Looks like Joe is doing as bad as the newly set mil rate. Maybe Joe’s numbers would improve if John Gomes reverses the order prohibiting employees from reading OIB. Afraid what they’ll find in the OIB archive?
I voted good. I didn’t vote exceptional or excellent. I voted good. I think Ganim is doing a good job in six months. Bad? Fair? Dave Walker, the budget and mil rate does say it all. I thought Ganim did as much as he could to trim the fat. Maybe I am wrong, I don’t think so. Mayor Finch would have been in the same predicament. My report card on the Mayor would be his ability to get development here on the same scale as the fabulous project the people in Shelton are fighting. If that goes through, what hope is there for any meaningful development in Bridgeport? I actually believe Ganim understands the concept of marketing and promoting the city. He has had years of experience. I will not criticize Ganim until he does something stupid. He has not.
Really, Steve. He is raising taxes by $23 million, is receiving $7 million more from the state in next year’s budget than this year’s budget, and he is selling park land for an additional $4 million.
The state reduced our funding by $1 million, and grants by $2.5 million which means we are facing a $16 million dollar deficit yet Joe Ganim did not give the BOE one additional dollar.
As I have been walking my neighborhood I have repeatedly apologized to them for asking them to support Joe Ganim. I made the biggest mistake of my seven years in politics. When you make a mistake you have to own it.
Horrible and Steve A continues to be a suck-up.
What has Ganim done, period?
There seems to be no budget planning.
No structural changes.
No real change.
The transparency he promised does not exist.
Boards and commissions continue to operate with members serving expired terms and therefore you get the votes like the recent one from the Parks Board.
He is relying on short-term plugs with no long-term plans.
Economic Development? Give it a break, Stevie. Nothing. Zip. Nada. He loses his director and goes back to a director who couldn’t handle Trumbull, which for the most part is children’s play compared to the work needed in Bridgeport.
Joe Ganim is failing miserably and has accomplished nothing to speak of.
And let’s not forget his political decisions have been atrocious.
He praises the state delegation to Hartford and says he could not have balanced the budget without their direct involvement and then encourages primaries against the incumbent senators for fear of alienating Mario. He fires one State Rep from his city job but keeps another simply based on who supported him and who did not.
He fired a State Rep from another town and then quickly rehired them. And he has not cracked down on State Reps who are double dipping between state pay and city pay.
He is still playing footsie with Richard Borer’s family who has been a nobody since Ganim was in jail.
What a disaster.
The questions really should be is Bridgeport headed in the right direction or the wrong direction.
I believe it would be 90% of the people saying the wrong direction.
But that might be unfair since there is apparently no direction right now.
Bob Walsh, you could call me many things; a suck-up would not be one of them. I am not part of Ganim’s inner circle or outer circle. He is our Mayor. I did not vote for him nor did I support his campaign. Suck up? For what? You are a miserable, depressing, negative, buzzkilling thorn in the side of those who believe in this city. You cannot stand things happening on Steelpointe and you resent Joe Ganim did not let his past define his future. You have never had a positive thing to say about any potential development. YOU HAVE BEEN A THORN IN THE SIDE OF EVERY MAYOR OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS. Keep up the good work! 🙂
I wouldn’t call that an interview for a job with the city. It was in the Connecticut Post. Mayor Finch did not do anything for me, Adam Wood did not do anything for me. Where does the suck-up come in? I interviewed with 20 other people. The guy they hired was fired in one day. That had nothing to do with me nor did it offend me. The only person who actually did something for me is Michele Lyons who was one of many letters of recommendation. Nobody has ever done anything for me. Nobody. Every job I had and excelled at was on my own. I actually like the diversity of my resume. Thanks for the redundant comment you always seem to make for me. Thank you Michele Lyons for that beautiful letter, again, like I hadn’t thanked her enough. I always show gratitude when someone takes the time to do something for me because that is sooo rare! Funny how people have no problem coming to me over and over and over again. That’s okay.
Steven Auerbach–I ordinarily read your postings and have to say your positive attitude regarding your city is refreshing. However, you’ve got the wrong man at the helm to do all the good things you anticipate. He’s in it for his own benefit, he’s manipulative, a conniver and a bullshitter. Pardon my vulgarity, but that word suits him best. Cut the fat? How many people who ardently supported him got jobs paying six figures, probably dozens? Yet he prides himself on laying off 100 people who if I had to guess were earning much less than his new hires, he raised your taxes, ignores the African American community which was his biggest supporter, and the list goes on and on. You need to re-think your positive stance on this tyrant.
The biggest arbiter of racism in civil service history, David Dunn, is still on the job thanks to Mayor Ganim. Just another example of his unrelenting disdain for the Black community. Those dozens of supporters who received six-figure salaries that you alluded to Godiva didn’t go to the Black community with but a very few exceptions. To hell with Joe.
