It wasn’t exactly loaded with backflips, pompoms and trumpets, but the editorial board of the Connecticut post endorsed Mayor Bill Finch for another four-year term declaring momentum in the right direction but also rattling off a number of Finch’s flaws. The Post editorial published Sunday acknowledged the endorsement was a close call between Finch and opponent Mary-Jane Foster. Former Mayor Joe Ganim, also on Wednesday’s Democratic primary ballot, received no consideration for the endorsement.
What do these declarations mean at a time some daily newspapers have moved away from endorsements? Depends how campaign camps leverage them afterwards. The Post issued an endorsement irrespective of writing so little about the hotly contested mayoral race on its editorial page, a product of Hearst Connecticut Newspapers regionally shared content with papers in Stamford, Greenwich and Danbury. The endorsement process involves inviting candidates separately to an interview with the editorial board comprised of the publisher and several editorial staff chiefs.
The Post editorial applauds Finch for development progress highlighting momentum at the Steelpointe Harbor development area. The editorial praises:
It’s undeniable that positive forces are in motion in Bridgeport.
The Steelpointe Harbor development, for one, has moved from a punchline of some 30 years to an actual construction site. Over the last eight years, the city’s downtown has grown vibrant. People, some 2,000 of them, live there and work has begun on buildings, vacant for 20 years, in that dismal gateway to the downtown known as Downtown North.
For this and other reasons (Finch) has the support of the Connecticut Post in the Democratic party primary scheduled for Wednesday. It is important to the city that the momentum continue.
Then the editorial segues:
Finch is not without his flaws. That’s part of the reason he’s in an improbably close fight with former Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, an apparently viable candidate despite the prison term he served for running a corrupt City Hall during his time there, and Mary-Jane Foster, the entrepreneur and University of Bridgeport vice president who is taking her second shot at the mayor’s office.
That Finch is in troubled waters after eight years in office is a reflection of both personal and strategic blunders …
Finch’s cavalier attitude–consider his secret plot to take over the Bridgeport Board of Education in 2011–has conjured an “ends-justify-the-means” aroma around his administration.
And on a number of occasions he’s let his considerable temper push him over the line from “passion” for the city, to, on at least one occasion, putting his hands on City Council members who strayed from the party line.
Full Post editorial here.
This is not going to have much impact on the primary. People have already made up their minds.
I think most people have made up their minds and already came to the conclusion weeks ago Mayor Finch was the only choice. The Mayor was greeted enthusiastically today at St. Ann’s and I have to say for 5 bucks the food was amazing and the people were terrific.
A BACKHAND ENDORSEMENT FROM THE CT-POST
Post also accused Finch of “[embarking] on a systematic campaign to destroy the BBOE!
I’ll leave it to others to comment on the impact of the CT Post endorsement of Mayor Bill Finch, which in most cases will reflect the candidate the particular poster is supporting.
I’ll just say this, as an admittedly big-time Finch supporter: I would much prefer to be the candidate with the CT Post endorsement than the candidate(s) without it. Further, I really would not want to be the candidate (Joe Ganim) who received no consideration at all.
The Post is covering their backside because they want access to Finch if he wins but they understand why he shouldn’t be mayor because they list the reasons why he should lose.
A “shit or get off the pot” endorsement for our reading pleasure.
I wonder how the Finch Campaign feels reading this “Be grateful buddy because we almost picked someone else” endorsement.
Nice.
Wicca, we are ecstatic. How do the Foster and Ganim campaigns feel? Like it is definitely over, I would imagine.
Please don’t address me. I find you offensive on every imaginable level.
You go, girl!
Yeah Wicca; you go, girl! Give it to that Auerbach because he responded to your post on how the Finch’s feel. Again we feel great, personally I just want to hear crickets until Wednesday.
Wicca, that’s okay. I actually find you as an incognito blogger pretty repulsive. I am assuming you are feeling pretty damned great about the endorsement as I am.
