Malloy’s Bridgeport problem growing as campaign season heats up

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Critics of Governor Dan Malloy call the failed two-year recruitment of the world’s largest hedge fund Bridgewater Associates a boondoggle costing taxpayers $16 million that could have been invested in the state’s largest city. But it also highlights a growing organizational problem Malloy faces in Bridgeport in the gut of his reelection including frayed relations with Bridgeport’s Democratic leadership that believes Malloy should be doing more.

Bridgewater pulled out of a $115 million incentive package to move its headquarters from Westport to Stamford. Critics argue poaching a business from wealthy Westport to a thriving Stamford doesn’t do the state a lot of good unless it entices a move to one of the state’s distressed cities. Of course, there’s also the argument that Stamford is an easier sell than Bridgeport.

In a comment to the Connecticut Post, former Mayor John Fabrizi says, “The state has invested billions of dollars in Stamford and nowhere close to that in Bridgeport, and it is frustrating. I understand how these deals work. … However the state of Connecticut has to be cognizant of places like Bridgeport.”

Malloy’s people will say they are cognizant of Bridgeport which is why the governor ponied up an incentive package of roughly $30 million to entice Bass Pro Shops, the mega outdoor retailer, to serve as the anchor tenant in the revitalization of the Steel Point redevelopment area on the East Side.

Read the complete story at OnlyInBridgeport.com.