For the past four decades Bridgeport mayors have had drivers, some more than others, utilizing inner-office staff or a police officer sometimes dictated by the daily schedule. Detective Ramon Garcia has assumed that role for JG2. CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart examines the need for a driver and what other Connecticut cities do for mayoral security details.
The city viewed through the lens of Joe Ganim’s successful comeback campaign last year was a dangerous one, plagued by homicides and non-fatal gunplay that required stronger executive leadership.
>But dangerous enough that the returned mayor needs a seasoned city detective with 22 years on the force, earning over $77,000, assigned to his office–and at the wheel of his car?
Ganim was known to have a police officer as a driver when he last served as chief executive from 1991 to 2003. In fact one of the men to serve in that role–Armando Perez, now head of detectives–remains a close confidant of Ganim’s.
Successors John Fabrizi and Bill Finch, the latter whom Ganim ousted last year, would sometimes use drivers, but not as frequently as Ganim.
Full story here.
Ganim does not need to spend $77,000 not counting OT for a detective to drive him around. Is he crippled? Are his arms broken? Last time he had a driver he used him to go around to liquor stores to get free cases of wine. Enough already.
I know what is written below but I think it is a good illustration of some of the dumb asses Ganim has hired.
The following is from Danny Roach, a mayoral aide and former police commissioner: It’s been a bad situation in the department for a long time,” Roach said. “Once this whole situation is resolved, hopefully the department will run the way it has in the past, without the politics, and with the right people, without interference and any other unnecessary distractions.” Roach you dumb ass, you were part of the problem and still are.
Andy, Danny Roach is not part of any problem, and he works himself to exhaustion in this position. Ramon Garcia is an exceptional police professional and I hope he continues to drive our Mayor. Stop being penny-wise and pound-foolish. All Mayors have had drivers, so stop the BS, I served with five of them, I know. You’re a smart man, even when I don’t agree with you, but stop criticizing everything just for the sake of doing so.
Oh poor Lisa, one of her friends is being brought to task. Let’s start with Roach. Danny Roach never overworked in his life. His biggest problem is pushing away from the table. Maybe you could teach him how.
Lisa, do I have to remind you Roach was part of the police commission for the last five years?
Roach has the nerve to say this to a reporter:
“It’s been a bad situation in the department for a long time,” Roach said. “Once this whole situation is resolved, hopefully the department will run the way it has in the past, without the politics, and with the right people, without interference and any other unnecessary distractions.” You get it yet, Lisa? Read the statement he made. Roach was in a position to bring things forward but he and the other commissioners said nothing. Do you get that? Nothing.
No Lisa, not all the mayors had full-time police drivers. Hasn’t your friend Danny told you we are short 100 officers so do we need one in the mayor’s office? We have ex-chief Chapman working there for 12K a month, let him drive the mayor. Everything I have posted vis-à-vis Ganim has been the truth backed up with proof. You don’t like it, so be it. I will continue posting facts about these people. BTW, Roach gets a hefty salary for what he does. He should work hard, Lisa, it’s not the voter registration office.
It’s like someone blaming your wife only when she was on her commission, when in fact there were other members on.
You’re such a dumb ass. “Everything I have posted vis-à-vis Ganim has been the truth backed up with proof. You don’t like it, so be it. I will continue posting facts about these people.”
All you just did is repeat/copy and paste/plagiarize what the CT Post articles state and a bit of your opinions. Have you heard or read what has been said about opinions? Opinions are like assholes (you), we all have one. Based on all this I can state: Opinions are like Andrew C Fardy, we all have one.
Joel, you are a useless asshole. Cut off another finger, jerk.
And let’s not forget Ed Adams. Attorney. Former FBI Agent. Mayor’s Aid. $90k a year. What’s up with that? So far I have seen where he is supposed to be assisting in setting up a financial transparency portal. That seems right up his career skills. Maybe he can drive the mayor around.
I am sure there is someone in the mayor’s office who can do it. Let’s allow the cop assigned to go back to the DB and take off his Driving Miss Daisy outfit.
Honey, visualize this:
Look Andy (his entire family standing by). I’m gonna do you and your family a favor and get that head out of your ass. Just stand still right there. Andy’s head is turned back and into his ass. Let me put some Honey on my boot. Did you hear me, Andy? If yes, raise your right hand. Good, you heard me. Boot straight to Andy’s nuts (if he has any, that is). Boot sinks in about four inches and Andy and I are face to face. Nasty! Hey Fardy Family, get that firehose outside the house and hose that ugly face down. Don’t worry about the bill, OIBamacare has him covered.
