As the corruption investigation into Hartford City Hall appears to be stepping up to the next level, the war of words between the Mayor and Council continues to escalate.
The following is the text of a letter sent from King Eddie to Councilman Pedro Segarra after Segarra threatened this week to subpoena city documents that Perez has failed to provide the Council:
July 22, 2009
Hon. Pedro Segarra
Councilman
Hartford City Council
550 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
Dear Councilman Segarra:
I am in receipt of your letter addressed to the Council President dated to July 20, 2009 concerning the FY’08-’ 09 budget. After reviewing your letter, I am genuinely puzzled by what appears to be fundamental misunderstanding of the city budget process and the copious data we have provided the council.
I would like to correct a few points in your letter so that there is no confusion by your colleagues or the public:
I. Contrary to your assertion, the city is not running a deficit and has not done so since I have been Mayor. As you know, the city’s unallocated fund balance is part of the
calculation in determining the existence of deficit. Even after operational shortfalls are factored in, if the city still has cash reserves there is no deficit.
2. As you well know, I have attempted during my tenure to steadily and responsibly increase the fund balance. In contrast, the council has recently supported efforts to
expend the fund balance on operations as part of the budget process. Though I have opposed these efforts, it is clear you and some of your colleagues have felt very
comfortable in attempting raid “the rainy day fund” instead of making either tough decisions on taxes or cuts in services.
3. The council has been kept up to date in regular reports on the status of the budget with monthly and quarterly reports that have outlined the financial situation of the city in
detail. As you well know like every other governmental entity in the country, we will
have to us our fund balance to reach a balanced budget. Additionally, we have outlined a number of strategies to address both revenue and expense that would mitigate the use of the fund balance to balance the budget. The final closeout numbers for the fiscal year will be forwarded to you shortly.
I do urge you to proceed with the items before your committee. These items are important to the residents of the city and have been explained to the committee in some detail. They deserve the counci1’s support.
EDDIE A.PEREZ
MAYOR
530 Main Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06103
Phone (860) 543-8300
Fax (860) 722-6606
End of Perez letter*************************************
WHAT? There is no deficit as long as the City has money in the bank (cash reserves)?
Perez, through his own admission and 3rd quarter budget documents clearly states the year end deficit could be anywhere from 6 million dollars to as high as 32 million dollars (if not even higher the way this city is being managed). Since the "rainy day" fund currently sits at somewhere around 19 million dollars (I don't think anyone knows an accurate number)the potential for that reserve to be wiped out is entirely possible. What then?
And the question arises as to why Segarra or any Councilperson, or even residents for that matter, should have to jump through hoops to get information from City Hall. Are subpoenas really necessary to get what amounts to public documents? Or does the Mayor and his staff need the time to cook the books to further the Gospel of Perez?
Possibly Eddie is just trying to buy time so that his disaster of an administration and his legacy as a corrupt leader all come together at once in October as the "damning" facts do become public during his trial
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