Mayor Bill Finch and Mary-Jane Foster squared off in another forum today (Thursday) that included Republican candidate Rick Torres and independent petitioning candidate Jeff Kohut, sponsored by business community interests at Housatonic Community College. What appeared to grab most attention from debate observers was Finch’s continued fiddling with his phone. Is the mayor receiving talking points? Foster called him on it during the forum.
When Finch is focused he can be a compelling speaker. He has a talent for sounding like he knows what he’s talking about even when he’s full of crap. That takes practice. But when he’s distracted and off his game it’s like listening to a pinball machine, he’s all over the place. If he’s being fed talking points, it makes for cheesy presentation. Why not just poise a teleprompter in front of hizzoner so he can read the talking points? To people in the audience when he gets fed info it’s someone else talking, not the mayor. When Finch was called on it by Foster who wondered if she was debating both Finch and his chief strategist Adam Wood, Finch garbled something about his father, who’s a prince of a guy, being ill as the reason he was looking at his phone. The mayor has been fiddling with his phone for at least three forums now.
As someone in the audience who has no axe to grind with Finch explained, “Finch kept setting himself up to be punched in the face.” What tends to matter more in these debates is whether someone says or does something bizarre, versus the issues. Maybe Finch thinks the more he gets a reaction from Foster about attention to his phone the more he’ll get under her skin? That would certainly be a dubious strategy.
My Finch friends say they’re way up in the polls, not a chance Foster wins. If that’s the case why doesn’t the mayor stick solely to his record, such as it is? Why negative mailings against Foster? Why does Finch continue to claim Foster, co-founder of the Bluefish, was an inept owner to a business community crowd that appreciates the franchise and what it has meant economically and psychologically for the city? Why tear down the Fish? Has Finch ever risked his personal money on a private-sector investment in Bridgeport? Of course not. He’s never had money to risk.
Foster had quite a nice zinger response to Finch. When Phil Kuchma, who’s done an outstanding job developing Bijou Square downtown, needed city assistance Finch shepherded through a tax break. They redid the deal. That tax break is arguably one of Finch’s finest accomplishments as mayor because it allowed Kuchma to finish the housing portion of his classy redevelopment. (Full disclosure: my stepdaughter is a resident of Bijou Square.)
With more than two weeks left until the September 27 primary, stay tuned for more bizarre campaign decisions. From the CT Post:
www.ctpost.com/local/article/Mayoral-debate-brings-more-jabs-than-issues-2161051.php
I’m getting the feeling Keila is not an M-J fan. Wood talks and Finch’s lips move. M-J needs to do more what I’ll do for you and less what he did.
The article failed to mention the screaming and yelling fit the Mayor had when his rude behavior was pointed out. He broke into Foster’s time slot. The audience found it very annoying. By reducing the tenor of the article to a “he said/she said” report, it does a disservice to the public who really should know what the candidates are saying. Perhaps the Post should print a transcript of the debate so the public can actually see what was said, especially all the specifics and strategies put forward by Mary-Jane Foster. Foster pointed out specifically the Mayor and those he has appointed have a problem with “execution.” That is so true. Foster’s modus operandi and track record is quite the opposite.
Is the mayor receiving talking points? Of course he was, Lennie! A teleprompter would be too obvious.
Did you hear the mayor gave me a shout-out and again misinterpreted my bastard/adoption comment? He failed to mention my other adoption comment relating to his mom donating $500 to his Finch for Senate committee while his wife paid herself/Emerald Consulting and took thousands in reimbursements.
Phil Kuchma has a great project that has been underwritten by GE/CHFA public monies. His tax break included a reduced rate for owner-occupied units for his then condo project. Has this tax scenario changed? Pre-bailout, this project was a white elephant and Kuchma gave a Gillette Shave to all his sub-contractors. Kuchma as the developer-builder earned on this project.
Finch has the audacity to criticize Foster on the Bluefish. Bill never met a job he could keep. NHS, Connecticut National Bank, American Cancer Society, Painter, UB, Bridgeport Civil Defense Director, Greater Bridgeport Transit, Guenster (bailed out by Ganim when airshow crashed and burned), BEDCO that turned into DEADCO while he was a state senator. No-show job with BRBC and Timpanelli while a state senator, double dipping state senator while being the mayor. Gee, whatever happened to the donation he was going to give to the Zoo as part of his state senate double dip? Has he ever risked personal capital for anything? He and his wife couldn’t even go into their own pockets for a $25 charitable contribution without being reimbursed by People for Excellence in Government.
He’s got a lot of balls. On second thought, he doesn’t have any!