It’s wonderful you use your own name, Steven. Even better that you seek to personally introduce yourself. Now we know what you look like and can take appropriate measures to avoid direct contact.
Crickets.
Primaries are about the ability to ID, Yank, Drag and Pull out Your Votes. Post Toasties endorsement means squat!
Means everything!
This is probably the worst newspaper in the US. They don’t cover much in Bridgeport and basically should go to one newspaper a week instead of daily. The CT posts endorsement means nothing. I hate the stories by Mike Daly who writes about sweaters, his dog, his kids, his vacation and every other damned thing but what’s going on in Bridgeport.
It’s far from being the worst newspaper in the US, Andy. You haven’t read the Daily Courier or the Podunk Times Herald.
This is a tepid endorsement for the primary, not the general election. Even if Bill Finch wins the primary, that is a long way from assuring a November win. That ballot is crowded with three other players with star power and name recognition. Ganim, Foster and Torres will make short work of Finch’s bid for a third term. The other three are only amusing. David Daniels, a retired police officer, is on a listening tour; let us know what you hear, lieutenant. Charles Coviello is, well, Charles Coviello. Tony Barr, a convicted felon who served 20 years on drug conspiracy and weapons offenses, is essentially a street thug.
The primary is going to be a gauge of public opinion. A recent poll of likely voters indicated Finch has an unfavorability rating of 57% compared to Joe Ganim’s 27%. (Mary-Jane Foster also scored 27%.) The Democratic Town Committee is hedging its bets by fielding the two of them. For all the stumping, mudslinging, glad-handing and kissing of babies, the Democratic primary comes down to a choice of the lesser of two evils. The lesser evil is still an evil, however.
Bill Finch is a documented pathological liar and Joe Ganim is a felon, convicted of racketeering and betraying the public trust. Bill Finch promised a $600 tax rebate that never materialized. He also tried to take over the school board and made a half-assed attempt to excuse his effort by saying “Democracy […] doesn’t always work.” (If we were living in The Middle East or North Africa I might agree. But we don’t. This is the United States of America. DEMOCRACY ALWAYS WORKS HERE.) Mr. Finch is also arrogant, pompous, xenophobic and short-tempered, an immature man who throws tantrums if he doesn’t get his way. He assaulted a City Council member who voted against a 35-year tax abatement for a developer who had made a $4000 “contribution” to his re-election campaign.
Joe Ganim is a smoother operator. He charged developers by the square foot. He accepted cash, custom-tailored clothing, cases of expensive French wine, overnight stays at four-star hotels in Manhattan, meals in high-end restaurants like Morton’s in Stamford and Joseph’s in Bridgeport (where steak for one is in the $50 range). For all his admission “mistakes were made,” Ganim has NEVER admitted he committed a crime, never expressed any degree of remorse.
Of the remaining candidates, Rick Torres is the only one who comes to the table with a clear assessment of the city’s problems and no-nonsense practical plans to address them. Mr. Torres doesn’t bring any baggage, another plus. He is not allied with the corrupt political machine of Mario Testa, the same corrupt organization that endorsed Bill Finch and is supporting Joe Ganim’s bid to be once-and-future mayor.
Once the primary is history the real election cycle will begin. It will come down to a race between Joseph P. Ganim and Enrique Torres. May Mr. Torres, the much better man, win.
DB, you made some great points about Mayor Bill Finch and anyone who has had any dealings with him knows these are true facts. “Bill Finch is a documented pathological liar, Bill Finch promised a $600 tax rebate that never materialized. He also tried to take over the school board and made a half-assed attempt to excuse his effort by saying “Democracy [,,,] doesn’t always work.” Mr. Finch is also arrogant, pompous, xenophobic and short-tempered, an immature man who throws tantrums if he doesn’t get his way.”
Ron–does this mean you are going to vote for Torres if Finch wins the nomination? I remember you stated your reason for voting for Obama or Malloy (I forget which) was “the devil you know is better than the one you don’t.”
