Labor Day weekend is a time for chillin’ and grillin’, biking and hiking, tanning and fanning. And oh yes, tag saleing. Mayor Bill Finch hosted a lawn sale at his Crown Street home on Saturday. Was hizzoner a tough negotiator on the goods?
What the heck, nothing like a late-summer clearance. Hmmm, did the mayor place a price tag on some of his political appointees? What would you pay to buy one of them? Oh that’s right, you’d pay to get them off the payroll. Come on, wouldn’t you want to take one of them home with you?
Bridgeport’s green mayor lives on a one-way street, a stone’s throw from the Pequonnock River, a hop, skip and jump from Beardsley Park designed by the mayor’s architectural hero Frederick Law Olmsted. Here’s hoping the mayor generated a mighty haul from the goods. Maybe he’ll use it to keep down taxes for his reelection bid next year. Then again, most tag sale items are sold at a loss.
Was there any Wood for sale? He would probably need to give it away.
^^^ LOL ^^^
Always around trash, that’s our Bill!
Typical. Tacky and cheap.
I am surprised the Mayor would have a tag sale taking his chances with questionable characters and maybe he could have just taken a few tax deductions or just donated to the local Goodwill and Salvation Army.
Maybe it was just a brilliant way to meet some of his constituents. At least he was attempting to recycle and reduce his carbon footprint.
Steve, c’mon man, he truly needs the money from those sales plus he thinks he’s a bad ass so he’s not worried about people he doesn’t know (even those crack addicts down the street), because he’s Bill Finch.
For those of you who don’t know, the Mayor lives on a one-way, one-block-long street. I live a few blocks from him and pass his house frequently when I head home.
I turned the corner yesterday and as I am driving down his street, I notice all these women’s handbags hanging off the branches of a row of bushes. As I am thinking who would do something so tacky, I realize Mayor Finch is having a tag sale and these handbags are hanging from HIS bushes.
Let’s remember our elected Mayor earns over $130,000 per year, drives a city vehicle and receives a generous benefits package, however he thought it was appropriate to hold a tag sale to sell his used clothing and belongings to his very own constituents.
One has to wonder if Mayor Martin, Mayor Harkins, First Selectman Timothy Herbst, etc., would find this to be acceptable and haggle over the proposed retail value of their used items with their very own constituents.
This is completely tasteless and tacky, but what else should we expect from the likes of Mayor Finch.
I just expanded the photo. If you look at the clothing rack on the left there is a floor-length gown. There is a wonderful organization that donates prom dresses to students who cannot afford them. There is a pair of women’s shoes near the prom dress, several jackets and dresses and the handbags could have all been donated to Dress for Success. This charity allows women to select clothing, shoes and accessories for job interviews. The rest could have been donated to Goodwill, United Way, etc. All these donations could be written off on his taxes.
But our great Mayor who constantly touts our nonprofits and joins them when photo opportunities are available, instead chooses to sell these items and negotiate their value with the very people he is elected to serve. In all honesty, if Mayor Finch is not embarrassed, he should be.
Maria Pereira, for real, you have to care about people who are less well off in life in order to give to donate to charity. Remember, we’re talking about Bill Finch who is for his four and no more. Look, what’s he going to do after the election when he’s out of office? He will need someone to GIVE him a job because he has no skills to do anything so he needs to get every penny he can now.
I was speaking with a friend about Mayor Finch’s tag sale and they asked me if Mayor Finch was hosting this tag sale as a fundraiser for his reelection bid next year. I had to share this because I really laughed so hard.
A complete and utter embarrassment.
The mayor of the state’s largest city holds a tag sale on his front lawn to pick up chump change. Really … … …
Not with the proceeds going elsewhere.
Not with the actual goods going to a non-profit.
No, apparently, the money is going in his back pocket.
If this does not paint the image of someone who would be very amenable to receiving something under the table from a contractor or developer, I don’t know what does.
Bob Walsh, for real, Finch needs the money from this sale. I mean just look at those pictures, that gives an insight into Finch. How would the person next door to you feel if your yard looked like that?
Ron, the homeowner who lives to the right of Mayor Finch’s house is a staunch Republican. During elections they have every Republican sign possible in their front yard. Recently they had Walker, Ethan Book and I think they had McKinney. The handbags hanging from Finch’s bushes were hanging on the side of the bushes facing his Republican neighbor’s home, not his. I am not kidding.
I stopped by and purchased a Keeley lawn sign for $2 and a Bass Pro coffee mug For $1, the handle was missing. Finch was holding a Magic 8 ball in his hand, I asked him if it was for sale. He said he needs the Magic 8 ball, that’s how he makes all his big decisions. I said Mayor, just ask the Magic 8 ball if you can sell it to me at this time. He giggled and said “no,” but to give him a call after November 2015 and he’ll let me know. I said Mayor, you can’t make all those big decisions using a Magic 8 Ball! He said, “No! Sometimes I let Adam Wood use it!”
