What a difference a year makes. Last year Joe Ganim was on his road to redemption, teeing up media interviews, publishing an op-ed piece, schmoozing pols, issuing public apologies, preparing for a full-blown comeback. Meanwhile Mayor Bill Finch was roasting Ganim at every turn declaring Ganim should find a job in outer space, proposing legislation to ban corrupt pols from public office, lining up business community leaders to echo the same. Finch acted like he was terrified to face a guy who did seven years in the joint. On St. Patrick’s Day 2015, Joe Ganim walked into Downtown bars and received standing ovations from the beered-up crowds. Ganim connected with voters in ways so alien to Finch.
Ganim today will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as mayor while Finch, employed by a Downtown architect, could very well be a parade spectator for what he called one of his favorite days of the year. It didn’t take much for Ganim to slip under Finch’s thin skin. Morning, noon and night Finch was more preoccupied with what Ganim was doing than persuading voters to give him another four-year contract. Finch was actually doing as much, if not more, to build up Joe than Ganim did for himself. Voters started wondering: why is Bill Finch afraid of Joe Ganim? And it was a scenario that played all spring and summer until Ganim turned Finch into a tasty piece of trivia in September, the first incumbent mayor in Bridgeport history to be defeated in a primary.
That standing ovation you just heard came from anti-Finch disciples. Irrespective of how JG2 turns out, for some voters, particularly African American electors, Ganim was a vehicle to take out a mayor who did not hear them, who promised them this and that and did not deliver, or when he actually had something that seemed like it could improve their lives like construction of the Steel Point redevelopment area, he never made the case in terms they understood.
Finch, the local Mr. Green Jeans, spoke often, and sometimes over them, about clean energy, green technology, the juxtaposition of the sun to solar panels in Seaside Park. Finch spoke of green but voters wanted to know about green in their pockets, or lack of. And Finch validated further that he was the green mayor, walking out of office with a retroactive pay raise and accumulated vacation time package worth $30,000.
Now that’s some green to remember on a green day.
Let me let you in on a secret, Lennie. Bill Finch (Mayor Green Jeans) feared Joe Ganim because he knew Joe Ganim had found a three-leaf-clover.
Complete and total bullshit.
Lennie–Great Analysis. And That’s No Blarney!
Notice how his standing ovation came from intoxicated citizens, and a vacation package and salary increase worth $30,000. I guess we know who’s paying for that!!!
Lennie, you wrote, “Irrespective of how JG2 turns out, for some voters, particularly African American electors, Ganim was a vehicle to take out a mayor who did not hear them, who promised them this and that and did not deliver.” Well based on Mayor Ganim’s second time around, the African American electors are no better off with him than they were with Finch. Let’s be real, what has Ganim done, he gives a few blacks a job in his administration and that’s it. Very disappointing, Mayor Ganim.
Ganim is like a duck out of water, he and his staff act like they don’t have a clue about what’s going on here.
1. Ganim hires a friend to a $75K job and then finds out he owes the city $50,000 in back taxes and has housing code violations.
2. His chief headhunter Gomes claims advanced educational degrees no one has seen.
3. Ganim fires the #1 Aide to Economic Director and then the director quits.
4. Promises Alma Maya a job in his administration and here we are over 100 days into Ganim’s term and no job but there is a management job for the wife of the ex mayor of West Haven.
5. Maybe Joe can find out who the two council people are who live in West Haven. When I find out we will all know then we can see what Joe’s excuse is.
6. Invites a lawsuit when he fires the health director who is a female and who is black and who is qualified, so why? I don’t want to hear Warren Blount.
7. Where are the added degrees John Gomes has that no one has seen? Do they exist?
Have a nice weekend, Joe.
Andy, wait a minute, you’re saying Alma Maya has not been hired by Mayor Ganim, you have to be joking. It seems like Ganim has a problem with women of color, no position for Alma, he just fired the Director of Health and Social Service, Kristin Horton, a black female and in (G1) Ganim’s first time as mayor he fired Roz Hamilton a black female who held the same position as Ms. Horton. All three of these women have advanced educational degrees. Something is not right.
Ron, as of when I wrote that article Alma Maya has not been hired as promised by the city. Her statement was she was going to have to look elsewhere for work.
Between Finch and Ganim you have to wonder why they are afraid of women. It is rumored Rina Bakalar will be hired to replace Gomes.
Yeah, it’s called racism and anti-feminism.
Joe Ganim is nothing but Hot Air, promising and promising but doesn’t keep his word. There’s a page on Facebook (DOB 411) where it shows Joe Ganim saying on Channel 12 news once elected he’s going to work shoulder to shoulder with Success Village. By recruiting the president of Success Village who lost the run for the DTC under Anthony Paoletto trying to take control of JFK in the 138th district, just shows how dirty the intentions are in the Joe Ganim Administration. Check out the page (DOB 411) on Facebook. Ron Mackey is there any way I can contact you?
Please be sure to read his reviews. You’ll see how one-sided he keeps his page.
*** Did anyone see Mr. Green-Jeans on his favorite day of the year in his beloved Bpt? *** WHOOP ***