Bridgeport’s lightning rod mayoral race is being documented in real time by filmmaker Don Sikorski who’s launching the series City Wars that chronicles the issues and personalities that “drive the engine of any city.” OIB is premiering the first episode here. Sikorski can be reached at aroadlessdev@gmail.com.
“I have always wanted to tell the story of what drives a diverse American City,” says Sikorski whose film credits include The Infiltrator starring Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and the Marines documentary Article 32.
“When I looked at the race for the mayor of Bridgeport I saw a narrative that had many layers. I want to examine crime, law enforcement, economic development and how City Hall and public leaders move policy and how that trickles down to the average American and the inner-city.”
The series opener focuses on the race for mayor pitting former Mayor Joe Ganim against incumbent Bill Finch. Ganim is seeking a comeback following his 2003 conviction on corruption charges. The series opener also focuses on Bridgeport’s public safety issues. Sikorski has filmed Ganim on a regular basis and was in the city Thursday as the city heard the horrific news of nine people shot, one dead, in a spray of bullets at the Trumbull Gardens housing project.
Sikorski, a resident of Norwalk, says City Wars will be told in real-time via social media and online with episodes released weekly at www.gotoground.com.
City Wars will be embedded in various parts of the United States, and tell groundbreaking narratives on crime, law enforcement, politics, immigration, economic development, and other tales that drive the engine of any city.
“The news will be investigative in nature and character driven,” says Sikorski. “The ethos of City Wars is to go deeper than the main stream in understanding how we govern and adapt to a changing, political and economic climate.”
Bridgeport sequences of City Wars will be released on a regular basis in the coming weeks.
Told through the lens of this heated, political battle, City Wars will reveal how a city is run, and how an election can shape the candidates and electorate, says Sikorski.
Why doesn’t this show Black Rock, North End, upper East Side where there are nice neighborhoods with working people unlike the slums shown here??? Finch needs to go, though! So many cars have boots on them on my street you would think he would slow it down. As far as Ganim goes I doubt he cares for Bpt he was living in Easton and only wants to become mayor of Bridgeport so he can have a $100k-plus a year job. After reviewing a lot of Foster press releases she seems like a liberal feminist and I would not vote for somebody like that. I’m taking a hard look at Howard Gardner.
I know a few people who are supporting Gardner.
Interesting about City Wars. I just emailed Don S about Howard Gardner and donj posted the first comment during the moments I used to locate an email address for Sikorski. Maybe Lennie will share a better email for him than what I found. OIB readers watch for news from Howard coming for your reading pleasure very soon. Finch and Ganim exploit events. Howard does not, but he does have an oar in the water.
Gail, thanks for reminder. Don Sikorski email aroadlessdev@gmail.com.
The video looks like a Joe Ganim love story. Btw donj, the embarrassing photos are really a testament to the 12 years Ganim spent in office during the best of times and his inability to attract development. You will be seeing many positive pieces coming from Finch but even Bridgeport Hospital another Bridgeport success have been flooding cable with very positive commercials that make us proud.
Interesting campaign strategy. #wishIthoughtofthis!
A brilliant strategy! Didn’t you know Ganim has the best publicist in the country reinventing him? Totally Brilliant. The people begged me to run, I had no choice. Well Thank you, Joe Ganim. The people spoke and you listened. You are amaaaaaazing! My eyes are open and now I see said the ignorant of Bridgeport!
This is pretty clearly a Ganim campaign fluff piece, why isn’t it advertised as such?
I wonder how much this fluff cost his father.
I can fully understand why a filmmaker would would want to do an objective documentary on this year’s mayoral race.
But Mr. Sikorki, “City Wars” (from what I’ve seen so far) is not only not objective, it is clearly a glorification of Joe Ganim. So please sir, “don’t pee on my leg and then tell me it’s raining.”
I think the video is awful and depressing. To be honest. I think Joe deserves a more realistic documentary that will reach a much larger audience throughout Fairfield county. I think Mayor Finch is the only candidate who can afford to produce a realistic depiction starting with the trials and tribulations of Mayor Fabrizi. I think the highlights of a non-apologetic Mayor who for 10 years denied his corruption. I think a focus on the Steelpointe Ganim had and ripped off the developer asking for $500,000 for his gubernatorial campaign to the lawsuits. We should focus on just how did a Mayor screw a city, not raise taxes when he received the keys to the kingdom of a bankrupt city. I think Moran should be interviewed and acknowledge how her support of Rowland, another thief of a politician going to jail again, screwed her by Governor Lowell Weicker who funneled money to Bridgeport, allowed Joe to not raise taxes and the ability to keep his pay-to-play scam alive over three election cycles. People are forgiving. They are not foolish and the comeback city will be Mayor Finch’s story to tell.
Steve, I am perplexed by the following. You support UB and every time there is an event there you write you believe Finch will show, and when he does not, you write how wrong he is. You write a 15-year tax abatement is reasonable, yet Finch has pressured the council to give up to 60-year abatements. It seems the only good thing going for this mayor is Steel Point, a development with all the tax structures will not give this city a dime for at least 20 years. Yes, you argue it is better than nothing, but is it really the crowd-drawing destination? If Steelpoint is your only reason to support Finch, so be it. It just seems to my feeble mind your criticisms of Finch’s lack of embracing UB and the very generous decades of tax abatements being handed out by this administration might weigh more on the side of a less than visionary city leader.