Jim, I love reading your comments. They are sooo funny.
Three Mary-Jane Foster t-shirts sold for $1.25 apiece.
Jimfox,
I’ve got that handle if you are interested. I sneaked over there right as the sale was starting and broke it off. I figured Auerbach would be over there to pick up Finch memorabilia figuring it would be worth a lot of money once Finch gets elected President. Figured a Bass Pro cup without a handle would bring him to tears. Or I figured if Finch didn’t notice the missing handle he might get really pissed he couldn’t sell the Bass Pro mug he got for free.
Thank you Bob Walsh for mentioning my name.
LOL.
I got me one of those framed autograph photos of Joe and Bill at Harbor Yard for $2.00.
Took the photo out, ripped it up but figured I at least got a decent frame for a couple of bucks.
Then someone told me the frame looked just like the ones the city puts its proclamations in. Felt really ripped off then.
There were a hell of a lot of photos of Bill and Joe Lieberman; duplicates, triplicates and more. They all started out going for $5.00 a pop at the start of the sale but marked down to a quarter by the end and still couldn’t sell a one. Maybe they’ll be worth something if Lieberman ever runs for President or Veep.
People, can’t you see his tag sale is the biggest piece of Economic development the City has seen in ten years? How stupid you are.
LOL, repeatedly!
Is Bill downsizing a bit? Or is this just a natural consequence of ‘conspicuous consumption’ reaching the tipping point?
Obviously this was not a City sponsored ‘photo op,’ as it does not speak well on behalf of the City. In June of 2013, 15 members of the City Council individually gave away nearly $30,000 in total of taxpayer funds to charities without a meeting, an agenda or minutes to charities. Not a photo-op time either since five of the Council chose not to participate in the illegal action that only showed up in the FINAL JUNE 2013 Monthly Report that had not been filed in over 20 years.
I guess the Mayor is just adjusting his personal assets, which all of us need to do on a regular basis. He is taking stuff he no longer has use for and finding out their real value by seeing how much liquid cash buyers are willing to pay for his stuff. I will guess he found his initial valuations of his stuff were greater than what was received (like with the Lieberman Finch items?). That is a microeconomic lesson.
But all of Bridgeport is owed a macroeconomic lesson or report. What does a balance sheet say the City is worth today? If the report uses land and building assessment/asset values from October 1, 2008, would such a balance sheet be worthy in indicating City net worth in 2014? (Remember, if we spent $300,000 for a five-year revaluation and have neither used the information to update our City values or our residential and commercial values, our leadership has a strange sense of efficient and effective use of taxpayer revenues.)
Why didn’t Bill just itemize the stuff he wished to divest himself of, and put an advertisement in the form of a personal Request for Proposal (RFP) to sell everything to one bidder? Isn’t that what the City does with properties with tax liens? No or little competition gets a good price or not? How is that working out for the City? Time will tell.
Look at the second photo. Mayor Finch’s tag sale items are strewn everywhere, including the sidewalk. Where is the Director of Blight, Chris Rosario, when you need him? And they had the nerve to ticket and fine Bob Halstead???
I just expanded the second photo. If you look to the left, you will actually see clothing on hangers hanging from the branches of his tree. It just doesn’t get tackier than that.
I find it funny Bill had Tom McCarthy modeling the dresses for potential buyers.
HW, those were Tom McCarthy’s dresses! Until Auerbach the Fashion Horse showed up! Then it looked like The Running of the Brides at Filene’s Basement!
Jim Fox, I want to thank you also for mentioning my name. Unlike Tom McCarthy, I am gay and I do not wear dresses. You Jim Fox being an ignorant ass, I WILL NOT BE THE BUTT OF YOUR ATTEMPTED JAB AT HUMOR. YOU MAY BE OLD AND BUTT-UGLY AND NOT AT ALL ATTRACTIVE TO ME BUT I’D SAY TO YOU I’D BEND YOU OVER AND TURN YOU INTO THE WOMAN YOU COULD BE. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO REDUCE MYSELF OR MCCARTHY, YOU OR HARVEY WEINTRAUB. Your attempt at embarrassing McCarthy I am certain didn’t work and me, well I certainly never felt like a second-class gay fag and if you want to talk about me behind my back, go for it. It is none of my business what you think about me behind closed doors. However in public, I will wipe the floor with your sorry ass and stick it to you.
