• Bridgeport:  Election 2007
  
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• Bridgeport: Mayor Ganim

"If you want to keep this direction going, obviously the other guy that's out there isn't going to keep this direction going," Finch said. "He is going to look for scapegoats. He's going to look to say that these deals were all corrupt, which they are not."

Finch was endorsed last week by officials from other municipalities, including Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy, whom Finch calls "a role model."

BRIDGEPORT

The federal investigation into state Sen. Ernest E. Newton II widened Friday as FBI agents served a subpoena on a Bridgeport agency with connections to his sister and allegations surfaced of potential criminal wrongdoing by the senator.

Among the developments:

? Workplace Inc. of Bridgeport was served with a federal subpoena for documents relating to a training company owned by Patricia Newton-Foster, Newton's sister. The subpoena confirms a federal grand jury is investigating possible criminal wrongdoing by Newton, ranked third in power in the Senate, or his sister or both.

? Sources said the probe appears to be focusing on allegations that contractors must still "pay to play" in Bridgeport, as was the case during the administration of former Mayor Joseph P. Ganim. Those sources said minority contractors have been subpoenaed as agents seek information about how they were hired for building rehabilitation jobs in Bridgeport.

? Six search warrants were executed Wednesday by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service criminal investigation unit.

? Sources said FBI agents employed a wiretap in connection with their investigation of Newton.

? Sources also reported that federal agents are investigating a vaguely defined job Newton had held with PSG, a Rhode Island company that ran the city's sewage treatment plants for years. Newton worked as a customer service representative.

PSG played a part in the corruption case that sent Ganim to jail for nine years. The company was linked to kickbacks to Ganim, and the current federal investigation into Newton and his sister may be a spin-off of that earlier probe.

Newton denied any wrongdoing and denied rumors Friday that he was resigning his Senate seat.

"I have no intention of resigning," Newton said. He acknowledged that he hired Bridgeport lawyer Salvatore C. DePiano.

Newton said he has not heard anything from federal agents and has no knowledge of the investigation apparently unfolding around him.

"I've heard a lot of stuff that I don't know anything about," he said.

Mayor John M. Fabrizi and Democratic Town Committee Chairman John Stafstrom met with Newton on Friday. Fabrizi said neither he nor Stafstrom called on the senator to resign.

"He stayed away from anything to do with the issue or himself. But he did say he will not step down," Fabrizi said, recapping his conversation with Newton.

Meanwhile, Jo Shute, a spokeswoman for Workplace Inc., confirmed that her company received a federal subpoena Friday seeking documents related to two Bridgeport companies owned by Newton-Foster.

Both companies were served with a federal search warrant earlier this week and documents were removed.

The subpoena to Workplace Inc. sought documents related to Danae's Newton-Foster Health Aide Training Center, which trains health-care workers, and Homemaker Home Health Care, which places workers in homes, Shute said.

Newton-Foster owns both. Sources said there are allegations that Newton benefited financially from his sister's companies.

Shute said the subpoena only sought documents, not direct testimony.

Shute said the federal subpoena sought documents regarding how much the Newton-Foster companies were paid, communications between the Newtons and Workplace, applications for funding and a program for an award ceremony several years ago.

The Newton-Foster companies apparently received an award during that ceremony, Shute said.

Shute stressed that the FBI assured officials at Workplace Inc. that the company is not under investigation.

"This has nothing to do with Workplace. They are zeroing in on Ernie Newton and his sister," Shute said.

Workplace channels federal money to companies such as Danae's Training Center. The federal money first goes to the state Department of Labor, then to Workplace, which distributes funding to firms such as Danae's.

Some private donations are also in the mix.

During the 2003-04 fiscal year, for example, Workplace paid Newton-Foster $83,650, Shute said.

Shute said Newton-Foster submits invoices to Workplace for payment for services such as training a health-care worker. Workplace reimburses the company for its expenses.

Asked whether any money was paid directly to Newton, Shute said none was.

When told of allegations that he may have "pressured" companies to hire certain contractors, Newton said he has never accepted a kickback.

