Pinocchio Alert, Paging Santa Ayala–What A Stinker–Did She Sabotage Foster’s Slate?

Pinocchio
Santa Ayala's nose is growing and growing.

An amazing Pinocchio moment has come from Democratic Registrar of Voters Santa Ayala. In an interview with the Connecticut Post about Mary-Jane Foster’s petition papers for mayor the public servant claims a mistake was in the making but said nothing about it because no one asked for guidance. The Foster camp disputes this. What a bunch of hooey from Ayala. Can you imagine going into the building department of a municipality and saying I want to put up a building on wetlands and the building official says go right ahead? Stay tuned for more on this in the coming days. This smells like dead bunker at low tide. Did Ayala sabotage Foster’s slate to gain favor with party regulars who control her job future in light of the ballot fiasco last year? Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa, who supports Mayor Bill Finch’s reelection, made a number of calls to Ayala during the petition approval process.

Observation from a registrar of voters: “Did (Ayala) intentionally misrepresent the contents of a petition–a class D felony–or did she demonstrate neglect in the performance of her duties?”

I asked Ayala point blank in three separate phone conversations if anything during the Foster slate certification process was weird, strange, different with Foster’s petitions, or the collections of petitions. She said only the usual tedious stuff was going on. She made no mention she had issued petition papers in question. If she knew she had issued flawed petition papers, why spend days and days reviewing the petition signatures? She issued flawed petitions knowing thousands of voters would be disenfranchised. Check out the mission statement of Ayala’s office:

Ayala Pinocchio
Everything looks in order, Mary-Jane.

MISSION STATEMENT
To seek better ways to provide services to encourage all eligible residents to exercise their right to vote; conduct elections in a fair, accurate and efficient manner; maintain a continuous professional level of service to the public; and develop new techniques to improve outreach services which acknowledge the diversity of the city of Bridgeport.

From the Connecticut Post:

Although it took 12 days for Democratic Registrar of Voters Santa Ayala to reject mayoral hopeful Mary-Jane Foster’s nominating petition, she acknowledged Tuesday she knew even before the petition was circulated that it was flawed.

Read more: www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-registrar-knew-early-what-Foster-s-2138069.php

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53 comments

    1. Unbelievable! That this animal is working as a registrar of voters in City Hall, she will be vilified. And Judge Ganim is her council, God help us.
      The Mayor of this city should ask her to step down right NOW! Any judge worth his or her salt will put Mary-Jane Foster back in this race.

      On the City Of Bridgeport web page:

      Registrar
      To register voters; maintain voting and party enrollment lists’; administer all elections, primaries; referenda; and absentee ballot central counting. Selection and training of election officials; voting machine mechanics; purchase and maintenance of voting equipment and accessories; redistricting of district boundaries; selection of polling locations and respond to inquiries from all persons and agencies.

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  1. Jiminy Cricket! She willfully and knowingly did this? That Woody-Wood-Pecker and Bill have their beaks all over this caper. When Foster is elected, FBI will stand For Bridgeport’s Integrity. What a Cluster Finch!

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  2. Ayala can go to hell, she will never ever get a vote from me again. She did it again, our votes have been shut out. Now I really know why I want to get the hell out of Bridgeport, it’s the most corrupt city in America. If Foster is not even on the ballot I’m voting for anybody but Finch and if that is Torres then yes I will vote for him and I hope endorsed Democrats and Danny Roach never ask for my vote again.

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    1. donj, that’s really not fair to blanket the misdeeds of one with an entire party. There are many honorable members of the DTC who also believe in what you do and have been working on the side of right for a lot longer than this blog’s been around (no slight intended, Lennie). We may have never met personally, but if you are as you express yourself to be on this blog (young, enthusiastic and aware), then you are what’s needed on the DTC and should be making your intentions known. Though I can understand your anger, I believe not only would it benefit you to appreciate someone asking for your vote and the opportunity to express your thoughts to a candidate, but to think about seeking the endorsement for a seat that you BELIEVE you and the CITY could benefit from.

