at the time ganim took office, the city's dire financial straits caused it to be the only municipality in connecticut to have its finances under the control of a state board. the state board had ordered the city to raise its property taxes by 18 percent to close a $16 million budget shortfall for the 1991-92 fiscal year. ganim also campaigned on a law and order platform, promising to hire a hundred new city police officers to combat crime. one reason why ganim was elected was because "there were few politicians who wanted the grief of being mayor of bridgeport for the paltry salary of $52,000 a year, hence there was not a lot of strong opposition with which ganim had to contend." when ganim became bridgeport's fiftieth mayor, he was the youngest person to hold the office in city history.