From Ken Dixon, CT Post:
The State Elections Enforcement Commission will investigate Joe Ganim’s Bridgeport mayoral primary campaign, following a complaint from an East Side resident who claims he never signed a petition for the disgraced former mayor’s candidacy. In response, the Ganim campaign said the person who collected the signature has since left the campaign. R. Chris Meyer, a lawyer for Ganim’s campaign, said “a possible bad apple” may have signed the voter’s name.
“We collected about 4,000 signatures that was double the amount needed,” Meyer said. “If he didn’t sign a petition and someone signed his name, the paid worker cheated us and we’d want them prosecuted or held responsible. When you deal with both volunteers and paid workers, there’s a chance for possible, or probable, bad apple. Our campaign wants to do everything according to the rules.”
Full story here.
We collected pages and pages of signatures we never turned in because Joe had qualified.
Why would the campaign send a “thank you” letter to someone whose signature was forged?
Mayor Finch is grasping at straws. He is clearly frightened as well, as he should be.
Maria, I did not sign a petition for Joe Ganim and I too received a thank-you note from the campaign. Unfortunately, I tossed the letter in the garbage or I would be contacting the State Elections Enforcement Commission as well.
As an aside, I live on the West Side of the city. Not sure the same “bad apple” was collecting signatures in my neighborhood.
Michael Smith, I just read an update on this issue. In addition to the reverend from the East Side, it seems another man from the North End filed a complaint. And now you, and you say you are from the West Side. Is it more than an educated guess to say this is the tip of the iceberg? The “bad apple” apparently covered a lot of ground. Oh but lest people forget … mistakes were made. How many more?
Godiva2011, paid canvassers were utilized in specific districts, therefore it is possible a paid canvasser was utilized in several districts.
This new individual from the North End will be checked against the petitions. Every petition must be signed by the circulator and notarized.
This compensated canvasser should be fully prosecuted if these allegations are confirmed to be true.
Michael Smith, the individual who created the mailing labels will be in tomorrow, therefore we will verify this name on the labels.
Thanks, Maria. Any update?
I personally know Rev. Anderson and he is an honorable man of the cloth and a truly honest individual. He would not involve himself in the political process by filing a false complaint.
Maria is grasping at straws trying to diffuse this situation even if she needs to attack a reverend in the process.
Maria makes it sound as if the Ganim campaign has a set of good petitions and forged petitions and wouldn’t submit the forged ones unless they had to.
I didn’t attack anyone, you nasty troll.
I am simply trying to point out it would be idiotic to send a thank-you letter to someone if Joe Ganim or his leadership team knowingly knew someone was forging voter signatures.
I made no reference to “good” or “forged” petitions. What I am stating is a substantial number of signatures were never even submitted because we had obtained many more than needed to qualify.
Maria,
Your words, “Mayor Finch grasping at straws. He is clearly frightened as well he should be.”
Rev. Ray Anderson said he contacted the state. So how is this Bill Finch grasping at straws unless you are insinuating this is a false claim and Bill Finch put him up to it?
Maria P grasping at straws. She is clearly frightened as well she should be.
Bob Walsh, I am not “frightened” of the political minutia many are plagued by in Bridgeport. My record of standing up to those who do not have our best interest in mind is quite clear.
I did not indicate this man’s complaint was not valid. What I am stating is if this complaint is valid, it was not something that was endorsed by Joe Ganim or campaign leadership.
There was no need to commit forgery because the amount of support Joe had during the petition drive was overwhelming. We collected 2300 signatures in five days, which is absolutely unheard of. Then we went on to collect another 1700 signatures well before the deadline.
There goes Maria again. Caught in one of lies or fabricated stories. She is the one who brought Bill Finch into the story. She offered this as proof of Bill Finch running scared. But now when called on this she denies everything, explains nothing and tries to take this in a different direction. Why don’t you simply apologize to Rev. Anderson and move on?
