We”™ve got the incumbent Mayor Bill Finch, well-financed, well-wishing and well-liked in a lot of circles, and on many fronts expected to glide to victory in both the Democratic primary in September and the general election in November.
And we have Mary-Jane Foster, the ultimate overachiever. Foster has overcome a multitude of adversities in life to become one of the leading citizens of the Park City. She has also proved herself to be a feisty candidate, pillorying Finch at every chance she gets both in public appearances and in radio commercials.
But there are two other candidates ready to roll in the Democratic primary.
First we have Charlie Coviello, who, in this writer”™s opinion always fights the good fight. Coviello is long on ideas and passion but short on staff and cash. Somehow, this has rendered him to being the Harold Stassen of Bridgeport politics, but he should be listened to by Park City voters.
The wild card among the four Democrats is John Gomes, who was the first candidate to toss his hat into the ring. Gomes is articulate, successful, angry and on the outside looking in. The Bridgeport businessman needs to have his message catch on quickly or his will be a short-lived political career.
There are the four Dems. All say economic development is the key to the city”™s long-awaited success. Of course it is. Bring in new business, lower the tax rate for homeowners and everybody wins. But, and I hate to be a cynic, why relocate your business if your taxes are going to be twice as much here at the home of the Bridgeport/Port Jeff Ferry? And the answer is not because you want to lower taxes for all of us Bridgeporters.
But wait. There ain”™t just Democrats anymore!
We have Independent candidate Jeff Kohut who is gunning for the top job and he isn”™t kidding around. For anyone who has seen the Lake Forest resident in action, they know when he digs his teeth into something he isn”™t going to let it go. Kohut has stressed that a return to a strong manufacturing base is tantamount to Bridgeport”™s economic success, but how that will be achieved is anyone”™s guess.
The last week saw a new development as old friend Rick Torres returned to the fray. Torres accepted the Republican nomination for mayor and will surely make the contest more interesting. In 2007, after Finch narrowly defeated then-state Rep. Chris Caruso in the Democratic primary it was all over but the shouting. Republican nominee Michael Garrett had neither the funds nor the groundswell of support to mount an effective challenge against the veteran politician.
So Garrett pulled home 10 percent of the vote, a paltry showing.
Torres hopes to put that mark to shame and plans to unveil a means to convert public housing to privately owned housing and halve the city”™s mill rate in the process. Ambitious indeed.
All of the six candidates for the highest office in the land of P.T. Barnum have been besieged lately with the topic of education. Not that the city”™s schools haven”™t always been a political issue: they have. But in the wake of the state takeover of the Bridgeport Board of Education in its abdication of responsibility, the question of education in the state”™s largest city is at the forefront.
If we can”™t educate our children, who can? And if we can”™t train our students to perform essential economic tasks here at home, who can? And if we can”™t provide this essential training to create a strong Bridgeport workforce, when will this city ever crawl out of this economic mess?
Let”™s hope one of these candidates has the answer.
Rob Sullivan is the publisher and executive editor of the Bridgeport Banner daily website www.bridgeportbanner.typepad.com ”“ and monthly print edition. He is a special correspondent for the Business Journal.
Editor”™s note: This column is dedicated to Starlight, the best kitty of all time.
