Mayor John M. Fabrizi

Closed for business; opening in a new location

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:46:02 -0500

This blog now has more than 1,000 entries, it's gotten a little too big and a lot off original topic.

So, we're closing off the commentary, while leaving this up for archival sake.

Those who wish to continue this and similar discussions about the goings on in Bridgerport's City Hall or just Bridgeport in general are invited over to the Bridgeport section of the Talk About Your Towns message boards at http://forum.connpost.com/messageboard/list.php?20

Thank you to those who have commented in the past and we hope you'll keep posting.

Where did we go ... wrong!

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:07:28 -0500

The blog is still here. It's just hiding behind a missing link. For those of you who have the comments bookmarked, the blog continues. For the rest, well, share the link and ConnPost.com should be getting the links back in order soon.

My turn: The scandals continue...

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 16:40:37 -0500

Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi breaks down as he talks about his cocaine use in an address to city employees at City Hall on Tuesday. (Brian A. Pounds/Connecticut Post)

So, Bridgeport's current mayor, John M. Fabrizi, came "clean" about his cocaine use during the past three or four years. Years that, coincidentally, he spent as president of the City Council and then as mayor of Connecticut’s largest — and some would opine — most drug-ridden city.

Is Fabrizi a victim of his times? After all, he says he was introduced to cocaine use while he was "partying" with friends.

Friends that included, he says, "a group of professionals, an attorney and a doctor." Everybody seemed to be doing it, so why not?

Well, maybe the fact that he was an ELECTED public official.

One in whom there was public trust.
One who swears to uphold the Constitution and the law of the land.
One who, later as chief executive of the city, is also ex-officio head of the city Police Department.

Yes, everyone makes mistakes.

As a card-carrying member of the mistake-makers club, I know they do.

But I’m not an elected public official.

I just don’t get it — how do these guys think they can break the law or flaunt society’s mores and get away with it?

At best, they think they can apologize and all will be forgiven. (Think Bill Clinton here.)

At worst, they think they can blatantly flaunt the rules and, even if they get caught, they won’t be accountable. (Think Newton, Ganim and Rowland et al. here.)

Ernest Newton II thinks he should be able to plead guilty to felony influence-peddling and plan his political comeback in the same breath.

John G. Rowland does his time for selling the office of the Governor to the highest bidder and now his "meaningful employment" is preaching to young people: "Do as I say, not as I did."

Joseph Ganim wants to know why he’s cooling his heels for a solid 9 years while Ernie got five and Johnnie G. got a year-and-a-day and he wants his prison time cut — just because the door to his office seemed to have been made from the remnants of one of those toll-booths taken off of the turnpike in the early 1980s.

So, Mayor Fabrizi came "clean" on Tuesday.

He shouldn’t have had to come clean. He should have been clean all along.

What do you think?

Internet poll results reposted

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 13:59:24 -0500

For those who want to know: Respondents to the ConnPost.com online poll taken in the days immediately following Mayor Fabrizi's admission to having used cocaine overwhelmingly called for his resignation.

The poll qeustion was "Do you think Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi should resign from office?

The poll solicited 4,773 responses; 3,075 (64.42%) sid "Yes" Fabrizi should resign while 1,698 (35.57%) said "No" he should not.

In a Connecticut Post newspaper/telephone poll, 1,049 people voted. Nearly 600 voted for his resignation.

In both polls, sentiments ran 2-to-1 against the mayor remaining in office.

What do you think about that?