
I live in Black Rock, where the pizza options run from tasty but extremely greasy (Beverly Pizza House) to the workmanlike (Marty’s). Given a choice, I’d vote for Di Giorno’s.
It would please not a few folks if Chris Dodd, a stalwart coatholder for the Kennedy clan, were voted out of office. But who to replace him with? Let’s run down the list of possible options …
On the GOP side, Tom Foley of Greenwich; Rob Simmons from the untamed timberland of eastern Connecticut; and State Senator Sam Caligiuri who represents Waterbury, a city whose motto is “Thank God for Bridgeport.”
On the Dem side, Merrick Alpert.
Where’s Pat Paulsen? The nutmeggers turn their lonely eyes to you …
You are correct I’d rather stick with Dodd then have those right-wing nuts in Washington. Like I said before I want to vote for Alpert but he has to show me he can win a general and not just be another Lamont.
Famous Pizza is anything but common; the freshest ingredients always baked to perfection. And Art was all those nice things Tommy K said and more.
Odious as I find the prospect, the ethically challenged if not criminal Chris Dodd will likely get reelected. The evidence? People like donj are exhibit A. Dopes who vote the party line no matter how big a crook their candidate is.
That’s why people like Colleen Flanagan and Mario are so successful; they never overestimate the intelligence of the electorate. And that’s why Lennie’s old pal Joe Ganim would win in a walk if he got sprung today and the election were tomorrow.
I can appreciate the extreme cynicism of that observation. And yeah, Joe Ganim would win in a heartbeat if he ran again for mayor. After all, the FBI had videotape of Marion Berry smoking crack in a Washington, D.C. hotel room, sharing the stem with a prostitute. (Ever wonder what Mrs. Berry was told about it?) And he won re-election AFTER serving prison time for corruption. Ol’ Joe ought to have an easier ride back into office. After all, he never was videotaped smoking crack with a whore in a room at the Bridgeport Holiday Inn. All Ganim wanted was a few lousy custom-tailored shirts and a couple of cases of expensive wine.
Well if you have not checked your mailbox today and you are having a good day don’t check your mailbox. The tax bills are here both the car taxes & and the house taxes. My house taxes went up and my car taxes are nuts. I pay $340 on a 5-year-old Buick is that nuts or what? I understand that my property taxes although they went up are not as bad as some are going to find.
With no real attempt by the budget committee to cut spending what can we expect. With no one willing to challenge the people responsible for these increases we can expect more of the same next year and I can’t wait until the deferred contract payments are due.
People it’s time to step forward and tell our elected officials Enough is Enough. Its time for a change. Join Ann and I in challenging the status quo.
Oh please Bob Fredericks, I’m no fan of Dodd but like I said before I’m really not a fan of Rob Simmons he was a Bush puppet if you don’t remember. And who woudn’t vote for Ganim he was the best mayor. I could care less about what he did because if he is running the city really good that all that matters and I will tell you this I hope Ganim runs again ’cause he will have my vote anytime he was a great mayor. Like I said 8 years ago I use to live in the East End and voted at Dunbar school and I tell you he will always be the East End favorite he did a lot for that side of town. Then I moved to Black Rock and yes he was also popular there too and still is. I hope he runs ’cause I dislike all the rest of them.
I rest my case.
Bob Fredericks for mayor! Fire up the power washer.
Whoa, Lennie, what’s gotten into you? “brought on firebreathing Dem flak Colleen Flanagan to protect Connecticut’s senior senator from GOP mudballs, dastardly blog allegations and, oh yeah, the truth about Dodd’s record. Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
You obviously are in receipt of the State GOP press releases, but can’t be bothered to read Dodd’s–or else you’d know that he’s hauled $34M in earmarks back for the Intermodal Transit Center (close to $5M last year), $750K for harbor dredging in ’08, $475K for ABCD in ’08, $400K for St Vincents and $325K for Bridgeport Hospital (both in 2008), and $200K to the city last year for wireless cameras. Citations for those are available.
Weak sauce, Lennie. Maybe since I found six things Dodd did for the city last year, could you name six Senators who have done more to beat up the financial services industry, or who’ve done more to keep working-class consumers from getting crushed by the banking and credit card companies?
Or, maybe you could tell me one single bill in their overlapping tenures in Washington where Dodd sided with the bankers and Rob Simmons voted to help out your average working stiff.
