Many lessons learned in mayoral run
On Martin Luther King Day in 2019, I announced my candidacy for mayor of Bridgeport. I did so because I was tired of watching Bridgeport be manipulated and stalled. I was willing to take on what I believe is a corrupt system run by people who care only about themselves.
I raised a respectable amount of money to mount a formidable campaign and aligned myself with people who wanted better for Bridgeport. The journey was harder than anything I have ever done in my life, but I believed it was possible, I believed there were others who wanted the same, and that there were many.
They supported me financially, volunteered and provided personal security for me. I felt I had built a dream team. People who had never come together on a campaign joined me. It reminded me of the campaign of the late Charles Tisdale, who brought together a diverse group of men and women to fight the good fight. I was a formidable candidate who won at the polls and lost to absentee ballots.
I am not naive; I expected the worst of the worst to happen, and it did. The attacks against the campaign came from people and places who fought to keep the status quo for them, who were threatened in fear of losing crony jobs and contracts with the city. They attacked my name, accused me of financial fraud, and filed complaints with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.
What I did not prepare for was placing people within my campaign that I trusted who would later turn on me. I take responsibility for that, and in a future campaign adjusted accordingly without incident.
I launched my campaign standing on honesty, transparency and integrity. I have maintained it is possible to be in government and be principled. In my mayoral announcement I said, “I stand clear in my principles and who I am — and who I believe we truly are as a city. I demand transparency and accountability from myself and other servants of the city.”
That is what Bridgeport lacks and it that is what I sought to deliver. I still hold on to those principles.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a communication from State Elections Enforcement Commission, the SEEC. One single city employee accused me of fraud and filed several complaints with the SEEC. One of the complaints had validity. I have agreed to pay a penalty for the clerical error because it’s the right thing to do regardless of the circumstance. The city employee found two names on a petition that I did not circulate, but signed. While it was a clerical error in the chaos of filing forms and internal processes, it was not intentional. I want you to know what transpired because while I could have fought the charge, it would not be right to do so. Regardless of the circumstances, or chaos, I signed it, and I am not above the law. I apologize to those who may be disappointed, but in my opinion, it is in the best interests of who I am and what I stand for and for my supporters. I take full responsibility for the error and for everything that transpired in the campaign. I recently agreed to pay a fine of $300 for the clerical error.
The other charge by my opponent’s pit bull was accusing me of fraud by stealing funds from a fundraiser. That also is false, and the nonprofit is in full compliance and I, as the executive director, have never handled the funds in any manner that is unprofessional or illegal. The attacks against me were never about my ability or competence. They are typical of the misogynist gatekeepers who think and support the behaviors that have kept our city as a dysfunctional, poor-performing government.
The campaign to be mayor was challenging, and I have earned the support of many more members of our community who witnessed the ruthlessness of people who want to maintain the status quo. I owe it to them to speak the truth, and I will continue to use that knowledge to move them out of the way to build a better community where we all prosper.
When I know better, I do better, and the citywide campaign was worth the experience, both good and bad. I promise to continue to get in good trouble, and I hope that those who supported me will continue to do so in the future.