Pubdate: Sat, 15 Jul 2006
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2006 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Alison Leigh Cowan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

A CONNECTICUT MAYOR ENFORCES SELF-IMPOSED PENALTIES FOR HIS DRUG PROBLEM

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Through two and a half hours of questioning at 
the latest "Ask the Mayor" session here, a buoyant John M. Fabrizi 
was eager to talk about the brand-new $390,000 fire engine that 
federal money just bought for his strapped city. Or the new animal 
shelter his administration was building. Anything but what was on the 
top of people's minds: his recent tearful admission that he had used 
cocaine and abused alcohol since taking office in 2003.

But when the subject finally came up, as it inevitably does in a city 
that has battled more than its share of scandal, Mayor Fabrizi hardly 
strayed from his upbeat tone, apologizing again for having "made a 
terrible mistake" and promising a self-imposed penalty that he 
thought befit the transgression.

On Friday morning, the mayor, a Democrat, gave himself a slap on the 
wrist of sorts in a City Hall speech as he unveiled the details of 
his plan: he said he would perform at least 100 hours of community 
service and give $5,400 to the city coffers, which he said the city 
owes him in retroactive raises. The punishment, he said while again 
choking up at times, was in keeping with what the judicial system 
typically requires of first-time drug offenders. For an enhancement 
based on his status as a public official, Mr. Fabrizi said he also 
plans to write letters of apology to President Bush, Laura Bush -- he 
keeps a framed picture of them in his office -- and a third 
Republican, Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

"I realize I have let you down and have work to do in rebuilding your 
trust in me," Mr. Fabrizi, a 49-year-old former schoolteacher, told 
about 100 supporters and reporters gathered in the City Council 
chambers for a mea culpa complete with PowerPoint presentation.

The effort to serve as his own judge and jury was a novel enough act 
for a public official seeking redemption that not even Marion S. 
Barry Jr., the former mayor of Washington, tried it during a 
decade-long effort to reconcile a crack-smoking past with a political 
future. And for now, there seems little risk that prosecutors will 
charge Mayor Fabrizi with a drug-related crime, although federal 
agents continue to monitor city government for corruption.

At the ask-the-mayor session on Thursday evening, at the Captain's 
Cove outdoor restaurant and bar, Mr. Fabrizi played down the 
seriousness of his offense. He told one resident that his drug use 
was only "recreational."

"One thing I've heard from folks is, 'Well, Mayor, people have gone 
to jail for what you did,' " he said. "The answer is no. People have 
not gone to jail for what I did. What typically happens, and you can 
check with lawyers, is if that person is a first-time offender, they 
have to go to eight sessions of substance-abuse counseling and they 
have to perform 32 hours of community service, and when they complete 
that, whatever record they have is completely expunged."

Throughout the evening, as the sun fell over the sailboats moored 
behind the boardwalk, Mr. Fabrizi's wife, Mary, had a Diet Coke 
nearby waiting for him if he got hoarse and clapped vigorously 
whenever he said anything remotely rousing.

She said she was "pushing him" to run for re-election next year, 
though when he told the crowd he was grateful to be celebrating his 
20th wedding anniversary, she retorted in mock outrage that it had 
been weeks since that milestone passed and, "We haven't celebrated yet."

Mr. Fabrizi, a diabetic, promised her a hot fudge sundae at the 
Timothy's ice cream parlor after the event. But they arrived minutes 
after a gunman escaped on a bicycle with $610 and a cellphone, so the 
mayor scurried off to "find the assailant," he said. Neither Mr. 
Fabrizi nor the police caught the robber.

Still reeling from the sorry spectacle of seeing the former 
Democratic mayor, Joseph P. Ganim, sentenced to nine years in prison 
for running a fraud and racketeering scheme from his City Hall 
office, Bridgeport residents and civic leaders have had a mixed 
reaction to the new mayor's efforts to put his misdeeds behind him.

The Rev. Jonathan Hevita, a Pentecostal minister, credited Mr. 
Fabrizi for his candor, saying that many families devastated by drug 
use are "in denial or just ignore it, and when people in leadership 
can be honest and open up, he will also help the other men in our 
community who are struggling."

The candor, of course, came only after The Connecticut Post reported 
on June 16 that an indicted drug trafficker told federal agents in a 
sworn statement that he supplied drugs to a customer who said the 
mayor "needed a hit" and who claimed to have a videotape of the mayor 
using cocaine. A tearful Mr. Fabrizi soon admitted using drugs while 
in office, but said he had sought treatment, been cocaine-free for 
more than a year, and quit drinking a few months ago. Last week, he 
submitted to a spot drug test at the behest of The Post.

Longtime political foes have called for his resignation, while other 
politicians, including Governor Rell, have said that constituents 
should decide at the ballot box.

Maxine Greenberg, a social worker, worries that the mayor's 
revelation and need to concentrate on rehabilitation may drag down 
the city's efforts to revive its economy and regain its reputation. 
Mr. Fabrizi was elevated from his position as City Council president 
after Mr. Ganim's criminal conviction, and won a four-year term on 
his own a few months later. But the bad news hasn't entirely stopped. 
Just Wednesday, a city building official pleaded guilty to steering 
asbestos-cleanup work to a company that paid him $8,000 in bribes.

"I can't even go through the list" of scandals in Bridgeport, Ms. 
Greenberg said after hearing the mayor's comments on Thursday. "I 
didn't want a personal apology. I trust he'll handle his personal 
issues appropriately. But how do we begin to change the perception of 
Bridgeport?"

Mr. Fabrizi has started by refashioning the office he inherited from 
Mr. Ganim. He sold the Oriental carpet and city car that symbolized 
his predecessor's weakness for luxuries. Posted next to the infamous 
secret staircase that allowed Mr. Ganim's co-conspirators to come and 
go without drawing attention is a laminated sign -- "Ethics Check: 1. 
Is it legal? 2. Is it balanced, 3. Can I live with my decision?"

On Friday, the mayor said that he would take the advice of civic 
boosters like Mary-Jane Foster, an owner of the Bridgeport Bluefish 
minor-league baseball team, to shed some of his 262 pounds and better 
tend to his health. So he has tuned up his bicycle for the first time 
in five years and dug his sneakers out of a closet.

Who knows, Mr. Fabrizi said, his brown eyes still glistening from 
tears shed at Friday's speech at City Hall, perhaps that back 
staircase to his office could be used for some overdue exercise.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman