City Architect Steps Up For Finch, Provides Job Downtown

It’s not the job he coveted most, but when you have two young mouths to feed as an ex-mayor with no one banging down your door, a job is a job is a job. Bill Finch has been hired by the respected Downtown-based Antinozzi Associates to head up the architectural firm’s “sustainable strategies.” When it comes to the environment, conservation and green technology, Finch, who studied agriculture at the University of Connecticut, can talk day and night about the juxtaposition of the sun to the solar panels at Seaside Park his administration installed on the old city dump. It’s his passion.

The job offer from Paul Antinozzi, the firm’s president, came shortly after Finch lost the Democratic primary to Joe Ganim last September. The loss stunned Finch on a deeply personal level, telling anyone willing to listen to him his disbelief voters took back someone with a troubled past over rewarding him a third four-year term. Finch became the first incumbent mayor in Bridgeport history to lose in a primary. Bottom line is Ganim was just a more efficient retail politician than Finch whose highfalutin discussion about the environment did not connect with the common voter, particularly African American voters who thought Finch’s word was no good.

By the time Finch got around to focusing on new employment after his primary loss, the job he wanted–head of the New England Office of Housing and Urban Development, a White House appointment–had gathered a long line of candidates. That job requires lining up support from federal elected officials, in Finch’s case Congressman Jim Himes and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy. Finch was told to get moving if you want this job but as his job history shows, he can be organizationally challenged. Other opportunities he pursued did not materialize.

So Antinozzi became a handy default position.

When Finch lost the primary he supported petitioning candidate Mary-Jane Foster, his primary opponent in 2011 and 2015, in the general election, a bit of irony since Finch for eight years did not have the good sense to embrace Foster’s employer the University of Bridgeport where Finch had once worked.

After supporting Finch, Antinozzi opened up his office for an October fundraiser for Foster, across the street from her headquarters on Fairfield Avenue, that was largely financed by the business community at the urging of Finch. Ganim won the general election handily placing Antinozzi in the uncomfortable spot of working against Ganim twice. On top of that Finch, rather than gracious in defeat and accepting Ganim’s hand, declared “I make it a point to not associate with known felons.” Hmmm.

What’s a Bridgeport-based architect to do? You say hey I rolled the dice on the wrong candidates, Joe, let’s be friends!

Still, Antinozzi remained true to his word with this job offer to Finch. Will be interesting to see how long the employment relationship lasts.