1. Jasper McLevy was an American politician who served as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1933 until 1957.
19 Facts About Jasper McLevy
1. 2.
Jasper McLevy was a member of the Socialist Party, later leaving in protest to join the Social Democratic Federation.
3.
Jasper McLevy was born to Scottish immigrants Hugh and Mary Stewart McLevy in Bridgeport on March 27,1878.
4.
Jasper McLevy 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.
5.
In 1931, voters had ousted the incumbent Republican mayor for Democrat Edward Buckingham and Jasper McLevy only lost by a couple thousand votes.
6.
Contrary to the fears of some, capital did not flee Bridgeport and Jasper McLevy began upon a reform agenda rather than a revolution.
7.
Jasper McLevy withheld the lucrative contract for trash hauling, instituting municipal trash collection, saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
8.
Jasper McLevy took over Pleasure Beach where concessionaires had been reneging on taxes and rent for years.
9.
Jasper McLevy began the process of putting all city purchases out for competitive bidding.
10.
Jasper McLevy championed transparency, opening all board and commission meetings to the press and the public.
11.
Jasper McLevy sold the expensive limousine his predecessor had used.
12.
Jasper McLevy instituted a merit system in the police and fire departments.
13.
In 1957, after twenty-four years of service, McLevy was defeated in his bid for reelection as mayor by Samuel J Tedesco.
14.
Jasper McLevy ran again, unsuccessfully, in 1959, but finally retired from politics in 1960 due to illness.
15.
Ultimately, those disagreements led to Jasper McLevy taking the Connecticut Socialists out of the National Party briefly in 1938 and permanently in 1950.
16.
Jasper McLevy was a member of the conservative wing of the Socialist Party.
17.
Jasper McLevy was a member of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Committee for the Preservation of the Socialist Party, established in 1934 in response to the defeat of the Old Guard faction at the 1934 Convention of the Socialist Party in Detroit.
18.
Jasper McLevy joined them and disaffiliated his state party from the national Socialists.
19.
Jasper McLevy's papers are archived at the University of Bridgeport.