UPDATE: Her report is up now, here. If you ask short-handed staff in the Town Clerk’s Office to make copies of campaign finance reports of the candidates for mayor, it will cost you more than $500. Democratic mayoral candidate Mary-Jane Foster says she will post her report on her campaign website “for the whole world to see within the next few days.”
Last Friday was the deadline for candidates to submit quarterly finance reports to the Town Clerk’s Office for public inspection. Copies cost 50 cents per page. Foster’s report shows the campaign raised $70,075 for the period ending June 30.
“An open and transparent government is the first step in reestablishing trust in Bridgeport’s City Hall,” says Foster in a news release. “I am not required to do this by law but good government ethics dictates these principles. Concerned citizens should not be required to spend hundreds of their own hard-earned dollars just to see who has contributed money to my campaign and to my opponents.”
Foster asserts that as mayor she will require the Town Clerk’s Office to post any campaign finance reports it receives within 72 hours of receipt. She said she will push for either state law or local ordinance to enforce these actions.
“One of my opponents has been convicted of selling the city for personal gain while the other has raised serious concerns as to the quid pro quo nature of some of his campaign donations,” Foster said. “Full and open campaign finance requirements is the first step in giving the public the tools they need to keep a watchful eye on all of the politicians. Both of my opponents are ethically challenged and in a city like Bridgeport where the perception of corrupt government never seems to go away, we need to do more. We need to do better. Bridgeport deserves better and you can be sure that I, Mary-Jane Foster, will deliver.”
Foster’s campaign finance report includes donations from State Senator Marilyn, Moore ($100), State Senator Ed Gomes ($200), physician Robert Weinstein ($500), retired Bridgeport school chief Jim Connelly ($100), former city councilor Bob “Troll” Walsh ($500), Anne Sheffer of Westport ($1,000), retired publisher of the Connecticut Post Elizabeth Pfriem ($1,000), former Congressman Christopher Shays ($250), former school board president Max Medina ($150), former United State Attorney Stan Twardy ($250), former Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Eunice Groark ($250), fuel company owners John Santa ($1,000) and George Santa ($500), attorney Ray Rizio ($1,000), entrepreneur Wiley Mullins, ($500), former Bridgeport Mayor Nick Panuzio ($250).
Now this is what I call getting better every day. Let’s see if she shames Finch and Ganim to do the same!
MJF ahead of curve for 2017.
www .ctpost.com/news/article/State-to-post-municipal-campaign-filings-online-6373848.php
Thank you Up On.
How refreshing would it be to have Bridgeport leading the state in open and transparent government instead of fighting reforms like this every step of the way???
I am guessing Mark Anastasi is feverishly writing a legal opinion saying it would be unconstitutional for the B’port Town Clerk to post this info since individuals were not warned of this in advance.
Once again he will miss the Mark. But what can you expect? This is the same City Attorney appointed by Ganim and retained by Finch. Only in Bridgeport!
Here it is. I just looked on MJF’s FB page and found this link:
drive.google.com/file/d/0B0NIQCpw_I3INTUycnlyU2RvQ28/view
And Thank You, Frank!!!
No problem, Troll!
Marilyn Moore $100, Ed Gomes $200, Ron Mackey? Donald Day? Just wait for that huge minority delivery! Sorry, that’s all I have to say about that.
Some folks are not rolling in dough. Gomes, Mackey and Day are all retirees. Marilyn is a working-class woman just like the rest of us. Is this really a thing? It shouldn’t be.
Yes, it is a thing!
Is it just me but I longed for the departure date of July 11th.
It is just you. 🙂
Don, his boy the mayor, “counterfeit Bill” is in real trouble of coming in third place in the primary and Steve knows the mayor needs any help he can get. July 11 had bought some joy to a lot of people, oh well.
Ron Mackey and Donald Day, I really don’t think Mayor Finch is going to come in third and I do not believe the voters believe Joseph Ganim is the second coming of Christ. But I do believe my friend Mary-Jane Foster has surrounded herself with such bad advisers she is currently not a contender. The Ganim camp doesn’t even acknowledge her campaign, they are brilliant! They know how to make news but they do represent the past. Ganim is everywhere. He is tenacious and personable and his entourage is extremely loyal. They do not waste time, they are busy.
Mayor Finch announced yesterday another 100 jobs for city youth increasing to 700.
Joe Ganim announced a career politician of 24 years to support him.
And the Foster campaign is upset my July 11th departure was short lived. Are you guys stupid or being paid by Ganim to stay in the race? Either way, it would appear Foster may be heading into oblivion. I am not happy about that. But I am supporting Finch and in the end nobody cares who comes in second or third. As of today, the only thing I personally lose is a bet with Maria Pereira and Howard Gardner and a dinner to Come Back Bridgeport. The Mayor will miss the opportunity to cross the city over the finish line with every great project happening in the city, the city will lose everything including its pride under Ganim and Foster’s career will be over.
Keep up the good work!
Papi, take your meds. <3
Ray Rizio $1000.00 for Foster
Ray Rizio $1000.00 for Ganim
Ray Rizio ? for Finch
How nice it is to have an honest person running for office instead of a convicted felon and a soon to be!
AMEN! Long overdue.
Agreed! It is very transparent of her to do this. Also, I hope she shames the others into doing the same. If they don’t make their contributions public, then the question becomes, “What do you have to hide?”
Tax Bill and Irregular Joe are one in the same…
Tax Bill will tell you the city will lose money by doing this. Too bad. We lose credibility every day by not doing things like this.
The end of the Connecticut Post article cited above pretty much wraps it all up.
“Alma Maya, the town clerk for Connecticut’s largest municipality, Bridgeport, was out of the office Wednesday and not available. A request for comment was also left for Mayor Bill Finch’s office.”
Let’s raise $500 bucks to get a copy of Irregular Joe’s filing.
City Clerk office charges $.50 per copy for first 10 copies, $.30 per copy for next 20 copies, and $.10 per copy for additional copies. Town Clerk office has a different expense charge? Go figure. (Do you think that the different clerk office copy charges are the results of studies done by the City or a department?) Or are they arbitrary and meant to cover the frequent request for fewer than 10 copies? Long runs with the automatic feeding mechanisms do not take up the time of a clerical operator.
Why aren’t many items posted to a Department site and then people can use their own time, paper and toner to produce a hard copy if required? Too futuristic? Or just a sign of how far behind the curve “Business as Usual Bill” is in operating OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE, and TRANSPARENT process? Time will tell.