I regularly get phone calls from upset individuals regarding the way the City of Hartford is being run. But yesterday was a day with many more calls than usual. It started early in the day and after the Mayor's announcement that he was being arrested again, the calls were almost non-stop. The blog was extremely busy, with the best numbers ever with over 638 hits logged for the day (today isn't far behind with 312 as of 2:00pm) Many of the calls and e-mails were from people appreciative of the information posted, but the theme of the calls and e-mails are usually pretty constant,"keep doing what you are doing, keep speaking out". I am flattered by that, but I have to ask, where is everyone else. There are a small handful of people who regularly speak out besides myself, the Hyacinth Yennie's, the Ron Armstrong's, the Stan McCauley's, the Nick Carbone's and a few other faithful gadflies. We are usually at Council Meetings speaking publicly, although I'm sure we would all prefer to be somewhere else. I know there are plenty of people outraged by Mayor Perez's activity, plenty of outrage over the lapdog council, plenty of strong opinions regarding taxes, public safety, education, opportunities for youth in our city, the list is endless. But where is the public outcry, where is the outrage over these issues. Recently, when a Mayor (and others) were arrested on corruption charges in New Jersey, the reaction of the citizens was swift and decisive. Resignations were demanded and change was implemented. I can count on one hand the number of people I am aware of who have called for the resignation of Eddie Perez after his first arrest, and I am not holding out a lot of hope that I am going to have to start using the other hand to count after tomorrow's arrest. Where are the Union leaders whose members sacrificed, suffered layoffs, furlough days, increased insurance costs and wage freezes to do their share to reduce City spending as a budget disaster loomed. For what? So Matt Hennessey could get a $12,000 bonus? So that the highest paid city employee James Keaney of the Mayor's staff could get an $18,000 "ESI" bonus on top of his $180,000 a year salary? Where is the outrage from the City Council members who essentially have been trivialized and rendered irrelevant by their lack of action to keep Perez in check? Where is the outrage from residents and business people who call the police and receive a poor response due to a dwindling number of Police Officers and a lack of resources? Where is the outrage from homeowners who are being taxed out of their homes by increased taxes due to reckless spending by the Perez Administration? Where is the outrage from some of these homeowners who were behind on their taxes and made payment arrangements with the Tax Collector, only to find out their liens had been sold to XSPAND and they now face foreclosure? Where is the outrage from people who were forced out of their city jobs on bogus charges without any hearing or due process as Eddie Perez pleads for open minds until his "day in court"? Where is the outrage from people who are seeing facilities expand in their residential neighborhoods without any zoning hearings such as the CRT Headstart program on Douglas Street, even though the zone change was denied in 2007?
I could go on and on, and I understand that many people have seen first hand the vindictiveness of Perez and his administration and may be afraid to speak out. People have been forced out or terminated from city employment because of their being outspoken or because of their political connections not supportive of Perez. Just ask people like Clarence Corbin who was terminated. Ellen Nurse who was laid off. Carol O'Connell, wife of former Councilman John O'Connell, laid off as John laid in a hospital bed fighting for his life, just to name a few. Ask the business owners who have suddenly had health inspectors show up for inspections because a fundraiser was scheduled for a Perez opponent.
I guess what I am saying is that this is our city, and the time is now for us to take it back, rather than being sheep led to the slaughter. I don't intend to stop doing what I have been doing, but it sure would feel great to have a lot more people in line with us to speak out for the city we all love and see the potential in. We have a huge challenge in front of us after what this administration has done to Hartford over the last 7 years. ( I will give Perez 1 year of credit since he entered office with so many people expressing hope in his potential as our Mayor)
Please, speak your mind and stand up for Hartford. Be part of the solution rather than remain silent and be part of the problem. In the meantime, keep calling and I'll keep doing what I'm doing.
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4 comments:
I think it's pretty obvious where the outrage is:
1) People in Hartford are complete cynics at this point. They know if Perez goes down, Torres gets to be mayor, which is just "Mini-Me" Eddie, and nothing will change. And no one thinks the next mayor will be any different - the names and faces will change, but it will just be his or her buddies in patronage jobs instead of Eddie's.
2) Eddie's not gone yet. I know a number of people convinced he will somehow get acquitted and revenge himself on anyone who turned on him. As long as he is in the Mayor's office, he has the power to hurt people.
3) Places like NJ and NY have a lot more media to focus on a scandal. When Spitzer got in trouble, it made the cover of national magazines. Media stirs up the public, and the public in turn fuels the media interest in a scandal. CT has very little media and an apathetic public.
At the end of the day, if he does down, the reaction in Hartford will be a collective shrug ... a brief stir as we see if people like Roldan follow him out ... and then back to business as usual here in Corrupticut, as we wait to see who will steal from us next.
Sadly, I agree with the points you make. We, as a city, need to stop viewing ourselves as the little misfit orphan between NYC and Boston. Hartford was once the most prosperous city in this nation, due in large part to the vision and foresight of its residents and real leaders that realized if the City prospered then their businesses and families prospered. The "Colts" "Popes" and "Twains" of our generation are out there, we need to pull together as a city and make change happen. No time like the present, we can't get much lower than this administration has taken us and it would appear that the only way is up if we really want to go there.
This is a true Hartford blog. I like the heart behind the writing. I like the effort that goes into Hartford. I think the city "Hartford" has been lost in the game of politics by the people in charge. Its too bad that can not even realize there actions as of late have nothing to do with Hartford but only themselves. I remember when I used to enjoy council meetings during the Mayor Mike years. The items on the agenda actually reflected positive movement in Hartford. Often, I wonder do the people in Hartford remember the last time a legit project was in the works. I do not even want to think about where this goes next. Who will be in charge next or not because if it is anybody who is in office now. We lose! We already have lost enough and if this was about Hartford from what i just read about the deadline being tomorrow for a special election someone would talk someone into voting on or at least taking the chance on ousting the Mayor. Again its a sad day in Hartford and I hope some day the clouds can move and we can see the sun again. Mayor Mike bring us a dream!
Unfortunately, for every intelligent post like Kevin's, there is one like the one in Helen's blog -- castigating her for being negative about a fellow Latino (Perez). Hartford is a stew of racial politics, and a city cannot progress under those circumstances. The city needs a mayor for the WHOLE city, not just his or her race/ethnic group. Had Perez been honest, he could have parlayed his story into state office or Congress, but he had already undermined himself by never reaching out beyond his own group.
The sad truth is, a minority mayor has to work twice as hard to be perceived as a success in our society. It's sad to see that there are still voters who cannot see how much damage he has done to the cause of Latino politicians in this state by basically acting like he's in the road company of "Scarface."
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