Mayor Bill Finch, Mary-Jane Foster, John Gomes, Charlie Coviello (anyone else?) are all in the running for a September Democratic primary. Foster, who announced her candidacy on Wednesday, has launched a flight of radio on WICC, a billboard on I-95, a website as well as YouTube page, as part of her build around.
Check out these sites:
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From now on it’s going to get good, as good as it’s been for a long long time. Last mayoral election was anticlimactic, a choice of cancer or polio. This time we’re presented with something other than a Soviet-style “election” held to maintain a corrupt status quo.
Nice analogy.
Cancer = Finch then you die. Fitting.
Polio = Caruso, you live but horribly deformed. Likely.
That is exactly how I intended it, cancer=Finch, polio=Caruso. Caruso would’ve been crippled, not deformed.
Have you looked at Caruso lately?
Mr. Caruso has only his barber to blame.
Does his girth still affect the tides at Seaside Park?
HIV = yahooy
(_!_)
Great.
Mary-Jane,
Brava, I just strolled through your Websites & was very impressed. All very polished, professional & neatly done. You presented your positions & accomplishments in a clear and concise fashion for the voters. That’s a tough act to follow.
See the difference when you surround yourself with competent, creative people? Finch should learn something from this. His inner circle is hurting more than helping his image. Mary-Jane is off and running …
Hey Anti, she forgot to tell us what it was like–being Hooker in Chicago!
Dear John, I mean Jim!
We have had enough of Bill Finch, another puppet for Mario Testa. It is time for change, and I don’t mean the coins in your pocket.
I guess you are calling Mario a Marionette because we know Bill is a real Pinocchio!
Foster is a highly attractive candidate for a number of reasons. She is bright, articulate, presents an impeccable professional image and has a record of accomplishment indicating she knows how to make things happen. Potential investors will gravitate toward her more so than Gomes who thus far has chosen the Caruso political stratagem of muteness.
But alas, MJF has failed to address the most critical factor that could lead her to victory. She makes no mention of forming a task force to get the apathetic voters out to the polls on primary day. She thinks her message, albeit salient and spot on, will be heard by all and she will convert the people who actually vote to her noble cause.
She is wrong. The people who do go to the polls go with specific instructions to vote as they are told. Union after union will stand pat with the calamarians which could ensure 4 more with Finch.
This is the most important election in the history of Bridgeport. Now we have a real chance to rid the city of the deleterious Mario Testa influence, flush the common council of the dilettantes who blindly follow their master’s lead and re-form the BRBC with new blood who can do what they have been chartered to do; restore economic development with palms faced down.
I don’t think she will win unless she places emphasis on attracting apathetic voters to support her cause.
Class, today the subject is on voters, specifically “apathetic” voters brought to our attention by yahooy. Any questions?
Q. I know what a voter is. But I am confused, what does apathetic mean?
A. We’re not doing Friday vocabulary quiz today, so don’t freak. What it probably means in yahooy’s context is someone who for some crazy reason got registered as a voter at sometime in the past but (so frequently as to be discounted by the “professional pols”) fails to show up and pull a lever, mark an x or push a button. For all practical purposes, he/she is not a voter. They just aren’t there.
Q. Is that a problem? How so?
A. Well at a basic level the Registrars will be preparing ballots for these folks at a cost of $.35 to $1.50 per voter or at least many of them, and then throw them out. So with 15-30% showing (based on recent City experience) that could be a City loss with tens of thousands of dollars wasted.
Q. But is there a problem for the apathetic?
A. Not if they are happy, getting everything they require, have no ambitions to see things better off, no kids or grandkids going to public schools. Not if they have no house or cars on which they pay taxes at this City’s mil rate. Not if they don’t care about library limitations caused by City Hall employee holdups. Or content with poor snowplowing near their residences this winter.