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I did not say Joe walked on water and I do not know how this became a black issue. But I will always be optimistic. I could have and should have left Bridgeport CT for South Beach 30 years ago if I didn’t love the diversity of our great city. I said Joe has done a good job. I did not say outstanding and I wasn’t referring to any of his appointments, which guys sorry I do believe he deserves to have. Mayor Finch had the same high-priced associates. I accept that. I cannot and will not bury Joe after six months on the job. Now speaking about the African American Community, I will go back to part 3 of the outstanding “Roots,” that have nothing to do with the current state of affairs among the Black community in Bridgeport. What’s more, I do not see anything but love from the majority of the Black community in Bridgeport for Ganim. I do find it laughable that white people “Vays Mentshn” are the people who seem concerned about Joe’s treatment of them. Why should you care??? If the African American Community in Bridgeport have a problem with Joe, they know exactly which members of the Black community to go to and I am certain it would not be pretty.
When Ganim does something I find outrageous, I will voice it. I will not be spending four years complaining.
Steve, take off those rose-colored glasses and get real. You sound like Rodney King, “can we all just get along.” Lisa spelled it out well when she said the Hispanic vote for Ganim was lukewarm, the white voter turned their back on Joe and it was the black community that who took him in with open arms and put him back into office. The black voters got NOTHING for their support and vote.
Steven Auerbach–do you really feel it is laughable white people should care about black people? I’m glad Atty. Atticus Finch and Abraham Lincoln didn’t think that way. Your defense of a schmuck like Ganim is indeed puzzling. Give him time, he’s sure to do something you’ll deem outrageous.
Why should white people care about the treatment of blacks by Joe Ganim, has to be the most asinine statement I have ever heard in my entire 65 years on God’s good earth.
These comments will be recyclable over the course of many years, because the city still hasn’t hired the right people to create a real plan for the re-creation of our tax base in the context of full employment for all Bridgeporters at living-wage jobs. Until that happens, we will have on-going deadly violence in our streets, a dysfunctional school system, and a downtown that can’t get off life support.
This administration seems willing to wing it and crawl on all fours, existing on aid resentfully tossed at us by the state and federal government, while the city continues to accommodate all the bad development that is zoned out of the ‘burbs, even as we sell off our assets to hostile entities that can do only bad things to Bridgeport. The only progress that has been made has been in public safety–but that is not sustainable if everything else that happens can be interpreted as a setback.
I still think Joe can get the job done, but he has to carve out a much different path in economic development while he protects his city from SHU and Trumbull (and Gold Coast) exploitation. (We’re counting on you, Joe! Be the leader you gave us a glimpse of during the campaign!)
The recent budget and mil rate increase says it all.
Looks like Joe is doing as bad as the newly set mil rate. Maybe Joe’s numbers would improve if John Gomes reverses the order prohibiting employees from reading OIB. Afraid what they’ll find in the OIB archive?
I voted good. I didn’t vote exceptional or excellent. I voted good. I think Ganim is doing a good job in six months. Bad? Fair? Dave Walker, the budget and mil rate does say it all. I thought Ganim did as much as he could to trim the fat. Maybe I am wrong, I don’t think so. Mayor Finch would have been in the same predicament. My report card on the Mayor would be his ability to get development here on the same scale as the fabulous project the people in Shelton are fighting. If that goes through, what hope is there for any meaningful development in Bridgeport? I actually believe Ganim understands the concept of marketing and promoting the city. He has had years of experience. I will not criticize Ganim until he does something stupid. He has not.
What FLUCKING FAT? The fat between your flucking ears!
YOUR Finch put this city in the hole for $20 Million!
Stevie A. is trying to get his head up Joe’s ass so he can give him a tonsillectomy!
Steven Auerbach–now that your tax mil rate is at 54, it’s not likely developers, contractors, etc., will be rushing in to invest in Bridgeport.
Really, Steve. He is raising taxes by $23 million, is receiving $7 million more from the state in next year’s budget than this year’s budget, and he is selling park land for an additional $4 million.
The state reduced our funding by $1 million, and grants by $2.5 million which means we are facing a $16 million dollar deficit yet Joe Ganim did not give the BOE one additional dollar.
As I have been walking my neighborhood I have repeatedly apologized to them for asking them to support Joe Ganim. I made the biggest mistake of my seven years in politics. When you make a mistake you have to own it.
Horrible and Steve A continues to be a suck-up.
What has Ganim done, period?
There seems to be no budget planning.
No structural changes.
No real change.
The transparency he promised does not exist.
Boards and commissions continue to operate with members serving expired terms and therefore you get the votes like the recent one from the Parks Board.
He is relying on short-term plugs with no long-term plans.
Economic Development? Give it a break, Stevie. Nothing. Zip. Nada. He loses his director and goes back to a director who couldn’t handle Trumbull, which for the most part is children’s play compared to the work needed in Bridgeport.
Joe Ganim is failing miserably and has accomplished nothing to speak of.
And let’s not forget his political decisions have been atrocious.
He praises the state delegation to Hartford and says he could not have balanced the budget without their direct involvement and then encourages primaries against the incumbent senators for fear of alienating Mario. He fires one State Rep from his city job but keeps another simply based on who supported him and who did not.
He fired a State Rep from another town and then quickly rehired them. And he has not cracked down on State Reps who are double dipping between state pay and city pay.
He is still playing footsie with Richard Borer’s family who has been a nobody since Ganim was in jail.
What a disaster.