Yes, I will vote for Rick Torres if it’s just Finch and Torres running.
Let’s say the choices are: Enrique Torres, David Daniels, Bill Finch, Tony Barr and Charlie Coviello.
Rick Torres.
Kid, I did read the Bum Fuck Gazette.
Every candidate I have ever worked for has always wanted the endorsement of the newspapers. Even a lackluster endorsement is better than no endorsement at all. Older voters, who can be counted on to vote always, seem to take newspaper endorsements very seriously.
Well said.
The old “bad publicity is better than no publicity” concept? This endorsement is severely qualified. Wicca hit it on the head when she pointed out the editorial board of the Post nearly endorsed someone else. The Finch campaign must have bribed them with an open bar tab at Joseph’s.
Jennifer, most eloquently put. Enrique sat with me and a Peruvian and Colombian friend at St. Ann’s. They loved my tee-shirt.
People sat with you? Must have taken a bath today.
Crickets!
Nice! You do get around, especially when great food and people are in the mix.
Yes Jennifer, and I was actually looking for the other Bridgeport Republican and you were nowhere to be found. Honestly, there was so much food, they did a spectacular job. I could hardly eat my holiday meal tonight. 🙂
In regard to local elections, local voters take their quality of life a lot more seriously than what deteriorating, regional publications, such as the Connecticut Post, have to say.
People in Bridgeport know the fear of random violent crime is creeping back into their lives. The surge in violent crime over the past six months has hurt the Bridgeport psyche. This July’s hefty tax bills have added a rub–and salt–to the wound of a rubbed-raw Bridgeport psyche.
The continued use of potentially valuable tax base land for non-taxable projects, non-job-creating development that will actually demand extra taxes from Bridgeport taxpayers and further stress their finances is not any sort of balm that is soothing to Bridgeport residents. Indeed, the non-taxable strip mall at Steal Point is not raising cheers in Bridgeport; neither are the pending, tax-negative, workforce housing projects being built to serve Stamford.
AND WHY IS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL FROM STAMFORD, STAMFORD CITY COUNCILMAN DAVID KOORIS, SERVING AS OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR? (DID SOMEONE FORGET TO TELL OUR MAYOR STAMFORD IS OUR ECONOMIC/POLITICAL COMPETITOR?)
No, people vote what they feel, and the people of Bridgeport are feeling stressed, and angry, and less hopeful. They are looking for CHANGE.
The Connecticut Post might have its figure on the pulse of Stamford and Greenwich since their takeover by Hearst, but they are totally deaf and blind to Bridgeport.
Bill Finch is perceived as four more years of financial stress and hopelessness by the people of Bridgeport–strip mall-by-the-sea notwithstanding. The vast great majority of the vote will be against him and his out-of-town administration on Wednesday.
Jennifer, this endorsement is like everything associated with Bill Finch, better than nothing.
Bass Pro, Chipotle and Starbucks, better than nothing. 300 minimum-wage jobs, better than nothing. New schools that will never be fully funded, better than nothing.
Since when is better than nothing, better than something else?
Don, that’s the problem, voters in Bridgeport are willing to settle for anything instead of something and someone better, Finch is something and Mary-Jane Foster is better.
Ron, the people of Bridgeport are sick, lame and lazy. They will fill out an illegal absentee ballot so they don’t have to get off their fat asses and go vote. Most registered voters don’t care their kids or their grandkids are getting a sub-standard education. They don’t care presently in our schools is the next generation of dumb asses.
You’re correct on one point, Ron. Finch is something: a well-documented pathological liar. One only need consult the microfiche archives of the Connecticut Post to see that.
Joe Ganim is also something: a convicted felon. It is ironic a person with a felony record cannot work for McDonald’s (or Chipotle or Starbucks or Bass Pro, for that matter) but he can run to be mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Don’t know about anyone else here but I am none too keen on having the city’s reputation further sullied by the re-election of a crook, nor am I keen on seeing a well-documented pathological liar re-elected to another term.
