The latest Finch campaign hit piece on Joe Ganim focuses on the former mayor’s felonious credentials as a result of his conviction on corruption charges in 2003. The two-sided mailer shows an image of a prison cell with the declaration “For Ganim, this was just another day at the office.”
It wasn’t exactly that kind of office. Ganim was not incarcerated in a cell but a military-style cubical with no razor wire on the outside similar to what is seen on the NetFlix series Orange Is The New Black. Still, the purpose is to emphasize the point of Ganim’s past with voters who need reminding or are new voters considering Ganim.
The flip side covers details of the Ganim corruption probe. We’ve entered the homestretch of the September 16 Democratic primary when campaign money tends to influence voter opinion. Does this type of mailer give you pause if you’re leaning toward Ganim? Or do folks already know his baggage and this is more of the same? The Finch campaign will likely kick out a few more of these before closing out with a series of mailers focusing on the mayor’s accomplishments.
Ganim’s bunk was more like the video scene, but with a male bunkmate.
Well thank you for explaining Ganim did not spend seven years in a cell like that pictured above as most convicted felons.
The fact Ganim spent seven years at the taxpayers’ expense in an unprison-like environment should piss off a few people. I was actually surprised all we heard was convicted felon. Over and over again. Do the registered Democrats need to be reminded incessantly? Yes, elaborate please.
Well, I think the mailer says it all! All Bill has to offer for eight years in office are: A HUGE, 45%(!), CUMULATIVE TAX INCREASE; asphalt and cement, lawsuit-producing park “improvements” (less grass and green at the parks); dilapidated, lawsuit-producing sidewalks, more closed businesses, a horrible record on education and voting rights, a strip mall that is a tax-deferred misuse of 52 precious waterfront acres; lots of closed businesses, lots of jobs that have been relocated to surrounding towns; a neglected, demoralized, understaffed police force; and last but not least, a soaring increase in murders/shootings/violent crime (and God knows what other crime, since crime reporting has been repressed in a draconian fashion).
So what else can Bill hope to use in his political death struggle except negativity? Especially when his opponents are offering better government (Ganim and MJ), real economic/jobs development (Ganim), tax relief (Ganim), and real attention to public safety (Ganim).
Tell us something we don’t know.
Another sign of how desperate Finchocchio is.
How about your accomplishments over the last eight years?!
Oh that’s right, high taxes, understaffed police department, high unemployment, underfunded school system, crime on the rise and the list go on and on.
But Bridgeport is getting better every day. Lmao.
Sorry, I forgot Bass Pro, Starbucks, Chipotle.
PLEASE. We are smarter than that.
There’s only one Steve Auerbach.
Here’s the irony–a few days ago there was dialogue on this blog about a school situation that involved one of the mayor’s children and the school he was transferred to. The general consensus was, and I agree, children should be protected from political warfare, agree. Joe Ganim has three children who are old enough to see the garbage used to portray their father. My point is this, couldn’t the handlers of Finch’s campaign have taken that in mind as Lennie and the rest of you did when Finch’s son was involved? Joe’s children know what happened with their father, they lost time with him, and will carry that with them probably for the rest of their lives. Now I know those of you with less compassion will say “that’s on Joe.” Maybe it is, but I want to know who feels the Finch campaign had to sink to that level. What do they think they’re accomplishing? Who doesn’t know what happened, and other than causing more pain to the young adult children of Joe, do they really think they will change one person’s mind with that disgusting mailer?
