Three weeks left to the presidential election. What race has your attention? The charter question to decide an appointed or elected school board? Is Democratic Congressman Jim Himes poised to win a third term? Linda McMahon versus Chris Murphy U.S. Senate war? Speaking of that, what’s the deal with all the McMahon lawn signs in the city?
OIB is inundated with news releases and statements from the various camps. We try to accommodate. Since we haven’t heard in a while from Bridgeport Republican Town Chair John Slater we’ll give him the floor defending the honor of Linda McMahon, the wrestling executive whose campaign operation is trying to pick off every vote possible in the city, a departure from recent Republicans for federal office who ignored city voters. Slater statement:
Bill Finch, The Mayor of Bridgeport, recently stated that Bridgeport will deliver the votes for Chris Murphy and not Linda McMahon even if “it’s a couple days late.” What a shame. The Mayor and his party have disrespected the taxpayers and voters in the City of Bridgeport time and time again. They believe you are stupid and incapable of thinking for yourself.
My name is John Slater and I am the Chairman of The Bridgeport Republican Town Committee. I believe that you, the taxpayer and voter in the City of Bridgeport, are our City’s greatest asset. I challenge all of you to go against the grain and vote for Linda McMahon.
I have personally supported Linda throughout each of her two campaigns for the United States Senate. I have been around her and gotten to personally know her and have developed FAITH that she is absolutely the right person to represent Connecticut. Linda is a JOB CREATOR and employs over 600 people right here in the State of Connecticut. Her opponent, who I would find personal enjoyment in his loss of the City of Bridgeport, is a slouch. He doesn’t know how to control and manage his own finances, he has proven through his legislation that he doesn’t have the mental understanding of how our economy works, and HE IS A LIAR.
I was honored to attend the “Bridgeport Sky Blast” at Seaside Park during the summer with Linda and her campaign. I was happy to see so many Bridgeport residents excited to meet Linda and pledge their support. But here is where I become confused. Bill Finch was one of them. He was more than happy to introduce his son to Linda since he is a big fan of her product. Mayor Finch became giddy at the fact that he was able to pose for a photo and obtain an autograph from Linda. At that moment, Bill was just as big of a fan of Linda as I am.
On November 6th, let’s shock the world… Deliver your vote for Linda McMahon.
John Slater
Chairman
Bridgeport Republican Town Committee
John, you meant it’s safe to put McMahon signs on the lawn. I put two lawn signs up high and strapped down with metal on both side fences at my house. I was surprised whey they lasted about four weeks. One day, one of the signs was missing and the metal frame was bent down. Days later, the same happened to the second. During the Shays campaign a few years ago, over 700 signs I put up disappeared. I put one up next to where the Democrats put theirs up and I followed and watched City of Bridgeport yellow vans riding to these spots and taking the Shays signs and leaving the Democrat ones untouched. The same happened with Mary-Jane Foster signs. In one incident I was on Boston and East Main with some sign on the lawn while I held and waved a MJF sign. A red vehicle form the city show up with two guys heading to my signs. I was ready to wrestle for those signs. I was manning them and always take them when I leave. What ticked me off is these guys working for public facilities didn’t notice the trash strewn around all over the side of the road, but they were called to take the signs knowing I’m a few feet away doing my thing. If I ever catch anyone destroying my signs at the house, I will detain him or her and if they want to wrestle, it’s on baby!
For heaven’s sake Joel, get a job and a life while you’re at it. Don’t you have anything better to do to keep yourself amused?
What took you so long to enter the ring, Godiva2011? Every time you read one of my posts it’s like I’m torturing you. That’s what I do for my amusement when I’m not in any of my two full-time jobs or spending time around the three loves of my life–wife and daughters. What can be better than this? OIB is like a gym where I can exercise my Social, Economic, and Political brain muscles. Lennie’s OIB topics and the comments of all posters are the weights. Sometimes I don’t pick up any of the weights because they are too light or I want others posters to take turns lifting. I got news for you, Godiva2011. I used to love chocolate–not anymore. I going to start taking SterOIBoids. When I see you lifting here I’m going to lift you as you are lifting. My girls are part of the next generation and I see very few people paving a better future for them. Four years have gone by since Obama got elected–seems like yesterday. The condition the country is in today is the condition those you still support said we would be in if McCain or Republicans took over. Don’t ask me what I can do best. You should have been here asking the president to do better.
Joel–you are a complete bore and your witless ramblings are way off topic here, as always. You still ramble about MJF, who had enough class and dignity to oust you from her slate after you made a completely insensitive comment about Bill Finch. Are you a Democrat, a Republican or what? Seems as if neither party wants any affiliation with a loose cannon like yourself.
