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Republicans to Rell: Help

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

May 08, 2009

The city's Republican Town Committee sent two letters to Gov. M. Jodi Rell Friday, telling her that she "should consider instituting an oversight board...to oversee all aspects of financial decision-making in Hartford."

Saying "Hartford needs a fresh start" and that the city is "at the brink of a financial crisis," town Chairman Michael McGarry told the governor that Democratic Mayor Eddie A. Perez's proposed 13 percent tax hike on the average homeowner could be crippling.

The letters come a couple of weeks after Cityline first reported the possible move.

"The RTC believes that the City cannot solve its financial problems alone, and that an objective, powerful oversight board may be the only way to ensure Hartford's economic survival," McGarry wrote.

Perez's spokeswoman, Sarah Barr, has previously dismissed McGarry's effort, predicting it would be "unsuccessful."