If the Finch campaign is choosing to focus on a rival candidate’s past instead of trumpeting accomplishments, what does that say? The more Tax Bill Finch’s handlers carp on Joe Ganim’s criminal record, the more it looks like the campaign is running scared. Bill Finch’s administration has started a few projects that look good but in the final analysis are shortsighted. Take his claim “I’ve created thousands of jobs.” That may be true but who did he create the jobs for? The city’s unemployment rate is still more than 8%. Sending a few DPW grunts to clean up the litter and re-sod a few secondary parks is just a dog and pony show. If the people of the city of Bridgeport who want gainful employment but cannot get there because the tax collector seized their cars over a measly $100 tax debt (or the people who had a job and lost it for the same reason) have no money to spend, how is that going to improve the local economy? David Kooris, the Finch administration’s point man on the development front, is only focused on development; he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the unemployed or the people living in public housing on welfare who desperately want to move on up, nor the middle-class homeowners who have no choice but to bear the financial burden of supporting all the received tax abatements City Hall has been handing out like candy bars on October 31st. Let’s call a spade a spade: the Finch administration is not engaged in “pay to play.” It is receiving kickbacks in the form of campaign “contributions.” It’s not illegal but it is unethical and immoral. Not surprising given the Finch administration’s efforts to contain damage by limiting the news media’s access to public records.
The city of Bridgeport is beset by a number of socioeconomic ills that, a dozen years after Joe Ganim was carted off to prison, have not been addressed. High unemployment, the highest property taxes east of the Mississippi, a failing public education system. No amount of construction is going to fix these problems. Building new schools is not a remedy for a dropout rate of 48%. Creating a few hundred minimum-wage jobs is not going to make an appreciable dent in the unemployment rate (a person working full time for minimum wage still qualifies for food stamp benefits). Abatements only increase the tax burden. No amount of CPA sleight-of-hand can hide that simple fact. All these problems can be addressed, can be repaired. Our current mayor, a pompous and arrogant and spiteful dumbass whose bigotry and antipathy toward the poor and minorities is obvious, is only interested in job security.
Whoever becomes mayor in three months would do well to remember he or she will be elected to represent ALL of the people of the city of Bridgeport, not the fat-cat developers from down county, not the self-interested leadership of the Democratic Town Committee.
Lisa, the answer is no. Joe Ganim is a convicted felon. Even I on this blog felt for the sake of his kids he should not run. Nobody has taken a picture of any of his children nor have they ever commented on his children. Lisa, a little naive to say the least that anyone would not address the obvious for the sake of his kids. They live in Easton, they do not receive the mailers and I am sure they do not read this blog.
Scumbag!
Lisa,
I was part of that discussion. Maria Pereira was trying to drag Bill Finch’s young children into the mix, totally inappropriate. She left in a huff. Reminding the voting public Joe Ganim served prison time for racketeering is part of the campaign process. It’s not pretty or surprising but it is disappointing the Finch campaign has nothing more important to say.
If Joe’s kids are ignorant of where their father was for seven years, his ex-wife must have been living with them in a cave. My relatives in the Midwest know Smokin’ Joe had an extended stay in the Gray Bar Hotel, and what he did to earn it. If he didn’t warn his kids the mayoral race was going to be ugly and his criminal record was going to be trumpeted by his opponents, he would have been derelict in his responsibilities as a father.
Could you really handle two of me?
Steve, I respect your opinion. I was only stating mine.
I appreciate your opinion!
Shows Finch’s true colors. Reveals what pieces of shit his entourage really is. No talk of future for Bpt. Living in the past! ZZZZZZZZZ.
I agree with Lisa and Wingnut. They are like the 9th-grade bullies picking on the fat kid or the girl with the disability. This mailer does nothing to hurt Ganim because we all know what he did. Many members of the community feel he paid his debt to society and they feel compassion for him and especially his children for the time they lost together. Mailers like this make people angry at the person who sent them, not the person they are directed at.
Like this: Joe Ganim was bailed out on a national, state and local level. In 1991, it was Resolution Trust, which exists to this day. During Ganim’s term, downtown Bridgeport was loaded with former bankers who had cushy offices thanks to President Bush.
Hartford handed Ganim a pre-packaged bankruptcy package that included millions for a “fresh start reserve fund.” Governor Weicker helped, too.
Why are you so obtuse? Building a new high school is not going to repair the damage done by years of neglect, mismanagement and political dysfunction. The BOE has been nothing more than a source of power to Mario Testa and his chosen flunkies in the mayor’s office. Public education in Bridgeport sucks, to put it mildly. You out to stay in Trumbull. This is not your circus, not your monkeys.