Q. So who will vote this year?
A. The regulars who are members of the DTC to maintain their “power.” Those who have City jobs and live in town. Those who always vote some of whom are excited simply by the notice they receive that one day of the year from “important people.” And maybe a few more who are open to candidates who can point to issues that are meaningful to them and offer the hope of change.
Q. What are the issues?
A. Let’s see what the public is thinking about: economy, jobs, mil rate and taxes, decreased value of homes, schools, ease of dealing with City Hall, past experiences with City Hall, last round of revaluation, economic development results, safety in home, on streets, and in commercial areas, etc. SAME AS ALWAYS.
Q. How does a candidate convert the apathetic?
A. Perhaps if you are an incumbent, you don’t want to disturb the truly apathetic. And for the marginally apathetic who might have one or more issues, perhaps you tell them what they want to hear, and hope they don’t stop to verify your words.
It depends class, but conversion is often easier during bad times than when everyone is letting the good times roll. But conversion of the apathetic will be dealt with next week. Trying to get some guest lecturers. Class is over for today. Have a great weekend, class. And thank yahooy for raising the question. Any further thoughts on the subject will receive extra credit on your next report card.
BEACON2 // Apr 15, 2011 at 12:04 pm
to your posting
B2,
Have you given some thought to the symptoms of an abusive relationship? They are quite obvious in the relationship this Mayor has with the citizens of Bridgeport. Over time, this produces the apathy that is prevalent among our voters. And as you may already know … this is the challenge … to turn that apathy into an active awareness and sense of confidence once more.
yahooy // Apr 15, 2011 at 9:42 am
to your posting
yahooy,
We gave you an answer yesterday to your question regarding the DTC Chair and the Head of the BRBC.
I gather you’re waiting for everyone else to answer …
I missed it. Where was this revelation? Hopefully not in a post penned by you.
Overcoming apathy is one thing. Overcoming the pessimism is another. That’s a bigger dragon to slay. Many registered voters do not vote because “my vote doesn’t count.” There are more than a few out here in the Park City who have voted time and time again for reform-minded candidates only to have their optimism drowned in the moat surrounding a banquet hall on Madison Avenue.
I believe in the democratic ideal of a government elected by the people to serve the interests of the people. ALL the people, period. Successive administrations have failed to serve the interests of the people of the city of Bridgeport. There are four candidates running for the Democratic mayoral nomination. They all think they have a chance …
• Charlie Coviello is complaining about the sorry state of affairs for Bridgeport’s school children. A noble cause, as I’ve said before. Unfortunately for Mr. Coviello, he has about as much charisma as a tree stump.
• John Gomes, former CAO for the neutered CitiStat program. He knows a lot about the corruption in City Hall and he wants to rid Bridgeport’s political culture of cronyism and corruption. That’s a noble cause. Mr. Gomes needs to do something more than carp about the “corrupt political machine.” Christopher Caruso, God bless him, griped about that. That’s all he griped about and came off as The Last Angry Man as a result.
• Mary-Jane Foster is more than aware of the corruption and cronyism in City Hall. She’s also aware of the social ills and inequities afflicting the people of the city of Bridgeport. Ms. Foster has put jobs creation at the top of her agenda. She has a history of creating jobs, too.
• Bill Finch has a campaign war chest of $300,000.00 or so, money he’s been collecting in anticipation of a hard re-election battle. What does the incumbent have to offer? Not much other than a Pepsodent smile. Officials involved in the technical magnet school land swap negotiations told Finch and Adam “Pecker” Wood, Finch’s chief cook and bottle washer, not to return to the bargaining table. Wood, in particular, was extremely difficult to work with.
The most serious social problem in the city is unemployment, which leads to hopelessness, despair, a lack of self worth. With so many unemployed social services agencies are hard pressed to take up some of the slack by providing food stamps, healthcare, etc. That in turn creates a culture of dependency. So jobs creation is the most prudent course of action. People feel a whole lot better about themselves and the world in general when they have jobs and money in their pockets.
