MY DECISION FOR THE COUNCIL RACE

It has taken me a few days to regroup and move on after the Democratic Convention last Thursday.

Originally, as Jeff Cohen reported last week, I was contemplating working with a slate of which rJo Winch and four others were expected to be a part of. For those of you that thought I had lost my mind, thank you for your phone calls and e-mails.

As I have said all along, you just can't plan these things out and what will be has a way of coming through. The deal fell apart Saturday and a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I need to learn to trust my first instincts and my first instinct was how do I now explain working with someone that I have been highly critical of. I do wish Winch luck in her future moving forward with whatever decision she makes

I think I was overlooking that in part due to the promise I saw, and still see, in a couple of young people that were also going to be part of the slate, in particular A.J. Johnson and Ramon Espinosa. I have to also admit that the other issue was the collecting of petition signatures. It is much easier for 6 people to collect 1600 signatures than it is for an individual to collect the same amount.

I have chosen to run as an individual in the primary and collect the 1600 signatures needed to get on the ballot.

I am trying not to be arrogant when I say that I know I am one of the best candidates for the Council and I have probably done more to bring about change to our City than anyone running at this point. The question is whether Hartford wants to change or is it 4 more years of business as usual. It seems like our elected officials are very good at taking care of themselves and their cronies at the expense of the people of the City.

Ask Alexander Aponte about his $65,000 in legal work for the MDC Clean Waters Project, advertised by the MDC, while Hartford's poorest residents can't even get a job as a laborer on a street project. I asked John Kennelly at the Convention what some of the candidates he was pushing for had done to make Hartford a better place. He couldn't come up with any answers and then shot back at me "What have you done for Hartford?".

I replied back to him if he really wanted an answer to that question, just ask Eddie Perez what I had done to make Hartford a better place. Did he forget of the $1.5 million the former OMB Director told me they estimated the City saved when I raised the issue of misuse and spending sprees on City credit cards? Did he forget about the $2.7 million in "bonuses" given out by the Board of Ed.that no one on the Council , or even the Mayor,knew about before I exposed it?

Well, he retreated quickly and conceded my points.

So my decision to run in a primary will take some work, but I believe in Hartford and I am sick and tired of seeing our City sink more and more caused by self serving politicians. I am tired of decisions being made that will potentially cost us millions of dollars in court costs and settlements, all on the backs of Hartford's taxpayers. And quite frankly, I am tired of the City I care about being a laughing stock over the direction we are moving.

So with that said, I still need help to make this happen. Anyone that can assist in collecting petition signatures over the next ten days would be greatly appreciated. Whether it is 5, 10 or 100 signatures, they all add up. Call me or e-mail me if you can help, 860-883-2297 or krbrookman@earthlink.net.

Thanks.