Where are Godiva and Mary Choen? Could it be they finally realized Uncle Mario simply didn’t have the juice to sway a Superior Court judge into believing Santa Ayala was acting in the public’s best interest by rejecting Mary-Jane Foster’s petition?
More than a few of my colleagues here in cyberspace were bitching and moaning “It was all Jason Bartlett’s fault.” And that was just so much bullshit. He didn’t do anything wrong. This rejection was an obvious setup and no one saw it. Given the sway Mario Testa has had over the Democratic Registrar of Voters it was a given Santa Ayala would make an effort to disqualify the strongest opposing candidate. The Foster Campaign has been able to anticipate the Finch camp’s every move.
Bill Finch is going to be unemployed as of December. He has no one else to blame. He told the lie about the $600 tax rebate. He said many of Bridgeport’s parents are unable to participate in the democratic process because of questionable immigration status or criminal records. He is the one who has been laundering money through a PAC. He is the one who has never been able to hold a real job, in spite of a haircut.
Hey Kid who gives a shit where they are?
Attended today’s mayoral forum and was aghast at the need for a “security” detail. It’s a business community gathering. People interested in economic development and strong leadership from civic leaders. I appreciated hearing from all candidates. As for the primary, it’s about execution. The forum truly highlighted why MJF must prevail on September 27th.
I wondered about the security detail myself. There were two HCC security guards plus three Bridgeport police officers. I asked one of them “why so many cops?” and the officer just shook his head. I wonder if these officers were pulled from another area or were they on overtime???
I wondered also why Finch kept bashing the Bluefish. Whether MJ was given a tax break or not, the Bluefish is a huge asset to the city and that cannot be denied. Finch sounded pretty stupid criticizing this major downtown development to the business community.
I liked when Rick Torres said “… I like Mary-Jane Foster and I like the Bluefish and the Arena but they are the icing on the cake. We have no cake. Where’s the cake?”
Maybe Gloria Beccaro finally got her cellphone from the PAC and was texting Finch … What??? It could happen.
Finch took credit for the new schools which was an initiative under Mayor Fabrizi. Then he talked about pocket parks which was a program under Joe Ganim. And he kept bringing up the monument and the fountain. Okay so these are nice to have but I wouldn’t call them major accomplishments.
And having a Twitter Account and Facebook page doesn’t make for an accessible mayor. Finch mentioned that at least 5 times today.
I almost felt bad for him. He is so over his head in this job. He hides it most of the time but when he’s on his own at the debate he is fully exposed. That’s why Adam Wood has to text him talking points. Otherwise his response to every question would be BeGreen 2020.
Lennie, you said, his father (Mayor Finch), who’s a prince of a guy, and the Post wrote concerning the question of Mayor Finch texting that he said “My father is in the hospital,” Finch retorted. “He’s 86 years old and I’m waiting for information.” Mayor Finch should not be involved with these debates because his father is ill.
The mayor is concerned about his father and he does not have the ability to give his best in these debates and to answer the questions the voters of Bridgeport need to hear from the mayor.
But if the mayor is using his father as an excuse and he is getting text answers to questions then he is a lowlife. I would hope the mayor is not lying.
If it is a phone paid for by the city, the incoming texts would be FOI-able.
Try getting those records from Mark Anastasi!!!
Ron Mackey // Sep 8, 2011 at 8:50 pm
To your posting
Ron,
Yes, it would seem with his father in the hospital, he was using this as an excuse. Bill was reading from the phone and then … Writing down what he was reading from Adam.
There is a way to find out. Call the Hospital!!! If he is there, we wish him well! If he is not, … … … … … … … … …
You can always hope, Ron. That Bill Finch is a lying sack of shit is well documented. He does not have the ability to be forthright and transparent in these debates because of inability or unwillingness.
That old bag who called MJF a liar should’ve been unceremoniously shown the door and given a good swift kick in the ass to help her on the way out.
Everyone was told to turn off their phones before the forum began. If in fact Bill Finch’s dad was in the hospital he could have made a ‘point of order’ right up front stating the situation and explaining he might have to take a call. Instead he started texting from the get-go. Pure deceit!
I’ve heard MJF speak several times. She’s always well versed on the issues and does not use written notes. Her debate performances are always excellent. Is Bill Finch such a dweeb he needs to cheat? I know there is no prohibition on using cell phones, but the audience was asked to turn theirs off. The same rules apply to the debate participants. Bill Finch’s behavior was and is deplorable and made him look like a man who is unable to think for himself. We knew that anyway, but still …