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Segarra May Run For Mayor, And Wooden Makes It Official

One Election Down. Another On the Horizon

By Jeff Cohen

November 04, 2010

With election 2010 out of the way, election 2011 in the city of Hartford is already getting started. WNPR’s Jeff Cohen reports.

Mayor Pedro Segarra took office this summer after former Mayor Eddie Perez was found guilty of corruption and resigned. Before his swearing in, Segarra said he wasn’t interested in running for mayor in 2011.

“I’m really very, very hopeful that we get a caliber of people that surpass anything that I have to offer.”

Reached this week, Segarra says he’s still waiting for those people to step forward. If they don’t, he says, he’ll consider run.

“Look, if there is someone that I believe that is qualified, competent, and capable of doing the job, I will give them the opportunity to do it. If I see that no one comes along to step up to the plate, that’s really someone that I feel that I will trust, as a resident, the city’s future in their hands, it’s going to put a pressure on me to perhaps maybe say, ‘You know what? This wasn’t in my plans, this isn’t where I plan to be at this point of my life, but as a commitment to my city and to the people and because there is no one else that is ready to take on the challenge,’ it’s going to put more pressure on me to have to say, ‘I’ll do it.’”

If he runs, Segarra will have some company. Stan McCauley has filed his paperwork -- he ran unsuccessfully against Perez in 2007. Attorney Shawn Wooden says he has already filed his paperwork to run for mayor. Wooden is a lawyer who serves on the boards of the Hartford Public Library and Trinity College.

State Representative Ken Green says he’s also considering a run.

Still, the question remains: What will current Mayor Pedro Segarra do? And, for now, the answer is this: He’s waiting.