Jennifer, I have always believed in tax abatements. I supported the gorgeous Wright Financial center downtown, now RBS. The University of Bridgeport is still a point of contention with me. I just cannot understand it. I have mentioned it to the Mayor’s face so it is no surprise. Now I am feeble? It is more than Steelpointe. It is more than downtown, it is more than the new schools and parks and fields that improve the quality of life but also will improve the image and hopefully kickstart private investment. I see Bridgeport through the eyes of a 10-year-old kid whose father moved his family to a beautiful condo in the North End, the first condo in Bridgeport surrounded by 100s of acres of woods just to find out in 1967 the city was decaying and disgusting. That being said, it has taken nearly 50 years for development on a grand scale to happen. I believe Finch is the ticket. I am tired of the pissing matches on this blog. There is not one candidate who deserves to be Mayor over Finch this time around. That is my opinion and final answer. The image of the city has greatly improved. I support charter schools, I had no problem with Vallas, I think the teachers union should be dissolved. See where I am going with this? I do not need to follow the crowd. I could vote Republican if George Estrada were running, he is not. I am a Democrat and I liked Fabrizi, Foster and Finch. I supported Ganim twice and I worked for his nemesis. I supported Fabrizi and then Finch. Development was at a snail’s pace so I thought Foster was the ticket. I worked my ass off for her though truth be told I did not care for a number of her political supporters. So here we are, I patronize downtown regularly, I like what is finally happening. I do believe Finch will embrace UB. If he does not it will not change my vote. I have been in so many schools and love the new fields and playgrounds, downtown housing is finally moving forward. I am totally believing Finch will take this city to new heights and I have not yet heard one vision from any candidate. Just rhetoric. Jennifer, even the projects along 95 will change our image. I am excited. Any of the details would be the same with any administration. I know that and you know that. I want Finch to be surrounded by a support system, not obstacles. I am willing to support a few outrageous tax abatements with the hope there will be other development. I watched Stamford for 10 years transform from a Bridgeport-like city to the Emerald city. I have always had that dream for Bridgeport. It is for these reasons I support Mayor Finch. Does he deserve my support? Obviously, there are many who believe he does not. I still believe this election cycle will be a snore. If Ganim were to win I’d say good for him. I’d support him and would not spend the next four years attacking him like Finch has been assaulted on this blog. Four years ago this was Foster territory. Now it is so lukewarm it is frightening.
I do wish all candidates well. I thank them all for running.. I am supporting Finch. And yes I like to be on my soapbox and I like to be heard.
Jennifer, I do not believe the Finch projects are better than nothing. Let’s be clear. I love the downtown projects, I cannot wait for housing and hotels on Steelpointe. I am excited about Railroad Ave and Cherry Street and yes the big picture the railroad station. What in hell is the vision of any other candidate? None!
Steve, how does this boy’s family pay for this beautiful condo in the North End, how much will it cost and will this family have jobs that will allow them to pay for this beautiful condo, minimum-wage jobs at Steelpointe won’t support them so where are those good-paying jobs that will allow this family to live in the North End?
Ron Mackey, I was talking about my father in 1967 buying a condo surrounded by 100 of acres of land. It was $24,000. I do not know where the kid from the ‘hood is going to buy. My dad commuted every day from Brooklyn New York. Bridgeport is high in taxes and property values are depressed. People cannot afford neighboring communities so Bridgeport is still their best deal. Even the beautiful condos in the North End are losing their value because of the slumlords buying them and applying for section 8 and renting them out getting $1300 from state and $200 from tenant. Do I have to explain how great that program is for condo owners? We need jobs in Bridgeport, jobs jobs jobs. Ron Mackey, you know of a candidate who has that magic wand? I want to meet him! Seriously Ron, we both understand rhetoric. I’ll take a thousand or two construction jobs and bricks and mortar with abatements to get these projects going and I’d invest in marketing. Bridgeport is getting better is everywhere on cable. You don’t like it? How would you market the city? Make it look appealing to business and young families? Fight the marketing campaign? Stop parks and playgrounds? New schools? Spend more money for failing schools, pay more for police and pensions? Turn the city into a total welfare state? How would you attract a business to the city? Should the city and state subsidize low-caliber jobs so a high school dropout can make $30 an hour? What? What is the answer? You fight every positive Finch is doing to make Bridgeport attractive to investors. His opposition is fighting all that and looking to put a convicted felon as its crowning glory.