"I've never, ever, in my 20 years of politics done that. I always fought for the underdog. I'm on record doing that for years," Newton said.

"I never went to anyone and said, 'If you don't do this, I will do that.'"

In a related matter, the Connecticut Post in November reported that bail bondsmen had heavily contributed to Newton and that the senator opposed a bill they did not favor.

Two checks written on Newton's personal checking account, which he provided to the Post to show he returned some donations, listed the address of the city's West Side sewer treatment plant, where he worked for PSG.

Heading the investigation are Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Finnerty and FBI Special Agents Gary Jensen and Chris Halpin.

The agents were part of the team that investigated Ganim, who was convicted on 16 corruption counts, including extortion, bribery and racketeering.

In a 52-page petition for reconsideration, city Comptroller Michael Lupkas and Chief of Staff Christopher Duby claimed the FOIC made "certain errors of fact and law" that should be "reconsidered and corrected."

The Connecticut Post requested the cellular billing records for Ganim and Finance Director Jerome I. Baron from Jan. 1, 1997, through June 30, 2001, in July 2001. The city turned over some of the records in October but crossed out all the numbers called. Before handing over the redacted records, city officials gave the Post conflicting accounts over whether they existed.

Initially, Lupkas provided an estimate of copying charges for the billing records, but Deputy Chief of Staff Gregory Conte claimed that Ganim did not have a city-paid-for cell phone and that the city had no records for the mayor's cellular phones. When the city finally agreed to turn over the records city officials said they had less than a year's worth and all of the billing data, the destinations of the calls and account information were blacked out.

Lupkas told the Post that all of the redactions to hundreds of pages of the cellular records were performed by the mayor's office.  In the administration's latest bid to keep Ganim's cell phone bills confidential for six phones paid for by taxpayers - the city is asking the FOI Commission to revoke its July 3 order to release unredacted cellular bills to the Post.  Thursday was the city's deadline to ask the FOIC to reconsider its decision.

The administration wants the FOIC to allow it to delete any unlisted or unpublished numbers contained in the bills. In the petition, City Attorney Mark Anastasi claimed "there exists the potential that either intentionally or through inadvertence, the private confidential phone numbers of third parties will be made available to the general public" if the Connecticut Post obtained the cellular records.  Anastasi added that releasing the records of a municipal chief executive officer would "unnecessarily and unreasonably interfere with his capacity to conduct the public's business and efficiently represent the citizens of the City of Bridgeport."

As for civil penalties of $1,000 each the FOI Commission ordered against Lupkas and Duby, Anastasi said both city officials relied on legal counsel from his department on withholding information on the cellular records and the existence of Duby's resume.

Anastasi asked the FOI Commission to either revoke their fines or impose them on him instead. In actuality, city taxpayers already paid the fines because the checks for both were drawn on city of Bridgeport bank accounts.  Anastasi said Lupkas told the Post that the full cellular bills would not be provided because "legal research revealed that the persons called may have an expectation of privacy."

 HARTFORD -- Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim may be innocent of 24 federal felony charges until proven guilty, but a veteran city
 lawmaker wants to make sure he can be ousted by the City Council before the end of his four-year-term.

 Rep. Jacqueline M. Cocco, D-Bridgeport, asked legislative leaders to bestow recall powers on the City Council. The new session of the
 General Assembly begins Feb. 6.

 Cocco said Friday that if a conviction comes, the city should be in a position to remove its mayor and avoid further national embarrassment.

 Cocco said a recall provision should have been included in the 1998 referendum when city voters approved a four-year mayoral term.

 On Friday, she requested that a key committee approve legislation to create recall powers for local legislative bodies in the 10 towns and
 cities where chief elected officials have four-year terms.

 The idea met with mixed reactions from Speaker of the House Moira K. Lyons, D-Stamford, and Bridgeport City Council President John M.
 Fabrizi, who would be next in line if Ganim is ousted.

 "You have to think about the fact that if you're in the position of having a four-year-term mayor and in the first year things happen that adversely
 impact that city," Cocco said. "It seems to me you need the recourse."

