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.