One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It’s the loneliest number since the number one …
When Harry Nilsson wrote the opening licks to One, which became a hit for Three Dog Night, he wasn’t thinking about Bridgeport’s absentee ballot operation. My oh my have things changed since the primary battle between Mayor Bill Finch and Mary-Jane Foster when Finch, led by Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa’s political apparatus, piled up about 75 percent of nearly 900 absentee ballots cast. A good chunk of the absentee ballot action came from the East Side where the queen of absentee ballots City Councilwoman Lydia Martinez holds court.
Town Clerk Alma Maya reports so far one absentee ballot has been cast for the general election. Yes, one! What happened? Are all the absentee ballot operatives exhausted from the primary?
Nope. There’s no reason to work it for the general with a 10 to 1 registration advantage over the Republicans. Shoot, with three weeks left until the general election, maybe the Dems will do a last-minute dump just to make it look good. The general election AB operation, such as it is, began later than normal due to the primary pushed back by the court to September 27. Hey, does Lydia Martinez even know she and councilmate Manny Ayala have GOP general election opponents? They are Ramona Marquez and Donald Christiansen.
Somebody better tell Lydia to get her AB machine working. It’s quite a unique operation, actually. It features special field trips for her elderly constituents. And at the end of the good time had by all, Lydia will show her gratitude by asking for their autographs. “Oh, can we have your address too because we have a special gift coming through the mail that you must fill out and return to City Hall to be eligible for the next field trip.”
Now that’s constituent service.
Lennie,
Everyone knows the end of September is traditionally a much bigger travel time than the beginning of November. Many B-port residents are traveling to visit friends and relatives in PR. How else can you explain such an anomaly especially in one section of the city?
I hear they had a Ferry nice time! Next year they are going up to the Carousel with Billy the Barker and sing “It was a real nice clambake!”
Hear Mario Macaroni is cooking up a 200k fundraiser on the 19th for the Counterfeit Bill!
Can’t wait to see what they will do with their surplus this time around. Maybe they will start their own 501(c)(3) to pay off the SEEC and the IRS.
Finch and Company are very confident they will not need absentee ballots to defeat Torres & Kohut. MJF put a scare in them and they signed up everyone they could which means many of the sick lame and lazy were their targets. They even went into the old Dinan center and got absentees from the elderly confined there.
Secretary of State is auditing three random schools. BFD, why isn’t she looking into the absentees, especially the ones submitted by Martinez? Can you imagine a whole high-rise building of poor, elderly and functionally disabled people all on vacation at the same time?
town committee // Oct 17, 2011 at 1:27 pm
To your posting
tc,
I can’t imagine this scenario not being investigated. It’s in-your-face obvious Lydia has a few successful tricks up her sleeves. But then we have to ask … what is Lydia’s process in going after these huge numbers and obviously getting them? Is there coordination with building management to access these residents? How about an OIB contingent of bloggers visiting with management to at least work out equal access for all candidates as to legitimate and valid ballot choices.
How can Sec of State Merrill approach this Lydia situation and not see it ripe with illegalities and suspicious actions in the absentee ballot process itself? Does she need to be approached Wednesday (if she comes to Bridgeport) and the question asked about an audit of the absentee ballot process in Bridgeport?
*** The SEEC is all bark & no bite unless there’s lots of media coverage concerning a real possible fraud case. *** DONE DEAL WITH ONLY THE VOTERS TO BLAME ***
Just wait until Stewie’s votes start to pour in …
I’m Baaaaaaaaaccckkk! DTC putting on the feedbag underwritten by the usual suspects. $400.00 per district leader to feed troops!
You can follow the money at this link.
seec.ct.gov/ecrisreporting/Data/Attachment/Unassigned/SEEC20_112403_1.pdf
Interesting piece. Oodles of information.
$2000 for food for the primary is awfully expensive. I’ll bet you Testo’s restaurant was involved in this scam.
Is the BDTC obligated to provide bills and receipts?
I must say Stewie has better odds of beating Mayor Finch than Kohut or Torres. Face the reality, Finch is a shoo-in. Take it or leave it.
