GANIM ON THE JOB OR TRAIL?
Unused vacation days add up
BRIDGEPORT — Private and public sector employees typically are not supposed to hunt for a new job while on the clock.
Mayor Joe Ganim, however, campaigns for governor during traditional work hours, arguing that he is Bridgeport’s $152,876 chief executive 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“I don’t think there’s a 9-to-5 job for mayor,” Ganim said. “It’s whenever needed and to be there. I’ve maintained that commitment.”
Asked by Hearst Connecticut Media if he should at least use his four weeks of paid vacation to seek higher office, Ganim said he might consider it as the gubernatorial contest heats up. In 2016 and 2017, the mayor did not take all of his time off and, under city policy, received payouts of $5,539 and $5,595 for unused vacation days.
“I probably would (use time off to campaign) if we thought it made sense,” Ganim said. “Even if I did that, it’s like when I do go on vacation — you’re never completely disengaged. It’s that type of job.”
But state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport, said the mayor should campaign for governor during his time off. Otherwise, Moore said, Ganim is “doubledipping” by receiving a salary during his job hunt, then cashing in his unused vacation days.
“This is all about ethics,” said Moore, who supports the other Democrat in the governor’s race, Ned Lamont of Greenwich.
Ganim, two and a half years into his four-year term as mayor, has been running for Connecticut’s top office for months. The effort initially occupied evenings and weekends, but more recently he’s been publicly campaigning during the work week.
Out and about
Twice in May, Ganim was trailed by reporters in New Haven and Hartford in the late morning and midafternoon as he collected signatures to force an August gubernatorial primary with Lamont, the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate.
On June 18, Ganim visited a low-income apartment building for seniors and the disabled in Bridgeport to announce that, if elected governor, he would make modest increases to a state rent-relief program. That event was in the early afternoon.
On June 20 Ganim’s campaign announced he would be in Hartford that day at 1 p.m. to thank supporters involved in the successful primary petition drive.
And on June 29, with the end of the current fundraising quarter just hours away, his campaign at 2 p.m. emailed supporters a fundraising appeal that indicated Ganim was fully engaged in raising last-minute contributions.
“Joe is working the phones,” the email said. “Ads have been posted on Facebook. Campaign workers are picking up checks.”
Ganim already has the advantage of being able to act in his official capacity as mayor, then have his campaign promote what he’s done. Recent examples range from the modest — breaking ground on a new park, swearing in firefighters, honoring veterans — to his attention-grabbing flight to Texas on the city’s dime, with other mayors from around the country, to protest federal immigration policies.
Ganim, who argues he better understands urban needs than Lamont and the handful of Republicans competing in the GOP’s gubernatorial primary, said Bridgeport voters support his decision to spend his time running for higher office.
“I got probably more than 8,000 (primary petition) signatures out of Bridgeport residents,” Ganim said. “I got hugs, people saying to me, ‘I was waiting for you to come to my door.’ This is good for Bridgeport, cities and Connecticut.”
Ganim added that gathering petitions in Bridgeport neighborhoods “served me well as mayor.”
“It put me in touch with things” like what roads need paving and what neighborhoods could use more cops, he said.
Accounting for time
Critics say they cannot fathom how Ganim can campaign and be fully engaged in managing Bridgeport.
“You are mayor and also doing something else that is incredibly demanding of your time,” said Callie Heilmann, founder of Bridgeport Generation Now, a civic group pushing for better, more transparent and ethical local government.
City Councilman Peter Spain noted that the City Charter says a mayor will “devote the full time necessary to the duties of the office.”
“How is that possible when you’re spending good chunks of weekday work hours around the state on your run for governor?” Spain said. He suggested Ganim stop undercutting Lamont, cut a deal to exit the race that benefits Bridgeport, “and get back to work.”
Spain unsuccessfully tried earlier this year to get the council to force the mayor to reimburse Bridgeport for campaigning with city resources. Hearst had reported that Ganim was using a municipal vehicle with a police detective as his driver.
Ganim’s campaign had already agreed to pay the city mileage reimbursements and said it would rent a car with a volunteer driver.
Moore suggested Ganim could also take a leave of absence to focus on his run for governor and let City Council President Aidee Nieves fill in as mayor.
Judging just by his May schedule, which Hearst obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the bulk of the mayor’s duties consisted of attending different public functions. Of the 122 items on that calendar, about 80 were ribbon cuttings, graduations and other celebrations, meetand-greets, fundraisers for causes, radio interviews, and similar activities.
There were five staff meetings scheduled that month — though one was canceled — some gatherings with federal or state lawmakers and other town leaders, and a small number of meetings with community leaders or developers. Council and council committee meetings were included, though the mayor does not typically attend the latter.
Heilmann said there should be an official way of tracking how much time Ganim spends as mayor versus campaigning.
“We should, as the public, know,” Heilmann said. “If there isn’t really accountability there — he’s just mayor when he wants to be mayor and campaigning when he feels like campaigning, and no one’s keeping track — I would have a problem with that.”
Ganim said he uses his judgment to strike that balance between his responsibilities to city taxpayers while adding his voice to the statewide debate about Connecticut’s future.
And, he argued, while Bridgeport is “always a work in progress,” his administration has “attacked on every front as best we can on a local level the challenges of big cities,” from finances to public safety to economic development.
“This is the best-run major city in Connecticut,” Ganim said.