 The long-running federal investigation that netted 10 guilty pleas before Ganim was indicted Oct. 31 on corruption charges brought out
 shortcomings opponents warned about during a citywide term referendum back in 1998.

 "It certainly made me think about what we can do to handle this," said Cocco, an eight-term representative who is co-chairwoman of the
 Transportation Committee and a respected voice in the city's nine-member legislative delegation.

 She said she never favored the four-year mayoral term, but one of the big reasons why it was rejected twice before finally passing in 1998 --
 taking effect with Ganim's 1999 re-election -- was its lack of a recall provision.

 Cocco said that in most communities, the two-year term means that chief elected officials are more accountable, as they are essentially
 running for re-election all the time.

 Only 10 municipalities in the state have four-year terms for mayor or selectman, but most of them are smaller communities like Ledyard and
 Andover. Stamford is the next-largest city with such a term, followed by Norwich, which adopted the longer term this year. Other communities
 with four-year terms include Westport.

 "I think giving the council recall power is a good alternative," Cocco said. "State government is usually bipartisan, but municipal government is
 often controlled by only one party, which leaves you with less opportunity to look deeply into how things are done."

 A call to Ganim's office for comment was not returned Friday.

 Ganim pleaded innocent to the broad-based corruption and conspiracy charges and a trial is not expected until 2003. In the wake of his
 indictment, however, Gov. John G. Rowland called for Ganim's resignation and promised to cut the Democratic mayor out of the process in
 which the state supports local development projects. The state has also initiated an unprecedented review process for active and future
 Bridgeport projects.

 Still, Lyons said she would have to give Cocco's request a lot of review before deciding whether to support it.

 "Jackie is one of the best legislators we have and I know if she brings up an issue like this she has done it in a thoughtful manner," Lyons said
 Friday.

 But Lyons is concerned about vesting sweeping power in the City Council. "We pride ourselves on the ability of the voters to elect or reject
 who they want and this clearly would put some of that ability within the power of the legislative body to reject a sitting mayor," she said.

 Fabrizi agreed, saying that it would make more sense to set up a system that would allow local voters to petition a recall of the chief elected
 official.

 "I think the most appropriate recall would be from the electorate rather than the single body of the council," Fabrizi said. "They're the folks who
 voted that individual into office in the first place. Politically speaking, I don't think it would be fair for a small group to have that power."

 Ken Dixon, who covers the Capitol, can be reached at (860) 549-4670.

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim is being unrealistic. He thinks he can continue his duties while fighting a 24-count federal indictment alleging racketeering, bribery, extortion, mail fraud and tax evasion.

He claims he is innocent of any wrongdoing and says the court fight will bear out his position. He is entitled under the law to a presumption of innocence unless a trial or plea bargain results in his conviction. The fact that a number of his political and government associates have entered guilty pleas to federal corruption charges does not alter that presumption of innocence.

But to suggest that the energy required in fighting a long, laundry list of corruption charges will not be a damaging distraction to the effective administration of Bridgeport city business is sheer nonsense. Such posturing on the part of Mayor Ganim bears much of the same ego-gone-wild attitude of Mayor Vincent “Buddy'' Cianci Jr. of Providence, who also faces a multi-count federal criminal indictment, and yet insists that he will persevere as mayor of that city.

Such attitudes are nothing but arrogance in the extreme. By wallowing in hubris, the mayors place their political careers and egos above the good of the people. Their indictments are sad events, for each politician has improved the plight of his respective city, but the criminal charges are reality. And they do intrude on the ability of the mayors to do their best for their constituents.

For Mayors Ganim and Cianci to insist that the people still support them begs the question. The issue at hand concerns restoring the credibility and integrity of the government administrations in both their cities, not whether their stars are still high in the political heavens.

Mayor Philip A. Giordano of Waterbury reached an accommodation that led him to resign his post after he was accused of soliciting sex from two young girls, violating their civil rights and raping them. His departure allowed Waterbury to begin to deal with its fundamental problems of governance in a forthright fashion.

