City Councilman Bob “Troll” Walsh, legislative watchdog and veteran campaigner, is throwing his support to Democratic mayoral candidate Mary-Jane Foster.
In Walsh, Foster has secured an operative with deep roots in the city who’s been a big pain in the ass–and that’s just the way he likes it–to various members of Mayor Bill Finch’s administration, castigating the mayor and city bean counters on spending and policy positions. He’s an accountant by profession who understands the city’s budget-making process. One of the key issues that helped Walsh consider his support was Foster’s freedom of information request to cast light on the administration’s hiring of outside legal council, a tab that approaches $10 million since Finch became mayor, a fiat by City Attorney Mark Anastasi that Walsh says has no checks and balances and abuses the public trust.
Walsh is aligned with the wing of the party that includes State Senator Ed Gomes and former City Council President Lisa Parziale who’s a candidate for her old legislative seat. Walsh and Parziale served together on the council representing the West Side 132 District. Walsh replaced former Democratic Town Chair John Stafstrom, a Finch supporter, when Stafstrom left the council to become the city’s bond counsel under former Mayor Joe Ganim in the mid 1990s. Stafstrom has held that position through his law firm employer Pullman & Comley. Ed Gomes and Parziale have not yet announced their support intention. Two weeks ago campaign activist Marilyn Moore, who has a history of political alignment with Walsh, became campaign manager of Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes.
Look for Walsh to become a key campaign policy adviser to Foster. He’s also someone extremely important to help secure the 2,000 petition signatures needed from Democratic voters to qualify as a primary challenger. That process begins the day after the late-July endorsement session for mayor which Finch appears to have locked up. From Foster:
Bridgeport businesswoman and social action advocate Mary-Jane Foster is pleased to announce that Bridgeport City Councilman Bob Walsh today endorsed the candidacy of Mary-Jane Foster for mayor in the upcoming Democratic primary.
“It seems as if the city had been stuck in neutral for the three-plus years that Mayor Finch has been mayor. There is no real economic development taking place. There are no new initiatives. The city is going nowhere but in the wrong direction,” Walsh said.
“The residents, taxpayers, and businesses need to see some new ideas; a new vision and an energy ready to take control of our own destiny. Mary-Jane Foster is the only candidate who brings these qualities to the table and is ready and prepared to shape that new future for Bridgeport.”
Walsh characterized Foster as a successful businesswoman, entrepreneur, and developer with a history of giving unselfishly to causes that provide assistance to many Bridgeport residents. He said that she has a proven ability to reach across governmental, business, educational, and social service networks to accomplish her vision and goals.
On the other hand, Walsh said, “The failures of the Ganim and Fabrizi administrations have simply morphed into the failures of the Finch administration. Steel Point remains a vast wasteland and what improvements Finch may boast of will come from city and federal money, which further reinforces the developers’ unwillingness to sink their own funds into the project. The failure to move forward on Downtown North has accelerated the deterioration of the entire downtown area and harmed fledgling business once heralded as the rebirth of downtown. Unfortunately the list goes on with way too many examples of the city’s inability to close the deal on many economic development initiatives.”
Walsh acknowledged that the Finch administration has served as a caretaker during some difficult financial times but that the city now needs leadership that will take charge and rekindle the spirit of pride and hope in Bridgeport’s future.
“We need a leader who can reach out to area business leaders and talk the talk since she or he has already walked the walk. We need a leader with a breadth of experience who is extremely comfortable talking business, education, and social services. We need a multi-faceted energetic leader who can bring people together rather than driving them apart. Mary-Jane Foster is all of these things; Bill Finch is not.
“Four years ago Bill Finch said that we were on the 5 yard line. Well I am not sure which 5 yard line he was thinking of, but after his abysmal record you can be sure we are now on the one with our back to the goal posts and a long hard ninety-nine yards to go,” Walsh claimed.
“So I am offering Ms. Foster my full and unqualified support and am prepared to do whatever it takes to help her secure the Democratic nomination for mayor.”
Foster, who has long respected Walsh’s intellect and willingness to question the status quo, stated, “I am honored that Bob Walsh has joined my campaign to bring bold leadership back to Bridgeport and thank him for his support. Bob is someone who understands that Bridgeport is headed in the wrong direction and he consistently challenges the Finch administration’s incompetence and total inability to make significant progress of any kind. I look forward to working with him and the hundreds of volunteers who have joined my campaign to take back our city and take back City Hall on September 13th.”
Great news on Walsh endorsement. Hopefully this will serve as a cue for other progressives to get on board Foster’s campaign.
Things have been going too good for the mayor lately. Budget is about put to bed, a union or two is talking turkey, nothing dopey has happened in town for a day or two–it was time for someone to poke a stick at Finch.
