Shortly after Mayor Bill Finch won the endorsement for a third four-year term from the Democratic Town Committee Tuesday night in the ballroom at Testo’s Restaurant, Joe Ganim hosted a fundraiser in the adjoining atrium featuring comments from Campaign Manager Danny Roach and the candidate.
Even on a night he lost a close endorsement vote to a two-term incumbent, there was good news for Ganim: a fundraiser that edged him closer to $300K raised.
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President of Fire Commission during pension problems was Stuart Rosenberg not Goldberg as stated by Donald Day.
Mr. Rosenberg, thanks for the correction and it was a bold decision you and Jimmy made concerning Pension Plan “B.” As for me, that was the only decision you made I ever agreed with. You guys made the right decision and it doesn’t have anything to with me.
Joe Ganim speaks from his heart, he has the spirit and the love for this city.
Joe doesn’t have a dozen scriptwriters handing him his next speech, or paid staffers looking for a new park to open or some bullshit project like the five million dollar Black Rock walking Bridge or the eight million dollar Knowlton St. Park to nowhere.
While this city is short 100 police officers, Bill Finch is putting every citizen at risk.
How many more parks does Park City need?
Who’s paying for these parks?
Who’s going to maintain these parks?
Under Bill Finch our taxes and rents have increased over 45 to 50%.
Bill Finch has not balanced the city budget for eight years straight!
Joe Ganim to his credit, has held the line on taxes.
Just ask Bill Finch if he’ll do the same?
Joe Ganim had a Financial Review Board to monitor his activities, and his downfall began when the Financial Review Board went away. And Ganim deferred the revaluation. I wish everyone would remove the rose-colored glasses. If you have issues wit Finch, find someone new and capable, not a recycle of damaged goods. Ganim only admitted his guilt when he saw an opportunity for himself, he is no different than Rowland. Also, would you please name the top six non-governmental supported economic development projects that materialized under Ganim’s administration?
When Joe was mayor, he oversaw the building of The Ballpark at Harbor Yard, Webster Bank Arena, Housatonic Community College, launched Bridgeport Transportation Center and continued the plan for development of Steelpointe.
Finch promised to reduce property taxes. But Mayor Bill Finch has repeatedly broken that promise–raising property taxes six of the last eight years. Under Bill Finch, residential property taxes have increased 45 percent.
In contrast, when Joe was mayor he not only brought Bridgeport back from bankruptcy, but for 10 straight years Ganim balanced the budget.
Joe Ganim also leased the golf courses to a company with no funds. Joe Ganim allowed the company to use the course as collateral so they could get a loan. This company had the course for two years and never paid the city a dime. This was after a promise he would never lease the course.
Everything you listed are governmental projects, i.e., not private investment. Top five private investment projects please–that increased the tax base.
CEO/Mayor
December 1991 – April 2003 (11 years 5 months)|Connecticut
For eleven years he managed a $400 million annual operating budget and lead the city out of municipal bankruptcy by overcoming a $21 million budget deficit and a 5-year projected deficit of $250 million.
This was achieved, as were 10 consecutive balanced budgets and a surplus of $58 million, by implementing difficult cost-saving measures and innovative revenue raising techniques. Over this period of time, he received repeated credit rating upgrades from Wall Street credit rating agencies: Moody’s upgrade (5 levels): “B” to “Baa1”; Standard & Poor’s upgrade (5 levels): “CCC” to “BBB+”; Fitch’s upgrade (3 levels): “BBB-” to “A”. As a result, he was recognized in 1996 by Newsweek magazine as one of America’s most “innovative and dynamic mayors” in the country.
➢ Successfully negotiated a complex 25-acre urban redevelopment project by securing a $10 million corporate donation for the construction of a $21 million municipal baseball stadium and parking garage.
➢ Led the effort to construct a new 10,000 seat indoor sports and entertainment complex by obtaining $60 million in grant money and $10 million in private funding, to serve as the home for a new minor league American Hockey League team.