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  3. This will be turned in court. I was told in city hell, oops hall, that MJ was certified on Thursday and decertified on Monday. Is Paul Ganim working this so the deal absolving Joe goes through?
    Was also told CNBC and the NY Times are all over this.
    Santa took a bullet for the machine but the machine is facing a firing squad.

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  4. I have to weigh in here. I hate to pile on but I am on the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce Board (BCC). The BCC, the Caribbean World Chamber of Commerce, The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport and the Southern Connecticut Black Chamber of Commerce are co-hosting the September 8th 8am pre-primary mayoral candidate forum scheduled for Beacon Hall at Housatonic Community College. It takes a lot of coordination to pull one of these forums off because it will include the Democratic, Republican and Independent candidates and several co-hosting organizations. The publisher of the Connecticut Post and group publisher for Hearst Media Services Connecticut, John DeAugustine will moderate the forum. About a week after the petitions were submitted, I stopped by the Registrar to ask Santa Ayala if her office was far enough along in the certification process to be reasonably sure Mary Jane Foster would qualify as a candidate. I knew the law gave her seven days to certify so it was very close to the seven-day mark. I didn’t want the printing costs for the flyers, ads et al. to include Mary-Jane Foster if she wouldn’t reach the 2100+ valid signature threshold. Santa Ayala said although the certification process was still underway she felt comfortable we should proceed with including Foster in all of the advertising by the four chambers. This does not square with what I read in the CT Post article. I am sorry to write once again something is not right in river city.

    I hope the Court expedites its review of Mary-Jane Foster’s appeal. Once again we are having our right to vote put under a suspicious dark cloud. If the Court rules in MJF’s favor, I trust the Court will push off the primary date so the electorate has time to understand who is on the ballot, their qualifications, their record and their goals for this great city. That is the reason for the September 8th forum. It is critical every registered Democrat vote in the primary. If you are an independent you have until noon on September 12th to switch to the Democratic Party. Standing by and whining is not an option. The stakes are too high.

    I will try to be at the 5pm rally tomorrow. My voting rights appear to be violated once again. Personally, I am supporting Mary-Jane Foster without hesitation.

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  5. This is just another historical and embarrassing moment for the Finch administration, the Democratic party and the city of Bridgeport. Could Santa Ayala really be that stupid as to admit she knew there was a flaw and didn’t rectify it? Does she understand what her position is? The State of Connecticut needs to get involved. The residents are fired up and disgusted. Even the out-of-towners are up in arms. Who would want to do business in a city with a crew like this??? Finch gave himself an A in economic development and probably gave himself an A in running city government. I am so looking forward to the debate tomorrow evening. I believe Mary-Jane Foster will rise like the phoenix and crush the Democratic machine once and for all. I believe in her ability to lead and will continue supporting her. The people of this city have been pushed too far with this latest comedy of errors. Does Santa Ayala realize the people of this city believe her to be completely incompetent? When this news hits the New York papers it will only continue to keep Bridgeport off the radar of many huge developers.

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  6. “Section 9-410(a) of the General Statutes states “only as many candidates may be proposed in any one primary petition for the same office or position as are to be nominated or chosen by such party.”

    The Democratic Party (DTC) made the decision NOT to nominate and in fact accepted the BOE majority–six (6) members–decision to dissolve the BOE. MJF and all candidates on the petition disagreed with the decision to dissolve the BOE and Santa Ayala made the decision to allow all four (4) MJF’s BOE candidates to appear on the petition.

    Section 9-410(a) of the General Statutes implies if the Democratic Party chose NOT to nominate any BOE candidates, then MJF can’t put up any candidates for BOE on her petition slate. We never agreed with the BOE decision to dissolve and I’m of the position that MJF could have placed up to six candidates for the BOE as it was six members who decided to give up their post. This Statute is vague and inapplicable under the circumstances created by the mayor and the BOE majority who voted to dissolve the Bridgeport BOE. I just hope MCAT reads this and looks into what this poorly thought-out Statute implies.

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    1. That is an interesting alternative perspective–that for the purposes of an election for Board of Education, there are in fact nine open positions.

