Recently a legal opinion was released from City Corporation Counsel John Rose, essentially stating that the dishonorable Mayor Eddie A. Perez could raid the city's "Rainy Day Fund" at will without approval of the City Council. As we would expect no less from Mr. Rose, his opinion came squarely down in support of the Mayor and his potentially illegal operation.As we saw with the budget testimony by the mayor's Chief of Staff, King Eddie considers the actions of the Council advisory in nature.
Well, it took a while, but finally the Hartford City Council (at least 5 of them) have realized that John Rose may not be the most credible and open minded person when it comes to interpreting the law. As Hartford's Corporation Counsel, Rose seems unwilling or unable to comprehend the fact that although Perez hired him, he is still the City's attorney, answering to both the City Council, the Mayor as well as all elected officials of the City and departments.
After receiving Rose's laughable opinion, a majority of the Council decided to seek their own opinion from outside legal counsel. That request was complied with, and on May 15, 2009 Attorney Allan B. Taylor provided his legal opinion to the Council. The full text of that opinion is available below. Taylor states that statements outlined in Rose's opinion were "unjustified and unjustifiable" and further states that "it is illegal for any city official to spend or otherwise obligate funds that have not been approved by the City Council". But then again, when has our dishonorable Mayor cared about what is legal and illegal.
Taylor further goes on in his opinion to point out a key phrase Rose chose to leave out when he was quoting the Charter. Taylor outlines this on page 3 of his opinion and points out that "the emphasized words were unaccountably omitted from the Opinion's quotation of Subsection 7(b).". Willfully misquoting or misrepresenting a staute or ordinance seems as though it would question Mr. Rose's integrity and sense of justice, as well as potentially constitute malpractice on his part.
Is it any wonder Hartford is the mess it is under the leadership of Perez and the guidance of John Rose?
Taylor Rainy Day Opinion
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