Athe August 10, 2009 Hartford City Council meeting, one of the things I spoke about was the poor condition of many area the City is supposed to maintain. One of the most highly visible spots is the traffic circle at Pulaski Circle. I posted the slide show to the right here and also called Hartford's solution to everything, "311". I figured after bringing the matter to the attention of the City Council, action would be swift. I guess I gave them too much credit.
Today, an event was held at the XL Center to a sold out crowd of 19,000 people. People from throughout the state and beyond attended as well as speakers such as Barbara Bush, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Joe Montana and others. For many of them the "Welcome to Hartford" sign was a planter overgrown with 5 foot high weeds, a planter not maintained at all this year. For many of these visitors it may have been their first visit to Hartford, for others it may have just reinforced the image that Hartford's leaders just don't care. And maybe for Rudy Giuliani, it may have reminded him of what a city at its lowest point looks like before real leadership takes control and turns things around as he did in New York City. For a city whose Police Department was able to put out media alerts and advise commuters of the potential gridlock and did a great job handling traffic, probably double that of a normal rush hour, wouldn't you think someone could have the foresight to get the weeds pulled? Not only Pulaski Circle though, even the new Gateway that was built as part of the streetscape for the reconstruction of Trumbull Street was also overgrown with weeds. I guess we are seeing the results of what happens when our Mayor lays off the Public works laborers so that his cronies can get their bonuses.
How many Public Works laborers could Eddie hire back with the $300,000 plus he gave out to his buddies in bonuses? Probably enough to get some weeds pulled. Like they say, first impressions are lasting. What do you think many thought as they saw the poor condition of our city?
To give you a better idea of what the view looks like, watch the video below:
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2 comments:
I, unfortunately, had to drive past Pulaski Circle this morning on my way to CCMC and there was a city of Hartford work crew clearing the weeds and otherwise making Pulaski Circle look better. By the time I was on my way home you could see real progress. So sad that it takes pointing these thing out for the city to take care of one of the key entryways to downtown
It just occurred to me that it's Saturday, I wonder if those city workers were cleaning up the mess at Pulaski Circle were on overtime.....
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