Listen you little Puerto Rican goat fucker, any time you want to fuck with me stop by, I am listed in the phone book.
You are that goat, getting it slowly.
Joel is Boricua and he gets to be more American than many others by way of the “discovery” of this great nation.
Andy. You’re a racist piece of crap. You called Mackey a racist term and now this. You are a sad old racist scumbag and should be banned from posting on this site.
OH AND YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DECIDES, A PERSON WITH NO BALLS WHO POSTS WITH A FAKE NAME. GROW UP.
Phantom, we’re getting to crazy Andy, his posts are becoming more bizarre than usual. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we read he had a heart attack or stroke while posting his nonsense?
Well Lisa, I was waiting for you to get sober and show people what you are really like. So now you think it would be amazing if I had a heart attack or a stroke while posting on OIB. Lisa, you are a low-life bitch to wish that on anyone. You must be desperate. Lisa, face facts. You are an old bitch trying to win an argument with someone of superior intelligence. Lisa, stick to talking to Joel and Phantom and Godiva.
Boy this has to be a first for OIB, a person wishing another person has a stroke or heart attack.
Let’s all take a deep breath and chill for a bit, okay?
No problem, Lennie.
Phonebook? Those things still exist? I’ve posted stuff on OIB via my cell phone while parked near your house.
Fardy, really??? If I didn’t read this with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe you actually went as far as to post a comment like this.
Godiva, don’t pay any attention to him, no one does. He’s just a lonely old man, and he really is crazy, which is why most bloggers ignore him or engage him just for sport. I’m surprised Lennie posts his insane comments, they serve no purpose, can’t be considered an opinion, and are offensive. But Lennie’s the boss. Crazy Andy degrades the blog and its intent.
Lisa, I would think you should look up the word slander and carefully read the definition.
You can’t read, someone had to read it to you.
Hey bitch, don’t use my line–Driving Miss Daisy–again.
Fardy you dumb SOB, it’s you who should be looking in a dictionary. If you want to expand your legal vocabulary, start here: slander is the spoken word vs. libel, which is the written word. 99% of your postings can legally be considered libelous.
Here sweetie is something you can spend the day trying to comprehend:
SLANDER, torts. The defaming a man in his reputation by speaking or writing words which affect his life, office, or trade, or which tend to his loss of preferment in marriage or service, or in his inheritance, or which occasion any other particular damage. Law of Nisi Prius, 3. In England, if slander be spoken of a peer, or other great man, it is called Scandalum Magnatum. Falsity and malice are ingredients of slander. Bac. Abr. Slander. Written or printed slanders are libels; see that word.
“SLANDER, torts. The defaming a man in his reputation by speak …”
Andy, you are not a man.
Joel, please go back to your mop.
Fardy, what are you quoting, you moron, the Magna Carta? You are probably old enough to have read it. Sad you have so much time on your hands, you actually spent time researching this with reference to England eons ago! Nisi Prius? Again, libel has to be SEEN (e.g. written word), slander is VERBAL, spoken. Both are torts, please read this when you are sober enough to comprehend it. Just curious, where did you get your law degree?
I worked at the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.
OK, you guys are kicking my ass, I give up!
There’s one point/fact missing here. Joe Ganim is a convicted felon and as such can’t possess a firearm to defend himself. He can’t even wear a bulletproof vest under CT State Statute. I grew up with and around Mr. Barr’s old stomping grounds. He has issues and is highly capable of a sneak attack. Picture him disguised as a woman by all means.
There’s a heavy price to pay when anyone dares to come to OIB and kick my dear friend Lisa Honey Parziale.
What’s the price?
Free, OIBamacare has you covered.
If I ever hear or read you say “I give up” again, I will be left with no other choice than to throw a hand grenade at you. No “yellow” soldiers allowed in this political war. What color were Bill Finch’s lawn signs? “Yellow” is a term used for soldiers who panic or refuse to fight when in battle.
You don’t have an ass.
Awww Joel, chivalry is not dead. You could take those bullies, chew them up and spit them out, physically and mentally. But then my friend, you know I can also, I’m just not in the mood today to indulge them. I’m waiting for my Broncos to play, Yaaay Peyton!
Bullies, my ass. Joel can’t chew anything, he has no teeth, and Lisa, neither do you.
That’s funny.
Andy, I didn’t wish a heart attack or stroke on you, I just said it would be amazing if it happened while you were blogging nonsense. I stick with my comment, the only problem is if it did happen you wouldn’t be around for me to say “I knew it.” Or maybe you would be, sitting around counting your fingers and babbling. Take your choice, you never know!