When I lived in my first property at Nob Hill, I fought for new windows. The old windows were costing the condo tens of thousands in heating with tenement-like antiquated windows. Everyone had a different back door. The place was like public housing. 450 units. The fight was long and painful. Years. Why?? Old timers didn’t want to pay for windows. They did not want any improvements. They were content with the status quo. Much like Bob Walsh and Jim Fox. Thank goodness improvements were made although Nob Hill is still a lovely old neighborhood there are more renters than owners. Banks will not give a mortgage. People who spent $130,000 for units now selling for $50,000 are trapped. Nob Hill represents a slice of the city of Bridgeport mentality. The Nob Hill jail would have been the icing on the cake with sweeping views of Beardsley Park.
Ron Mackey, I do not know where the good-paying jobs are but I do not live in the ‘hood. I live in the Park City, Bridgeport CT Fairfield county the city on the sound in the wealthiest county in the United States. I’d invest in marketing, abatements and parks to lure people, business and life to a city that has been dead for decades. That of course is just my opinion. I’d have outreach to high school kids showing them a life that becomes theirs if they drop out of school and no college. These kids are eligible for free tuition to Yale and Fairfield University. I’d venture to say less than 1 percent take advantage.
Last night a friend of mine from White Plains met me up in Stratford for the evening and the first comments were, what’s happening there on 95? Steelpointe, and it’s looking good. What about the training programs for people to work on Steelpointe? Construction is going to be non-stop in the city for 20 years.
In the media biz, City Wars would be called an advertorial (advertisement and editorial), involving third-party validation. I’m not surprised OIB got an exclusive on a film beneficial to Ganim. Will the unfolding drama be even-handed or will it be decidedly pro-Ganim?
This is going to be an interesting campaign.
The Finch taxpayer-funded campaign has been ongoing. This ‘city wars’ installment is obviously Ganim’s reply to the insulting misrepresentation of the positives of Bridgeport Finch’s ministry of public enlightenment has cranked out.
In an era of no investigative reporting holding incumbents and challengers accountable, it appears the voters will be subjected to these extreme narratives.
It’s not likely to happen, but Finch and Ganim need to be honest with voters and provide solid reasons to vote for them.
Tom White, I’m in total agreement with you on this. Joe Ganim has a photographer with him most of the time he attends anything including his visits to churches. I’m not talking about cell phone pictures, just look at how many pictures he has on his Facebook.
Hillary Clinton’s speech today was terrific. The Bridgeport election is over, now we look to the Presidential. Congrats to Bill Finch.
Steve, is that the same Hillary Clinton who seven years ago was to become president and who was leading in the polls by 14 percentage points ahead of an unknown freshman senator from Illinois? The same thing that happened to President Hillary Clinton then will happen to Mayor Finch, congrats to Bill Finch.
Yes, the same Hillary. She has my support.
Steve, she had your support last time and it didn’t help.
MJF had my support last time and it didn’t help. What’s your point?
Is there a pattern here you are seeing? Not sure what your point was.
Does Bill Kaempfer continue to handle public relations for the Police Department? Is he on the City payroll still? I have not seen or heard from him in the variety of media coverage on events this week and I wonder whether Police matters have been transferred to City Hall for the time being or longer.
Perhaps Kaempfer could be loaned to the Board of Education to attempt to shake some more funds from the City? No, I do not mean from additional taxes, but rather from the continuing ghost positions approved in the annual budget follies. I know there has been effort to shake more out of the State and Federal government, but did anyone look at the numbers presented by Fran Rabinowitz in March showing the larger total amounts enjoyed by students in Hartford and New Haven? But did you see what each of those Cities invested in local funds? Over $4500 per student while Bridgeport taxpayers spend about $2700 for each of 21,000 students totaling some $56 Million. What was that number when Bill Finch entered office and what has been the trend? Has he talked more about his sons in public schools than he has about the need to get more interventionists at each primary school to start the poorest prepared, perhaps English language learners, perhaps without quality or any pre-K experience and without the knowledge of alphabet symbols or sounds? Those very young entering school children can meet the State standard for entry to First Grade with the right educational team. Where’s the money, Bill? Time will tell.
At my own peril, Mr. John Marshall Lee, may I ask exactly what does this post of yours have to do with the topic at hand?
There is a war in the City. A war of words and pictures that is topical from candidates. A battle of expectations on the part of many citizens about what is possible and how fast we can get to a better place, not just keep repeating things are better with half-truths or worse, and regular skirmishes with the facts about funding for public safety, for youth education, for other youth programs, and how all these relate. Aren’t all these part of the topic at hand, at least figuratively, if not literally suggested by the video? Isn’t it appropriate to ask: “Where’s the money, Bill? And to do a very close exam of the way the City handles the money it does receive from taxpayers, perhaps? Can you show me in the CAFR or the Budget document, or anywhere else for that matter, where it shows the amount of money that comes from Bridgeport taxpayers that goes to fund the education of 21,000 or so City youth? Shouldn’t that be an easy number to identify with an “education mayor?” No peril in asking, Godiva. Tomorrow night at the City Council meeting I will reveal the number. Time will tell.
When city wars become issue/precinct/turf and ideology wars: I like Steven Auerbach’s keen observations and think grateful readers should throw a parade in his honor. Meanwhile, Mayor Bill Finch has many supporters in Black Rock. Some of them show their support here:
www .BlackRockCTUSA.com