BRIDGEPORT --- The FBI has
investigated this city in the past, with spectacular results.
Now it's possible federal
officials are looking at Bridgeport again.
The FBI has
reportedly issued a subpoena to the city for information concerning the
construction of the new ampitheater in the South End, according to Maria
Pereira, a member of the Bridgeport City Council.
Pereira, who represents part of the East Side,
said she learned through a reliable source that the federal agency issued the
subpoena concerning the ampitheater, which was built in 2020 with $9 million of
city money.
The facility, called
The Hartford Health Care Ampitheater, opened last year in July and has hosted a
number of concerts.
A request for comment was made to the City
Attorney’s office, but a secretary said any statement would have to come from
the city’s spokesperson, Rowena White.
White said “I have never
heard of that before. But then again, there’s always rumors out in the
community.”
When asked about the
subpoena, a Bridgeport FBI spokesman referred this reporter to the agency’s New
Haven office. No one from that office has thus far returned a call for comment.
 |
| The ampitheater in Bridgeport. The FBI may be investigating the construction of this facility. |
The ampitheater --- which
is viewed as a key part of the city’s redevelopment efforts --- was built amid
some controversy. Developer Howard Saffan initially promised local officials
that the city had to invest no more than $7.5 million for the project, which
was pegged to cost $15 million in total. But in 2020 Saffan came back to the City
Council asking for another $4.5 million --- on top of $4.5 million the city already had put out --- saying that the construction work had
run into unforeseen infrastructure problems.
Some members of the council,
including Pereira, objected and questioned the viability of the new facility.
Pereira said the ampitheater would in the long run cost the city a lot more
money than what was forecast.
“The amphitheater is
not an economic development project,” she said. “It is nothing more than a
taxpayer-funded handout to a developer closely aligned with Mayor (Joseph) Ganim who is
also a generous donor to Ganim’s political campaigns,” wrote Pereira in an
opinion piece in the Connecticut Post.
But a majority of council
members approved the request for additional money with several commenting that
the amphitheater would provide a major boost for the downtown area and bring
the city additional revenue.
“The ampitheater will be a big draw and reinvigorate the downtown,” said City Council President
Aidee Nieves.
The amphitheater was
constructed on the site of the old Bridgeport Bluefish baseball field. The city
decided in 2017 to not renew the lease for the Bluefish and head in a different
direction.
The amphitheater
retains the seating from the old stadium.
Pereira, who has been
a vocal critic of the Ganim administration, also claimed last year that the FBI
was investigating a $6 million payment made by the city to the University of
Bridgeport for property to be used for the new Bassick High School.
Pereira and other
members of the community had claimed that the $6 million payment was illegal
because it was never approved by the City Council.
An FBI official at
that time would not confirm or deny an investigation on that matter.
The Bassick project
is now underway, with the demolition of several dorms at UB.
The City of
Bridgeport is no stranger to FBI investigations. Some 22 years ago, federal
officials conducted a major investigation of corruption in the city, and wound
up indicting a number of officials including Mayor Ganim. Those officials were
later convicted and Ganim served seven years in prison.
Ganim resurrected
his political career when he got out and was able to win back the mayoralty in
2015.
In the late 1970s,
the FBI also netted a number of officials for corruption in Bridgeport, during
the administration of Mayor John C. Mandanici.
No comments:
Post a Comment