And now I am reading the same from another friend of mine, Reg Johnson. A former reporter with the CT Post. Old School. He would call you back three or four times to make sure he got the story straight and the quotes correct. Now Maria will impugn his integrity just to attack Bill Finch.
We are going to have the person who created the mailing labels determine whether Reg Johnson is lying or not.
Bob Walsh, I don’t lie because I don’t need to lie. I am incredibly direct and forthright. If anything, I am probably too honest and direct, which is why I can easily be described as a bad politician.
If I were you I would consider focusing on your candidate. Joe already has schools where he will defeat Finch three or two to one. We all know your candidate cannot say the same.
Well, one bad apple won’t spoil the whole bunch. But if you think Mary-Jane Foster handed in 2000 signatures over the required 1900 and only qualified by a small margin, it does become questionable. Going to media events and concerts to get signatures is not a reliable way to get signatures. Going door-to-door for registered Democrats is the only sure way.
I am sure this is no big deal. I am glad this was not as ridiculous as the complaint filed by Ganim having Chief Gaudett speak on safety issues at a mayoral buffet. I guess a fraudulent signature can become a big deal. How many of those bad apples exist? How many dead people rose from their grave to have the savior of the people qualify?
Is this what the next three weeks of a very quiet election cycle is going to be like?
But Steve, Steelpointe is here! Everything is okay.
Frank, I am not voting for Joe Ganim and the outcome of his investigation does not affect me. Steelpointe is here and how lucky we are!
So I am reading the Ken Dixon article in the CT Post and the unidentified campaign worker was terminated on July 28 a full week before Rev. Anderson, a man of the cloth, received a thank you note from Ganim? Now it is getting very interesting. I think the Rev. Anderson opened Ganim’s Pandora’s box. I wouldn’t want to be the one verifying authentic signatures on Ganim’s petitions, though it was questionable how quickly he became a candidate while Mary-Jane Foster waited patiently for her right to run.
Anybody could have easily said their name was Rev. Anderson and forged the name. If you forge someone’s name, why would he send a thank you card and why forge a Reverend of all people? But Steve once brought up a point about Reverends are corrupt and evil so maybe we should not put it past Rev. Anderson to deliberately do this to bring down Ganim.
BptPorter, I have never said in this lifetime reverends are corrupt and evil. Never! I said politics and religion do not mix and this is the ultimate perfect example. I did not hear Rev. Anderson endorsing anyone but someone forged his signature. Please stop projecting your negative character aspersions on me.
I’m sure it’s all just an honest mistake!
I don’t know who trained Joe’s canvassers but if laws were broken the trainers should be held accountable. I know for a fact several inexperienced canvassers were taught ‘special’ techniques by the same person. How deep does the corruption in Joe’s campaign go?
Maria Pereira trained the canvassers. What are you insinuating with special techniques?
I agree with Quentin Dreher, it is just an honest mistake, maybe a thousand or so honest mistakes. I want to know why the person was terminated on July 28th when the Rev. didn’t start questioning it until August 7.
Bottom line, it may be not the biggest deal in the world, signing fraudulently has gotten Charlie Valentino in hot water, it does however cast a dark cloud over an already questionable candidate.
Computerized voter lists and an automated mailing system are probably to blame. Why would Ganim use false registrations when he had abundant time to gather good signatures?
Let’s use a little common sense and get off the witch-hunt mentality. It shifts focus from the real issues of the need to roll back the insanely high taxes that are killing this city, and how, in that regard, to create massive redevelopment and living-wage jobs that are needed to save our city.
Well Jeff, since the Ganim campaign has photographers at every Finch event trying to find some dirt, I guess the witch hunt is on. If we have a formal complaint already registered and a blogger, Michael Smith, stating he too received a card but didn’t sign, then it does become a very serious issue. Now if the card specifically stated thank you for signing my petition, there is a problem.
