Mayoral Forum/Debate Tonight

[HartfordTycoon]

The Mayoral Candidates Forum, sponsored by the MetroHartford Alliance and Hartford 2000 will be held at the downtown branch of the Hartford Public Library on Tuesday evening, March 15th. Refreshments will be served at 5:30 PM and the forum will be held from 6 to 7:30 PM. Tom Condon will be the moderator. The following candidates will be participating: Eddie Perez, Art Feltman, I.Charles Mathews,

Frank Barrows, Raul De Jesus, Stan McCauley, and Patrice Smith.

Should be interesting. I think I'll try to make it.

[drc72]

It will be interesting to see what Perez has to say with the scandal surrounding him....

[HartfordTycoon]

It's on now, ch. 21 on Comcast. I didn't make it over there.

[htfdtimeforchange]

It seems like people may actually be paying attention. Standing room only there tonight and actually seemed to be people interested in what was being said. I think Perez actually lost ground tonight. Two major factors I think. One seemed to be the paid stooges who were waving the Perez signs and causing the commotion everytime Perez answered a question. The comments I heard were that most people knew they were staff people or paid to be there. A total lack of class by their actions, and I would commend the rest of the candidates for showing up to answer questions, not stage a dog and pony show. The other comment, and very noticeable to anyone watching, was that Perez was reading his answers from prepared text. No one else at the table was reading their answers, and if you can't speak from your heart, forget it. Maybe Perez has a problem remembering who he promised what, and needs the notes to keep track. He came across as being less than genuine.

I also give a lot of credit to DeJesus, the 20 yr old. He was the first to stand up from the table and address the audience, this kid is worth watching . Although I don't think he stands a chance now, the smart money would be on developing him as one of Hartfords future leaders.

If I had to pick a winner, from the comments I heard, it would be the Republican, McCauley, with Matthews a close second. I think people liked McCauley's honest answers, even though he himself admitted they weren't necessarily politically correct. It seems like people are tired of the politics and are going to vote for the "right" person , not the political person. I think Feltman and Gonzalez came across as just being too angry and "anti-Perez". Barrow's just doesn't seem like his heart is in it, and almost like it's too late to back out.

Definitely a good start, hopefully this will be the year to actually watch Hartford turn out to vote in a real competition.

[grock]

Good to hear, although I don't think McCauley has a chance. It's tough being a Republican and he needs someone high profile to join his team to run for council. If Rell helps he might have a chance, but even then it will be tough.

[htfdtimeforchange]

Six months ago I would have said the same thing, but everyday Perez seems to be imploding. It's all about educating Hartford that it's the year to break the pattern and forget Democrat or Republican, but vote for the right person for the job. I see McCauley gaining points each day if he stays on point with his message. Four years ago they said the same thing about New Britian, a Republican would never get elected Mayor, and surprisingly one did, and is doing a good job there, in a heavily Democratic city

[ctman987]

I went last night and was very impressed by the turnout from the community. A ton of people came down to the library from their city neighborhoods to hear what these canidates had to say. People were taking notes and residents were introducing themselves to one another and talking about their neighborhoods.

Most of the canidates seemed prepared and had visions and goals for the city. But there were a few things that I cringed at...and this doesnt mean I dont like these canidates, I just cringed because im pretty sure these canidates didnt think into what they were saying at times.

McCauley said that because the city is 18 square miles he thinks it already has a great transportation system. We dont need a train or a subway he said, he said in Philly where he is from you need that but not here. Im sorry but Hartford needs to think regionally and a commuter rail and even a subway system that helped commuters get out of their cars onto clean and efficant methods of public transportation would do wonders for this area including Hartford.

Feltman who impressed me on his eagerness to bring quality high paying jobs to the city (not just janitor jobs at a hotel) and his impressed me with his overall knowledge of cities and growth made me cringe when he talked about luring in big companies back to Hartford where they would all have parking garages financed for them...where the people parking would not be gouged for parking which is great...BUT Hartford has enough parking. If we keep adding it we are going to make the city look like a sprawling suburb or a city like Houston or Phoenix. Hartford cant compete with its suburbs as a suburb...it has to keep its city atmosphere something the suburbs cant do.

Perez ohh Perez...After Feltman let the audience know that MetLife, ING and WFSB are all leaving the city Perez let everyone know that Travelers, AETNA, The Hartford all added jobs to the city and got a huge round of applause. He forgot to mention the huge opportunities many companies COULD take in Hartford and dont. The Hartford may have added jobs to the city but they also have tons of jobs out in the Farmington Valley and didnt consider moving to the city when their lease was up out there. Bank of America has its CT office on Main Street but also employs hundreds out in an office park in Farmington and isnt moving those jobs downtown.

DeJesus, he made a lot of good points and he is definitly the underdog in this race. One thing that did not impress me and was definitly repeated over and over again was how he was raised poor, still is poor, etc. etc. etc. Everyone hears these stories in campaigns, in biographies of corporate readers, etc. We get it, you have come a long way but I want to know how you are going to make everyone in this city successfull.

[HartfordTycoon]

I went last night and was very impressed by the turnout from the community. A ton of people came down to the library from their city neighborhoods to hear what these canidates had to say. People were taking notes and residents were introducing themselves to one another and talking about their neighborhoods.

