Print

School Board Member To Run For Council

July 6, 2007
By DANIEL E. GOREN, Courant Staff Writer

Board of education member Andrea Comer filed papers Thursday to run for city council, saying she wanted to help push Hartford past a government dominated by "personal interests" and toward one of "outcomes, proper process and performance."

Comer said the perception of the city council is one of a body that offers little resistance to the city's executive branch and Mayor Eddie A. Perez.

By entering the race, Comer said she hopes to do her part to change the public's view.

"There has been a lot of talk about the need for checks and balances, and I think that is what really has incensed people," Comer said. "Regardless of who ends up being the mayor, I know I can be that check and balance, no matter if I stand alone or if I've got folks standing with me."

Joining the race for city council is not Comer's only step into the city's politics this year. She is also an outspoken backer and campaign worker for one of Perez's main challengers, former Deputy Mayor I. Charles Mathews.

Comer was elected to the board of education in 2005. Before that she worked for a variety of municipal departments, including Health and Human Services, the school department and mayor's office. She now works as a project manager for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

Comer joins a quickly growing field of council candidates. As of Thursday afternoon, the city clerk's office had received papers from more than a dozen candidates seeking a seat on the council. The field includes several newcomers and at least five incumbents - Democrats rJo Winch, James Boucher, Pedro Segarra and Calixto Torres and Republican Veronica Airey-Wilson.