Knowing so many members of the Bridgeport city Council have municipal jobs I have to wonder: How many of them took a city job after being elected to the Council? This is a question of some import. There are a few aldermen who held municipal employment before seeking public office. Now that they hold public office the high sheriff of Madison Avenue has them by the short-and-curlies. Adam “Pecker” Wood and Mark Anastasi, Mayor Finch’s version of Haldeman and Erlichman, keep everyone intimidated into toeing the City Hall line with the ever-present threat of unemployment.
Each City Council member receives an annual stipend of $9,000.00. How the money is spent is a matter of public record. Several aldermen spend several thousand dollars of the stipend on dinner at Mario Testa’s restaurant on Madison Avenue. Is it a really good restaurant or are they paying tithe to the Dark Lord?
I wish the feds would continue their investigation. ENOUGH!!! When will it stop? I am sooo sick of hearing about the corruption in Bpt and all the patronage. Mayor Finch wanted concessions and laid people off but never told anyone about how many people were hired through the back door. So how much money did he save??? Not too much if any because he hired a lot of big salaried people. I don’t think he will get in again all I have heard since he got in is “he is a one-time Mayor,” and he was not any better when he was in Hartford so not much lost. I wish Mary-Jane good luck and hope she or someone will please restore Bridgeport so that it will be a city that is respected. It looks like we have to hire the feds full time year ’round.
If anyone has ever applied for a job with the city of Bridgeport and was not hired get in touch with the state dept of labor and/or the commission of human rights and opportunities. They have ton of people politically connected going through back doors of parks & recreation. Once hired they can do what they want including not showing up and getting paid, leaving early because the dept head wants to keep his or her position. remember the city of bpt is an EOE!! the city attorneys office can only cover up and handle so much. Also there are many people hired in the office who came in the back door and not through civil service so start making your calls and hold their ass to the fire.
Hey Black Shamrock, I wonder how many applied for the jobs over at Parks & Recreation that CC’s stepchildren were hired for at approximately $32,000 per year that I hear one of the jobs is to look at pictures of trees. Between CC, the Mrs. and two kids on the payroll that adds up to three patronage jobs the way I see it and ballpark salaries of about $125,000, and Mayor Finch had the gall to ask the unions for givebacks and laid people off. Yeah lay them off to replace them with patronage positions. My sources also tell me that CC’s stepchildren also drive CC’s city car back and forth from Newtown to the Parks Dept. I thought that car was issued to CC not his children, are they even insured to drive it? From what I hear CC drives in with the Mrs. so the kids can take CC’s city car. I could understand getting the kids a little summer job but come on this is crooked as hell. And on a personal note will someone ask CC’s Mrs. to spit the gum out already? Every time you see her she is chewing away does not look like a class act, sorry!
Black Shamrock,
Forgot, they should also look into the position Mayor Finch just filled by Gene O for $92,000 a year to oversee the people checking stickers at Seaside Park and the other parks. Mayor Finch should stop spending all this money to hire his buddies and be investigated for all this backdoor crap he is pulling and furthermore put all this money back into the city till, maybe the taxpayers will catch a break for a change. The only thing these peolpe get is financially raped with their tax bill every year. You need to make Bpt a viable city and bring business in and develop the water and by all means clean up downtown and make it a place people are not afraid to go shopping on a Thursday or Friday night and weekends. It seems to me most people try to stay out of every area BUT the North End because of the crime. But another Mayor has turned a blind eye to this. I would love to see downtown a going place again with a casino down by the water and all kinds of stores and restaurants.
Kid,
I believe the stipend system involved too much accountability so it became a salaried gift to themselves. Your other question should be more expansive to include family members & their friends.
With some encouragement from his many fans at OIB I am fairly sure tc will come in & give us his knowledge on these matters. tc, I thank you in advance for your input.
