Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker who lost a close August primary for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor has placed a for sale sign on his waterfront home on Beacon Street in Black Rock where he pays roughly $34,800 a year in taxes. The list price is $1,675,000.
In a text response to OIB, Walker wrote: “Our home was listed yesterday (Thursday) but it is not on MLS. The results of the upcoming elections will have a major impact on how long we remain in Connecticut. We love Black Rock, our home and our neighbors. We would like to stay a while. However, we need new leadership at the state and local level if we want to create a better future and keep people in the city and state.”
Walker purchased the home in 2009 for $1,550,000 from former Republican Congressman Chris Shays who sold it after he was defeated by Democrat Jim Himes in 2008. Shays purchased it from David Carson, retired chief executive officer of People’s Bank, who bought it from Betty Pfriem, former publisher of the predecessor papers to Connecticut Post.
Walker who says he made some major upgrades to the house has it listed with William Raveis.
Now that is a gorgeous home with a lot of history. The taxes may be a little high but the price for waterfront, the house and the land make it a fair value. You’d have to pay 4.5 million for a two-bedroom condo on Central Park West. Your condo fee could run as high as $38,000. Good luck to Mr. Walker. I am not anticipating a change in leadership and to assume you would benefit if there was is just plain ridiculous. You just may be able to get most of what you paid in 2009. I hope you do!
Shays bought it for just shy of $500 in 1999.
I’ve heard the furniture goes but the carpets are staying. (All bagged up for the next candida…, oh I mean resident.)
I heard Cecil Young was interested, after all the City taxpayers will be underwriting his future. And maybe David can hold a little paper in this economy.
I called Cecil and he told me he was not going to expose his family and friends to that “Finch Freaking Solar Array” and if he wants to cook chicken or ribs outside, he’ll do it on a grill! Not holding it in the AIR OVER HIS HEAD!
Sonny, please please please take your meds.
I find your comments to be so funny.
Okay, here’s my take:
David is in a hurry to be relevant again.
His foray into a City of Bridgeport-based, Statewide campaign was part of a larger plan he had. But he had no intention of becoming like many of us on OIB.
So many of us who are long and earnest workers in Bridgeport’s political minefields, knowing full well that is where our chance for sustainable success waits for us. It is here in Bridgeport our hopes have been planted.
David Walker has a good mind and he is a good man, but David Walker and Bridgeport could not fit.
carolanne curry, excellent, I could not have said it better.
I knew that Ron, I just did!
Nope.
Wow, so serving on many federal boards and commissions makes him not relevant in Bridgeport–well, that actually does make sense. As to the sustainable success in the Bridgeport minefield of politics, best of luck to everyone who throws their hat into that ring. Voting with one’s feet away from CT has been a trend for many years. Make all the jokes you want while you stay, in the end, the joke will be on you.
carolanne curry, tell us where you live. There was a guy named William E. Curry Jr. (Bill Curry) who ran for high office and it seems there weren’t enough “long and earnest workers in Bridgeport’s political minefields” to help Bill Curry make it to the top. There were more people working to prevent Bill Curry–a talented and smart man in my book–as there were people working to prevent David Walker from making it to the top. David Walker is on the same page in my book, right next to Bill Curry. I wonder if Dave Walker ever met William E. Curry Jr. in D.C.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Curry_(politician)
I have only met Dave Walker once, however it is no surprise he is selling his home in Bridgeport. I believe he has lived in CT for about six years. Typical of outsiders, they ride into town with all the answers and know how best to help fix Bridgeport/Connecticut. I have always found that to be arrogant, condescending and insulting.
I wish Dave Walker and his wife the very best, however I do have one question for him; can you take Megan DeSombre with you?
Lol. Maria Pereira, I’m sure David Walker knows we can handle Megan DeSombre–we need entertainment. I met with David plenty of times including the time he and Jennifer Buchanan–two white people from Black Rock–at the Charles F. Greene homes to confirm what I saw and smelled in the hallway of all five buildings wasn’t Godiva Chocolate. Maybe it’s my fault he is leaving due to that traumatic experience.
Maria–I completely agree; I also met him just once. He just reeked of an air of superiority. He’s very impressed with himself, he’ll fare better in a community of like minds. As for Megan DeSombre, I have no idea who she is.
