Hartford mayor faces arrest warrant, again
(NECN: Brian Burnell, Hartford, Conn.) – With a trial already looming, Connecticut Mayor Eddie Perez is expected to turn himself in to police on Wednesday to face new charges. Calls for his resignation are growing and there is word that the mayor could have avoided the latest problems. Hartford mayor Eddie Perez held a brief news conference late Tuesday to address the latest charges against him… that he awarded a contract to run a city parking lot and arranged for a 100-thousand dollar payment to a political boss in return for the boss’ influence in his favor. Mayor Eddie Perez, D-Hartford CT: I am innocent of the charges against me and I will fight for the facts to come out because the truth is on my side. Let me be clear. I will not resign. If that seems familiar that’s because it is. Let’s go back to January when Perez was accused of getting work done on his home in exchange for giving city contracts to the contractor. After turning himself in on those charges he had this to say. Mayor Eddie Perez, D-Connecticut: I intend to serve out my term and complete the job that I was hired to do. Perez is expected to turn himself in on the latest charges on Wednesday. As the mayor’s troubles grow so do calls for his resignation. Councilman Larry Deutsch, Working Families Party: In light of the today’s arrest warrant I would not say he should resign but in light of bad management of the city along with some people on the city council… on that basis he should resign and we need new leadership. Some say the decision is Perez alone but… Councilman Kenneth Kennedy, Jr, D-Hartford: Once the mayor makes his decisions after a bit of reflection then the council has to get together which we are going to do to sit down and talk about what our decisions are going to be with respect to the mayor and how it affects the city. The council needs a super-majority… 7 of the 9 members… To vote in favor of removing the mayor. The votes are not there for that to happen right now. In the meantime the mayor’s trial on the first charges filed in January is scheduled to begin next week.