But so long as Mayors Ganim and Cianci hang around city hall as though they are above the fray, their cities will suffer. The damage in both cases is likely to get worse as their cases go to trial and, by dint of wanting to save their necks, they are forced to spend virtually every waking minute on the content of their cases.

Nor can they delegate their political authority to unelected political pals.

Mayor Ganim should resign. He must resign for the good of the city and the people for whom he claims such affection.

NEW HAVEN -- It was like any number of public appearances Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim has made in the past 10 years. His staff brought a podium, prepared remarks and a press kit containing a biography, recent newspaper clippings and his latest approval rating of 57 percent.

But this one began with the mayor of Connecticut's largest city ducking into a private room and submitting to fingerprints and a mug shot. Then a composed Ganim
re-emerged to plead not guilty to a 24-count corruption indictment, once before a judge and again on courthouse steps for the news cameras.

"This isn't the news conference I imagined having this November," Ganim said on the steps, offering a wan smile to the photographers. "The news conference I expected to have was to announce my candidacy for governor."

Ten months ago, Ganim, 42, was a leading contender for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2002. The Democratic state chairman at the time was backing him,
ready to build a campaign around Bridgeport's rebirth under its youthful mayor. Then news broke of a federal corruption investigation.

It led to him posing an unusual poll question last month: How many voters think him guilty of corruption? Sixteen percent said yes.

On Wednesday, a federal grand jury in Hartford returned a 56-page indictment. It describes a conspiracy to squeeze kickbacks and bribes from the mayor's urban renewal
projects, his privatization of the city's sewage treatment system, his anti-blight program, the management of city pensions and his saving of a constituent's land from
being taken for a new courthouse.

It took maybe 12 minutes for Ganim's arraignment before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton. She read Ganim, a lawyer, his rights. Then she instructed a clerk to ask how the mayor pleaded. To each charge, Ganim clearly answered, "Not guilty."

His chief fund-raiser, campaign manager, and former chief of staff are among nine individuals and one company to admit their involvement in the scheme and to enter guilty pleas, beginning four months ago. They are expected to testify against Ganim, describing a mayor who the government says solicited $425,000 in cash, goods and services in return for city business. A developer says he got city business, in part, by promising Ganim $500,000 for a run for governor.

"I am innocent of these charges," Ganim said outside the courthouse, where photographers jostled for position. "I have been betrayed by people who I trusted. Let me say
that again, loud and clear. I am innocent of these charges and I've been betrayed by people I trusted."

The mayor then addressed a question posed many times since Wednesday: How could he be unaware that his closest aides were shaking down nearly every major        company doing business with his administration?

"That's a fair question, a question I've asked myself quite a bit in the past four months," Ganim said. "The answer is simple, yet sickening to admit. Close friends who I
completely trusted betrayed me and the city of Bridgeport in the cruelest of ways."

Exactly how this was accomplished without the mayor hearing of it, he did not say.  Instead, Ganim asked if his involvement made any sense.

"I was running for governor," Ganim said. "Why would I jeopardize everything?

A run for governor.  Our achievements in the city of Bridgeport. My reputation. My family. To be part of an extortion scheme where I didn't even get one dime of money? It doesn't make sense, because it's not true."

The indictment says Ganim received tens of thousands of  dollars in cash, services and goods, including appliances, kitchen cabinets and design services for the house he built in Bridgeport's Black Rock neighborhood. It also says he was to receive even more.

Ronald S. Apter and Michael R. Sklaire, the assistant U.S. attorneys prosecuting the case, stopped only briefly before the cameras as they left the courthouse.

"I am not able to comment on any of the evidence or the nature of the case," said Apter, the lead prosecutor. "I will tell you that the government intends to do its speaking in court through the presentation of evidence to a jury at the appropriate time."

Ganim said he, too, will have to wait for his day in court to give a fuller response. His lawyer, Richard T. Meehan Jr., said it would be improper to do anything else.

"We'll do that in court - and hope that you'll be there," Ganim told reporters. Then he smiled.  He started to leave, but stopped to answer a few shouted questions.

