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Can Bridgeport Get
Back to Business?
Following Ganim conviction, BRBC's Timpanelli answers the question: Now what?
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Business New Haven
3/31/2003
By: BNH
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On March 19, Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim was convicted on 16 of 21 federal charges in the largest corruption and racketeering case in recent Connecticut history. The next day, the Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC) called for Ganim's resignation. [On March 3, when the Ganim trial was still in progress, Business New Haven in an editorial asked why the BRBC had not yet taken a stand against Ganim.] On March 21, BNH spoke with BRBC President Paul Timpanelli about his group's decision about Ganim, as well as what it would take to get important Park City business projects moving again.
Should groups such as chambers of commerce involve themselves in the political process in a public way, or is it better to try to be friends with everybody in public and exert influence privately?
We've always been of the opinion in our own organization that we should involve ourselves in a very public way. In the 14 years I've been here, one of my specific charges as CEO of this organization has been to make this organization much more vocal and high-profile, and to take positions on matters of public policy in a very public way.
Did [U.S. Rep.] Chris Shays [R-4] make a lot of enemies last month when he told the city's business community that he was in effect going to turn off the federal dollar pipeline to Bridgeport rather than 'appropriate money so thieves can steal it'?
Well, he certainly displeased a lot of people. Chris Shays is a wonderful congressman; I'm a supporter of his; I've given him fundraisers myself - even though I'm a Democrat. I disagreed with his approach to that situation, and he and I have talked about that. But he feels strongly about his opinions, and you have to respect that. But was it good for Bridgeport? No. In my opinion you shouldn't punish the city as a result of the actions of a few people.
How did the discussion unfold among members of your board about taking a position on Ganim's resignation?
The discussion has been taking place for a year and a half. We did not have a board meeting or an executive committee meeting over that period of time where that issue was not on the agenda. And there were feelings on all sides of that issue. Ultimately, what we decided prior to the verdict was - regardless of what public position we may have wanted to take relative to the mayor's resignation - that we were convinced based upon our relationship with him and our knowledge of him that he would not have resigned. Therefore, adding our voice to those who were calling for that resignation would have served no productive purpose whatsoever; it would only have made us feel good. And we're not in a position of trying to feel good; we're in a position of doing what we can to encourage economic development here [in and around Bridgeport].
So why the decision to make an announcement come when it did?
As with everything, in due course you finally make a decision to do the thing that you have wanted to do - it just takes time to evolve. When we decided to do it, we decided that we would take a position that the mayor should resign regardless of what the verdict was. That vote came down from our board a few weeks back, and it was nearly unanimous. Because we had determined that this city had suffered enough damage. City Hall effectively was at a standstill. We also concluded that our work in the economic arena relative to specific projects we being unnecessarily delayed at a result of the malaise that was taking place here. It was time.
What are the most important and urgent of those projects that have been on the back burner?
It's very difficult to say exactly why particular projects have been delayed with the state's economy the way it is, the national economy the way it is, the state budget in fiscal crisis, the governor's administration is being investigated....So a number of things have been occurring that forced a number of projects to slow. One of those things, certainly, is the mayor's situation. But in many cases it's impossible to gauge exactly which of those things [factors] most heavily into delays.
To which specific projects are you referring?
All of them. Every project that's on the drawing boards here or underway here or in the phase of requesting state support here - all have been delayed to some degree?
For those not from Bridgeport, can you describe the Steel Point redevelopment project?
Steel Point is a 50-acre piece of real estate on the waterfront that sits between the two rivers in Bridgeport south of the I-95 corridor. The property has been bought by the city over a period of two years or so. The city over times has selected a couple of different developers to redevelop the site into a mixed-use commercial/retail/office/residential site. One of those developers went away a couple of years ago; the second, [David] Conroy, did not come through with his financing on that project and he was let go two years ago. A third development organization called RCI out of Florida, selected by the city about a year and a half ago, is still the designated developer formally.
Where does the project stand today?
A development agreement is still being negotiated between the developer and the city. The state has put probably $20 million so far into site preparation. The city has put about an equal amount of money so far into site preparation. The governor has committed another $25 million to the project in public investment that has not yet been authorized and gone to bonding, and that's because the development agreement with the city is not completed, and the questions regarding what exactly has to be done on the environmental cleanup side are not yet fully resolved.
Is Conroy not suing the city?
He's suing the city, as well as a number of individuals who represent the city.
Alleging what?
His suit alleges generally that he was discontinued as the designated develop by the city in a way that he contends was part of a conspiracy on the part of the mayor and others to [improperly] remove him from the project.
What has to take place now to get some of these projects
rolling again?
The governor to his credit appointed a business-based economic-development council about nine months ago chaired by John Klein [CEO] of People's Bank. So any economic-development projects that are underway or proposed in Bridgeport need to go through that council for review. One of the issues they have spent a lot of time on in the past couple of months is a thorough analysis of the Steel Point project and RCI. They've met with RCI and with the legislative delegation, they've met with DECD [the state's Department of Economic & Community Development], they've talked with the governor. So all the remaining issues that need to be resolved before that project moves forward are being dealt with by that committee. That's one of the steps that's been taken to free up the bottleneck.
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