No matter who wins the meat contest on September 16th, that person still has to compete with six other candidates for the chief executive’s gig and work to re-establish strong working relationships with Hartford and Washington DC (Bridgeport is a snide off-color joke in the back rooms of the legislative office building in Hartford). That person will also have to deal with the social and economic woes that have been afflicting the people of the city of Bridgeport for too long. I’ve heard what Tax Bill has to say–his proudest educational “accomplishment” is building a water park–and Smokin’ Joe’s assertion “mistakes were made” during his administration. Good for you, Joe. That’s the first time I’ve heard racketeering described as “mistakes,” as if accepting bribes for city construction contracts was as minor as leaving the refrigerator door ajar. I’ve also heard what Mary-Jane Foster has to say but the cafeteria matron “Boys, boys!” routine is not what the people of the city of Bridgeport need, or want. She sounds good on the stump and the soapbox but none of the three have presented clearly defined plans for lowering taxes, adjusting the valuation process to make it fair for everyone, fixing our failing schools and improving the local economy by attracting corporate investment to create jobs that pay a real living wage.
Rick Torres will be the man to win in November.
Donald,
Pessimism is NOT a valid argument. The people of the city of Bridgeport have been living with “something is better than nothing” for decades. We deserve better than we’ve been served for the last 30 years or so. Bill Finch’s plan for the city has been to not raise taxes during election years, to hold off on development projects until election years and to offer hefty no-strings-attached tax abatements to down-county developers who throw bundles of cash into his campaign coffers. Those same developers do not give a rat’s ass about the strain their “developments” put on the city in increased taxes on the middle class, increased strain on the city’s antiquated wastewater treatment facility, the increased strain on a police department that is already suffering from needless understaffing. Public safety is already at risk. We do not need to return Joe Ganim to City Hall; he fucked over the people of the city of Bridgeport once and has never expressed a scintilla of remorse for his crimes. If given the chance he most certainly would line his pockets again.
City Hall needs vision and leadership from a man who is not beholden to the DTC and the pasta king of Madison Avenue. The people of the city of Bridgeport deserve strong leadership, fiscal responsibility, socioeconomic justice and jobs that pay a living wage. There is so much potential here. It is high time for it to be tapped, high time for the people of the city of Bridgeport to get well off our own potential instead of making the rich richer.
I hear you!
Donald Day, something is better than nothing when you have five decades of NOTHING and all of a sudden a city coming alive everywhere. That’s when something is better than nothing and this nothing is pretty spectacular!
Kid, you’re absolutely right. City Hall needs vision and leadership from a man, it’s just that man is a WO-MAN.
MARY-JANE FOSTER is the person you are alluding to in your post and my hope is residents of Bridgeport realize what I already know, she’s the best chance for real change for all residents.
I made my predictions. Ganim and Finch are not going to sleep very well for the next two nights. They both looked a little haggard at the Housatonic debate.
Mary-Jane Foster, Joe Ganim, Rick Torres and Bill Finch will all be on the ballot in November 2015.
Sept 16 is the election. Just more noise after that. Unless you are going to help fund the campaign. The money flow has pretty much stopped, no? The only new face in the race who needs to raise money is your new candidate, Enrique Torres, who btw has a great new toy to replace his amazing bus and bike. His Segway, and he was giving lessons to some cute kids at St. Ann’s. Say what you will about Rick Torres but he is an awfully nice guy. Not crazy about his tattoo or ideology, but I am not a black man.
He does run a great little market and the food is goood!
Steve et al.–the only campaign Foster comes in third this year is the one for Pinocchio’s longest nose.
Come Back Bridgeport, I think Mary-Jane Foster is honest and I believe Mayor Finch is honest and I am still wondering why both you and Bob Walsh have refused to address the Bluefish scenario. Btw, whether it is true or false is not important to me personally. I have nothing negative to say about Mary-Jane Foster. I just wished she’d stayed out of the race and endorsed Mayor Finch. I do agree with the Post, Mayor Finch being our chief executive and number-one marketer of the city, he should embrace UB. By the same token The Finch administration does talk about UB and always sends high-level personnel to functions.