Godiva2011, if you do not know who Megan DeSombre is, consider yourself fortunate. She is another carpetbagger from NJ who blew into town a little over a year ago. She also has all the answers on how to fix education in Bridgeport and on who is best to govern in Bridgeport and CT. Don’t worry, just as she suddenly appeared, she will suddenly disappear as she moves on to greener pastures.
So let me see if I have this right. Foley gets elected and Walker stays. Malloy gets elected and Walker leaves. I’m not buying that.
This is what I think.
Shays sells his house and Walker is thinking about running for Congress.
Then he realizes that’s small potatoes so Walker is running for Governor.
He can’t get that so Walker is running for Lieutenant Governor.
He loses that so Walker is running for the hills.
People are moving out of CT in droves under the Malloy Economy. Many recent college grads I know did not even come back to this state or left after they could not find a job in CT. Vote MALLOY out!!!
donj, so when are you leaving so you can do better and not worry about Democrats. In fact, you can go South because all those states are Republicans and they are hiring.
Ron, did you realize your comment to donj is actually a knock at Malloy? Telling donj to move south to a Republican state where there is hiring isn’t a ringing endorsement of the Democratically controlled city and state. But I got your drift.
Dave Walker, watch, just watch, the very same people attacking you will be supporting carpetbagger Hillary R. Clinton for President.
Just because you’ve put your house on the market doesn’t mean you’re moving away. Repositioning yourself is a winner’s trait. Those who have “takes” on this topic talk about certainties and absolutes, none of which exist.
It’s better to talk about possibilities or options. Like this: maybe he wants to save tax dollars; maybe he has a buyer lined up; maybe he has unrealized political aspirations that warrant a new address.
MLS means you’re determined to sell. Listing with a broker means you can cancel at any time.
Speaking as a person who actually DOES know Dave, this is a loss. A BIG loss. I respect the fact folks are entitled to opinions, I really do. I just wish they were formed and published based upon more than just spin, vibes and an unsubstantiated need to tear folks down for whatever reason. Yes, I am defending him. I do this because I actually KNOW him. I am not a Republican. I am also of the opinion in this November election, we as a State in trouble would have been infinitely better off having to choose from Malloy/Wyman and McKinney/Walker than what we have to choose from now. I say leave Dave alone and let him get on with it.
Some people are suffering from Myopia.
Let me state for the record, in the case Malloy does not win, we had a decent plan B with McKinney/Walker.
Bond Girl, Madeline Dennis of Facebook page ‘Black Rock Bitches’ and her partner P.T. Barnum made it clear they are happy to hear Dave Walker may be leaving. Be careful what you wish for. I wish the Hell’s Angels buy the house and use it as their country club, heck I know Hell’s Angels members who are classier than most of the people happy to see Walker walk away.
Bond Girl misunderstands politics. McKinney/Walker was a viable option during the primary but not in the upcoming election.
LE–Still ruffled Musto lost, I see.
Bond Girl–I wasn’t talking about you.
Urban flight/family relocation is not new.
www .law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/documents/cr12c76.pdf
independent soul, I was using humor with him, he hates Democrats so seeing as donj is a young black man he will see what Republicans are really about if he goes south.
1) David Walker is gone. If not physically, at least mentally he has left the city and left the state.
2) It doesn’t matter if it is on the MLS or not. This goes back to his conservative nature. He feels he has more power over who the buyer will be.
3) For the financial genius he pretends to be, he has made a horrible investment in Bridgeport.
4) Although John McKinney may be a middle-of-the-road Republican, his tax plan he and Walker were running on took a hard right from where he has been and signaled either a significant change in his philosophy or the drastic impact Walker had.
5) It is time to move on. And a Foley governorship and a Democratic legislature will result in the spending increases we saw with Rowland and Rell, which were more than Malloy.
It is sad to see people make assertions about me and others when they do not really know the person they are talking about. It is even worse when they make statements that are contrary to known facts and prior public statements by the applicable person. Let me be very clear, Mary and I love our home, our neighborhood, our neighbors and this state. At the same time, based on my extensive research, it is clear that Connecticut and Bridgeport need major reforms that, in my opinion, will not happen under the current leadership. The first test is this November 4. If Foley does not win, Mary, I and many other people will be leaving the state. If he does win, we could be in CT for some time. Even if Foley wins, Mary and I are empty nesters and we do not have family in the state. We simply do not need a home as large as we have. Let’s see what happens on November 4th. After this election, our local attention should be focused on next year’s city elections.