I’ve been asked by several people why my blog was silent on Friday when Mayor Eddie Perez was found guilty in his corruption, considering I had blogged on the case many times before. Truth is, I was out of town, in Chicago for an annual pilgrimage to Wrigley Field my friends and I have done 23 straight summers.
I got an e-mail from Kara shortly after landing at O’Hare: “verdict in a half hour.” As a journalist and also a city resident, I almost couldn’t believe I was missing the biggest story to hit Hartford in many years. Then when I got the verdict I was trying to read it on my phone while the train was gumping and shaking. I immediately called Pedro Segarra to find out what the city council was going to, hoping the connection would hold as the train went underground into the subway. A few more calls later to a few other folks and I had some decent information to phone in to WFSB assistant news director Patience Hettrick.
It was killing me not to be able to go to a TV or computer to watch the verdict. I had to meet my buddies at the legendary “Murphy’s Bleachers” in the shadow of Wrigley before the game. I kept checking my phone for updates, but the news junkie in me was not satisfied.
I got home Saturday night, celebrated Father’s Day and logged on to read all the news stories.
As for Mayor Perez, he is doing the right thing by resigning. There is no way having a convicted felon running a troubled city can be a good thing. The city has been paralyzed economically during the corruption scandal, and one can only hope the developers and investors wary of dealing with an embattled mayor will see Hartford for what it really is: a place of untapped potential.
Coming up: my blog on the next mayor of Hartford.
Categories: Politics, Uncategorized
Dennis House blog 
Dennis,
I have to be honest, I was wondering where you were for this one. You have had the pulse of what is going on with the politicians, and here we were really getting angry over what he did, and what was to happen next.
I’m sure with you being away that had to be bugging you like crazy. I just kept saying he has got to resign, this has left a big mark for the town of Hartford, something it doesn’t need.
I’m trying to figure out which state has had the most politicians that have been convicted of somethig illegal.
I did love the ties your daughter made for you for Father’s Day by the way.
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@ Sharbeth
It’s kind of ironic because Chicago is notoriously known for a numerous corrupt politicians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_history_of_Chicago
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@Bill,
Thanks. I do remember hearing about the Black Sox/White Sox scandals. As well as the Daley’s for a minute that all was erased from my mind.
I guess it’s just the ‘kid’ part of my mind from when I lived in Hartford until I was 8, that things like this didn’t happen there. Then again that was a long time ago.
Amazing how irony turns up at times doesn’t it?
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Dennis;
Even though you wer out of the loop there were a lot of us that were keeping up with what was going on for you and posted some of our comments. So, even when you are not in the loop there are those of us that step up and do what we can to keep the ball going.
The mayor is doing the right thing and it is to bad that thing turned out the way that they did. I didn’t want to believe that he was guilty, but when he didn’t take the stand in his own defense, I think that is what did it. Someone that has not done what people have accused them of doing, should have no problem in getting up on the witness stand in thier own defense.
Now, we have to see what is going on with the new Mayor. One of the first things on his agenda should be to have to the city council go over the charter to and put something in place that would clearly states how they would move forward if the mayor or any other elected city official finds themselves in the same situation.
So, it wasn’t just the Mayor that was on the spot here it also was the city council of Hartford. It uncovered some inperfections that need to be addressed.
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