I expect the next Finch administration to be extremely productive with development as the economy improves. Bridgeport is finally Happening! I think maybe Mary-Jane may have received a few Pinnochios regarding the success of the Bluefish and the jobs that were not minimum wage. I am certain Bass Pro alone will have more jobs and better-paying jobs than Harbor yard. I know over the years I have gone out of my way to support the Ballpark. A beautiful stadium and an asset to downtown of course. I am sure it will be marketed along with Steelpointe and become more successful than it has been!
The election is being stolen by the Finch operation but does the CT Post weigh in on that issue? Hell no.
In my experiences with the CT Post, 99% of the time they endorse who they think will win. Not who they think should win. So this irrelevant endorsement means nothing.
Bob Walsh, it does. According to you , Bill Finch will win. DUH!
Were you going to address the Bluefish or are you just very depressed?
If I hadn’t already canceled my subscription to that ridiculous rag, I’d cancel it again. Obviously the editorial staff doesn’t read their own paper.
“The first thing the mayor must do–and it doesn’t have to wait until Wednesday, let alone November–is abandon his irrational animus toward the University of Bridgeport and embrace it for the cultural and economic asset that it is. And while the administration touts its commitment to transparency, the reality is something less, on everything from financial reporting, to laying out crime statistics, to revaluation figures and other matters of interest to the people who live in the city. That has to improve.” And endorsing the current candidate is NOT likely to bring about that change!!!
“Foster is a bright, forceful woman who, once again, has brought good ideas, level-headed passion and decorum to the fight. So this is not the easiest of calls.” Hell yes, it is! Endorse Mary-Jane Foster, you addlepated “journalists!!!”
🙂 Sheepthrill, I totally understand your frustration. I think if all this development were not happening and Mary-Jane was higher in the polls, she may have in fact been endorsed. But to be honest, Mayor Finch has done an amazing job as well as David Kooris in luring developers to get the ball rolling in every corner of the city. I do not believe Joe Ganim was even a contender and although it is true Ganim signs are coming down in the North End and being replaced with both Finch and Foster, her support is very low citywide. I do believe the Post absolutely made the right call. Mayor Finch is definitely the right man to endorse, but it has been a two-man race for too long. I do hold Foster in very high regard and I hold the mayor and his entire team in very high regard also. This is politics not a personality contest and as Joe Ganim will find out soon enough, he might be very personable but his history speaks for itself!
Steve–what polls? Our 10-hour-a-day telephone polls for the past four months are in total contrast to your wild-eyed repetitive predictions. Today’s mailer from hizzoner tends to prove that out–he admits a vote for Mary-Jane could well deny him the nomination. Who’s afraid of Foster? Finch, pure and simple.
“Something is better nothing” only if “something” is a positive. In our case “all this development” is a negative. “All this development”–Steal Point (mostly proposed), Cherry Street (proposed), the East Side residential units (proposed)–are worse than non-taxable; they are huge tax liabilities for which Bridgeport taxpayers must pay (for decades!).
BRIDGEPORT CAN’T AFFORD “ALL THIS DEVELOPMENT!” (Can we, David? But it’s good for your town–STAMFORD–so we’ll just have to eat it, won’t we?)
VOTE “BRIDGEPORT” ON SEPTEMBER 16. Scrape all the OUT-OF-TOWN, City Hall barnacles off our ship (Send Kooris back to Stamford; Nunn back to Monroe; Gaudett back to Newtown; and send Bill on a relaxing, extended fishing trip).
Jeff Kohut, have you read the September 10, 2015 Hartford Courant article on Joe Ganim? They didn’t even mention Foster or Finch. It’s all about your man, Joe … the man!!!