Mayor Joe Ganim is resurrecting charges made by two prior opponents of Ned Lamont, the Democratic-endorsed candidate for governor, centered on layoffs at his cable television company back in the day. “He should produce the records,” says Ganim. “That’s like me saying I don’t have a felony conviction.” Leave it to Joe to spin a conviction into a credential.
Dan Haar, from Hearst Connecticut Media, shares background on this as well as how Ned got his start in the business: an MTV tip.
Lamont Digital and other investors sold off the Gatehouse projects in pieces. But did Lamont lay off two-thirds of his staff, more than 75 people, while taking a salary of more than $500,000? That was a charge from Lieberman. A New York Times story in August, 2006, left the question open.
Now Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is reviving the charge. Like Lamont’s previous opponents in Democratic primaries–including Dannel P. Malloy, who won the nomination and the governor’s seat in 2010–he’s saying it cuts to broader issues about Lamont’s character and the sources of his wealth in his self-funded campaigns.
Lamont, 64, who lives in Greenwich, says in fact, there were only a few layoffs of executives. “All the front-line guys kept their jobs, many of them moved on to the new employers.”
“He should produce the records,” Ganim said. “That’s like me saying I don’t have a felony conviction.”
Full story here.
Thank you Joe Ganim because you have now open the door into your past.
THE NEW TIMES
“Federal Judge Sentences Former Mayor of Bridgeport to 9 Years in Corruption Case”
By ALISON LEIGH COWANJULY 2, 2003
Calling Joseph P. Ganim’s crimes the ”stuff that cynicism is made of,” a federal judge today sentenced Mr. Ganim, the former mayor of Bridgeport, to nine years in prison for systematically using his office to enrich himself.
The sentence was at the top of what the federal sentencing guidelines provide. Prosecutors had asked the judge for a sentence as high as 10 years and a month, while the defense had argued for a sentence of no more than 3 years and 10 months.
But the judge, Janet Bond Arterton of Federal District Court, rejected defense arguments that she should consider Mr. Ganim’s accomplishments and the many testimonials filed with the court, including one from Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York, as well as his crimes.
”There is no excuse for corruption,” Judge Arterton said.
Calling abuse of office ”a terrible crime,” she said it eroded confidence in government and undermined democracy at a time developing countries were looking to the United States as ”a beacon.”
Mr. Ganim, 43, was mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city, for 12 years before stepping down last spring and a leader in the state’s Democratic Party. On March 19, he was convicted of 16 counts of criminal misconduct, including racketeering, extortion, bribery, tax evasion and mail fraud. He was accused of awarding city contracts to favored friends and suppliers, who returned some of the proceeds to him in cash and favors, including clothing, wine and home improvements.
I wan’t my MTV !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZSWdh17l0
I like Ned Lamont, he has class.
No Joe Ganim, it’s like saying you were ever contrite.
It looks like Joe Ganim is willing,ready and able to rip apart the State of Connecticut Democratic Party. The result will be a Republican Governor which means poop on BPT. Ganim will not stop at anything on his maniacal gubernatorial bid. I hope that the rest of CT Democrats remember what Ganim is doing.
The last “best” Governor for Bridgeport was Lowell Weicker. Another Greenwich scion.
Joe is resurrecting charges made by Malloy and Lieberman in past elections without adding any more to the story? Let’s think about that…..when expenses exceed revenues, and you need to balance the fiscal year, whether you are private or public, one way to do the math is to cut expenses. If employees are a significant expense they may find themselves “laid off”. What was the context of the Lamont layoffs? He has claimed that his human relations benefits satisfied his employees and no story has provided former employee testimony of the type of action that predatory investors sometime perform in preparing a company for sale. It was his baby after all. And there is a point where added money invested does not make good sense.
In the public sphere, hasn’t Ganim used layoffs, forced time off, etc. as methods of making his expenses skinny, and thus balancing his budgets? And he asked you and me to invest more in his budget balancing another year without providing the type of info he asks of Lamont. Phony? He is a master of a nuanced half-truth at best.
How many political operatives, moving around the state promoting Ganim2, are on the City payroll? What do their time cards look like? Are they using City vehicles? Where is Accountability Central who can explain why one employee of Department of Aging or is she working for Public Works, appears in so many OIB photos to assist the viewing public in sensing Ganim2 commitment to people of color? Does Ed Adams handle that role for this administration? Time will tell.
“That’s like me saying I don’t have a felony conviction.”
Yet, Ganim has never admitted guilt for the felony crimes he was convicted of.
Whatever. Ganim is just looking for dirt. He ought to be more discreet. Start slinging mud now and it will come back as a series of political advertisements and news stories about his less than honest past.
Joe is desperate now,what he’s doing doesn’t make sense.Don’t get me wrong,I love seeing him implode though.