Thanks for the correction. There are some decent, hard-working and honest members of the DTC. There are also more than a few who work or are related, through blood or marriage, to someone who works for the city. This exposes the local party to undue political influence, voting to keep jobs, etc. That doesn’t serve the interests of the public. Government is supposed to represent ALL the people, regardless of political affiliation. Not everyone votes. Those of us who do vote, hey, we’re voting for everyone.
I love the city of Bridgeport. The people here make it a very colorful place. I’m tired of living in a city run by The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.
Anti, the $9,000 stipend is in this year’s budget proposal and a funny thing happened. The legislative budget and the mayor’s budget are not scheduled before the B & A.
BTW I only know of 2 alderman who stop in at Testo’s for a cocktail. One doesn’t eat there and the other does on occasion with their spouse. I have eaten with them and they do not use the city card to pay for their meals. It’s true, it’s easy to check, just go to the city hall file and FOI and you will get it.
Back to the stipend, I believe Bob Walsh is the only one who does not use any of the stipend. I know there are others this year who haven’t used it. We have bought them great computers, the latest cellphones and sent them to some nice places to learn how to be better council people (a waste of money). I hope I answered your question and I did note the sarcasm. Fans my ass.
tc,
No sarcasm intended. I know how thorough you are in your research & knew you would clear the air in our quest for knowledge. Make no mistake, I value your opinion on many issues presented here. I don’t give a rat’s ass for the opinions of other outsiders. The Yin & Yang will always come into balance. Let us try to inform the uninformed for change.
Okay.
Go to the City website and look up the proposed budget. It does show the $180,000 for stipends, that works out to $9,000 available for each of the 20 Council persons. It also shows in the previous year less than half of that money has been spent.
* So it is not a salary that is spent by each person.
* It does not appear to be an easy item to track down in terms of each candidate or at least I have not found a report or site that shows who has spent, how much, for what items, in what time frame.
* There is a City ordinance 2.06.040 that relates to “Reimbursement of council member’s expenses” last amended in November 1999. It refers to activities that “discharge the duties as a council member subject to budget appropriation.”
* In the curious way ordinances, statutes, laws and other regulations are worded this ordinance says nothing about the amount but rather indicates “the budget committee shall appropriate an equal stipend amount for each city council member.” Tell me how or when the Council can do this (or have done it in the past few years) if they hold no meeting on their own budget where the $180,000 is a line item.
* The CT Post has on occasion researched and reported on this subject. What would happen if you asked your Council person who will be running for office to provide a report of their reimbursements? Then you, and other voters, can make an assessment of whether you are getting value for your tax dollar.
Our Council members, especially those on Budget and Appropriations, need intelligent and considered support so they can perform their critical function in reviewing, questioning and ultimately voting on City financial affairs. This budget area can yield a much better return than it does currently, for the whole City rather than a specific District.
What was the point of sending them to seminars and such? Were these excursions intended to improve the City Council’s collective problem-solving skills? To make each Council member “the best person I can be?” Enable them to release their inner idealists? There has been no tangible benefit from the expenditures, so it appears to be a trip to Florida for golf and the beach and the poolside bar at the hotel.
Serving on the Bridgeport City Council is a lot like having children. Anyone can make babies …
We sent these bitches on a fool’s errand. We need to focus on the future of our economic survival. If we continue to play games like children, expect to be treated like children. This is 2011, and our planet is sucking hind tit.
We sent them on an errand but the public was taken for fools.
TBK you are correct, we are all taken for fools by this inept administration. On my street up the North End, our street maintenance sign reads “no parking 12AM to 7AM” Sweeper comes at 1030AM? In the rain leaving a long trail of mud down the street. Then they come and fill the potholes in the rain. A day later all the material from the potholes was all over the street with the mud from the street sweeper! Would you have your driveway paved in the rain? Why do we tolerate this waste of our tax dollars? What a waste of time, money and material! This as we all know is just the tip of the iceberg. So sad. MJF ALL THE WAY!!!