In a change of plans, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra said Sunday night that he will seek a full term as the capital city's mayor.
Segarra had been expected only to finish the term of disgraced Mayor Eddie Perez, who resigned after being convicted on five felony counts in a corruption scandal involving bribery and extortion. Since taking over on June 25, Segarra said he has been looking for a competent administrator who will be the next leader of the city. He decided it should be him.
"I've been speaking with many, many people who've encouraged me to run,'' Segarra told Capitol Watch early Sunday night. "I thought it would be in the city's best interests. I'm already there. This really wasn't in my plans, but it's an opportunity to help as much as I can. ... Hartford is going to require someone who works very, very hard, and I don't see anyone on the landscape. I feel I have what it takes.''
Declining to reveal any names, Segarra said he had asked various capable citizens - "people who I thought can get the job done'' - if they were thinking about running for mayor. Their response?
"Nope. Nope. Nope,'' Segarra said. "I haven't seen anybody who has what it takes to tackle these very, very big problems.''
"Ultimately, the residents will make their choice,'' he said. "I have nothing to lose, I guess.''
As the state economy remains sluggish, Segarra says Hartford has an unemployment rate of 14 percent and a projected budget deficit for the current fiscal year of $8 million to $10 million. He is trying to wrestle those problems to the ground, and he is heading to Washington, D.C. during the next 10 days to meet with the Connecticut Congressional delegation in an attempt to obtain as much federal money as possible for Hartford.
Segarra, 51, filed his papers Friday to make his run official for the November 2011 election.
Upon becoming mayor after Perez's resignation, Segarra began shutting down his private law practice and devoting his energies to the mayor's office. Under the city charter, the "strong'' mayor is now paid the same as a state Superior Court judge - about $150,000 per year.
After watching particularly nasty campaigns this year for governor and U.S. Senator, Segarra says he wants to go in the opposite direction.
"I'm hoping I can run a very transparent and honest and clean campaign,'' he said. "I hate these negative campaigns. I pledge to avoid it all-together. It shouldn't be that way. Our community deserves better than that.''
A longtime attorney and social worker who has worked in Hartford for 35 years, Segarra said he had not thought extensively about his potential opponents or the details of the money that he will need to raise to fund a viable campaign.
"I don't know,'' he said of fundraising. "I'll stick out my hand and ask for donations.''
Since Segarra has been in office for only five months, the race for mayor could be a wide-open battle. Among those who might seek the mayor's office include city council president rJo Winch, state Rep. Douglas McCrory, and former state Rep. Kenneth Green, an 8-term, veteran Democrat who lost a primary in August to city council member Matthew Ritter of Hartford's West End.
The declared candidates already include Democrat Shawn T. Wooden and now-Democrat J. Stan McCauley, who ran unsuccessfully in 2007 as a Republican against Perez. Further details are at www.woodenformayor.com and www.mccauleyformayor.com
Wooden, 41, is a partner at the Hartford law firm of Day Pitney and a political ally of insiders Frank Borges and Denise Nappier, the state treasurer. A city native who graduated from Trinity College and New York University law school, Wooden lives on Scarborough Street - one of the city's most prestigious residential avenues. He was described by an insider as "a very formidable candidate'' in a potential Democratic primary next year.
Segarra is looking to tackle the daunting problems facing the capital city. The first, he said, is taxes and spending as he attempts to avoid tax increases while balancing the city's budget. Second is "trying to eliminate blight'' and third is "having a plan of development and preservation for the city,'' he said.
Like the state had done previously to help balance the budget, Segarra is currently in negotiations with the city's unions to gain concessions on the cost of prescription drugs and health insurance. No deal has been reached yet, however.
The city is also currently undergoing a hiring freeze and is offering an early retirement incentive plan in an attempt to encourage high-paid, veteran employees to leave the city's payroll in order to cut costs. These moves are being made because the city's projected deficit in the current fiscal year is $8 million to $10 million.
If all of those moves cannot close the budget gap, Segarra said, "I'll have to decide if there's a need for layoffs.''