Ruling on Arena tough to swallow

4/13/07
In a ruling that was not unexpected but is still difficult to accept, Bridgeport was hit with a $10 million bill on Monday over a final payment on the Arena at Harbor Yard. The city had argued that it shouldn't have to pay the money because the contract had been reached through corruption, but the court didn't see it that way.
It's difficult to accept for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that the amount due has more than doubled during litigation. The original bill was for about $4 million to C.R. Klewin Northeast to finish some last-minute work on the Arena, but since 2001, interest and legal fees have added about $6 million to the total. The city could now turn to the state Supreme Court, but, with two strikes against it, there's little reason to suppose the highest court would rule another way.
The decision against the city says nothing about corruption, but rests on what is usually called a technicality. City lawyers did not raise the issue of corruption during the initial arbitration process over the unpaid sum, and therefore, so the courts have ruled, they could not raise it in a lawsuit after the fact. The only problem there is that this specific corruption came to light during the trial of former Mayor Joseph P. Ganim; until he was found guilty, there was no proven corruption in the deal.
But the timing didn't work out, so by the point the Ganim trial was over, the arbitration arguments had passed, and the corruption angle was closed off. It's a tough blow for the city, where efforts to lower the mill rate have taken a big hit with the large jump in liabilities.
But it's also a blow for good governance. Transparency and openness ought to be the hallmark of the city administration as development grows and new projects take shape. The Harbor Yard deal is (we hope) a leftover from the past, when doing business in the city meant giving a little something on the side to grease the wheels. If this is still standard operating procedure in City Hall, don't expect much in the way of a Bridgeport rebirth, no matter how many projects break ground.
But this appears to be a case where the city tried to follow the rules and got nothing in return. Nothing, that is, but a bill for $10 million.