Ganim Issues Government Platform

Democratic mayoral nominee Joe Ganim on Friday released a position paper on taxes, public safety, economic development, education, environment and government transparency.

From the Ganim campaign:

The Joe Ganim Issues platform is the most comprehensive set of initiatives of any candidate for Mayor. This platform will improve municipal government and solve Bridgeport’s worst problems. These programs and policies will address municipal needs and bring a fiscally responsible, safer, vibrant Bridgeport.

“I believe in Bridgeport and we will work tirelessly to accomplish every one of these goals to improve Bridgeport’s quality of life and manage effective government,” said Ganim. “This summary provides citizens with the essentials of my Ganim Plan.” The Ganim Plan is the only announced platform with specific goals and commitments to make our safer city, provide more job employment opportunities and real efforts to reduce the citizen tax burden.
I. Tax Relief and Revenue Generation and Fiscal policy:

· TAX RELIEF – Expand senior tax relief and hold the line on taxes. Joe is the only candidate who has an actual proven record delivering such results. Joe will take office and immediately conduct a budget review to reduce unnecessary spending and to eliminate unnecessary patronage positions.

· REVENUE GENERATION – Joe issued major statements supporting and vowing to seek new grants for Bridgeport, including fighting to secure a $39 million flood protection federal grant program for the South End. Joe has the most successful record in Bridgeport history at obtaining and attracting federal and state grants for city needs.

· FISCAL POLICY – Joe has announced he will create a Citizen Financial Advisory Committee to work with city finance officials to explore and review ways to generate resident-homeowner tax relief and to find cost savings in the budget. Members of this Committee will include representatives of government, business, on a bi-partisan basis with members from both major political parties.

II. Public Safety:

· ONE-HUNDRED OFFICER INITIATIVE – Joe has committed to re-establish a fully-staffed, modernized police department by hiring and training one hundred new patrol officers within the coming term to address resurgent violence and gang-related crime

· COMMUNITY POLICING – Joe vows to re-establish effective community-policing and neighborhood patrols that effectively tamed the unchecked violence of the early ’90s.

· FIRE SAFETY – Joe is determined to ensure Bridgeport’s fire fighters have the best of equipment and vehicles and all tools and resources needed to protect property and fight fires.

III. Jobs And Economic Development Goals

· UNDERSERVED NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: There is a dire need in Bridgeport to create thousands of living wage jobs for Bridgeporters. Joe has committed to give proper support Bridgeport small businesses. Joe Ganim has released a specific five point Plan for creating Jobs and bringing/expanding small businesses to Underserved Neighborhoods (attached).

· PROPER MARKETING OF BRIDGEPORT – Joe will: 1) leverage our electoral delegation to lobby the state and federal levels to obtain grant funding for job programs, economic development, and fire/police grants; 2) create better job training programs to enable residents to seek living-wage jobs. Joe will properly position the marketing of Bridgeport and eliminate frivolous marketing programs.

· UTILIZING OUR VALUABLE CITY ASSETS: The Ganim Administration will evaluate city owned assets to seek to leverage the economic value of certain sites. Joe will work with private industry to revitalize industrial sites along critically-located land-transportation links. Joe will team with Bridgeport’s world-class universities, including the University of Bridgeport, Housatonic College, Sacred Heart University, and St. Vincent’s Nursing, along with area non-profit institutions to attract service employers, light industry manufacturers, and high tech businesses to come to Bridgeport.

· CAN-DO PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE – The Ganim Economic Development Plan (as with other components of the Ganim Plan) will be pursued with a can-do attitude and with competent managers to relentlessly knock on the doors of the corporate leaders of the high-tech sectors, academia, the financial industry, et al., to create the essential components of a Bridgeport economic resurgence.

IV. Education

· FIGHTING FOR EQUITABLE FUNDING – Joe Ganim has stated he will fight for adequate state funding for city schools and has committed to provide adequate MBR funding for the district. Joe has committed to never divert school resources to the city.

· EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS – Joe Ganim has committed to working cooperatively, from day one, with Bridgeport education stakeholders. He will work collegially with the Board of Education and top administrators and reach out to teachers and parents for input. Joe wants to see the best of ideas for the city public education system.

· PRE-SCHOOL and AFTER SCHOOL – Joe Ganim has called for completing universal pre-Kindergarten in city schools. Joe commits to expand and help after school non-profit youth recreation centers, so that the dormant youth center in the North End is reopened and other clubs are rejuvenated. Joe will champion positive programs that reduce risky behavior.

· REDUCE CLASS SIZE – Joe will work with the Board of Education to seek ways to reduce class size in the district. Joe will seek to implement city-school initiatives to reduce the school drop-out rate to help vulnerable families and students in need of support services.

V. Environment

· OPEN-SPACE SURVEY — The Ganim Administration will undertake a complete inventory of all city open spaces and parks with a goal of evaluating and increasing land available for natural habitat, wetland preservation, coastal preservation, and Bridgeport open space and park needs.

· ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT — High on the list of Ganim Administration priorities will be air, land, and water-quality audits of the Bridgeport environment toward the end of the determination of necessary changes, in regard to city and private-sector infrastructure/operations policy (e.g. power-plant operations; city waste-handling, and biodiversity projects) for a healthy Bridgeport.

VI. Administration:
· OPEN TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT – Joe Ganim has vowed to make the Mayor’s office and city departments more accessible to citizen. Joe has committed to adhering to Freedom of Information rules so often violated the last several years.

· OFFICE OF PUBLIC INTEGRITY/ETHICS COMMISSION CHANGES – The Ganim Administration will establish an Office of Public Integrity designed to maintain accountability of Bridgeport’s elected and appointed officials and to ensure an open honest government which serves the people properly while restoring their faith in City Hall. This office will be created with independence, under the auspices of judicial and independent officials to the extent allowed. Joe will strengthen the Ethics Commission and its duties based on recommendations by the Office of Public Integrity.