In the days after punching an exclamation point on the historic mayoral season with an impressive win in the second general election Joe Ganim maintained the hefty retail pace that vaulted him to another term.
He attended birthday parties, church services, prayer breakfasts and school classrooms including a visit with Superintendent of Schools Carmela Levy-David to discuss the Bridgeport Promise college education program.
Ganim navigated a fragile existence following the maelstrom over last September’s Democratic primary. Opponent John Gomes told some supporters he had it in the bag, stick a fork in Ganim. Turns out Gomes wielded the incorrect utensil, hard to eat celebratory soup with a fork.
Ganim managed to turn the battleship around in stormy seas. He now has a chance to fashion a lasting legacy as the longest serving mayor in history, behind Socialist Jasper McLevy, with a combined service of roughly 20 years.
That means paying attention to business and not just during election season. A number of things are teed up that could transform the look of Connecticut’s most populous city economically and physically: a proposed soccer stadium along the waterfront, an EV battery park with the prospects of 200 jobs, demolition of blighted properties, a number of housing plans with both market-rate and work-force projects including the Steelpointe Harbor redevelopment area, a new Bassick High School under construction adjacent to the University of Bridgeport campus.
The nuts and bolts that frame the municipal budget are coming together. Ganim will submit his spending plan to the City Council in about four weeks. Will he once again hold the line on taxes? What investment will be made to education in a district eyeing potential school closures? What administrative changes will occur?
Ganim has a real chance now to craft a transformational legacy. And who’d have thought it just a few months.
Joseph Ganim has crafted a legacy. But what might be recorded in the minds of those who have lived under his power for his entire public career? Disappointment over corruption revealed? How do you erase that in the face of little remorse demonstrated, no illusion of humility in the diversity of the City, and no crafted wisdom based on the advanced education, formal or informal, that he has received. Yes, Ganim2 has continued his path it seems, but where is the change in sight?
Part of any legacy, planned, accidental, or left to State Law, are memories of who was present to assist, showed understanding or mercy, listened and followed through. How have the Ganim1 and Ganim2 terms benefited this City (in comparison with Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury referenced by the Mayor)? Have the schools regularly and dependably received the funds necessary to allow excellence of all youthful kinds to be demonstrated? Has the City created a Board or Commission to evaluate youth needs beyond “glorified babysitting” at State expense to open up recreational needs in the Park City? (Are squash skills more important in the future to youth than water safety skills and swimming competence? Who thinks so?)
I wish the Mayor success in developing Bridgeport on behalf of the diverse citizenry, building inclusion into the fabric of the City, and pursuing equal rights where they are currently not observed. Why would I stop asking questions, when the above work is incomplete, and OIB wants to talk about a “last minute legacy?” Time will tell.
He’s no Jasper McLevy:)
Notice how OIB slips in (work force )projects and no mention of (affordable housing ) for Steal-Pointe, which is mandated by the State.
84 units of affordable housing, out of 420 units of market rate housing should be included in the state mandate at Steel-point. Now Add a green horn, like Antonio Felipe to chair Bridgeport housing needs and Steel Point will never see a 20 % affordable plan with our Tax dollars!
Sonny, have you applied for your senior citizen property tax cut? State subsidies are involved in the Steelpointe plan to make some units more affordable. That was not the case when the project was announced. The state stepped in months ago to open up opportunities for others.
That’s good news!
How does this fair in his legacy? A legacy of corruption and backroom deals…
https://ctexaminer.com/2024/03/03/state-democrats-hear-complaints-of-abuse-vote-fraud-by-bridgeport-party-leaders/?fbclid=IwAR3pKsJbFH3jqPxLtFRbklf1-bYIZ9GzUgLsxCuU9PuVIuE8hSErZdEXZ7I_aem_AVpiM2PuPqvsgNYb4NNdvUUpNdG3fuLXu9rxWa9AXBFa8wuE6OhD9mfkWJ97-0R2kwzAL3BROipDWp1RglTBOBw9
How about we all stop being mean to Joe and Mario and all the others that sat together at the round table outside Mario’s kitchen. Let use the word dishonest.
They were, and are, ALL DISHONEST. All the bribes, conspiracies, voter frauds etc which were all at some point in time proven in one way or another, were and are attributed to their dishonestly.
There you have it! A nice way to say the truth out loud!! 😂
And the rest of the state laughs. But also still uses these dishonest people to deliver the votes, and who knows what else. They all unite to kiss each others rings.
Cheers!
A mayor can’t leave a lasting “legacy” unless they move the needle for their municipality a net, significant number of degrees (as measured “before” and “after” their tenure) “north,” or “south.”
It would also seem reasonable to think, in this regard, that the “needle movement” needs to occur as a result of vision, plan, intent, and related action…
In regard to the above criteria, it would seem that the only mayor to leave a real legacy was P. T. Barnum — everybody else has just gone along for the ride…
JG, while probably one of Bridgeport’s more capable mayors, has never really exhibited a real love or passion for this place and has never really applied his considerable abilities to the creation of a grand vision and plan for this city AND ITS PEOPLE… And he hasn’t just “gone along for the ride” as mayor; he has taken us for a ride and had us pay for wasteful “development” that has really only served as political aggrandizement for his career and vehicles for his political plans… No tax-base growth/tax relief and living-wage jobs for economically-besieged Bridgeporters — only taxpayer- financed/taxpayer-subsidized projects to attract political attention and create a false image for political-propaganda purposes, along with some other, state-federal financed, tax-less, jobless development for accommodation of “regional” plans to curry favor with the Connecticut Oligarchy…
And the scandals that have occurred during JG’s tenure and besmirched Bridgeport’s reputation — effectively moving the needle “south,” per something resembling a “legacy”…
This lifelong Bridgeporter took a gamble and supported JG’s “redemption” comeback, looking to a presumably redeemed/reformed, mature leader-visionary ready to truly “redeem” himself and his city by way of making amends for his “shortcomings” as a younger, less mature mayor, that saw himself as “entitled”…
Well; it is apparent that in politics, there is less chance of seeing true redemption/reform of a politician than there is of winning the $billion Powerball jackpot on New Years Day…
JG’s “legacy” will be what it is — unless he suddenly wakes up with a sudden real love and passion for this city rather than just his historical, disciplined determination to squeeze the last drop of milk out of this dying municipal cow for his own consumption… What are the chances of that happening?! Maybe the Connecticut Oligarchs that just put him back in office see something that the 90% of Bridgeport voters that didn’t vote for JG’s February 27 re-election can’t see?! (Maybe they do, indeed!)