During the 1990s, Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim called on Donald Trump in the mid-1990s to help in the economic development of the financially troubled city. Yesterday, the mayor declared President Trump to be “unfit” to serve in the Oval Office.
In a video posted to his social media pages, Ganim joined U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal to voice his support of the impeachment inquiry launched in the House of Representatives that is based on a whistleblower complaint regarding a July telephone conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“If what is said about the president is true as it goes through Congress and this procedure, he needs to be impeached,” said Ganim, who is now under scrutiny for potential voter fraud in his victory in the city”™s Democratic Sept. 10 primary. “He has shown that he is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief and as someone who can lead our country into the future.”
Ganim also added on Facebook and Twitter, “The president does not represent our values and is specifically coming after our communities of color. We can’t just stand by.”
Ganim”™s denunciation of Trump represented a complete shift from his efforts in the mid-1990s to encourage the real estate mogul”™s investment in Bridgeport. In 1994, Trump joined Ganim to announce the creation of Trump Park City Plaza in the city”™s South End. The $350 million, 5-acre project on the former site of Jenkins Valve”™s manufacturing facility was planned as a mixed-use development that would include residential and retail units, an amusement park and a shipping terminal, with Trump forecasting 2,000 construction jobs and 500 full-time jobs connected to the endeavor.
Ganim had tried to interest Trump in opening a casino in Bridgeport, but Trump was focused on his Atlantic City casino operations and turned down the offer. Trump Park City Plaza was canceled after Ganim began to court Steve Wynn, a Trump rival in the casino industry, to open a gaming venue in Bridgeport. Trump also balked at the $300,000-a-year property tax on his Bridgeport property. Ganim arranged to have the city buy the parcel from Trump for $1 and cancel his property tax debt. The parcel later became the home to Webster Arena and Harbor Yard stadium.
