Newly elected Bridgeport, Conn., Mayor John Fabrizi is looking to hire a permanent finance director, the overseer of the city's comptroller, treasurer, and tax assessor, and the individual responsible for managing $689 million in debt.
Mike Lupkas has been serving as the city's acting finance director for the past year since replacing former director Jerome Barrett, who left the post amid scandals involving former Mayor Joseph Ganim.
Ganim is currently serving a nine-year federal prison sentence on corruption charges after he was found guilty of steering city contracts in exchange for home improvements and other benefits. Fabrizi, who had served as acting mayor after Ganim left office, was elected to the position in November.
Fabrizi said he works well with Lupkas, but added that the interview process is not just a formality.
"Yes, I feel comfortable working with Mike," Fabrizi said in an interview last week. "But I think the competition is good, and I will make my decision based on a review of all the applicants."
The selection process comes as the city embarks on a fairly ambitious school construction plan and faces the start of the fiscal 2005 budget season. Fabrizi said he is looking for a candidate who can deal with the city's continuing budget pressures and work with the board of education to develop a bonding schedule that will help construct four new city schools.
Lupkas said he will definitely be applying for the finance director position. "Now that the mayor has been elected, I understand that he wants to see what is out there," he said.
Applications for the position are due Feb. 12. Fabrizi expects to select a candidate by March.
While Bridgeport faced approximately $14 million in state budget cuts last year, Lupkas said he isn't sure what to expect in terms of midyear cuts for the 2004 and 2005 budgets.
"One of the major issues for the city right now is the tight budget," Lupkas said. "Over the past couple years the state has continually cut funding from the city and we still don't know where we stand for this year. If there are additional cuts, we are going to have to come up with a solution to deal with them."
Kicking off a four-year capital improvement plan, Bridgeport sold $75.5 million of insured taxable and tax-exempt general obligation bonds in November to fund various capital projects and to pay off bond anticipation notes and refund outstanding GO bonds. Those bonds were insured by Financial Security Assurance Inc.
The November sale was the first of a comprehensive $800 million capital improvement plan that includes the major overhaul of the city's schools. Bridgeport has already authorized $217 million in bonding over the next four years.
All three rating agencies have underlying ratings for the city. Moody's Investors Service rates its Baa1, while Standard & Poor's assigns an equivalent BBB-plus. Fitch Ratings rates Bridgeport one notch higher, at A-minus.