As a Finch supporter, I am less interested thn I would be if I were a Foster supporter. After all, Ganim.has all of Foster’s would-be votes.
What is silly about all this is they are after Ganim for this but Ayala is still working in the registrar’s office after a national scandal. But she supports Finch. Hypocrisy.
BptPorter, is she supporting Mayor Finch? Hmmm, let’s see. Ganim’s signatures were approved immediately, it took weeks to validate a non-threatening situation. Her two daughters and ex-husband are supporting Joe Ganim. I don’t know, I do not get the impression she is a Finch supporter. Does she go to fundraisers, make phone calls, canvass neighborhoods? I’d like to think she was supporting Finch but I couldn’t say for sure, but evidence would prove otherwise. So there is one vote.
Steve, while I was Registrar for only two years, I was very careful to not attend any political events, not contribute to any candidate, not support in any way anyone running for office, and to be equally pleasant and helpful while I was responsible for the technical oversight of the office. I don’t take credit for my discretion, I was influenced by every Registrar holding that position before me. In other words, I was taught by the best and I followed their examples. A Registrar must be impartial and treat everyone equally. But even when that is done, there is always someone who starts a conspiracy theory to cast aspersion on the office. I hated the job because you could never please everyone despite your best efforts.
Lisa Parziale, you state you were a Registrar in the past. Can you indulge me if you would? Ms. Ayala declined to let the man see the documents, stating not until after they were certified. Weren’t they already certified in order for Ganim to qualify, or did she “make a mistake” and not previously certify them when they were originally turned into her office? Wouldn’t that be a violation of state election regulations? Of course nothing would surprise me at this point.
Excellent point, Godiva! The downfall of Joe Ganim before the debates. There is nothing that can happen that will take the attention off this unless the number-one Republican comes to town to endorse Joe Ganim and then we pass out the article from Jennifer Buchanan regarding Trump, Ganim and shady bullshit.
Godiva, I have to be honest regarding your question. I really don’t remember all the technical rules, and so much has changed in the time I was there. It could be I never encountered such a request. I had the Secretary of the State’s office on speed dial because there were so many gray areas I preferred taking direction from that office. Maybe Sandi did the same, I really don’t know.
Sending thank-you notes from the campaign, great thing to do. I am thinking it was overzealous supporters. The last thing anyone supporting Joe or volunteering on his team would want to do is cause any questions to arise in any of their tactics. People do really stupid things, including oh, I am sure they will support Joe, just add his name to the petition. And sometimes these workers take horrible shortcuts to reach their quota. I consider Chris Meyer a good friend, and he plays by the rules more than most people I know.
PULEEEZE. Ticket to nowhere. Says a lot about the Finch campaign, though.
🙂
You said it all, Wicca! (Grasping at straws by the Finch campaign? It sure looks like it.)
Jeff, Wicca is supporting Foster, get with the program.
I know the good Reverend and his act was one of a clean conscience.
However, why does Merrill even go to the SEEC? This isn’t a campaign violation but a criminal act of forgery. Get the circulator’s name who swore and subscribed an oath on the back of the petition page and go to the Bridgeport Police Department with the complaint.
Once again, (s)elective enforcement by the SEEC.
Mistakes were made. Seems like that phrase is getting redundant in Ganim’s campaign. I just read another man from the North End stated his signature was forged and filed a complaint. What is it going to take for Ganim supporters to figure out the nature of the beast? And of course, blame the Finch campaign by insinuating these citizens were put up to it. Now that’s grasping at straws, not to mention complete and utter bullshit.
To paraphrase the late Senator Howard Baker’s famous quote during the Senate Watergate hearings, “I have no idea what Joe Ganim and/or the Ganim campaign knew or when they knew it.” Consequently, I will not comment on that subject.
I do however, know and have worked with Reverend Anderson. If he says his signature was forged I have absolutely no doubt it was forged.
