At this point it would seem that there is nobody left except for some intertwined politicians that support disgraced former Mayor Eddie Perez. Yet in Parkville, Sad City was able to find what appears to be some support for the ex-Mayor. While going from controlling City Hall to some graffiti on the back of a stop sign is quite a fall, we'd imagine that the former Mayor is happy to have some support. Perhaps he is envisioning a grass roots campaign where he can take over one Hartford side street at a time on his way back into office?
Impossible you say? Hey John Rowland is pulling down a cool $95,000 as Waterbury's (perhaps the saddest Connecticut city) economic development coordinator while at the same time having a radio show on WTIC. If you look at it in that light, the return of Perez doesn't seem all that far fetched. I mean that's pretty amazing. Perez is just a corrupt criminal Mayor. Rowland was a corrupt criminal Governor.
Rowland's new careers beg a few questions;
1) When was the last time anything was economically developed in Waterbury?
2) Waterbury has $95,000 in taxpayer money to spend on Rowland?
3) Rowland is so good at economically developing Waterbury that he has time to take a radio gig while collecting $95,000?
4) Do any of these guys have any shame whatsoever?
It might have something to do with the Pride Blocks, aka Eddie Perez's blocks, that were singled out for neighborhood revitalization a few years back.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what makes you think the graffiti is recent? Not that it matters, I suppose, Eddie's still got lots of support in SOME quarters...
1) Not since brass went away, leaving a landscape dotted with superfund sites. Unless you want to count a failed mall that's further imperiled a downtown that has some interesting architecture. Or the occasional big box moving in. And wig shops. A lot of wig shops.
ReplyDeleteDowntown, we have a similar chicken/egg problem to Hartford. The city need businesses to attract people, but also needs people already there to make businesses viable. You also need people to live and work there.
Also like Hartford, all the effort is focused on revitalizing downtown. There's little effort to improve the quality of life in poorer neighborhoods, beyond hoping that those residents will educate themselves and move to a better part of town, or not and move to another city.
2) We've actually had a surplus the past few years. They did the property revaluations right at the peak of the bubble and have been pretty vigorous. I do give them credit for trying. Rowland is not necessarily a bad guy and seems dedicated to resurrecting this town.
3) I don't have an answer for this. I'm not over 60 so I haven't ever listened to local AM political talk radio. Maybe the radio show is to promote what they're doing, or placate the elderly WTIC listeners with the idea that "Something is being done".
4) No, but the real problem is the way even a misdemeanor can render a non-politician unable for life. That's not to say that I was thrilled when I first heard about the Rowland hiring a couple of years ago, but annoyed that "Once you're in the club, things will always work out for you. If you're not in the club? Well, then. You're on your own."
Why hasn't Perez been sent to jail yet? He was sentenced to eight years, suspended after three years, with three years in prison? I get that there might be an appeal process... but he was sentenced two years ago!! This man needs to serve the time for his crime… especially a crime that was worthy of an 8 year sentence before being suspended. Our justice system is so completely whacked.
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