Come on Lisa, you can do better than this. Now I am going to ruin your day. About nine months ago I had the heart attack you wished for. I also had a heart operation done by a robot. I also have a pacemaker and defibrillator. My group of heart doctors say I am good for another 20 years. So let me see, 20 years from now would make you 100. We can have a drink to the occasion. HA HA! BTW, was Olson your prom date?
Shit, you survived that one. Be careful, heart attacks happen again. Have you noticed in your frenzy of silliness, I have not had to said one personal thing about you, just that you’re crazy, and you know everyone agrees with that. So keep your blood pressure up, and you may prove your doctor wrong (smile).
Not a chance, Lisa. I am tested every week so all on the blog will be lucky to read my words of wisdom for a long time to come.
Trouble changing your Depends?
Oh I forgot to mention them, you’d be wearing them as you sit strapped to a chair.
A lot can happen between those weekly visits. Poor thing, it’s probably the only time you get out.
You a Broncos fan? Learn something new every day.
I’m going with Carolina. It’s my wife’s name, my late son told me that was a team to be reckoned with. The coach is of P.R. and Mexican descent, the QB is African American. If they win, they go in the NFL History Book as a first like Joe Ganim and team Ganim did in the Democratic Primary.
I know they’re a good team, Joel. Well if the Broncos lose I won’t feel so bad because your team will win. Poor Andy Joel, do you think he has a life with any joy in it, he’s so pathetically miserable all the time. I feel sorry for him. If the blog ever stopped, he’d be left counting his fingers all day and babbling to himself. The real sad thing about him is he has a great wife, she’s pretty, smart and sweet and for some reason she chose him. Maybe he has something redeeming we haven’t seen yet. Enjoy the game!!!
The really sad part was when his big ego led to Maria Pereira cutting off Andy and his wife at the polls due to his stupid posting attacking Maria of all people at such time. His wife was one of the victims of his stupidity. He has nothing to lose now so he attacks all and any he feels like.
Joel, Maria is being investigated by the SS office. Maria of all people? Are you kidding me or just showing your dumber side?
Woohoo Broncos. Joel, Newton’s got a SuperBowl in the near future, the guy’s a machine.
My most favorite match is New England (my team) vs Broncos. Pittsburgh under Terry Bradshaw was my favorite in my younger years. During the halftime show I put on my wife’s high heels and danced like Beyoncé in front of the TV as my wife watched me being silly. Congrats to the Broncos and their true fans. I knew they were the better team.
Joel, that had to be funny to watch. I keep wishing Peyton’s going to push it for another year, but he’s such a pro and practical, I know he won’t. He plays smart. I stayed glued to the screen when he played.
Lisa, put the beer away, sober up and try to think logically. I point out things that are wrong in this city and you get upset because you are in the ass-kissing mode. Too bad an old broad like you is still looking for a job. Lisa, try the senior center run by Rose, they need an old lady at the door.
There is joy in it Lisa, like the $2,000 I won betting the Broncos. Lisa, when it comes to losers like you I have no redeeming value.
Lisa you are right, because if I depended on people like you for intelligent conversation I might as well talk to my Rottie.
Poor Andy, I challenge anyone on this blog to deny his insanity. He’s crazy, and so sad.
Lisa, YOU ARE STILL DUMBER THAN A STUMP. ONE WOULD THINK IN 50 YEARS AND WITH RUNNING A JUNKYARD YOU WOULD HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING. GUESS NOT.
Lisa, have you got your broom flying yet?
Fardy you miserable SOB, why don’t you talk to your dog instead of posting your venom here? Seems like most intelligent people aren’t really interested in your hateful racist and bigoted remarks.
I do talk to my Rottie and she definitely makes more sense than you do. You see, my Rottie has something you and a few bloggers do not and that is a brain. I could give a shit less what the bullshit artists on this blog care or say.
Let me ask you, over the past number of years what have you done to help the minority community?
Let me tell you just one thing my wife and I did. We started a baseball league for 13-16 year-olds and 90% of our players were minority. We did this with our own money and our blood sweat and tears. Want to see the field, go to Asylum Street and look at the lower major league size field. We built that with our money and my wife umped the first game from behind the pitcher.
How much overtime are we paying for someone to do the detective’s regular job?
Phil, take a break and watch the football game.
Lisa, look at that shrapnel/bulletproof vest on the Carolina QB. As soon as he missed the two open men at the start, I knew where the game was going. Young QB afraid to take hits like a man. If I were the coach I would have called a time out and ripped that shit off and sent him out there.
