Ganim Officially Enters Race For Mayor, Claims Lessons Learned

Saying he “learned some very tough lessons” from his conviction on federal corruption charges in 2003, former Mayor Joe Ganim has officially entered the race for the city’s top position filing a candidate committee on Tuesday after raising more than $50,000 in one night in an exploratory phase two weeks ago. Ganim plans a formal announcement next Thursday at the German Club on the East Side.

Ganim is challenging well-financed incumbent Democrat Bill Finch in a September primary. Finch’s 2011 primary opponent Mary-Jane Foster, school board member Howard Gardner and multiple candidate Charlie Coviello are also in the race.

Ganim’s campaign battle cry is “building a Bridgeport that works for every citizen and every neighborhood.”

The former mayor issued a news release Wednesday morning about his plans.

“This election is about how we give every Bridgeport resident a chance for a better life. I believe Bridgeport deserves a Mayor focused on creating jobs, lowering taxes, improving schools, revitalizing neighborhoods, and creating a Bridgeport that works for everyone,” said Ganim in the release.

“Now some may want this election to be about the past—-but I know the people of Bridgeport want this election to be about them–their future–and about electing the candidate with the vision and ideas to build a stronger and better Bridgeport,” said Ganim. “After listening to residents throughout the city, I am humbled by the overwhelming favorable reaction. I will work tirelessly to make our streets safer and cleaner and find ways to reduce the tax burden on homeowners. I will drive the dramatic reform necessary for government to work better for every neighborhood.”

While Ganim wants to keep the focus on the present and future, Finch’s political operation will certainly do its part to remind voters of details that led to Ganim’s federal corruption conviction March 19, 2003, ironically St. Joseph’s Day.

Ganim resigned from office the next month. He served about seven years of his nine-year sentence, released to a halfway house in the winter of 2010. Ganim spent most of the past several years living on the Ganim family compound in Easton while doing consulting work. He spent more than a decade challenging his federal conviction. Many legal observers believe his lack of contrition blocked the reinstatement of his law license.

The loss of his law license is a factor in Ganim trying to reclaim his old job. Divorced with three children, who’s going to pay Ganim an annual package worth $160,000 that’s accorded the mayor’s position?

Ganim announced weeks ago he’s renting an apartment on the city’s West Side from an official with D’Addario Industries for whom he has done consulting work.

In an East End church on New Year’s Day, Ganim made his first public admission that he violated the public trust, issuing an apology he has reiterated on several occasions across the city.

Ganim, just 32 years old, was elected mayor in November of 1991 defeating Republican Mary Moran who had placed the city into federal bankruptcy court five months prior claiming the city needed a fresh start from debt and union contracts. A federal judge ruled against the city when the state of Connecticut challenged the bankruptcy petition in court. Moran appealed the decision. The day after the November election Ganim met with Governor Lowell Weicker who told him, end the bankruptcy appeal and I’ll help you.

Weicker was true to his word: within the next year the city received much-needed financial breathing room starting 10 straight years of no tax increases. With Weicker’s leadership a new Housatonic Community College was built Downtown and a state police barracks relocated from Westport to Bridgeport at the corner of Lafayette and Prospect at a time the city was experiencing historic violent crime. With police staffing levels low, Ganim hired 100 new police officers in his first term.

Weicker helped the city remove the villainous illegal demolition debris Mount Trashmore from the East End, paid the city $10 million for the state taking over the zoo and Beardsley Park. The zoo was eventually deeded over to the Connecticut Zoological Society. Weicker’s gaming compact with two tribal nations also flushed the city with many millions more annually from slot revenues.

After the Weicker years, with John Rowland as governor, the ballpark at Harbor Yard, home to the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball team, was built followed by a 10,000-seat arena for which Webster Bank currently occupies naming rights.

By the late 1990s a sense of entitlement caught up to Ganim, a leading contender for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He was indicted on Halloween of 2001 for trading official acts for high-end wines, suits, trips, cash and home improvements.

Ganim says the jury got it right, a de facto admission he lied under oath. He also claims he’s a better person for misjudgments.

“I love the people of Bridgeport. We have been through a lot together–both highs and lows. I have learned some very tough lessons. But because of these experiences, I will be a better person and will be a better Mayor. Bridgeport has such great potential. Let’s create a stronger, more inclusive Bridgeport. Let’s find solutions to tough problems together. This is why I now ask our residents for their vote for Mayor this summer.”

Between now and the September primary city voters will have a lot to think about.