A few months ago, Excel Bridgeport did a press release that Lennie posted here. Near the end of the press release, Excel Bridgeport invited everyone to attend a meeting of the Bridgeport appointed Board of Education three weeks before the meeting. They wanted those present to witness the passage of groundbreaking legislation or something like that. In one of my comments to this announcement, I asked how is it Excel Bridgeport knew the Appointed Board of Education was going to pass the matter three weeks ahead of the board meeting. Someone obviously gave Excel Bridgeport the guarantee it was going to be approved by the BOE. I wonder who gave that guarantee.
I will be voting for Murphy. As a kid I loved wrestling and still watch from time to time as we speak. What’s up with all these Linda signs all over public lightposts in the City? I have only seen one Obama sign in the city, that is it.
I don’t think spending 70 Million Dollars of your own money on a campaign is obscene at all.
I think it’s DISGUSTINGLY SICK!
Anti, what happened to that $70 million I loaned you?
It’s in the mail!
Lennie,
Thank you for posting my piece on OIB. I just want to clear up the headline though, my purpose in writing this is not to say The Mayor is a closet wrestling fan, my purpose is to express just how little respect there is for the voters in our city.
When the 2010 voting debacle happened, Bridgeport was humiliated. The shortage of ballots led to headlines that made a mockery out of the voting process. Yet now in 2012, The Mayor finds it suitable to joke about delivering Bridgeport for his candidate even if it’s a “couple days late.”
I shared my experience from the “Skyblast” because I find it so interesting to see how politicos act when the “cameras are off” compared to when “the cameras are on.”
If the voters in our city are held in high regard by our local government, we would not be faced with needing to vote for the charter revision question on November 6th. I will be voting “NO!” I believe the citizens in the City of Bridgeport are intelligent enough to vote for the Board of Ed. Just as they are intelligent enough to vote for Presidents, Senators, Congressional and State Representatives, City Council Reps and Mayors.
I respect our taxpayers, our voters and our City. Our election process is not a joke, it is a right.
So where are you and Bridgeport’s Republican Party on the Charter Revision question? For or against? Keep the vote for Bridgeport’s citizens or give even more power to Finch?
Thanks for the question. We believe the taxpayers and voters in the City of Bridgeport should be the ones to choose the Board of Education by exercising their right to vote. We do not believe the Mayor should have the authority to appoint a board.
I think Chris Murphy deserves the support of Bridgeport residents. I think the residents of this city find it offensive that Linda McMahon has again spent millions for public office. She may get votes from people who got a free hamburger and hot dog but I believe Obama will take Murphy with him and Linda will sit around her kitchen table wondering how much good she could have done with the millions and millions she threw away on two campaigns. What a sad waste of money.
I agree, this woman is pulling out all the financial weaponry she has in an attempt to buy her way into office. The mere fact she is a closet Tea Party aficionado should be enough reason not to vote for her. Ask your parents or grandparents how they feel about her chopping Medicare and Social Security benefits they worked all their lives for. Lack of money or having to live on a fixed income are obviously things she’ll never have to worry about. VOTE MURPHY!
It’s amazing how you know what damage a Republican candidate for office will do, but you’re oblivious to all the damage done by incumbent Democrats you support. Keep looking at your one-sided chocolate coins.
I’m in a mood to wrestle. The object of wrestling is to teach your opponent a lesson.
Steven Auerbach is a teacher. A substitute teacher the last time we worked together at the Mary-Jane Foster headquarters to be clear. At that time, Bill Finch was the worst thing that could have happened to the City as far as Steve was concerned. Remember the Mary-Jane Foster establishment YouTube video? This is what Steve Auerbach had to say about it:
What a great uplifting Ad–I am voting for Mary-Jane Foster and I will walk the entire city of Bridgeport telling people why I am voting for her. I will not waste my time telling people why I have lost confidence in Bill Finch. His arrogance speaks for itself. I will ask all my neighbors on all four corners of the city of Bridgeport, the city I love to stand with me and support the optimism and vision of Mary-Jane Foster. From the North End of Bridgeport on Glendale Avenue–Guess Who? Steven A.
submitted 1 year ago
Here is the link one more time folks:
www .youtube.com/watch?v=vkRxR5lh52M
Let’s talk about a waste of money. I not only gave Bill Finch the benefit of the doubt, I donated $500 to his campaign after the primary.
Steven Auerbach has no credibility. Steven would like you to believe he knows Chris Murphy and Linda McMahon. He enjoys telling people about Linda McMahon, but will never tell anyone how much more substitute teaching assignments he has gotten since Bill Finch took over the BOE. Steven won’t tell us if he has been hired as a full-time teacher or when he will be one. Now for my final well-deserved blow.
Yes ladies and gentlemen here comes the infamous OIBitchslap. SLAP!!! Who wants to be next?
Joel, please take your meds.
If he’s not on meds, he obviously should be.