But there’s a cure for Ganim-itus:
Vote for Mayor Bill Finch.
The REAL cure for the plague of corruption that ails this City is Mary-Jane Foster. The constituency in Bridgeport is so desperate for progress, they are willing to trade the next four years of their lives in Bridgeport for six chickens and a green sign or an unofficial police substation.
What about voting for a mayor who will move mountains to FIND THE MONEY to make things better for Bridgeport instead of voting for another mayor who will move mountains to HIDE THE MONEY. They are the SAME guy. Finch and Ganim are the SAME. The only difference is a corruption conviction.
You are so right, Wicca. Finch and Ganim are the same. How can you expect a change if the same old failures wind up in office again? Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results. Mary-Jane Foster is the candidate who could make a real change in Bridgeport.
Wicca, this is the first time I disagree with you!
When Tim Herbst is up for re-election, draft Finch to oppose him.
If Tax Bill Finch’s campaign has to continually point out Joseph P. Ganim is a convicted felon, what does that say about Finch’s record? Any other incumbent would be promoting his accomplishments as chief executive. Tax Bill doesn’t have much to show after eight years in office, a period of declining city services, higher taxes and general moribundity. Sure, there are cranes in the air and shovels in the ground and Steven Auerbach’s foot in his mouth, but what has it cost the city’s middle class? Higher taxes with less bang for the buck.
Is Bill Finch really to blame?
Not entirely. Mayor Finch has upheld his oath during bad times and the future looks promising for several reasons. Finch has fantastic policies, imo. No mayor wants to raise taxes but Bridgeport’s chief executive has to balance the budget. What was a tailwind for Ganim has been a headwind for Finch. His performance has been underrated.
Bill Finch has not upheld his oath of office. He was elected to represent all the people of the city of Bridgeport, not just the elitists who have donated their way to fat development contracts.
For the past ten or twelve years, the mayor’s office hasn’t been run by the mayor, it has been run by a cabal of suits led by Adam “Pecker” Wood, Tom Sherwood and a few other suits. They took over when it became apparent Johnny Fabs was an inept administrator and complete fool. (His taste in recreational stimulants contributed to his general stupidity.) To ensure the mayor puppet wouldn’t be able to cut the strings and dance away from Mario “Gepetto” Testa, the mayor’s office was put under Wood’s control.
It is time to pay attention to that man behind the curtain.
Bill Finch should tell that hag he has as campaign manager to tout his accomplishments. Oh that’s right, there are very few accomplishments. You can build all the schools you want but buildings do not teach. The BOE has not changed the curriculum for kids not going to college and we still have a very high dropout rate. Sure, building new schools brought jobs but they were union jobs, which means it is a closed shop and very, very few people from Bridgeport worked on the schools Finch sold out to the unions. So to this campaign manager I say put something positive rather than something I know about Ganim on that crap you send to my house.
I’ll say it again, it will backfire!
Too late, Pandora’s Box is open. Lisa P, how’s the campaign going? John Olson and Evette Brantley are kicking ass on the street and with fundraising. I met so many nice people from your district at a fundraiser. Now, I could not say anything negative about you or Bob Halstead on this blog. But I will say I think Evette Brantley is awesome and the more I talk to her the more interesting I find her. They had a very nice turnout and the accolades made by some very impressive non-political folks in the neighborhood was quite heart warming.
I’m happy for her.
Good one, Lisa.
She speaks very highly of you! That’s how politicians should be, no?
Brantley is an embarrassment to the city especially after the attack on a citizen at a council meeting. She is an arrogant know-nothing and her running mate Olson is a total asshole.
My sentiments as well, Andy. Cecil Young is going to walk away with a nice cash settlement, at the taxpayers’ expense, because of her ignorant behavior. I thought she said she was done with politics after her defeat two years ago. I can only wish.
Andy, why don’t you tell us how you really feel? I found Ms. Brantley to be a fine, articulate, strong black woman who really cares about her neighborhood and the youth of this city. I think that speaks to her character and how lucky we are like Lisa Parziale, they are running for office because of the care they have for the residents of their district.I know John Olson was instrumental in establishing the Stratfield Historic district. I think Mayor Finch is lucky to have them on his ticket and I think they are lucky to be on his ticket.