If you can’t, then you might want to see a doctor–it looks like you’ve got a Republican’s arm crammed up your ass, and those can be a real bitch to have removed.
BFD … I’ve asked for his press releases. Still waiting for them. Or maybe Dodd’s taking credit for all the stuff Chris Shays initiated? Yes, Dodd is beating up on the financial services industry after the fact. Fact is Dodd shows up in Bridgeport every six years, and now that he’s bleeding he’ll start sucking up. If that’s the case I hope for the city’s sake he delivers something better than his mortgage deal.
Oh sure, Chris Shays got those in there–Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emmanuel are going to spend millions of dollars drumming him out of office, but they sent his district some free money just because … why exactly? At least Lieberman would be plausible.
Dodd “beating up on the financial services industry after the fact”? He single-handedly stopped the bankruptcy bill for years, going against his own party’s banking leader, Joe Biden. But show me a vote where he was wrong and Simmons was right, I’ll eat the crow… if you’ve got it.
Oh, and he only comes around every six years?
2005: dodd.senate.gov/?q=node/3217
2006: dodd.senate.gov/?q=node/3424
2008: dodd.senate.gov/?q=node/4220
Yeah, we’ll see him more than once or twice this year–go figure, a pol showing up around election time. But he shows up all the time, including during the time he was doing his vanity run for President.
I suspect the fact that his press operation hasn’t kissed your ass has a lot more to do with your pique than any real point you’re making–because the points you’re making are BS.
Are you going to own up to your errors here, or keep pretending that despite the factual untruth of your claims, they’re somehow more accurate than the truth would have been?
Oh sure, Chris Shays got those in there–Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emmanuel are going to spend millions of dollars drumming him out of office, but they sent his district some free money just because … why exactly? At least Lieberman would be plausible.
Dodd “beating up on the financial services industry after the fact”? He single-handedly stopped the bankruptcy bill for years, going against his own party’s banking leader, Joe Biden. But show me a vote where he was wrong and Simmons was right, I’ll eat the crow … if you’ve got it.
Oh, and he only comes around every six years? He was here in at least 2005, 2006, and 2008 (see here to find them in 10 seconds or less). Yeah, we’ll see him more than once or twice this year–go figure, a pol showing up around election time. But he shows up all the time, including during the time he was doing his vanity run for President.
I suspect the fact that his press operation hasn’t kissed your ass has a lot more to do with your pique than any real point you’re making–because the points you’re making are BS.
Are you going to own up to your errors here, or keep pretending that despite the factual untruth of your claims, they’re somehow more true than the truth would have been?
marlys
You are correct Dodd is better then anyone on that Republican side; who could vote for a Bush puppet called Rob Simmons? I want Alpert to win but if he does not I’m choosing the least of the evils!!!
Hmmm, Marlys. So you must have voted for Shays in 2008 right? He sponsored all those bills as well as Lieberman. How about you give us something besides the generic earmark bills that every elected official who represents us signed onto?
I don’t care about the earmarks, that’s not what I vote on. I do care that Lennie is slamming some lies down without spending 1 minute checking whether or not they’re true.
Hey Marlys, how about Dodd using his big-time elected position and lobbying the state government on the city’s behalf? Ever happened?
And as to your questions.
1. How about when he changed that retroactive limit for executive bonuses? That not a bill?
2. Getting the guy who used insider trading from Bear Stearns (remember that gem of a bank?) a pardon from Clinton. Then getting repaid for it by buying him out for squat.
3. Calling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fundamentally strong and didn’t think the government needed to step in.
4. FYI, here’s a list of Dodd’s top contributors in 2008. I’m sure they donated because Dodd is a defender of working stiffs.
Dodd actually sponsored the amendment to take away the bonuses retroactively. Here’s what the story looked like before the CT Republican Party decided to start making shit up:
www .nytimes.com/2009/02/14/business/economy/14pay.html?_r=3&hp
So which of my questions did you answer? I see four points, none of which have anything to do with my questions. I asked about Senators who have done more to restrict banks and credit card companies, and bills where Dodd was wrong and Simmons was right.
Wow on days like this I just Have to comment. Number one Ganim was a great Mayor and if you disagree I wonder which part of the city you’re from. Do not forget the North End loves Ganim too. Ganim was the first person I ever voted for and he was always great. He was very popular in my Central High school precinct. No weirdo is going to tell me no to that because if there is a point in time you never liked Ganim then you must not be from Bridgeport. I would vote for Ganim in a heartbeat!!! That means going to Central before the polls open. Only two people can make me do that and they are Obama and Ganim and that should show you something.