      Does anyone have the court order allowing the Foster slate to petition for BOE candidates? I’d be interested in seeing what restrictions were placed on the petition process by the order, and if the ability to circulate petitions was extended to all possible parties and/or slates.

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  7. I served in the military for many years and my fellow military brothers have died protecting democracy over the years. This has put a sour taste in my mouth and I do not think it is possible for me to vote for Finch if this was really done to save him from losing. Do not mess with a right that people in the military have died protecting.

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    1. Many thanks for your service in the Military, NORTH45. It’s people like you, willing to die for democracy, and willing to change a perception if you feel the freedoms you fought for are in peril, who make me proud to be American.

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  8. “… only as many candidates may be proposed …”
    We know the DTC nominated zero (0) candidates. Does this mean MJF could not have any candidates for BOE?

    “… as are to be nominated or chosen by such party”
    Does this mean the DTC was obligated by Statute to nominate BOE candidates?

    Remember my term “Twisted Logic?”

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  9. Let’s leave out the BOE candidates on MJF’s petition and suppose MJF were the only mayoral candidate on the petition. Let’s all suppose the DTC decides NOT to nominate a mayoral candidate. Zero (0) mayoral candidates.

    “Section 9-410(a) of the General Statutes states that “only as many candidates may be proposed in any one primary petition for the same office or position as are to be nominated or chosen by such party”

    This Statute, as it is worded, prohibits MJF from petitioning for the ballot under the above-mentioned supposition. The courts will scrutinize the language of the law and its intended purpose–if it can figure it out.

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  10. Is it any wonder Ayala made the decision she was told to make? Finch saw his lead narrowing and I believe internal polling by the Finch Gang showed he probably would lose the primary. What to do???
    Somewhere in the process Paul Ganim got involved. He is a long-time machine toady. How does he get access to the petitions? How does he find what he perceives as a flaw in the petitions?
    Then we have city attorney Mark Anastasi stepping forward and advising Ayala to not certify the petitions. Anastasi has never in my memory ruled against the city or any of its boards and commissions. What has Anastasi got to lose? He could lose the city attorney’s job and go back to an associate position. His kid could lose his job at CitiStat. Thus his ruling.
    These three are part of the overall Bridgeport problem. They have no shame and only care about themselves and screw the people of Bridgeport.

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  11. Governor To Choose Head Of New Watchdog Agency
    By KEITH M. PHANEUF and JACQUELINE RABE © The Connecticut Mirror

    The heads of state government’s nine watchdog agencies referred three finalists last week to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to become executive director of the new Office of Governmental Accountability–including one lawyer who’s prepared to take no salary.

    The Governmental Accountability Commission voted unanimously following a 50-minute closed-door debate to recommend: former Freedom of Information Commission executive director Mitchell W. Pearlman; longtime state accountancy board director David Guay; and former Motor Vehicles Commissioner Nancy Hadley.
    […]
    Besides Ethics and the FOIC, the new Office of Governmental Accountability also includes: the State Elections Enforcement Commission, the Office of the Victim Advocate, the Office of the Child Advocate, the Judicial Selection Commission, the Judicial Review Council, the State Contracting Standards Board and the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners.

    www .ctlawtribune.com/getarticle.aspx?ID=41291

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  12. I like all of the posts above. I did not consider myself a supporter of either side yet, but looked forward to having the primary and letting the people decide. If Finch’s camp is confident, and if he really cares for the image and future of Bpt, he would come out in support of having the primary. The mayoral election is bigger than the BOE mess. Losing your elected BOE official is one thing (so few vote on it anyway). But for something that directly impacts the whole city–show the voters some respect. Also, the charter should be revised to allow the city council or some other body to overrule the Registrar when necessary. Bpt politics is spending too much time in courtrooms, not enough time helping the city.
    One note for the MJF camp … reading that CT Post article, the campaign manager did receive some warnings. He should take some responsibility too. In the words of one of the other registrars, “it’s up to the candidates to dot the I’s and cross the T’s.”

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    1. “One note for the MJF camp … reading that CT Post article, the campaign manager did receive some warnings. He should take some responsibility too. In the words of one of the other registrars ‘it’s up to the candidates to dot the I’s and cross the T’s.'”