Joel,
I am not certain why you had such an offensive tirade. So let me respond. As a substitute I earn 70 dollars a day and no benefits. Since Finch was re-elected Mayor I receive no more or fewer jobs. 70 dollars a day is a joke, but I do what I have to do until the economy improves. I think you’re an ass, but you know that. You work for the city–enough said on that! You are part of the problem and not part of the solution. Your attack on me because I support Murphy? I do not know him personally nor do I know Linda McMahon. I do know I wouldn’t vote for her. I wouldn’t vote for a Republican until the day they change their party platform and I do not expect them to come anytime soon. I support Bill Finch because he won. He is the Mayor of the City I love. I would be a moron to attack the city and its leadership unless I had a better answer. I do believe Bill Finch is taking the city in the right direction and until our educational system is improved I do not see any huge economic developments. It all hinges on education. As far as substitute assignments, again as laughable as it is and humiliating, I am requested at nearly every school in Bridgeport. Every day school is in session I work. That sadness is the money I make without insurance doesn’t even pay my electric and gas.
Steve–Ignore Joel, he just has nothing else to do with his time other than to pretend he’s a political mastermind.
Steve, I give you credit for responding. You covered the substitute question to my satisfaction. By the tone and contradiction in your response I conclude you are still dizzy from the slap.
“I think you’re an ass, but you know that. You work for the city–enough said on that! You are part of the problem and not part of the solution.”
As I can recollect, I, Bill Finch and yourself included work for the City of Bridgeport. I guess we are all asses, part of the problem and not part of the solution. But my guess is wrong as you change your opinion–contradicting yourself–one more time in your further comments.
“I wouldn’t vote for a Republican until the day they change their party platform and I do not expect them to come anytime soon.”
Steve, tell us how well the Democratic Party’s platform has worked. The State House, the State Senate, the Governor, all Congressional Representatives, both US Senators, and in Bridgeport the entire Council and the mayor are Democrats.
“I earn 70 dollars a day and no benefits.” “I am requested at nearly every school in Bridgeport. Every day school is in session I work. That sadness is the money I make without insurance doesn’t even pay my electric and gas.”
That’s the platform you support? It’s a Flatform!
“Finch is taking the city in the right direction and until our educational system is improved I do not see any huge economic developments.”
Education alone doesn’t impact development the way you make it sound. There are many complex factors. You are educated and look at your situation as far as employment is concerned.
I will never vote to take anyone’s right to elect BOE members. If one doesn’t approve of the work of BOE candidates, we simply vote against them. Bill Finch wasn’t satisfied by the job done by Senator Gomes. Bill Finch supported and backed Andres Ayala over two other candidates. The people voted and the candidate of Bill Finch’s choice won. That’s how BOE members should be selected.
If you are a city employee you should have been fired after having made such a horrible comment about the Mayor, which was offensive to every adoptee in the country. Any shred of credibility you may have had went down the tubes with that comment. For some reason, you give yourself credit for being intelligent and politically astute, but you’re a legend in your own mind. How’s that for an “OIBitchslap?”
Is that the best you can do? Was that really an OIBitchslap? I thought it was a breeze! One minute you advise Steve to ignore me and the next minute you’re addressing me. I may be a legend in my own mind, but you can’t make up your own mind.
Steven Auerbach, I agree with you. One more thing, lawn signs do not equal votes. I expect Linda to run like how Shays ran in 2008 in Bridgeport, a thousand votes ahead of their Republican candidate for president but still get crooked in Bridgeport. Remember McCain got 6,507 votes in the city and Shays got 7,600 votes and still got blown away by Jim Himes by well over 24,000 votes.
Let’s see, Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 10 to 1 and we get lawn sign discussions. Bridgeport essentially has a well-supported single-party system. We know it. Many do not love it. Some complain. Others figure it’s not worth it to fight, so they go along.
People occasionally complain about public safety, especially kids getting caught in crossfires; about property taxes increasing while house values decline; about land use issues that lower house values; about City workers who seem to have “do-nothing jobs” or about votes by City Council representatives that certainly appear to contain conflicts of interest. Obviously I can continue in this vein.
However, this year there seems to be some resistance building to the Mayor’s strategic grab for BOE control. Will it be enough or will the razzle-dazzle that has convinced a few parents the activity of the past 6 months is due to the Mayor and it will have no legs unless the BOE is delivered to him? Perhaps you will take a few deep breaths before asking your City Council representative how the City stands financially, right now. Who are they going to ask for this info? What metrics do they want to see? Has the City settled fully with the Board of Ed for last year’s financial support, or is that still wanting? If the City Council approves the sale of land and buildings at the Airport, where will that money be directed? Was it sold at a fair value? (By the way, what is the City Fund Balance? And why don’t we hear more when the City has run budget deficits two years in a row?) And once again a deal is brewing for the Black Rock Bank and Trust building. What will that building look like when it returns to the tax rolls and completes expected renovations? Is this material important to you as a taxpayer? Time will tell.
A lot of the money behind the pro-charter revision are wealthy out-of-town GOPers. In fact the Connecticut Policy Institute that supports the Mayor’s policy initiative is controlled by former GOP candidate and job killer Tom Foley.