John C. Mandanici
| John C. Mandanici, Sr. | |
|---|---|
| 47th Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut | |
|
In office 1975–1981 |
|
| Preceded by | Nicholas A. Panuzio |
| Succeeded by | Leonard S. Paoletta |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 1, 1918 Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States |
| Died | January 7, 1986 (aged 68) Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
John C. Mandanici Sr. (January 1, 1918–January 7, 1986) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the largest city in the U.S. state of Connecticut.
John C. Mandanici Sr. was born on New Year's Day 1918, in the Hallow neighborhood of Bridgeport, to a Sicilian American family that had settled in the city ten years earlier. He attended Bridgeport Central High School, where one of his classmate was Joseph Walshs, the future superintendent of the Bridgeport police; both would later rise to become the city's two most powerful people.
Mandanici worked for the A&P supermarket in downtown Bridgeport for nearly 40 years before entering politics. He started as a grocery clerk and rose to become store manager. Mandanici became active in the local Democratic Party and served on the zoning board.
Mandanici entered citywide politics for the first time in 1969, when he became Bridgeport city clerk.
In 1975, Mandanici was elected mayor with 63 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Richard S. Scalo. As mayor, Mandanici is credited with starting Captain's Cove, the city's public marina.
Mandanici "maintained an iron control of city politics until 1981, when he was narrowly defeated by Republican Leonard S. Paoletta after scandal rocked his administration." In that election, "Mandanici was at the center of a federal investigation into corruption in Bridgeport City Hall." Mandanici was never implicated or indicted in connection with the corruption scandals, but more than a dozen members of his administration were convicted on state or Federal corruption charges." From 1977 to January 1983, nineteen associates of Mandanici or administration officials were indicted on corruption charges, such as perjury, fraud, and misapplication of federal money. At that time, eleven had pleaded guilty, three were convicted following jury trials, a judge dismissed charges against one, and four (including Mandanici's son John C. "Buddy" Mandanici) were awaiting trial. Mandanci Jr. was convicted in May 1983 by a jury in the U.S. District Court in New Haven of three charges of fraud in connection with a federal housing subsidy application that he had filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; he was acquitted on a fourth charge of lying to a bank officer. Judge Robert C. Zampano sentenced Mandanci Jr. to a five-year suspended sentence, a $20,000 fine, and three years' probation.
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