Having said that, I will leave it to the SEEC to figure out who the guilty party or parties are.
Having just read Up On Bridgeport’s post, perhaps Denise Merrill should take his advice and pursue this matter in a stronger manner.
I just love how a complaint submitted to Denise Merrill is rushed to the SEEC in a specially called Friday meeting just days later. Yet Andres Ayala received close to 50% of his votes in the 2014 primary by AB and she did nothing.
The same Denise Merrill who did Mayor Finch and Adam Wood’s bidding in failing to attend an event she requested be organized at East End Tabernacle church.
Can anyone say puppet?
Maria, payback is a bitch, no? Didn’t you have choice words for Merrill? I can say puppet and I can also say Andres Ayala did a good job and I wish him great success with the DMV.
John from BR, have you read the updated article? Seems another man from the North End came forth with the same complaint, as well as a man who posted the same thing on this blog, and he is from the West Side. And for the Registrar to refuse the Reverend the right to at least see what form his name was forged on violates his rights. If someone forged my name on any document you can bet your life I would demand to see it!
Thanks Godiva, I just read the updated version.
Turns out I also know and have worked with the man from the North End–Reg Johnson. Reg is a stand-up guy and if he said his signature was forged, rest assured, it was forged.
Things seem to be getting “curiouser and curiouser.”
John from Black Rock, what is so curious to you?
This was a paid canvasser, therefore paid canvassers were clearly expected to be productive and obtain a reasonable amount of signatures per shift.
She was being monitored for her performance, therefore she may have decided to pad her signatures out of fear of being let go, which is what clearly happened. She worked on the campaign for one week before she was released.
You are better than this, John. Do really believe Ken Flatto, Chris Meyer, police officers, Dennis Bradley, Ben Walker, Lisa Parziale, etc. would ever participate in a petition drive based on forged signatures?
Maria, I do not think anyone but Carolanne Curry would blame you for what seems to be a number of paid canvassers from different sections of the city forging names. I certainly do not think Joe Ganim had anything to do with it. But it is his campaign. Just like the Mayor was grossly criticized for not firing Richie Paoletto and all of a sudden he is supporting Joe Ganim? Remember Maria, the outrage you had and now you are walking the streets supporting his son? These are the stupid little “mistakes” Ganim has made. You want to talk about the driveway? Let’s ask John Ricci, I have not heard his version. This is questionable, all questionable and the 138th is going to get their information all at once!
I certainly cannot imagine this getting blown out of proportion. Who in hell am I kidding, this is Bridgeport. I do feel for some on his ticket who will not even make a showing.
Can you see the Ganim signs slowly becoming scarce? Replaced by Finch and Foster signs? I can!
Maria, have you read the article in the Daily Beast about Joe Ganim and Donald Trump?
Are you still feeling 100 percent confident?
Steve, what “outrage” did I ever demonstrate about Richard Paoletto?
Steve, are you implying Anthony should be judged based on the actions of his father? So if my daughter were caught drinking and driving, is it I who should be held responsible for her poor decisions?
Anthony Paoletto is his own person and he should be judged on his actions, not on the actions of his father.
By the way, Steve. Yes, I am 100% confident.
Maria, I’m not saying anything of the kind. I’ve already posted I have no idea who was responsible for the forged signatures. I’m just saying because now that several people (two of whom I know and trust) from different parts of town are saying their signatures were forged, I would like to know who was responsible. I’m not accusing anyone. I just feel we will all be better off if this matter is thoroughly investigated by the proper authorities so the truth can come out.
The innuendo in your closing comment was perfectly clear, John.
Maria, you absolutely went after Mayor Finch like a pit bull regarding Richie Paoletto. I was supportive and you said the woman voters would not forget and they won’t because now he is supporting Ganim and we will remind them. It’s politics, you know. Richie screwed the Mayor who tried to save him face and Richie took his time before he resigned and now he supports Ganim. When I have time this week, I will look up the archives and your incessant anti-Finch anti-Paoletto rant!
You’re correct Maria, I do not believe Ken Flatto, Chris Meyer, police officers, Dennis Bradley, Ben Walker, Lisa Parziale, etc. would ever knowingly participate in a petition drive based on forged signatures. See my previous post which for some reason is now below this one for my other comments on your post.
Steve, please do. Find my “rant” about Finch and Richie Paoletto, cut and paste it because I have absolute no recollection of this posting where I wrote an “incessant anti-Finch and anti-Paoletto rant!” I believe my only post was once he resigned from the City Council, he should have resigned from TC. I could be wrong, however I don’t think I am.
Here are the only posts I found.
Maria Pereira // Feb 13, 2015 at 10:33 am
Taxpayers paid him 100% of his salary for over three months while he was on suspension so he could “resign.” I can guarantee you Mayor Finch found him a nice cushy job so he could disappear quietly. Mark my words.
My guess is Leticia Colon will be his replacement.
Maria Pereira // Nov 3, 2014 at 11:11 pm
Just more information to share with voters in Thomas Hooker and JFK next year. My problem isn’t that I don’t have enough information to share with voters in my neighborhood next year. My issue is how do I edit it down? There is so much to work with.
I was seated at our neighborhood diner a couple of days ago and I overheard an elderly couple saying how they would never vote for Paoletto again. I couldn’t help chime in that Marella was his uncle and Paoletto took $1,000 of taxpayer funds last year and donated it to PAL which is run by Marella. Boy did they get hot.
Maria Pereira // Jan 26, 2015 at 5:24 pm
I have already started knocking on doors in Thomas Hooker for Ed and when speaking with voters about Paoletto and his second sexual harassment complaint and being paid for close to three months, people are upset. DeJesus not paying $140,000 in taxes is not making my neighbors very happy either.
Andy Fardy,
Thank you. I am on a phone without the ability to copy and paste. There are more anti-Paoletto posts from Maria, but these are excellent. I like Richie, but too soon would be an understatement for his son to run and btw, Anthony Paoletto is a nice young man and I have met him a few times. Melanie Jackson doesn’t have the baggage and is well-liked in the neighborhood.
Steve, I agree about Paoletto’s son.
Only the paid canvasser who circulated the petition is culpable for their own actions, not the entire campaign.
I am the one who gave all the paid canvassers and volunteers a tutorial before they picked up their turf and petitions. The importance of circulating the petition correctly and ramifications of violating the law was part of the tutorial.
Maria, what do you think happened?
Why is anyone shocked by this, it was just a matter of time!
Sounds like the histrionics of desperation. A couple of people get computer-generated thank-you notes and forgery is being assumed. It seems much more likely names from a computerized voter list were automatically issued thank-you notes without verification any signatures were actually collected. IT DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN ANY FRAUDULENT SIGNATURES ARE INVOLVED–ONLY SHORTCUT-GENERATED THANK-YOU NOTES.
So it’s not dishonest petition circulating, it’s just dishonest campaigning. Great defensive strategy, Jeff. Especially for a candidate with a lot of baggage over honesty. That will win the hearts of many.
I hop you are one of Ganim’s closest advisers.
Jeff, you and I both know the candidate who needs to figure out how to “win the hearts of many” is his candidate.
This is very interesting. It’s either a very smart negative attack against Ganim by one of his opponents, or a very bad assumption by one of Ganim’s proponents. Since the signature is a forgery, you have to ask was it accidental or intentional? Before we analyze this situation, you have to take a closer look at the fraudulent signature. Let’s look at the person. He is a reverend. Ganim was endorsed by several reverends and pastors and other religions leaders and some of them have been campaigning on Ganim’s behalf. Now let’s look at the person who gathered the signature. She was a paid individual by the Ganim campaign to collect signatures on Ganim’s behalf. Option one, one of Ganim’s opponents (with the help of the reverend) had paid her more than Ganim did to forge the reverend’s name to implicate Ganim as still being corrupt and willing do whatever it takes to win the election while presenting to the public not all the religious leaders are supporting Ganim. Option two, Ganim’s paid proponents assumed the reverend was a Ganim supporter and forged his signature while sending him a thank-you note for his support. Of course there’s a third option, the reverend did sign the petition and made up the story to harm Ganim’s election bid. But that’s unlikely because Ganim’s campaign acknowledged her deception and fired her. So I guess whichever side you’re supporting, you’ll pick the option that best serves you and the person you’re supporting. For disclosure, I did sign Ganim’s petition and didn’t receive a thank-you note.
By the way, approximately 1,000 signatures were never turned into the registrar’s office, however they were included as recipients of thank-you notes.
Secrest should take a close look at Finch and Wood when talking about taxes.
Mayor Bill Finch’s campaign issued a broadside against Ganim on Friday night.
“Whether it’s stealing from taxpayers, lying under oath, cheating on his taxes, or advising white collar criminals on how to scam the prison system, it’s clear: Joe Ganim cannot be trusted,” said Maryli Secrest, Finch’s campaign manager. “He’s willing to do or say anything to get elected.”
Guess she never heard or read about “People for Excellence in Government!”
Okay. I have it. Maybe Ganim was his normal brilliant self and sent a thank-you to every registered Democrat in Bridgeport believing he would perhaps garner support, cash and volunteers. Nah!
If the computer-generated thank-you note was a mistake, why was the person fired?
Steve, that was a good point about Richie Paoletto. He was an incompetent city councilman who did nothing for the 138th, especially the lower section unless it benefited him. He was a rubber stamp for Bill Finch, with no original ideas of his own. Finch covered for him on not one but two sexual harassment charges while using taxpayer money to defend him all while moving him through the ranks of his city job. And the first chance he gets to repay Finch he turns on him.
I like Richie Paoletto, but his support for Joe Ganim was just ridiculous and Maria P. does not realize his constituents were as repulsed as she was and the proof will be when Melanie Jackson and Morton as well as Mayor Finch take Hooker School and Beardsley.
Did anyone hear the latest allegations against Ganim supporter A.J. Perez? This is big news as this was harassment by a police officer demanding support for Ganim.
Lennie, are you sleeping? Get with the program! This is the juice people want to pry open. What in hell was that about?!!! Everyone on the blog, you will hear about this tomorrow if you haven’t heard about it already!!!
So the story in short, A.J. Perez and three others show up at DTC member Benji Labrador out of uniform with a gun in a holster visible. Showed up at his house with three others because they were concerned he was switching his vote from Ganim to Finch because of his wife. They were so concerned, three show up and they were arguing loud. This is the juice we were waiting for, the bullshit corrupt politics that ruled Bridgeport with Mario Testa and Joe Ganim. This of course is great news for Finch and Foster. For Ganim, not so much. I’m wondering if Joe Ganim is having a panic attack. Nah, he is cool, calm and collected. But he sees the writing on the wall! Looks like he is gonna have to do some serious damage control. Can there be another tragic photo opportunity down the pike with Rev. Lee and Steve Nelson in the background? No. People are tired of that. He needs President Clinton to endorse him! That ain’t gonna happen!
Steve, he is a detective, therefore he doesn’t wear a uniform. That is how idiotic the complaint is.
Off duty showing up with three guys demanding he support Ganim. They were concerned because he sent AJ a text stating he Loved Joe Ganim (the way you love Bill Finch) but his wife was making him vote for Finch and they went to his house to help him find his balls. Maria, this represents the good old days when there were ridiculous stories to tell. These issues will bury Ganim and it is a shame. Really. 🙂
I don’t intend to get involved with opinions regarding the issue at hand, but if all of you knew the tactics Finch used while securing his votes for the nomination, some would be surprised. I’ll give one example, a friend and member of my TC would not answer her door or her phone because of the unannounced and random visits Finch personally made to her home, ringing the bell then pounding on her door. The evening of the convention three other members of my TC harassed her with phone calls to see if she needed a ride to the convention. This was not usual behavior from the members of the TC, they were also being harassed to go overboard. Ironically, the TC member they thought was a Finch supporter gave me her proxy to give to the DTC, and her proxy voted for Ganim. I know this example does not reach the level of other situations, but for the 132nd, it was a first. This behavior verifies my need to work with a new slate of TC individuals who have it in them to make decisions they believe are right, and are in no way conflicted or obligated to whomever the Mayor will be.
Lisa, why don’t you give the name of your friend on whose door Finch pounded? You know, file a complaint that is believable. Come on Lisa, maybe your friend could be an anonymous blogger and make that post or even better, why would you wait weeks to tell this little story? Does it come close to Mario Testa’s treatment of John Fabrizi? These are real stories with witnesses.
The accusations by Labrador are pure bullshit. AJ Perez would not lower himself to do such a thing. Let’s remember who Labrador supports.
Morton and Melanie would not represent voters from Beardsley School, therefore it will be very difficult for them to “take” Beardsley School. Beardsley is in the 136th. Their polling locations are JFK and Thomas Hooker.
I was talking about Finch taking his area and the respective council candidates on his ticket joining him. They love Melanie at Thomas Hooker. You said so yourself. What??? You going to tell voters how she supported Ganim and betrayed you? You do realize how absurd that would sound to anyone not involved with politics?
Steve, I don’t have the time or inclination to make up stories. I relayed this experience because it’s relevant to the topic being discussed. Some of us seasoned politicians take these tactic with a grain of salt. I did, however, call the TC members who were so concerned Carol get to the meeting and asked them to stop calling her. She’s capable of driving and if she needed a ride she would call me since we live so close. There’s nothing dramatic about this little episode, and I would appreciate it if you never allude to the fact I would “make something up.”
Yes ma’am.
Steve, you make it so hard not to like you.
Rich Paoletto is showing his true colors. Bill Finch replaced a long-serving city employee to give Paoletto the job as head of housing code inspectors. It was Bill Finch who saved his ass after the first sexual harassment case. It was Bill Finch who allowed Paoletto not to pay his total fine for his first guilty verdict. Now a second sexual harassment suit is filed and instead of being fired, Paoletto is allowed to retire with a healthy pension. City connections then get him a job making almost six figures. Paoletto shows his loyalty by going over to Ganim, now that is bullshit. Now his kid is running for the council. We in the 138th have had enough of the Paolettos and Uncle Mike.
Steve, Benji Labrador sold his soul to Mayor Finch after receiving funds for his little league team. The Hispanic community is definitely on fire about this situation, but not because they support Benji. They are supporting AJ Perez.
This discussion occurred the night before the convention with four other Hispanics present. This alleged incident occurred on July 20th yet he filed this complaint on August 20th. And who notarized his statement? Well, none other than Mitch Robles.
Really, what else needs to be said?
Benji Labrador is going to be ostracized by the Hispanic community for this ridiculous allegation.
Maria, who’s Mitch Robles? I don’t think outsiders are going to understand what it means by Mitch Robles notarizing the complaint, or why officer Perez was the officer to visit the home of a DTM member. I do. The story doesn’t look good for Ganim, the police department, or Bridgeport for the surrounding town residents. While their perception on the matter doesn’t affect the vote, it does affect Bridgeport’s image. Is it normal for a police officer to visit a DTM member because of his vote?
I came to an epiphany. This is infighting between factions of the same group. So you can say it’s self-interest. Hopefully those who are in charge have Bridgeport’s interest at heart.