Hi Godiva! Stopping by before work and I see you’re back to create drama! Well thank God. And guess what? Voters have the right not to like Finch. And no, you don’t want us all “Leaving it.” If we do “leave it” who will be left for Finch to bleed for tax money to cover the pensions that are looming over his shoulders like a bad case of dandruff? He can only brush the flakes off his shoulders for so long until he needs to shovel it off into our driveways. Again Godiva, I say it’s not about winning, it’s about not going broke. It’s about not having this administration forced upon us again. It’s about having a voice. Have a nice day.
No drama, just the facts is all. Nice spin you put on it, nobody forced anything on you, you just supported the wrong horse in the race. The people spoke and will do so again. That’s called democracy dear, have a nice day as well.
It’s not a horse race or a game, Godiva. I want to keep my house. We need different leadership. I really don’t want to hear any hogwash about Finch keeping taxes down because he did it at the expense of other city financial obligations we will need to pay for and soon. I am glad you are so financially secure you can post quippy little snippets regarding horse races. To me, and to a lot of homeowners in this city, it’s not a horse race or a game. It’s about hanging on to our homes, that we can’t sell without financial ruin, and so much more. And yes, we feel it’s been forced upon us. You wanna buy out my mortgage? I hope so, because it’s all I have.
Hey Ronin, who’s your accountant?
What a coincidence when: Martha Santiago, Dennis Scinto, Lydia Martinez, Ralph Ford, Danny Roach, Warren Blunt, Dottie Guman, Mitch Robles, Michael Fredino and Maria J. Hoffman all happen to have spent the same exact amount of money ($400) on food for primary day for a total of $4,000. The odds of hitting the lotto is better than this happening.
I would bet the single absentee ballot was from donj and it’s for Finch.
Well, a number of poll workers working for Mayor Finch told me they didn’t get anything to eat at all on primary day.
Ron, generally the money that is set aside to feed the workers is a slush fund for some of the district leaders. What they don’t spend to feed the workers goes into their pockets. No big surprise there. Greedy.
“An army doesn’t march on an empty stomach,” somebody (probably famous) said.
Well Bridgeport governance does not do that either. I am sure it is someone’s idea of hospitality, but I have always wondered why, how and at whose cost there is food of one type or another at so many City meetings. Well, since Mayor Finch isn’t announcing any nutrition metrics or financial metrics, but it is kind of amazing the amount of business done at Take Time Cafe, Vazzy’s and Tiago’s and PAID FOR BY CITY TAXPAYERS. Five thousand here and eight thousand there and pretty soon you begin to see over $300,000 to our external auditors in a year. Now the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 2010 has been out for over 10 months, a copy of which is available at the City Clerk office as it should be. Also included are the Federal and State separate reports that have found the City ‘guilty’ of weaknesses and deficiencies on a continuing basis. But, the Management Letter that acts as an overview or summary was received by the City and has been read and perhaps responded to by some few members of the governing hierarchy. But the entire Council has not been so privileged, and it appears even the Budget and Appropriations committee has not received such a letter for discussion, since it is not in the City Clerk exhibits.
Blum Shapiro informed me several years ago when I first inquired after that letter, it is at the City Clerk office. But it was not as of one week ago. I happened to raise the subject after the adjournment of B & A last Tuesday evening and though Tom Sherwood and Dawn Norton were present, it was only Bob Curwen who posed the question to me, “Why didn’t you ask me for it?” I replied that as long as it was available through him, I would like to see the last three years of such reports. We need to see at the top level what our external watchdog, who operates to professional standards, rather than the “Bridgeport way,” says about our actions, systems, and prospects at a minimum. What other “watchdog” do we have in the City? And if that dog is barking, and we can neither see nor hear it, then that is a further problem or issue.
Who sees Bob Curwen and can accept his generous offer? Who would like to review those documents with me?
I know the election percolates along, but in the meantime, the City is operating in the “Bridgeport way” and most citizens are clueless as to how and for what their tax dollars are spent without their knowledge or real approval. Time will tell.
I DO AND I WILL.