Hartford's Strong Mayor Has A Strong First Year

Commentary by Tom Condon

January 2, 2005

When Hartford switched to a strong mayor system a year ago this week, the idea was that the mayor would now be the boss, the city's chief executive. Mayor Eddie Perez has done that, and in most respects it's worked.

That Perez would actually take charge and be a strong mayor came as a surprise to many. In retrospect, we just weren't used to it. We were used to the old way, what I called the weak-mayor, weak-manager system, which encouraged and rewarded inertia.

Perez hasn't always been collegial or touchy-feely, but that is mostly a question of style. He's gotten to be a better public speaker. He's governed the way Mayor John DeStefano governs New Haven or Mayor Timothy Larson governs East Hartford. Perez ought to be more public about consulting with business and community leaders and he should broaden his kitchen cabinet of close advisers, but results are what count. The city is running better.

Perez inserted himself in the Hilton Hotel renovation and changed developers when he didn't get the deal he wanted. That's classic strong mayor, and it appears to be working. He's also demanded a role in the stalled Front Street development, in which the city has heretofore been a wallflower. This will require Perez to work together and in harmony with the Capital City Economic Development Authority. The CCEDA folks are battle-hardened after dealing with developer Richard Cohen, and won't be pushed around.

Hizzoner ran the police chief search, and I don't believe Hartford could have found a better chief than Pat Harnett. Though the homicide count is still unacceptably high at 17 for 2004, it's lower than any year in more than a decade.

The naming of John Palmieri as director of development and John Rose Jr. as corporation counsel were also strong appointments. Hartford used to be the place where developers couldn't get anyone at city hall to answer the phone. If someone did pick up the phone, it was to explain why a project couldn't possibly be undertaken.

Palmieri and his folks thankfully take the opposite tack, and projects are getting done.

So, the internal operation of city government is improved. Perhaps Perez had to spend much of his first year getting the trains running. But if his four-year term is to be a success, he has to move to what George Bush the Elder called "the vision thing."

Perez has any number of initiatives underway. He's promoting homeownership, early childhood education, more kids going to college, safer streets, name it. What he needs to articulate is the rationale for these measures. In other words, what kind of city is Hartford trying to be?

Is Hartford to be a regional financial and medical center? A small-town state capital? An entertainment center? The Miami of the North?

The strong mayor has to answer this question. He's got to go to the community to develop a shared vision. If we know where we're going, it's easier to get there.

Whatever that answer is, Perez also has to start thinking regionally. Hartford probably can't survive in the long run as a tiny, 18-square-mile plot that contains most of the region's social problems. The visionary of the 21st century will be the leader who can forge some kind of working federation in the region. At the excellent Trinity College symposium on the 150th anniversary of Bushnell Park in the fall, Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan said the interests of the city and those of the inner-ring suburbs have never been so closely aligned.

Thus, Hartford fighting with West Hartford over widening a curb cut on Prospect Avenue for a new middle school was silly and counterproductive on both sides. Hopefully the dispute is behind us. The ideal situation would be to have some kids from the West End attend the school, if they want to, and have more West Hartford children at one of the city's magnet or charter schools.

How does Perez articulate a vision and become more of a regional thinker? He could use a policy planner on his staff. Perez has effective staff people, make no mistake. What he doesn't have is someone thinking about a Hartford or regional vision.

He needs one. Indianapolis decided in the late 1970s to build its renewal around sports. It worked. Portland, Maine, restored its historic waterfront. Hartford needs to have some kind of focus, something less abstract than a "rising star" to rally behind and organize around. If Eddie can develop such a vision in the coming year, both the city and his mayoralty will benefit.

Still, Hartford government has changed for the better. The mayor is in charge and, as residents are increasingly aware, accountable. That's how it ought to work. Finally, the buck stops somewhere.