Maria, what in Hell are you talking about? Being ostracized by the Hispanic community? Are you their spokesman? Do you think Mayor Finch does not have huge support in the Hispanic community? Do you think the Hispanic community is ignorant and living under a rock? I know you are kidding, but honestly!
Robert Teixeira, I agree 100 percent with your post.
Steve, you are a wise man. 🙂 The infighting between factions of the same group is a hard concept to comprehend. Most in the group don’t even know themselves.
What about this simple suggestion: Maybe the thank-you note was a mistake.
Someone could not read the petition handwriting, looked it up on the software and sent a note to the wrong person.
Like I said, the Finch folks have their collective panties in a collective bunch. It’s a campaign ploy to point out either Ganim has not changed, or to surround the campaign with suspicion. It only takes suspicion to lose trust, not proof.
Well played, Finch camp. (I won’t say Secrest because it’s not her. It is more likely Wood or Stafstrom.)
Thank Goodness for Mary-Jane Foster. Go MJ!
That is interesting. So the Finch team saw the SEEC complaint and took off with the story, that makes sense. Human error in entering data also makes sense. Nice summary.
It could have been a mistake. But why did they fire her? I agree with you, it puts Ganim and his campaign in an unfavorable light. How it came into existence, a well-played tactic by Finch’s camp or mistake made by Ganim’s camp and Finch’s camp seized an opportunity to place Ganim in a unfavorable light. How deep Alice’s Wonderland hole will be depends on the outcome of the investigation. PS, does Mary-Jane Foster have just much to gain by the story as Finch? Could Mary-Jane Foster’s camp been behind the story? If so, well-played, MJF’s camp.
Wicca, so you are assuming it is the Finch campaign with these fraudulent signatures, because nobody in Foster’s campaign wants to jump on this? It seems every opportunity the Foster campaign has had to go after Ganim, it becomes an anti-Finch moment. Is this the new style of politics? I wonder if her contributors believe they are getting a bang for their buck. Here is the perfect opportunity to go after Ganim contributors saying help me, he is unelectable. Well that would be funny as I am sure she doesn’t need the Ganim supporters and donors.
So this is how it will go down.
Now that the SEEC has opened an investigation, investigators will fan out in the city looking to speak with Ganim circulators. They will be asking questions such as were people paid per signature, were people promised bonuses if they got so many signatures. Any evidence of financial encouragement to get more signatures that could encourage fraud. If they find a common thread, then it starts to unravel.
If a circulator admits to fraud then they try to find another and another. And then they will start to eliminate complete pages saying the circulator has admitted to fraud.
Hopefully the Ganim campaign has not tried reaching out to the circulators encouraging them to lie or avoid the investigators. That would totally piss them off. The good news for Ganim is they don’t have a lot of time. The bad news is if they find something wrong they will be over the city like a plague of locusts.
Bob , you are being a little dramatic, no?
You’re one to talk.
You want the truth!
You want the truth!
You can’t handle the truth!!!
How is that for dramatic?!
Frank, you can do better than that!
Bob; if you have ever spent time working in a campaign office, you would know when you are generating letters from digital data lists, if you don’t think to do an exhaustive edit of the list for your specific purposes–such as to send thank-you notes to petition signers–unintended people can get the letters. Things like this happen in busy campaign offices, especially at night, when people are tired and hungry. It doesn’t constitute fraud or any other significant, negative thing. Check around; people who know campaign work will fill you in.
They don’t feed you at your headquarters, Jeff? You should stop down at the Bill Finch Multicultural weekly buffet. You need to enjoy the campaign and should never be doing work when you are hungry and tired. You will not be efficient. Phone-bank people get 20-minute neck massages and canvassers get 15 minute reflexology treatments. This is how you get volunteers coming back over and over and over again. 🙂 Perhaps you will be at the all-day all-you-can-eat Finch Festival at the public housing in the city. Limousine service every 20 minutes to the polls. You know Jeff, it is the little things. 🙂 I am kidding of course.