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| The Evil Undead Zombie of Abraham Giles has come back to terrorize Hartford once again. |
Are we the only ones who are completely appalled by the idea that an admitted extortionist, the late Abraham "Butt Ugly" Giles, is very likely to have a street corner named after him in Hartford? No? Good.
We know it's not good to speak ill of the dead, but this one really deserves it.
Hartford city councilwoman Cynthia Jennings proposed that the corner of Main and Windsor be named "Abraham Giles Way." At first we kind of ignored this issue because it seemed so bat-poop crazy, but there was a bizarre outpouring of support for the idea at a public hearing earlier this week. So unless we get some serious public outcry going here, a guy who sold our city out for his own gain will get memorialized. And that just feels so very wrong.
For those wondering why we here at Sad City Hartford so despise an old, dead guy, the Courant provides a nice recap:
Mr. Giles got city contracts, often on very friendly terms, to run parking lots, move and store the belongings of evicted tenants, even to deliver voting machines to polling places on Election Day.And we're naming a street after this guy? What could Councilwoman Jennings possibly say to defend this insane idea?
Charged in 2010 with two felony extortion counts in the Mayor Eddie Perez corruption scandal for demanding that a developer pay him $100,000 to abandon a parking lot, Mr. Giles ended up pleading guilty to charges that were knocked down to misdemeanors. He said he "didn't want to die a felon."
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| *This is an honest-to-freaking-goodness quote from Hartford City Councilwoman Cynthia Jennings. |
Unless we do something to stop it, our Sad City is about to get just a little bit sadder. What can you do to help? Pass this story around on Facebook and Twitter. Tell people how screwed up this is whole thing is. Contact our Mayor and City Council members. Shine on a light on this nonsense. Don't let our city be further tarnished by this insanity. Speak out now or Hartford's version Clay Davis will be forever honored. Sheeeeeeeit.
The item now goes to the Building Dedication Committee which has Mayor Segarra, Council Pres. Wooden, Councilor Alex Aponte & Councilor Larry Deutsch on it. After it comes out of committee, item is then seen by full council and will be voted on either May 14th or May 28th. If it's seen on May 14th, the public has an additional opportunity to express their opinion between 6pm and 7pm, just before the council meeting, as part of the public comment portion. The 2nd meeting of the month (May 28) does not have a public comment period attached to it.
ReplyDelete**I would highly recommend that people come speak during the public comment on the 14th regardless if the item is on the agenda or not. You'll get to get your comments in for the record.**
I wouldn't put the Mayors Facebook page as a place to make your statement as it most likely is run by one of his aides. Call the office directly and state your opinion (860.757.9500) the link for the council is fine.
Twitter accounts for folks who have them are:
Councilor Luis Cotto - @councilorcotto
Council Pres. Wooden - @shawntwooden
Mayor Segarra - @hartfordmayor
It's a shame that this post could not have come out sooner. We just had a public hearing on this on Monday (Apr 16) where it would have been ideal to hear from people face to face.
peaceout
Mr. Brookman shares similar thoughts...
ReplyDeletehttp://wethepeoplehartford.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-is-hartford-so-different.html
Luis...thanks for the comment. Super helpful info.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, shame on us. We should have made a bigger deal about this sooner. We were asleep at the switch on this one.
I guess that the problem in Hartford is that the bar has been lowered so far by so many corrupt people that if you plead guilty to your charges you are rewarded with a street named after you. See Eddie! If you had just pleaded guilty you might have your own street.
ReplyDeleteWith all the problems going on in Hartford, this is what they choose to make their line in the sand with, thus continuing a tradition of making sure that no one who has to work in Hartford (like me) has audacity to have even a modicum of respect for it.
ReplyDelete