In these tough times, all of us can use a little comedy in our lives. The State of the City address given today by the Dishonorable Mayor Eddie Perez would have been laughable if it were not for the damage Perez and his actions have caused to the city that many of us still love and call home. A very few "non-reserved" seats were available to members of the public, after the reserved signs were taped to almost every seat in the Council Chambers (pic above). Once the members of the Carpenter's Union arrived, the room was standing room only. Several members of the Carpenter's Union I spoke with told me they had never been inside City Hall, never met Eddie Perez but were told to be there to show their support for Perez if they wanted to keep their jobs and keep working. Not a hard call to make in these economic times. I wondered how many of them were actually Hartford residents and could relate to what people in Hartford are going through. If only they knew how much money was being made through the back room deals, at their expense. If you looked in the far corner of the room, in the very back, you would have seen Police Chief Darryl Roberts and his command staff. Normally he would have been front and center, stars gleaming, flanked by his command staff. That was of course last year, before the Chief's comments about Hartford having lost its moral compass. I guess the Mayor and his staff didn't appreciate the Chief's honesty as much as the rest of us did. Plus, when the Mayor, at re-election time, promised us big numbers of Police Officer's he was going to hire, I can see why he wasn't big on having the Chief up front. It might remind us that this was just another empty promise by Perez to get re-elected, and the cops aren't coming as promised. Chief Teale from the Fire Department was also banished to the back of the room, no reserved seating for him either. I would have thought he would have been up front. He did just do the Mayor's dirty work and fire Chief Dan Nolan as Perez ordered. The rest of the reserved seating were a lot of the usual cast of characters, people beholding to Perez for the support of their non profits, their jobs and more than willing to applaud Perez on cue.
One of the most surprising attendees though was Jeanette Peters, widow of Mayor Mike. There is a lot I can say about the slimy actions of Eddie using the memories of Mayor Mike after his death to apparently boost his own image, but that's Eddie, no shame. Perez, or more likely his Director of Miscommunications Sarah Barr, quoted Abraham Lincoln in the speech. The quote in and of itself was quite prophetic since according to the Mayor's timeline, Lincioln would have been about three weeks old when he said it ( I know, details, details) The quote they used was "I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him". I'm not sure why Perez threw that in, probably thinking that people might be proud of him, highly doubful after his track record. But I think that was a quote that exemplifies Mayor Mike. He was always proud of his home city, never left for greener pastures, and his pride was infectious. Pride that extended outside of the City boundaries, and no one that ever heard him speak of Hartford could help but feel that pride themselves. And Mayor Mike, I know this must be tough for you to watch what is being done to your City,our city, but that pride you felt for Hartford, many of us now feel that same pride in you, we will always be proud of your efforts on our behalf. You knew more about being a leader, even without the benefit of being called a "strong Mayor".
Naming a Fire House in honor of Mayor Mike may be an appropiate start in the tributes, but let's think big, like Mayor Mike always seemed to do. First thing tomorrow I urge every one to pull together and lets begin an effort to name the Connecticut Convention Center in honor of Mayor Mike. Let's rally as a city to get it done, "Go Hartford" go Mayor Mike.
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