A RESPONSE TO A COMMENT

Earlier today "Proud Htfd Conservative" said...

Regarding your response to Anon 9:12, you realize that there's little to nothing that you can do as a council member for education. You have to be on the Board for that. But it's a politically popular thing to run on.

also

Given the shrinkage of the Republican Party in the City, and with Cory Brinson running to actually get voted on by the people, do you think there's room for another conservative person on Council? I think you're registered Dem but we all know better. At the end of the day, you're a conservative (Safety, Controlling Taxes, Reducing Spending, Business Retention & Development)

Lastly, what would be your strategy? Go after Cory and take the one Conservative spot (provided the WFP keeps 2) or go after the lowest vote getter of the last election which was Deutch?

but my two cents, Run!! You got my vote!

It seems that many people are under the misconception that when we went through Charter change to a strong Mayor form of government, we also accepted a "weak" Council form of government. That is the furthest thing from the truth.

Because this Council has chosen to neuter themselves and give all power to the Mayor is their fault, not the Charter of the City of Hartford. Under the Perez Administration, and even now, the Council has been referred to as bobble heads, puppets and even the rubber stamp Council, which they are.

The Hartford City Council has a huge amount of power that they have chosen not to use. The fact of the matter is that no money can be spent without their approval. No Department head can be appointed without their approval. They have the power as a Council to remove any Department head appointed by the Mayor.

As far as the Council not having any control over the Board of Education, that is also untrue. The Board of Education would have a very hard time operating with their budget funds which are appropriated and allocated by the Council. The Board has no money to build schools without the Council. They might not be able to dictate how day to day operations are conducted but I would imagine a Superintendent wanting to renovate or build a new school might want to listen or react to the Council's concerns if the Council actually exercised some of their authority.

As far as the comments "liberal vs. conservative", I prefer to call it right versus wrong and what is in the best interests of the City of Hartford and its people. And I'll even go out on a limb and say that after the November election, there most likely will not be a Republican on the Hartford City Council. Corey Brinson did not arrive at the Council after some overwhelming groundswell of support for him.

There was a lot of behind the scenes arm twisting and deals cut to appoint Brinson after his aunt vacated her seat after the corruption scandal. In my mind that doesn't automatically translate to votes and support in the community. The five votes it took for his appointment is a far way from the 2,500 hundred or so he will need to get elected on his own.

Further complicating that even more is the state of the Republican Party in Hartford. The Republicans in Hartford missed an opportunity to display what they stood for when they virtually remained silent throughout the whole Perez corruption scandal. Although it is difficult to speak out on an issue when your own highest elected Republican was also neck deep in the scandal and was arrested also.

As you mentioned, I am a registered Democrat now. I was a former Republican and also a member of the Republican Town Committee. The reality is that I left the GOP after I reached a level of frustration with the lack of direction and incompetence of the party leadership and their failure to address issues and adapt to a changing political climate. You can only bang your head against the wall for so long until you realize you need to make a change if you truly want to make a difference.

And it wasn't the issue of corruption that finally "broke the camels back". At a Republican Town Committee meeting, the majority was downplaying the role of the Working Families Party. I had warned that anyone that ignored the efforts of the WFP would be doing it at their own peril. There was no WFP presence at Hartford City Hall at that point. That same year, two WFP members took 2 of the 3 minority seats on the Council and the following year a WFP member ran a campaign for Registrar of Voters and won.

Although the Working Families Party is probably even more liberal than the average Democrat, they "have their eye on the prize". They are focused, they are organized and they know how to get their candidates elected. That is something that the Republicans can't even come close to or claim that they know how to accomplish.

Unfortunately, as I said before, I predict that there will not be a Republican on the Council after the November election. The working Families Party will work hard to take all three minority seats, and I think they have the resources and the organization and probably most importantly the political will to make it happen.

With probably about 700 active Republican voters in Hartford, that is a long cry from the number necessary to win a Council seat.

As far as my strategy, it's probably quite simple. I intend to run a campaign based on facts and vision. Not a campaign based in the gutter as we see going on already in the Mayor's race. I have a history of what I believe in for Hartford and identifying waste and problems in our city government as well as responding to and working with people who have felt excluded. I receive phone calls, e-mails and even people approaching me in public with problems that they need help with.

Helping someone is not a Republican or Democratic issue or even "conservative vs. liberal. It is a matter of decency and realizing that we are all pretty much in the same boat.Not to get on a soap box here, but the old saying "united we stand, divided we fall" is something we need to focus on as a city, as neighbors. Downtown is no better or doing more for the City than Upper Albany. The Westend is no better off or facing different problems than Barry Square or Frog Hollow. We are a small city that needs to get away from the divide and conquer politics that were perfected onder the Perez years.

I sincerely wish that it wasn't necessary to run affiliated with a party and candidates would only be on a ballot as an individual with no party designation after their name.

I intend to run for what I stand for and not because I'm willing to pledge some sort of crazy blind allegiance to the Party line. If it works, fine, if not I'll still be around doing what I have been doing and trying to make a difference. There are plenty of other people out there doing the same thing, and that is what will change the City for the better, not whether we have enough conservatives or liberals on the council. Lets find people that make decisions based on what is best for Hartford, not what the party tells them to do.

And your comment as to what I stand for "Safety, Controlling Taxes, Reducing Spending, Business Retention & Development", are those bad things?
I realize those are goals usually associated with the Republican mantra, but they might not be a bad thing for the entire Council to focus on whether you have an "R", a "D", a "WFP" or any other combination after your name.

And thanks for your promised vote :)