Of course you did.
It has backfired, many of the people I have spoken to have decided to vote for Ganim because of the negative campaign by Secrest. They feel all individuals deserve a second chance. By constantly reminding them of Ganim’s past it is saying you are stupid if you vote for him, and people take that personal. They are not stupid. People like an underdog. Many of the people voting in this election have a friend or relative who is asking for or benefiting from a second chance. Yes, he benefited from contracts, do we condemn him for life? The majority of taxpayers don’t think so. Most of the voters who may agree with the negative comments do not vote in Bridgeport and do not pay the high taxes and are not afraid to come out of their homes. Four unsolved murders in three months and these people are still walking around.
The school system is failing, miserably. Bill Finch and the self-important cronies he has appointed are only interested in their own continued employment. There’s not a one of them with even a scintilla of humanity, not an ounce of compassion among them. The BOE is woefully underfunded, unable to meet the educational needs of its students. Finch’s response is to build another high school. Just what Bridgeport needs, another dropout mill.
Times were good in America during Joe Ganim’s time in office. There was money everywhere. The college dropouts who started the computer revolution were able to get investment capitalists to put up the cash that funded Apple, Microsoft and other companies that are now household names. Thirty years ago the most sophisticated personal communication device available to consumers was the pager; you still had to find a pay phone to return the call. Now 90% of consumers have a smart phone. And they are SMART: a person can talk, text, surf the ‘Net, find a location via GPS, shoot and edit video including special effects, etc. Pay phones are now museum pieces, relics from an era that ended only 20 years ago.
Bridgeport’s public schools are not giving the city’s youngsters the knowledge and practical hands-on classroom learning to compete in a digitalized world. The student potential is there; it’s just not being nurtured and cultivated.
The Finch administration, every fucking one of the tin-plated, smarmy self-important handlers he has surrounded himself with, they are all to blame for the current state of dysfunction in the schools. They take the blame because not a one of them did one thing to fix the underlying problems. Finch and his boys have been reactive as opposed to responsive. “It’s Ganim’s fault!” is the same as saying “Let those people eat cake!” Fortunately for him this is the United States of America; we don’t behead the infidels, we vote them out of office.
Yeah, they couldn’t stand the negativity so they decided to destroy their future by voting for Ganim just to punish Finch. concerned citizen, you have very intelligent friends, I suppose Foster wasn’t even an option. I love this blog! Yeah, all my friends are voting for Ganim because they feel bad Finch is driving up Ganim’s negatives and yet Foster still cannot get those votes. Well, only in Bridgeport. I know rarely do I speak to a person who even utters the name of “the corrupted one!”
🙂
concerned citizen, I’m sharing this with you, and may I add I don’t make up stories or embellish. After the last mailer against Ganim hit, I was quietly and privately doing what I’m doing for the campaign. I heard three calls come in within ten minutes of each other. I smiled to myself because they were all from elderly voters, furious over that mailer, and demanding an AB application be brought to them immediately, because they were voting for Joe. This was a direct response to that horrible mailer. Some will fluff it off and say no big deal. In my decades of public service, seniors (before I became one), were always my priority and I loved the time I spent with them. They’ve lived long, gained wisdom, tolerance, and stuff like this doesn’t sit well with them. Watch out for that senior vote, they can’t be fooled by the smoke and mirrors being used in the Finch campaign. I love them!
I think Mayor Finch should be commended for giving Joe Ganim three votes. It is so ironic, usually it is the elderly who remember the Joe Ganim scandal the best!
Steve, you may be right, but they are also the most forgiving, they lived enough life to learn that.
Local Eyes, take note. You live in Trumbull, not big bad Bridgeport. This is OUR election, not yours. Poking your snoot where it does not belong is not wise.
This mailer is the work of a very simple, mean-spirited person who I would never want to be around. Time to move away, Mayor Finch.
YOU wouldn’t like the taxes here, without a job after November.