Did you read about the BPD promotions that were handed out recently? Finch/Gaudett were sitting on the list. Had Finch won, I’d say they would have sat on the list ’til it expired.
Phil Smith, this post and the one above waere meant to answer your question. The recent promotion allowed some shifting in personnel of Detective Bureau, it’s hard or impossible to calculate OT for detective Garcia’s cover. If he or she is working on a case in which there still isn’t sufficient facts to get a judge to sign a warrant for example he or she may have to put that file or case aside and do something else. If a shooting happens in the middle of the work and this detective has to assist in the shooting, he has to drop what he/she is doing and go. There are priorities given to calls and cases. I don’t know if you read my posting about two complaints I filed against Carmen Colon, Giancarlo Amado and Uncle Juni. They were going to get arrested and since I know how busy they are I told the Detective given the file to let it sit and move on to another more serious and important case. Karma will handle it.
Ahem, and now we turn away from the Super Bowl and back to the subject of Lennie’s post.
“Does the mayor need a wheel man?” Lennie asks in the title of this post. My answer: Absolutely.
I can’t imagine anyone more prone to distracted driving than the mayor of a large city. Every block, every structure, and every person is potentially the responsibility of the mayor. It would be hard to drive 100 yards without being triggered by something seen or heard–a broken curb, a pothole, a trash can overflowing in a park, a siren–and not think, “I have to do something about that.”
Add to that the 24/7 nature of mobile communications and we have a recipe for a leader who cannot keep her or his eyes on the road and his or her concentration on driving.
A distracted driving mayor is a danger to other people as well as to herself or himself.
Then there’s the problem of being recognized and accosted, sometimes rudely or dangerously.
Moreover, Bridgeport and many other older cities have many narrow streets that require an even greater level of driver concentration.
Finally, there’s the advantage of time efficiency gained by a mayor who can make phone calls, make notes, or just ponder while in the car.
Can the latter make a difference? You bet!
The late Mayor William Donald Schaefer of Baltimore (1921-2011) was famous for taking notes on just about anything he could spot while driving through Baltimore and passing the notes to his department heads for action during his 16-year mayoralty (1971-1987, followed by a term as Maryland governor). It was a habit that contributed to his reputation. Several people have written about the experience of driving Mayor Schaefer.
Here’s what a colleague, former Baltimore city planner and former Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, wrote last year about Schaefer in the “City Accelerator” blog of Governing magazine:
“He was famous for driving around the city on weekends and making notes on multicolor, multipage paper of issues he felt needed attention. When he returned to work on Monday, the pages were separated and sent to departments for action with urgency. One special day he fired off one of his directives, stating there was ‘an abandoned automobile somewhere in Baltimore’ and he wanted it gone. That was it–no address, no other identifying information. Legend has it the wreckers ran all day and into the night. People say that never before or since have more abandoned vehicles been removed from Baltimore’s streets in such a short period of time.”
Schaefer was one of the great American mayors of our lifetime. If a Bridgeport mayor, freed from the concentration of driving, returned to the office daily with a list of just two or three disturbing problems he or she had personally spotted and a follow-up system to make sure the matters were addressed, it would not go unnoticed. In Baltimore, it became part of Mayor Schaefer’s mystique and his legacy.
[“Bringing Back ‘Baltimore is Best,'” in the “City Accelerator” blog of “Governing” Magazine, by Ron Littlefield, 22 June 2015.”]
Schaefer was a great devotee of MBWA.
www .enterprisemedia.com/content/misc/passionforexcellencedg.pdf
That was fun to read, with Mayor Schaefer just below Stew Leonard. For Mayor Schaefer, maybe the secret sauce was the car he rode in–a 1966 Oldsmobile! Kind of like the Pope in that tiny Fiat.
This is not your father’s Oldsmobile, but it was your mayor’s Oldsmobile! (Of course, serving 1971-87, a 1966 Olds seems more contemporary than it does today.)
The Oldsmobile lineup for 1966. Was Mayor Schaefer in a Cutlass or perhaps an Olds Ninety-Eight? If so, can we imagine the mayor riding in the back seat of the 1966 Olds Ninety-Eight? (Sans leather purse and long gloves.)
Why doesn’t Mayor Joe take the bus? Maybe then that system would get fixed too and it would get Lockhart off his case.