The questions really should be is Bridgeport headed in the right direction or the wrong direction.
I believe it would be 90% of the people saying the wrong direction.
But that might be unfair since there is apparently no direction right now.
Bob Walsh, you could call me many things; a suck-up would not be one of them. I am not part of Ganim’s inner circle or outer circle. He is our Mayor. I did not vote for him nor did I support his campaign. Suck up? For what? You are a miserable, depressing, negative, buzzkilling thorn in the side of those who believe in this city. You cannot stand things happening on Steelpointe and you resent Joe Ganim did not let his past define his future. You have never had a positive thing to say about any potential development. YOU HAVE BEEN A THORN IN THE SIDE OF EVERY MAYOR OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS. Keep up the good work! 🙂
From you I consider that a compliment.
You are not a suck-up? But you heap praise on everything and you did say you had interviewed for a job with the city. So what would you call that?
I wouldn’t call that an interview for a job with the city. It was in the Connecticut Post. Mayor Finch did not do anything for me, Adam Wood did not do anything for me. Where does the suck-up come in? I interviewed with 20 other people. The guy they hired was fired in one day. That had nothing to do with me nor did it offend me. The only person who actually did something for me is Michele Lyons who was one of many letters of recommendation. Nobody has ever done anything for me. Nobody. Every job I had and excelled at was on my own. I actually like the diversity of my resume. Thanks for the redundant comment you always seem to make for me. Thank you Michele Lyons for that beautiful letter, again, like I hadn’t thanked her enough. I always show gratitude when someone takes the time to do something for me because that is sooo rare! Funny how people have no problem coming to me over and over and over again. That’s okay.
Steven Auerbach–I ordinarily read your postings and have to say your positive attitude regarding your city is refreshing. However, you’ve got the wrong man at the helm to do all the good things you anticipate. He’s in it for his own benefit, he’s manipulative, a conniver and a bullshitter. Pardon my vulgarity, but that word suits him best. Cut the fat? How many people who ardently supported him got jobs paying six figures, probably dozens? Yet he prides himself on laying off 100 people who if I had to guess were earning much less than his new hires, he raised your taxes, ignores the African American community which was his biggest supporter, and the list goes on and on. You need to re-think your positive stance on this tyrant.
The biggest arbiter of racism in civil service history, David Dunn, is still on the job thanks to Mayor Ganim. Just another example of his unrelenting disdain for the Black community. Those dozens of supporters who received six-figure salaries that you alluded to Godiva didn’t go to the Black community with but a very few exceptions. To hell with Joe.
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I did not say Joe walked on water and I do not know how this became a black issue. But I will always be optimistic. I could have and should have left Bridgeport CT for South Beach 30 years ago if I didn’t love the diversity of our great city. I said Joe has done a good job. I did not say outstanding and I wasn’t referring to any of his appointments, which guys sorry I do believe he deserves to have. Mayor Finch had the same high-priced associates. I accept that. I cannot and will not bury Joe after six months on the job. Now speaking about the African American Community, I will go back to part 3 of the outstanding “Roots,” that have nothing to do with the current state of affairs among the Black community in Bridgeport. What’s more, I do not see anything but love from the majority of the Black community in Bridgeport for Ganim. I do find it laughable that white people “Vays Mentshn” are the people who seem concerned about Joe’s treatment of them. Why should you care??? If the African American Community in Bridgeport have a problem with Joe, they know exactly which members of the Black community to go to and I am certain it would not be pretty.
When Ganim does something I find outrageous, I will voice it. I will not be spending four years complaining.
Steve, take off those rose-colored glasses and get real. You sound like Rodney King, “can we all just get along.” Lisa spelled it out well when she said the Hispanic vote for Ganim was lukewarm, the white voter turned their back on Joe and it was the black community that who took him in with open arms and put him back into office. The black voters got NOTHING for their support and vote.
Steven Auerbach–do you really feel it is laughable white people should care about black people? I’m glad Atty. Atticus Finch and Abraham Lincoln didn’t think that way. Your defense of a schmuck like Ganim is indeed puzzling. Give him time, he’s sure to do something you’ll deem outrageous.
Why should white people care about the treatment of blacks by Joe Ganim, has to be the most asinine statement I have ever heard in my entire 65 years on God’s good earth.
These comments will be recyclable over the course of many years, because the city still hasn’t hired the right people to create a real plan for the re-creation of our tax base in the context of full employment for all Bridgeporters at living-wage jobs. Until that happens, we will have on-going deadly violence in our streets, a dysfunctional school system, and a downtown that can’t get off life support.
This administration seems willing to wing it and crawl on all fours, existing on aid resentfully tossed at us by the state and federal government, while the city continues to accommodate all the bad development that is zoned out of the ‘burbs, even as we sell off our assets to hostile entities that can do only bad things to Bridgeport. The only progress that has been made has been in public safety–but that is not sustainable if everything else that happens can be interpreted as a setback.
I still think Joe can get the job done, but he has to carve out a much different path in economic development while he protects his city from SHU and Trumbull (and Gold Coast) exploitation. (We’re counting on you, Joe! Be the leader you gave us a glimpse of during the campaign!)