You Ganim people are totally unbelievable. You are still drinking the Kool-aid and denying how poisoned it is.
First of all he ripped you off. Stole your money. Stole more money than you could even imagine because the feds stopped counting. Selected contractors who were incompetent and all of the poor work that they did has still not been fixed. We will be paying for this for another 20-30 years if the city ever gets back into the bond market.
Then with the help of a corrupted bond counsel, bonded for items that he should not have, ran up a tremendous amount of debt, refinanced every opportunity that he could, not to lower the debt but just as a gimmick to create the illusion of lower expenses but added the real expense to the outer years. Then by forestalling reval, he continued this illusion of tax cuts while unfairly overtaxing a small population of taxpayers.
And he made pretty different parts of the city but did nothing for the long term.
Where is all of the economic development that should have taken place during one of the biggest boom times in the history of the US? Nowhere because Joe was too busy trying to carve out deals for those who would pay to play and personally enrich himself.
LOOK AT STEEL POINT. THAT IS THE GREATEST MONUMENT TO MAYOR JOE GANIM. NOWHERE ELSE WOULD THE PUBLIC ACCEPT THAT ATROCITY.
Taxpayers money wasted seizing private property. Tearing it down to get kickbacks from demolition companies. Taxable properties off of the tax roles for a decade.
And you want more progress like this???
You deserve more of the same.
Grin, tell us what you really think!
Marlys must be Dodd’s mortgage broker.
Dodd shit all over himself, that’s for sure. But the truth is that when it comes to his record, there aren’t many better, especially in the Senate.
Grin Reaper,
I get your point but the fact of the matter was the city was in 1000000% better shape. If a primary were held today Ganim would get over 60% of the vote. Ganim 2011.
donj, How stupid are you? Only reason the city was in better shape was because Ganim beautified it by buying shrubs from his relative’s greenhouse for 20% more per shrub than the actual cost, and of course had his buddy’s brother do the work for a healthy kickback. Or did you forget the Fabulous One saying he had no idea what his brother and Li’l Joe were up to?
How, donj? You talk about how great he was but never mentioned what he did. It’s depressing hearing all these people praise Ganim. We’ve set the bar so low for our political leaders it’s six feet under. I totally agree with Grin. I love harbor yard, but could we get some businesses in here that can pay some taxes? This country was booming during Ganim’s time, but you can’t tell from this city.
Not only can we not get good leaders in government, we can’t even get good candidates. I totally agree with you, how can we not get anybody to run against Brian Crowe? Absolutely insane. The Republicans can’t run anybody because no one wants to go through that effort after Donna Curran got voted out. But there’s no better Democrats than him in Black Rock? Good Lord. Fardy and Ann are the only ones I see challenging in the entire city. Seriously? The DTC has such a stranglehold on this city it’s scaring away good candidates.
Hmmm seems weird. I wonder if the few Ganim-haters are even from Bridgeport and live here now, most likely not. Or they might just be that few 15% of the people who support Republicans in this city. Obama 84% McCain 16% you guys are really reminding me of the past election when a few Republicans came on here trying to give the GOP some support and they were from other cities. Like I said before ask anybody in Bridgeport was Ganim a good mayor and I bet you my whole paycheck out of every 100 people at least 90 of them would say yes!!!!!!!!! So don’t give me any BS about this because I know I’m 100% correct; anybody who dares to go up against Ganim will get trounced in the election. Am I correct about this Lennie? You should know this city inside out.
As a city employee who has worked for 5 mayors and knows the inner workings of city hall, I can say emphatically that Ganim was by far the best mayor. Hands down. No contest. I and the majority of employees would welcome him back with open arms. The Fabrizi and Ganim administrations have been disasters and we are surrounded by people who have no fucking clue.
As far as the Black Rock district, did I miss something? Didn’t Joel say that Crowe was not running and that Danny’s wife Bonnie was running? I did read that the night of the DTC fundraiser, right?
Exactly. city hall smoker is right.
donj and CHS, we can do better. We can’t find a clean politician who can run a tight ship in city hall and bring meaningful development to this city?
I will not let these few anti-Ganim people lie about him. This guy did so much for the East Side; he actually cared about the people. Crime was down and I sure was not paying sky-high taxes. I also would vote for him again.