I found a posting on facebook.com today that is a collection of Hartford Courant cartoonist Bob Englehart's editorial cartoons of Hartfords' current Mayor Pedro Segarra and his predecessor Eddie Perez. The cartoon pictured above I think depicts what many of us are thinking right about now. "Mayor milquetoast" seems to depict a mayor who just has difficulty making the tough decisions.Click here to view the entire collection of Englehart Mayoral cartoons
Although I think that might be somewhat accurate, he is also constantly being put in a position by his staff that ultimately prove to be embarrassing. The next few weeks should prove interesting as the Mayor will have an opportunity to actually make some of the decisions, including staffing changes that will hopefully prove to his constituents that he is capable of making the tough calls and actually stand his ground.
How fast he moves to restructure and shore up his LSNI program after the embarrassing articles this past weekend will tell a lot. The LSNI program was one of Segarra's pet projects that appears to be imploding under the leadership of Hartford's Chief Operating Officer David Panagore.
I think Segarra is good at identifying problems and knowing what the solutions should be, it's the follow through and holding people accountable that will ultimately be his downfall.
Even today's Courant article outlining the issues with the contract for Chief Rovella should be embarrassing to Segarra. If Rovella is his choice, everything should be done to get the deal in place by his Corporation Counsel. Health care is handed out like candy at City Hall to department heads and even Council people. Any Councilperson completing 5 years on the Council is vested and receives health care for life. Former Councilwoman Veronice Airey Wilson who "retired" after her arrest in a corruption scandal received those benefits, why shouldn't Chief Rovella?
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