      Not that you’re wrong in this, but I think if you’re receiving a document from a public official, you should be able to rely on it as being valid and correct.

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      1. I hear you Matt. That should be the case. But not when dealing with THIS registrar (not enough ballots last year) and THIS city–which is starting to rival old-time Chicago politics. With the current track record of the city, anyone with a candidate going against the incumbents in Bpt needs to be ready for anything and any tactic.

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  13. It’s a simple question for these simple times. Santa Ayala has engaged a “personal” attorney in the form of Paul Ganim ostensibly to weather the forthcoming shit storm she has gotten herself into. (Hasn’t that family had enough public controversy?)

    The question … Who is paying Paul Ganim’s fees?

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  14. NORTH45, welcome to the fight for justice, not so much the candidate but the fight for the process to be open and fair to the residents of Bridgeport and what has happened with rights of the people stolen from them and a mayor who badmouths the people he serves MUST change.

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  15. This is bigger than Finch vs. Foster at this point. This has truly morphed into a fight for democracy and people’s basic constitutional rights being taken away from them.

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  16. If Santa knew the petition was bad before it was returned/submitted to her, then why wasn’t it not certified five minutes after it was given to her last week?

    My guess is she didn’t know about the number of people thing, first the signatures were checked and when that was in order, then some people OTHER than the registrar got their hands on it and went through it with a fine-toothed comb to find an error.

    That is why it took a week. If she knew it was bad when it was returned it should have been thrown out right then and there. Why the delay?

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  17. This is absolutely deplorable. For the Machine: In the words of the late Jim Morrison, “This is “The End” my dear old friend, The End.” The People shall take back City Hall!!! Go Mary-Jane!!!

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  18. This doesn’t say much for Santa’s character, personally or professionally. Remember, her ex-husband, who she supposedly has a good relationship with, is on MJ’s slate. She screwed him too. Now she has made Bridgeport the laughing stock and butt of comedians’ jokes once again. Why? Because Mario and the mayor told her to? How does this woman sleep at night?

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    1. More accurately, who does she sleep with? This is the most blatant abuse of power I have ever seen in BPT. Her JOB is to protect the voters, not to protect the Machine. She should be removed from office immediately and in handcuffs. This will snowball and all of her co-conspirators will become exposed. She knew from Day 1 the petitions were flawed, yet she permitted the balloting to continue.
      Bill Finch, Testa & the City Attorney’s Office will be asked the scary question “What did you know & when did you know it?” I can see a lot of federal indictments coming out of this case. This entire event was engineered to deny the rights of the voters. Our rights as voters are under attack. I have said it before but I’ll say it again, this is how Hitler got started.

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  19. I read the CT Post article about Ayala knowing from the get-go the petitions were flawed. Early on, I felt sorrow for her and her position–it has to be difficult to do the job in Bridgeport, I surmised. Reading she knew all along and never took any corrective action now makes me sick. She is sworn to uphold the constitution and one of those rights is covered under the Constitution–the right to vote for a person of one’s choice. She held that right in the palm of her hands, and chose to ignore it so she would be declared “queen” of the kingdom. It was her moral responsibility to make the parties aware of the flaw–if they chose to ignore her,so be it. That is what she is supposed to do–she is more knowledgeable than anyone else being in that position. She is evil, she is disgusting, and I hope, although I am doubtful, I hope there is justice through the court and MJF is restored to the ballot. And you know what, I did not think she had a chance against the political machine–but if she makes it back, she is going to slam the Mayor–she now will be picking up the sympathy vote and more people than ever will be voting because of this attempt on their privilege. Ms. Ayala should get out of town.