How were his kids taking the news?  Ganim, a father of three, said, "My children are doing great, thank God. We've got a real strong family, as you can see - my parents, seven brothers and sisters. I'm truly blessed in many ways."

But what has he told his kids?  Ganim paused, then he smiled and replied, "I tell them everybody in the press isn't as mean as they look."

                                                 *****
Note:  item in bold face and larger type not in original story that way.

That will not do, Mr. Ganim. You have brought shame to Connecticut's largest city and to the entire state. Your day in court will come. In the meantime, however, spare
Bridgeport further disruption by resigning. There is no way you can contest the charges in court during the next two years and at the same time perform your mayoral duties in an acceptable manner.

But Mr. Ganim doesn't seem to get it. Neither does the Democratic-dominated city council, whose members say they will stand by their man while he hangs on to power.

In Waterbury, where jailed Mayor Philip Giordano remains  titular head of the city at half pay while facing federal sex charges and a corruption inquiry, all of the aldermen,
Republicans and Democrats, were deeply embarrassed and wanted him out of office.

In Bridgeport, council members are letting their partisan loyalty stand in the way of what's best for the city.

Even if he's ultimately cleared, how can Mr. Ganim fight the legal battle of his life and still find time to effectively run the city and maintain the public's trust over the next two years?

The Ganim administration is a cesspool of corruption.  Already, there have been 10 guilty pleas by individuals and a business. They have admitted to bribery, conspiracy and other crimes involving city business. Several are close associates of Mr. Ganim.

Mr. Ganim's defiant show of bravado after his sweeping corruption indictment is one for the books. He has done "nothing wrong," and hasn't "taken a dime as part of any
conspiracy," he claimed. He had nary an inkling of the misdeeds of his closest associates, he insisted.

If that's the case, the man whose public relations machine the past decade would have you believe that he alone raised Bridgeport from the dead has been anything but
indispensable. Now he seems to be painting a picture of himself as a clueless functionary all these years, just bumbling along in ignorant bliss while his looting,               deal-making campaign fund-raisers and trusted aides handed out contracts for city business to crooked vendors in exchange for gifts, cash and campaign contributions.

And he was in the dark about all this?

"I know nothing" might have worked for Sgt. Schultz of TV sitcom fame, but it is a much harder sell for Mr. Ganim.  Innocent or guilty, he ought to have the good sense and
common decency to surrender power to someone who can restore Bridgeport's reputation.

He certainly can't. 

A sweeping corruption indictment accuses Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim of trading city contracts for cash, diamond earrings, expensive wine, custom clothes and a
pledge of $500,000 to his now-abandoned campaign for governor.

In a 24-count indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Hartford, Ganim is accused of hitching his plans for the city's economic rebirth to a thirst for high
living and an ambition for higher political office.

Ganim, 42, the five-term mayor of Connecticut's largest city and the 1994 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, solicited cash, goods and services worth at least $425,000, not including the $500,000 for his campaign, the indictment says.

Gov. John G. Rowland immediately called on Ganim to resign, saying the city can ill-afford "to be swept up in the swirl of a mayor fighting serious corruption charges." But
Ganim struck a defiant tone in a televised press conference in Bridgeport, vowing to complete the remaining two years of his term as he fights the corruption charges.

"Let me be clear," Ganim said. "I am being falsely accused. I have done nothing wrong. I have not taken a dime as part of any conspiracy. Nor have I ever authorized
anyone to take money on my behalf. And I am confident that, once all the facts come out, this will be clear to everyone."

Ganim has lived under a cloud since December, when federal agents began seizing records from city hall and companies doing business with the city.  Until then, Ganim was a rising star in Democratic politics, credited as being the architect of Bridgeport's rebirth, hailed by Newsweek as one of the nation's "25 mayors to watch," and widely considered a leading contender for governor in 2002.

Now, the best Ganim can hope for is proving at trial next year that he was merely ignorant of a massive corruption scheme carried out by some of his oldest friends and
closest aides - and not a participant.

The indictment charges him with racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, extortion, mail fraud, filing false tax returns and criminal forfeiture, a list of charges punishable by a
maximum of 176 years in prison.

