DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE RESULTS ; HOLLOWAY IS IN, ARENA IS OUT

In a major blow to Mayor Eddie Perez's power, the democratic Town Committee election results are in and Sean Arena is out.

Up until the last few days, most observers considered it a tight race between current Town Chairperson Sean Arena and challenger Bruce Rubenstein. In the final hours, 5th District Town Committee person Jean Holloway threw her name into the race for consideration.

It would be easy to rehash the pro's and con's of the candidates, but it is late and it has been a long day. Suffice it to say that there were a lot of opposing viewpoints and not everyone left the function room at City Hall happy.

It might be a long stretch to ask this of the Hartford political personalities, but if you really care about Hartford, please show it. As the tide of power continues to turn, it can no longer be Eddie's fault. Eddie's days are numbered and his power continues to erode more each day.

The blame will soon be directed towards those of us that have been handed a huge opportunity for change if we choose not to do with it what the people of Hartford expect. This was not a battle that was waged over the last couple days in preparation for tonight's vote.

This has been an effort that began years ago as people began to realize that the city we care about was veering off in the wrong direction. A direction that wasn't about what was best for Hartford and its residents, but rather a direction that favored a select few.

We were going down a path where corruption and cronyism and payoffs were the first order of business, and the needs of the residents came second.

Jean Holloway and her new Executive Committee have been chosen and have been handed a huge opportunity. What they choose to do with it will be determined by history and can go either way. As a city on the brink, we can choose more business as usual and continue down the Perez path.

Knowing Jean and her passion for Hartford and its people, I expect to see a move for unity. Unity by those on the Town Committee that truly want to be part of Hartford's solution without any self serving interests. Unity by those in the neighborhoods that will be hopefully called to action to become part of the process for change. Unity by those that are willing to be mentored and nurtured to become Hartford's leaders of the future.

The choice is ours and hopefully we will step forward, forget the ego's, forget the personalities and work together to accomplish the difficult tasks in front of us as a city and as a unified team.

I saw enough nastiness in that Function Room tonight to last a lifetime. It's time for change, will we step up to the challenge?