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  20. It is time for some hard truths. Bartlett: don’t manage campaigns without knowing the letter of the law. Mary-Jane should have never hired an out-of-towner to run the ship in the first place. We don’t need another Adam Wood at the helm of anything here. Dump him because what I am going to say next will scare such a partisan off immediately. Rick Torres: you cannot win. Cannot. I you really want to do something for democracy and decency, be a patriot and step down. The party needs a moderate. You are not a moderate. Do you really want to get rid of the machine? Step down and challenge some of those incredible Bridgeport Republicans whose relatives and friends have died for democracy to endorse Mary-Jane. Walk the walk. Stick to your fight. You were right to try get people to think outside of the box. You were wrong to do it in support of a patronage-seeking ex-calamarian who used you and everyone else so he could just fatten his state pension. His silence in all this becomes all the more deafening as his last shreds of credibility rot. Be a patriot. Defend democracy but make sure you hear from her what you need to hear because her own lack of specificity when it comes to how specifically she intends on decentralizing power is non-existent.

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  21. Doesn’t Santa Ayala have a statutory obligation to inform candidates of any irregularities on a petition? If she knew of any irregularities ahead of time her behavior is unethical and certainly unconscionable. I believe if this is true she has violated the terms of her oath of office and should be treated as such.

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    1. Bob, as I understand, Mike Jarjura had a falling-out with the Waterbury DTC and he was told he would not be nominated by them. Jarjura then switched to the Republican Party and was nominated by them while the Democrats endorsed the Waterbury Police Chief.

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  22. Superior Court judges in Connecticut are not happy when a bunch of Bridgeport politicians tumble into their courts like clowns falling out of one of those tiny cars at the circus. Santa has placed DayGlo fright wigs and red noses on the lot.

    The City of Bridgeport has a remarkable record when sued in cases where the daft scale hits tilt.

    Hint: It ain’t good.

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  23. Connecticut was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Because of that there is a tradition of ensuring the rights of the people. Judges take an extremely dim view of any and all attempts to infringe upon the right of the people to petition for redress of grievances.

    This is all just so much bullshit. If Santa Ayala knew the petitions were flawed she should not have issued them to begin with. She is obligated to correct any and all problems fairly and equitably by the mission statement of her office:

    “To seek better ways to provide services to encourage all eligible residents to exercise their right to vote; conduct elections in a fair, accurate and efficient manner; maintain a continuous professional level of service to the public; and develop new techniques to improve outreach services which acknowledge the diversity of the city of Bridgeport.”

    This is going to court and all the bumbling fools with law degrees representing the city of Bridgeport will be exposed. This is just a criminal act.

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  24. You take an oath of office and you follow the Mission Statement because you want to serve. If the Mission Statement is no good and outdated then replace it but if it is good then honor it. As we see this was not honored.

    MISSION STATEMENT
    To seek better ways to provide services to encourage all eligible residents to exercise their right to vote; conduct elections in a fair, accurate and efficient manner; maintain a continuous professional level of service to the public; and develop new techniques to improve outreach services which acknowledge the diversity of the city of Bridgeport.

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  25. State taking control over Bridgeport mayor elections next?

    NORTH45, good point: “I served in the military for many years and my fellow military brothers have died protecting democracy … Do not mess with a right that people in the military have died protecting.”

    Heck, we taxpayers have spent over a trillion dollars in ongoing wars. How much will be spent making sure we have democracy at home? How do you ensure we have democracy? Follow up with investigation of the ballot bungle and review current issue with election primary bungle.

    According to the League of Women Voters, the conclusions of the investigation were not adequate in several areas, not following best practices standards. We had on our TV show the same LWV team members who the CT Post turned to for guidance to undertake the audit (btw, city officials opposed doing the audit).

    Maybe we should just cancel the Democrat primaries and let the state vote for us like they are doing with the BOE members. That may be the reasonable thing to do, some are saying now.

    It actually might make sense for Hartford to decide who is mayor of Bridgeport. Some say this could get us the real change we’re looking for.

    By the way, who is following up on that CT Post story saying a Greenwhich hedge fund initiated the Bridgeport-BOE-state takeover?

    “Earlier this week, correspondence made public by Coleman’s office after a Hearst Newspapers FOI request showed that Megan Lowney, a Fairfield consultant for Greenwich hedge fund philanthropist Steve Mandel, had been advising Finch since early 2011 to bring about a city charter change that would give the mayor control of the school board and pursued other ways to reconstitute the board.”
    www .ctpost.com/news/article/After-anxious-wait-Coleman-announces-new-1743182.php

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