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Third Party Names Council Candidates

August 2, 2007
By DANIEL E. GOREN, Courant Staff Writer

The Connecticut Working Families Party announced Wednesday that it plans to field three candidates for the November election in the race for Hartford's city council.

The party hopes to challenge the city's Republicans for the three seats reserved by law for minority party representation. The Democrats, the dominant party in the city, tend to control six of the nine seats on the council.

The Working Families candidates - Luis Cotto, co-owner of La Paloma Sabanera coffeehouse and bookstore; Larry Deutsch, a pediatrician; and Urania Petit, a community activist - all called for a change in the city's leadership.

"As a lifelong resident of this city that I love, I look forward to the opportunity to continue my commitment to Hartford by entering public service," Cotto said Wednesday. "My goals are simple: an accountable, accessible city government; quality arts enrichment to Hartford residents; and job creation through citywide environmental sustainability initiatives."

The three candidates said in a prepared statement that they plan to offer proposals on jobs, education, housing, health care and the environment to show what an "independent progressive party" can bring to the city council.

Their main competition, the city's Republicans, endorsed a slate of candidates two weeks ago. The list includes incumbent Veronica Airey-Wilson, who will seek her seventh term; Michael J. Lupo, a former member of the board of education; Michael McGarry, a former city councilman; Kevin Carroll, a local lawyer; former Deputy Police Chief Gerry Pleasent; and John Lupo Jr., a longtime city resident and former member of the Hartford Redevelopment Agency.