Official: Bridgeport mayor Ganim out of town

BRIDGEPORT — Mayor Joe Ganim quietly left town this week — without alerting the wider community nor the City Council president who said she was taken by surprise.

The mayor’s office provided few details Thursday when approached by Hearst Connecticut Media about Ganim’s absence and did not respond to further queries Friday.

“Mayor (Ganim) stated he is out of town on family matters,” Rowena White, his spokesperson, wrote in an email Thursday. “Personal — not involving city business — and has and continues to follow all COVID protocols.”

White would not comment on if the mayor had left the state or when he would be returning to Bridgeport.

Bridgeport City Council President Aidee Nieves said she was in the dark about Ganim not being in town, only confirming it with City Hall after being approached by The Post.

“Nobody told me,” Nieves said Thursday. “I talked to the mayor Tuesday (by phone). I swear he was in his office.”

Under the City Charter, when the mayor is “temporarily absent or temporarily

disabled” and unable to perform his or her duties, the council president “shall

possess all of (those) powers until the mayor is able to act.”

Since COVID-19 struck Connecticut in mid-March, Ganim and municipal staff in general have frequently conducted business electronically rather than in person and White said the mayor is continuing to do so while out of town.

“I can tell you affirmatively that the mayor has been attending all (phone) calls, Zoom and virtual meetings as scheduled,” White added.

Nieves is quarantining because a family member has coronavirus. She said in the past Ganim has let her know he will be gone and when, but usually she does not ask for more details.

“We were supposed to talk yesterday and I never got back to him,” Nieves said Thursday. “Maybe he was going to tell me.”

On Friday, Nieves expressed frustration with City Hall’s lack of candor: “There should have been a notification to me that he was going to be gone for a few days. It should not just be the responsibility of the mayor to convey this information. (Ganim’s staff ) should have sent me a heads up so I would know.”

White did not respond to a question about what kind of message Ganim’s trip out of town sends to the general public during the health crisis.

Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim thanks Bridgeport Hospital health care workers on April 16 during a parade of first responders that arrived to thank them for their hard work fighting the coronavirus.