Most of the canidates seemed prepared and had visions and goals for the city. But there were a few things that I cringed at...and this doesnt mean I dont like these canidates, I just cringed because im pretty sure these canidates didnt think into what they were saying at times.

McCauley said that because the city is 18 square miles he thinks it already has a great transportation system. We dont need a train or a subway he said, he said in Philly where he is from you need that but not here. Im sorry but Hartford needs to think regionally and a commuter rail and even a subway system that helped commuters get out of their cars onto clean and efficant methods of public transportation would do wonders for this area including Hartford.

Feltman who impressed me on his eagerness to bring quality high paying jobs to the city (not just janitor jobs at a hotel) and his impressed me with his overall knowledge of cities and growth made me cringe when he talked about luring in big companies back to Hartford where they would all have parking garages financed for them...where the people parking would not be gouged for parking which is great...BUT Hartford has enough parking. If we keep adding it we are going to make the city look like a sprawling suburb or a city like Houston or Phoenix. Hartford cant compete with its suburbs as a suburb...it has to keep its city atmosphere something the suburbs cant do.

Perez ohh Perez...After Feltman let the audience know that MetLife, ING and WFSB are all leaving the city Perez let everyone know that Travelers, AETNA, The Hartford all added jobs to the city and got a huge round of applause. He forgot to mention the huge opportunities many companies COULD take in Hartford and dont. The Hartford may have added jobs to the city but they also have tons of jobs out in the Farmington Valley and didnt consider moving to the city when their lease was up out there. Bank of America has its CT office on Main Street but also employs hundreds out in an office park in Farmington and isnt moving those jobs downtown.

DeJesus, he made a lot of good points and he is definitly the underdog in this race. One thing that did not impress me and was definitly repeated over and over again was how he was raised poor, still is poor, etc. etc. etc. Everyone hears these stories in campaigns, in biographies of corporate readers, etc. We get it, you have come a long way but I want to know how you are going to make everyone in this city successfull.

[beerbeer]

Hartford does not have enough parking. That is a huge problem for the city, ask Met Liffe.

[MadVlad]

These companies getting parking GARAGES isn't a bad thing, it's when they get parking LOTS that we need to set off the alarm.....

[grock]

I heard Feltman specifically blames Perez for WFSB leaving. What exactly did he say?

[HartfordTycoon]

I heard Feltman specifically blames Perez for WFSB leaving. What exactly did he say?

[drc72]

Six months ago I would have said the same thing, but everyday Perez seems to be imploding. It's all about educating Hartford that it's the year to break the pattern and forget Democrat or Republican, but vote for the right person for the job. I see McCauley gaining points each day if he stays on point with his message. Four years ago they said the same thing about New Britian, a Republican would never get elected Mayor, and surprisingly one did, and is doing a good job there, in a heavily Democratic city

[blackstone]

I went last night and was very impressed by the turnout from the community. A ton of people came down to the library from their city neighborhoods to hear what these canidates had to say. People were taking notes and residents were introducing themselves to one another and talking about their neighborhoods.

Most of the canidates seemed prepared and had visions and goals for the city. But there were a few things that I cringed at...and this doesnt mean I dont like these canidates, I just cringed because im pretty sure these canidates didnt think into what they were saying at times.

McCauley said that because the city is 18 square miles he thinks it already has a great transportation system. We dont need a train or a subway he said, he said in Philly where he is from you need that but not here. Im sorry but Hartford needs to think regionally and a commuter rail and even a subway system that helped commuters get out of their cars onto clean and efficant methods of public transportation would do wonders for this area including Hartford.

Feltman who impressed me on his eagerness to bring quality high paying jobs to the city (not just janitor jobs at a hotel) and his impressed me with his overall knowledge of cities and growth made me cringe when he talked about luring in big companies back to Hartford where they would all have parking garages financed for them...where the people parking would not be gouged for parking which is great...BUT Hartford has enough parking. If we keep adding it we are going to make the city look like a sprawling suburb or a city like Houston or Phoenix. Hartford cant compete with its suburbs as a suburb...it has to keep its city atmosphere something the suburbs cant do.

Perez ohh Perez...After Feltman let the audience know that MetLife, ING and WFSB are all leaving the city Perez let everyone know that Travelers, AETNA, The Hartford all added jobs to the city and got a huge round of applause. He forgot to mention the huge opportunities many companies COULD take in Hartford and dont. The Hartford may have added jobs to the city but they also have tons of jobs out in the Farmington Valley and didnt consider moving to the city when their lease was up out there. Bank of America has its CT office on Main Street but also employs hundreds out in an office park in Farmington and isnt moving those jobs downtown.

DeJesus, he made a lot of good points and he is definitly the underdog in this race. One thing that did not impress me and was definitly repeated over and over again was how he was raised poor, still is poor, etc. etc. etc. Everyone hears these stories in campaigns, in biographies of corporate readers, etc. We get it, you have come a long way but I want to know how you are going to make everyone in this city successfull.

[ctman987]

Hartford does not have enough parking. That is a huge problem for the city, ask Met Liffe.