I AM SORRY IF THIS POST OFFENDED ANYONE BUT YOU WILL GET OVER IT. HARVEY WEINTRAUB AND JIM FOX I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU DO BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AND FRANKLY GIRLS, I DO NOT GIVE A CRAP. I DO KNOW WHAT I HAVE BETWEEN MY LEGS AND IT IS PROBABLY BIGGER THAN YOURS. TRUTH BE TOLD, IT IS A PROVEN FACT THOSE MEN WHO HAVE A NEED TO THROW GAY COMMENTS AROUND USUALLY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR OWN SEXUALITY OR JUST PLAIN IGNORANT.
🙂 Glad I got that off my chest.
Okay, Drama Queen! It was a joke! Maybe in bad taste, but just for the record Steve, you were never in Filene’s Basement trying on a pair of pumps and a party dress?
Lolololololol. I knew that was you in the dressing room next door. You caught me with my pants down. 🙂
Steven Auerbach, whenever I would say something about race or being black you didn’t like it and you would write, Ron Mackey why does it always have to be about race with you? Well Steve, why does this have to be about you being gay? Someone hurt your feelings so you want to get in their ass but it’s not okay for me as a black man to do the same thing. Look, it doesn’t matter to me what you are, a lot of things you post I agree with but I don’t need to know about your sex life. Steve, I wish you the best.
Ron Mackey, just for the record I had only commented on your incessant black rants once. Lennie, archives please. As for the gay thing, there is difference between gay humor and attempting to be insulting. BTW, I did not take it personally, it just gave me an opportunity to rip Jim Fox apart. He can take it.
There is nothing wrong or shameful to how and what Mayor Finch chose to spend his day doing. Show some compassion, people. He is a human being who has feelings and has every right to step down from his role as Mayor. He did nothing wrong.
Whoa, easy there Steve, I didn’t say anything about anyone being gay, all I said is Tom McCarthy was modeling dresses, implying he does whatever Bill tells him to do, no “gay” reference at all. Now just calm yourself before you have a stroke or something. PS, I’ll be waiting for your apology.
Harvey Weintraub, I apologize. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? Please! How is that?
Jim Fox I apologize to you also. It is okay that you attempt to make fun of me. I am not sensitive. Please forgive me.
Ron Mackey, I’ll stop bringing up Gay if you stop bringing up Black. If that’s possible, I’d be stunned.
Thank you all for again allowing me the opportunity to take the focus off an otherwise boring topic and add some color. Jim Fox and Harvey Weintraub, the visual of your posts were hysterical. See, I have a great sense of humor.
Btw, in case anyone here did not ever meet Sonya Finch, she was a very sharp dresser so I am certain if anyone purchased her attire, they made out well.
Steven Auerbach, here is the big difference, if you take a white male of any ethnicity and stand them alongside a black male, no one would know who was gay but you would know who is black. That’s a big difference.
Ron, this is déjà vu. You and I had the exact same conversation and I agreed with you. Today, I am not sure what your point is.
Steven Auerbach, you said, “Jim Fox, I want to thank you also for mentioning my name. Unlike Tom McCarthy, I am gay and I do not wear dresses. You Jim Fox being an ignorant ass, I WILL NOT BE THE BUTT OF YOUR ATTEMPTED JAB AT HUMOR. YOU MAY BE OLD AND BUTT-UGLY AND NOT AT ALL ATTRACTIVE TO ME BUT I’D SAY TO YOU I’D BEND YOU OVER AND TURN YOU INTO THE WOMAN YOU COULD BE. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO REDUCE MYSELF OR MCCARTHY, YOU OR HARVEY WEINTRAUB. Your attempt at embarrassing McCarthy I am certain didn’t work and me, well I certainly never felt like a second-class gay fag and if you want to talk about me behind my back, go for it.” Now that’s what you call a rant. Now what I did was giving a “description” of the residents of the East End as being black and to you that was incessant black rants. Here you are yelling at people with your caps calling people names but that’s okay in the world of Steven Auerbach but I’m the one with the rant.
Ron Mackey, is there a reason why you copied and pasted my entire post? Is anybody else so pathetic they are incapable of reading my post just a few up? Again, I am not sure what your incessant black rants on every single post I have only mentioned once to you have to do with my post about Harvey and Jim. Are you looking for another Donald Day-Ron Mackey back and forth redundant dialogue? This post really was none of your business. No offense. And has nothing to do with black unless you want to discuss the numbers of married gay black men in Bridgeport. I don’t think that’s a conversation for this blog.
Steven Auerbach, I just wanted you to look at what you’re doing and how it looks, it doesn’t look good does it, and it’s all you Steve, so now you can feel real proud of yourself, you told somebody off, wow!!!
Ron, stop being so sensitive. Telling somebody off on this blog is sort of like farting in the wind. I do not take it personally and apparently neither do most people. I have taken my fair share of insults and can assure you I haven’t lost any sleep over it and I hope you haven’t either. Just for the record, I have no problem with your black power diatribes. It is expected and welcomed. Really.