Lockhart get off his case? You don’t know Lockhart like I do. I followed all his articles when he was stationed in Hartford. He can dig dirt as good as I can, I just don’t have the resources and equipment like the CT Post has. Keep in mind the Finchees will tip him off about any potentially juicy or controversial matter known. What did you do to fix the bus system when you where on the council, Bob Halstead? Don’t do me like Bob Walsh and run from my question.
Joel. There are those who really like to keep a raw nerve open and that’s why he writes these articles. Generally recognized as a good investigative reporter, there is a time to move on.
On the transit front. I don’t know why you asked me this question.
Joel,
Brian Lockhart is the CT Post writer most often tasked with keeping Bridgeport readers informed. With the systemic flaws where the Charter, Ordinances and other rules or regulations are not followed to the letter, I cannot blame Brian for failing to report the number of things I can dig up without a press pass or presence. And I am not as certain as you are about what side of the last mayoral race he settled on. Both of the top runners got a lot of publicity, didn’t they?
Who are the “finchees” who “will tip him off about any potentially juicy or controversial matter known?” Are they still a part of the public transitioning to G2 reformation? Brian heard about the City Council use of nearly $30,000 of public funds, unbudgeted for charitable and political purpose in 2013 yet distributed by 15 then-Council persons. Did he ever write about this embarrassing and illegal moment in Council history? Fast forward to January 2015 where a new Council approved $2 Million for new police vehicles that have a 3-5 year lifetime (depreciation period). When they are bonded it means they are funded over 20 years and not 5 years. If you are able to borrow at 3% per annum for example, it means though you are only paying the same $2 Million for the cars, you are unnecessarily spending an extra $800,000 of interest for the transaction. Any other bright ideas that might be questioned by a suburban Finance Board? Trying to be fair-minded raising one fiscal issue of many from the Finch years and another recent one from G2. Time will tell.
What Mayor Joe Ganim is really going to need are thousands of Wheel Barrows. To clean up and haul away the overall shitty mess left by the Bill Finch Machine.
In a word: yes. Does it need to be a cop? In my opinion: no. Should it be someone who puts the Mayor’s life before his own: yes.
To fit that definition, IMHO, would require a police officer or firefighter. I would say these are really the only employees of the City of Bridgeport who put their lives on the line as part of the job. So I would support a police driver for the Mayor of the City Of Bridgeport in the performance of the Mayor’s job. HOWEVER, whoever is the driver CAN and SHOULD be managed so NO OVERTIME is involved. Why does it have to a Detective? It can be any police officer or draw from a pool of officers. Again, NO OVERTIME.
Whatever rank of a police officer who fills that position, they will be the lowest paid person of that rank. Now is that fair?
Frank, the no overtime makes sense. And I’m glad to hear you realize it should be someone trained to do so.
Zena, if not a trained, properly equipped person to protect the Mayor in these more than usual times in Bridgeport, why would a lay person be expected to put his life before the Mayor’s? Someone with who doesn’t possess the skills to do this without literally putting his life or those around them on the line? Answer please.
McCarthy’s a good driver.
Finch used not one, but two cops on overtime to drive him to events. He in turn could sip adult beverages with his wife. Apples and oranges. Although Andy is a racist clown (check his post above and his posts about Ron Mackey on another topic), I’m sure he’d agree this should not have happened.
Phantom. Hi sweetie, how are you doing?
The most pertinent question is not “Does the mayor need a wheelman?” It is “Who gives a rat’s ass?!”
*** Maybe having the driver on call depending on where the Mayor may be heading I can understand but not 40 hours plus a week at a detective’s pay rate per hour, it’s not financially feasible to the taxpayers! To save city money at one end only to turn around and spend twice the amount at another end is not smart, sound political savings for the city as a whole. ***
Many things of the Ganim Administration seem to be the same-old, same-old. This idea of ONE DETECTIVE being the driver is just a BAD IDEA.
You know, a lot of corporate executives have contracts with limo firms and call for drivers only when they need them. Ganim doesn’t need a full-time officer assigned as a driver. Three-quarters of the time he needs to go somewhere, he should drive himself. When he legitimately needs a driver he should pick up the phone and call a limo company. This city really needs to start thinking of ways to spend more wisely and to pad the wallets of cronies less.
As to Lisa Parziale’s comment that the mayor needs a properly trained, gun-toting driver to protect him from his constituents, this isn’t exactly Afghanistan after all. The only people Ganim has to worry about are Bill Finch and Joe Gaudett … and maybe Rick Torres … and Mary-Jane Foster … oh, and probably Andy Fardy … and … well, now that I think about it, there really are a lot of people gunning for Ganim! Maybe it would be safer if he just left town. Just a thought!