He was spared the indignity of arrest. As is typical in cases in which the defendant is considered neither a flight risk nor a public danger, Ganim will be allowed to         voluntarily appear Friday for his arraignment in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

The indictment comes nearly five months after his chief  fund-raiser, Paul J. Pinto, and former campaign manager, Lennie Grimaldi, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges.
Each admitted to taking kickbacks from city contractors on behalf of an unnamed elected official.

Confronted with wiretaps and other evidence, nine individuals and one company have pleaded guilty to corruption charges without being indicted. Ganim is the first to be indicted.

U.S. Attorney John A. Danaher III said Wednesday that the indictment and previous guilty pleas were the product of a federal investigation begun in 1996. He declined to say why the Ganim administration became the target of a probe by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies.

Michael J. Wolf, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Connecticut, left no doubt that the initial focus was Harbor Yard, the sports complex that rose from a crumbling
industrial site near the waterfront.  He said the investigation was code-named "Hardball," a reference to the 5,000-seat minor league ballpark built a few years ago for $19 million. A 10,000-seat, $52 million hockey arena recently opened next door.

For 20 months in 1999 and 2000, federal agents used wiretaps and other forms of electronic surveillance to gather evidence of corruption, Wolf said. Late last year, agents caused a stir by removing listening devices from a Fairfield diner where prominent developers Alfred Lenoci and his son, Alfred Lenoci Jr., dined.  The Lenocis each pleaded guilty last month to bribery.

They described being named the city's preferred developer by promising to pay Pinto $1 for every square foot of space developed. The younger Lenoci also pledged to bankroll Ganim's campaign for governor.

The indictment accuses Ganim of cashing in on the city's privatization of its wastewater treatment system, the construction of Harbor Yard, the management of the city's
pension fund, the demolition of vacant buildings and the development of city-owned land.

The indictment says some of the money reached Ganim, but much of it was being held for the mayor.

It accuses the mayor of forcing one developer, Alex Conroy, to cede control of Steel Point, a waterfront development site, to the Lenocis. Conroy's lawyer, William
Sweeney, said the developer is preparing a civil suit for damages.

Among the indictment's claims:

In May 1996, Ganim told Pinto he favored Professional Services Group, known as PSG, for the wastewater contract. But there was a hitch: United Properties, owned
by his friends the Lenocis, was allied with another bidder, U.S. Water.

With Pinto and Grimaldi, Ganim concocted a kickback scheme intended to benefit the mayor, his two aides and the Lenocis.

As a result, PSG agreed to pay Grimaldi $70,000 a year for five years - a deal in which money flowed to Grimaldi, Pinto and a Lenoci company, United Environmental
Remediation.

Between May 1997 and May 1999, PSG paid $311,000 to Grimaldi. He gave Pinto $194,000. Pinto gave United $54,250.

At Ganim's direction, Grimaldi negotiated a sweeter deal with PSG in April 1999: In return for an 18-year contract extension with the city, PSG was to pay another $695,000 - $495,000 of which PSG had to pay within 10 days of getting the new contract.

PSG made the payment on June 4, 1999. Grimaldi passed along $313,000 to Pinto, "with the understanding and intent that one half was intended for, and belonged to, the defendant, Joseph P. Ganim."

Grimaldi and Pinto, who each ran consulting businesses, hid bribes and kickbacks as fees, the indictment says.  Pinto also was a vice president of Kasper Group, which
was awarded no-bid contracts to design the ballpark and arena at Harbor Yard.

Although Ganim was accused of receiving many illegal gifts, including extensive work on the house he built two years ago in the city's posh Black Rock neighborhood, the
indictment alleges that Pinto was still holding money intended for the mayor.  Ganim made clear, in a dramatic press conference called an hour after the indictment was unsealed, that he and his lawyer, Richard T. Meehan Jr., will portray Pinto and others as crooks who got caught and now are trying to win leniency by implicating a prominent politician.