➢ Led the process and negotiations of an urban redevelopment that included 40 acres of waterfront land for the relocation of a major ship building business and the creation of close to 50 jobs.
➢ Successfully lead an urban renewal project that relocated a community college out of a deteriorated building and into a new $60 million state-of-the-art downtown location.
➢ Successfully negotiated all material contract terms with 13 Labor Unions to reduce the labor costs by over $20 million without layoffs.
➢ Successfully negotiated a $350 million bond issue with multiple Wall Street investment firms to transform an unfunded pension system into a funded plan.
Developed an incentive package that retained major employers such as Chase Manhattan Bank of Connecticut and Southern Connecticut Gas Company.
Construction of a $20 million municipal baseball stadium, which included offsetting construction costs by securing a $10 million donation from Swiss Bank and obtaining 15 acres of prime real estate for the site from developer Donald Trump.
Obtained 40 acres of waterfront land from Carpenter Technology for a major ship building business.
Gained 10 acres of downtown real estate so the State of Connecticut could relocate Housatonic Community College.
A state-of-the-art, 10,000-seat indoor sports complex for establishment of a new minor league American Hockey Team, which was paid in part by a $10 million donation.
jtf. Oh! you mean like Lafayette Blvd. Project Wright investors Building? Boy, there must be 30 new businesses just in Lafayette Square.
This election has devolved into a pissing match between Joe Ganim and Bill Finch. Problem is, Bill Finch and his supporters are doing all the pissing. He and his minions never pass up a chance to point out Ganim is a felon who served seven years in prison for corruption, never skip an opportunity to blame Ganim for everything that is wrong with the city of Bridgeport. Can’t find a parking space downtown? It’s Ganim’s fault. Can’t get a reservation at Tiago’s? It’s Ganim’s fault. The Finch campaign’s response to any and all criticism is “Joe Ganim is a convicted felon!”
Give it a rest. All this business about Finch creating “thousands of jobs,” how many of them went to Bridgeport residents? The city’s unemployment rate is 8.7%, edging close to double the state’s unemployment rate. Unemployment in Bridgeport has soared under Mr. Finch’s watch, 41% by some estimates. It’s probably much higher. The school system is pouring hundreds of poorly educated and unskilled youths into the workplace. With only the most basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic they aren’t qualified to flip burgers at the local fast food joints. In a way they cannot be criticized for joining street gangs; they are trying to empower themselves.
The three biggest issues facing any mayor of Bridgeport are crime, the economy and education. Finch’s response is to build parks and claim “I’ve created thousands of jobs,” which may be true. It is also true precious few of those jobs are taken by Bridgeport residents. An upscale movie theater, a Starbucks and a Chipotle is all fine and good but totally out of line with reality: If the people living nearby can’t afford to pay rent or groceries without assistance how are they going to afford movie tickets, overpriced pseudo Mexican food and expensive foamy beverages?
Jim, Ganim is a convicted felon who is unrepentant. He tried to get his law license back after screwing over his 150,000 clients, the people who resided in Bridgeport during his mayoralty. As bad as Finch is, Ganim deserves to be in the dustbin of Bridgeport history. I hope people back home will vote for Mary-Jane Foster.
Now that the political foreplay is over, I hope to see all candidates addressing issues relevant to the residents of Bridgeport. I’m pretty sure all thinking people know the ups and downs our City has faced, and I’m not making light of this. As an advocate for one of the candidates, I will have a difficult time as I engage with the citizens of my district unless I have dialogue of substance to discuss. In addition, I’m also running for office, and I don’t want to spend my time defending or attacking. Jeeze, I’m tired already.
The UBS Building counts as one item–the Swiss Bank funds were state monies that compensated for no casino. Ganim’s budgets were balanced because of the Financial Review Board. What was the net increase in Grand List? HiHo mall came off the tax rolls. OK–we had a new McDonalds in the West End.