And what better person to poke sticks than Bob Walsh? He’s so good at it! He’s one of two people who consistently oppose the administration on the Common Council. Even if you disagree with him, he makes sense with his dissents.
A primary against Mayor Finch will be won by organized opposition. All the bitching on this blog won’t beat Bill Finch no matter how much people here compare the mayor to an incarnate of Muammar Gaddafi.
The mayor is in the catbird seat. He has the building. He has his political party. It’s going to take more than NATO air strikes to dislodge him.
That means slogging door to door identifying the voters who don’t think much of the mayor and getting them to vote. OIB polls show they exist. Can someone get them out to vote? Voter stats from recent years say no.
Political campaigns are usually a mixture of new hands with old ones. The new ones we don’t know, but the old ones have a track record of victories and defeats. You know if they can organize a neighborhood or not. So guys like Walsh coming out for Mary-Jane Foster, or Marilyn Moore coming out for John Gomes–we can know them as people working for candidates. They are active party workers from years past who know the lay of the neighborhoods, the personalities, the idiosyncrasies, how to organize a vote.
I think that counts. There may be some out-of-towners involved, but there’d better be locals to keep it real. I don’t believe voters can automatically be treated like statistics. That is the romantic in me: politics as art over science.
My romanticism only goes so far, however. Screw progressives, screw conservatives, screw the bloc to free Antarctica. Who has the votes?
There is what, 10 weeks left? Voters pay attention in the last three or four.
Now is the time when all the questions about who will support whom will be answered. I’m waiting to see if any Democratic district leaders make a jump.
Not sure what the troll’s endorsement really means, but word is out all over the old city hall a 5013C non-profit fundraiser was used by Mary-Jane and her people to solicit donations and sign up support. Now now, tsk tsk.
Could you name it chapter and verse? Did John Gomes use a “Union Bug” return label on a non-union printed flier for an event at The Field?
What we should really be talking about is how Adam Wood and his 2 Dead Wood Crew, Carroll and Ficarra are running the Mayor’s election campaign on the taxpayer’s time and dime.
“word is out all over the city …”
Really? That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. Not to mention completely untrue.
First–check your facts. If you’re going to throw out bullshit like that, you’d better provide the specifics. What fundraiser? Which nonprofit? Name the Date/Time/Place.
Second–anyone who thinks Foster is that stupid is seriously underestimating her.
I almost wasn’t going to respond because it’s such nonsense but to leave such total garbage unanswered goes against everything I believe.
Oh baby, don’t mess with power to the peeps!
No one said MJ was stupid, but a rather large young gentleman was passing out more than forks and knives.
If this city has any hope of survival it is in the merger of these two candidacies. Both have expectations of victory but they only improve the odds of a Finch victory. Divide and conquer is an old policy, if we can win it will only be through unity. Mayor-CEO draw the same salaries. Protect your voters in Bridgeport.
I have to agree with Ronin one hundred percent. Fact: Gomes could win without MJF, but MJF doesn’t have the minority appeal without Gomes. Together, the appeal of both wins it. Do it for Bpt, team up.
I think you should do a fact check!
MJF and Mr. Gomes had better start spending money or team up or kiss the race goodbye. Get over the egos and face the reality, you need to convince voters to vote for the person instead of the endorsed candidate. If they do not, their taxes, if they pay taxes, will go through the roof and whatever their jobs will disappear as fast as a politician at a court hearing.
Let us not forget the goal is to replace Finch and his wrecking crew. Gomes and Foster need not squabble with each other, but unite in victory September 13th.
Bob Walsh served on the budget committee until he was kicked off for failure to comply. He can help MJF ask the right questions. I look forward to more FOIs.
Since Bob is good friends with Marilyn Moore, he can also broker the inevitable merger with John Gomes.
Folks in City Hall were angry today about the AFSCME agreement. They got off scott free this year. No furlough days, no concessions. I hope all of their 700+ members are Bpt residents, they are registered Dems and they vote. Because there will be an even bigger anti-Finch union vote.
what I heard today at lunch:
Women go into politics to DO something. Men go into politics to BE something.
*** Who’s got the Latino vote so far there, Lennie? And who will the DTC endorse for Mayor, etc. … *** Time’s a ticking ***
*** Ben Barnes, certainly quite familiar with Bpt’s BOE budget woes and mismanaging money ways states, “you’re on your own!” *** “SINK DEEPER OR SWIM” ***
Mojo, two good points.
Inactivity equals support of opposition. Encourage your candidates to meet.
Anti, it seems to me John Gomes is out there meeting the people, while MJF is meeting the media.