Corruption trial one more setback

4/5/07
It’s the kind of news Bridgeport is hoping to move past. With the conviction of Jeanette Foxworth, the latest link in the corruption case involving former state Sen. Ernest E. Newton II, prosecutors are rooting out remnants of the bad old days. But continuing incidences like this will keep the city where it has been for decades — left behind.
Foxworth, who owns a computer company, was convicted Tuesday on five counts of wire fraud, three counts of lying to the FBI and one count of conspiracy. Recordings played in court convinced the jury that she had paid Newton to help her land city contracts, which she lost out on anyway. But as troubling as one more trip into the sordid underworld of how business is really done around here was the beyond-belief attitude displayed by Newton.
This was the third-ranking member of the state Senate sounding more like the Godfather than a public servant. No one sends money into Bridgeport "without calling Ernie up," he said at one point. He’s serving a prison sentence now after his blatant power and money grabs finally caught up to him, but his abuse remains breathtaking.
On tape, he discussed methods for trying to get a school system contract for Foxworth. The implication was clear — if the deal didn’t go through, Newton planned to hold up school funding. Whether he had the power to do that or not is immaterial; this was someone talking about keeping money from children in one of the nation’s poorest cities over an issue of personal pique.
And then the worst news came from U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O’Connor: The conviction "does not represent the end of our efforts to eradicate corruption in Bridgeport." This likely means we can look forward to more days like recent ones, where we will again find out why nothing ever gets done and why big players look to invest anywhere but here. Pay-for-play doesn’t work.
Foxworth will turn out to be a footnote in the history of Bridgeport corruption, but the problems she represents will linger. The city has been beset by underhanded deal-makers, shifty politicians and overseers who look the other way. The growing ranks of Bridgeport politicians in federal prison is evidence of that.
The current leadership promises big doings, with unprecedented development. The city budget Mayor John M. Fabrizi unveiled this week is, according to him, a model of openness and good governance. It had better be. If Bridgeport really does get something going, there has to be so much transparency that Fairfield could see straight through to Stratford. No more shady deals, no more taped conspiracies.
It’s Bridgeport’s only hope.