"I have sadly learned that people who were close to me used that relationship for their own personal gain, and in so doing betrayed me and betrayed the city of Bridgeport.
Now those same people, who have admitted to criminal conduct, are now engaged in lies and falsehoods about me to save their own skin."

He was cheered by family and supporters, as though announcing another campaign. He was elected to two-year terms four times. His popularity drove a charter
change extending mayoral terms to four years, beginning in 1999.

Ganim spoke slowly, his voice growing louder with every word. With a jutting lower lip and a steady gaze, Ganim projected a resolute image. WTNH, Channel 8, interrupted
a soap opera to carry part of the press conference.

Ganim twice held aloft the 56-page indictment, calling it "bald-faced lies." He mentioned a poll he commissioned, finding he enjoys a high approval rating.

"I consider this my first day to stand before you and fight back - something I haven't been able to do in the last 10 months," Ganim said. Again, he was cheered.

City council President John Fabrizi said the all-Democratic council was "very supportive" of the mayor and was unlikely to back Rowland's call for the mayor's resignation.

Ganim held a press conference Wednesday afternoon where he appeared with his wife, parents, siblings and dozens of city employees and supporters, to denounce the allegations.

"I consider this my first day to stand here before you and fight back -- something I haven't been able to do in the last 10 months," Ganim said.  During the half-hour appearance, he waved the 56-page indictment and called its contents "bald-faced lies."

Ganim said he will not resign from his $106,591-a-year job while he fights the charges.  The mayor has two years remaining on a four-year term.  He was elected to two-year terms in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997. In 1999, after a charter change, Gamin was elected to his first four-year term.  With Ganim's indictment, the mayors of two of Connecticut's five largest cities are under federal indictment. Waterbury Mayor Phillip A. Giordano has been jailed since July 26 on child sex charges.

The Ganim indictment comes nearly five months after his chief fundraiser, Paul J. Pinto, and former campaign manager, Lennie Grimaldi, pleaded guilty to racketeering
charges. Each admitted to taking kickbacks from city contractors on behalf of an unnamed elected official.  Confronted with wiretaps and other other evidence, nine          individuals and one company have pleaded guilty to corruption charges without being indicted. Ganim is the first to be indicted as a result of the federal investigation.

Today, Ganim spoke of Bridgeport's progress under his administration, and again denied any wrongdoing. "I've done nothing to harm that progress or profit from it," he         said.  Ganim was elected at age 32 in 1991 when Bridgeport was a national symbol of urban decay. His predecessor, Republican Mary Moran, had the city file for bankruptcy. Its bonds were worthless. Helped by a state bailout, Ganim led a financial recovery.

Before his victory, Bridgeport had the political stability of a Third World nation, with five different mayors in 12 years.  But Ganim proved to be a savvy booster for Bridgeport - and for himself.  He convinced the state to invest in Bridgeport development projects, such as the much-praised minor-league Ballpark at Harbor Yard. It rose from the rubble of an old industrial site, a triumph the city boasted of on a television advertising campaign that prominently featured Ganim.

He was rewarded with the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant governor in 1994 and was named by Newsweek magazine in 1996 as one of the “25 Mayors to Watch.”

Ganim was laying the groundwork late last year for a 2002 gubernatorial campaign when federal agents began seizing records from city hall, as well as some of the
companies involved in the city's development boom. His lawyer, Richard T. Meehan Jr., said the mayor will be able to function as the city's chief executive. “This cloud had been hanging over him for 10 months,” Meehan said.

John Fabrizi, president of the City Council, called it "a very sad day for the city of Bridgeport and many of us feel sad for his wife and children." He said he spoke with the
mayor this morning and the mayor maintained his innocence. Fabrizi said the all-Democratic council has been supportive of the mayor and that even if council members wanted to remove Ganim from office, the city charter does not allow it.

Ganim's office released a poll Tuesday showing that he still enjoys high approval ratings, despite the federal corruption investigation.

“There has been a groundswell of support for Joe Ganim, at least among the people that count in Bridgeport, the voters,” Meehan said. Ganim's wife, Jennifer, gave birth in
June to their third child.