When the Socialists seized a New England City-A Quarter Century of Shame....

[catnhatnh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasper_McLevy

Jasper McLevy (March 27, 1878—November 20, 1962) was an American politician who served as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1933-1957. He was a member of the Socialist Party, later leaving in protest to join the Social Democratic Federation.

The 24-year-old idealist first ran for the Connecticut General Assembly under the Socialist banner in 1902, collecting a grand total of 215 votes. He ran another 20 unsuccessful campaigns for local, city, state and federal offices over the following years, including nine tries at mayor, the last in 1931. In all these races he ran as a Socialist at a time when socialists were portrayed as anarchists and bomb-throwers.[1][2][3]


Contrary to the fears of some,[who?] capital did not flee Bridgeport and McLevy began upon a reform agenda rather than a revolution.[citation needed] In a time of reduced revenue due to the Depression and, with city coffers depleted by corruption, McLevy managed to meet the City's obligations and balance the books, even reducing taxes. He withheld the lucrative contract for trash hauling, instituting municipal trash collection, saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. He took over Pleasure Beach where concessionaires had been reneging on taxes and rent for years. He began the process of putting all city purchases out for competitive bidding. In one instance when asphalt suppliers all supplied identical bids, he threatened to create a municipal asphalt supplier and broke their cartel. He championed transparency, opening all board and commission meetings to the press and the public ("Operation Goldfish Bowl&quot . He sold the expensive limousine his predecessor had used. He instituted a merit system in the police and fire departments. McLevy went on to be reelected eleven times.[1][2][5]


In 1957, after twenty-four years of service, McLevy was defeated in his bid for reelection as mayor by Samuel J. Tedesco. He ran again, unsuccessfully, in 1959, but finally retired from politics in 1960 due to illness.[2]







My family lived in Bridgeport at the time and loved this guy. More good info in the wiki article. Maybe if this story was more widely known people wouldn't be so afraid of "Socialism"...

[liberal_at_heart]

1. socialism benefits everybody not just the wealthy. I'm not afraid of socialism. I welcome it.

[daleanime]

6. Hell ya......

[RainDog]

2. thanks for the history moment! n/t

[JNelson6563]

3. We need many more Jasper McLevys!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Some good news.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024043958

[catnhatnh]

5. It was actually your thread that reminded me of Jasper...

And mentions that she is OWS. That reminded me of this thread of mine http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022902741

in which a few selected posters argued that OWS was dead and that they refused to engage politically and were therefore irrelevant....

So thanks for your post-following it up gives me hope.

[idwiyo]

7. k&r