Elsewhere, I wrote about how annoyed I’ve been with the Mayor’s misuse of public funds. It seems that every week I get a piece of his self-promotional propaganda in my mailbox.
Well, it’s not just me having my panties in a twist over this. The Courant reports that :
State Rep. Art Feltman has proposed legislation that would prohibit incumbent municipal officials from using taxpayer money to send campaign-style mailings within one year of an election.
Feltman is one of six Democratic candidates for mayor in Hartford. He said he proposed the new law to stop what he says is Mayor Eddie A. Perez’s misuse of tax funds “to boost his re-election bid.”
Perez has recently sent at least two mailings that would fall under the new law, should it be adopted – a quarterly report called “The Mayor’s Update,” and a promotional piece for the city’s new 311 information line. Neither violates current law, which could limit such mailings only within three months of the election.
But the mailings have brought criticism from Perez’s opponents in the mayoral election, several of whom have said the mailings are a blatant attempt to spend city money to spread Perez’s picture and campaign message.
This goes beyond Perez’s bullshit. This 311 service is bogus. Today, I tried to get information out of them regarding a dumpster in the back lot which has been overflowing for at least three weeks. The operator, polite as she was, had no helpful advice for me, even though I explained the situation several times. (Yes, I called the number on dumpster first. No, they didn’t seem to give a shit either because it’s not their neighborhood that’ll have to deal with the dirty fucking rats when they invade) Rather than working to “streamline” municipal services, perhaps Hartford can work harder on actually having those municipal services. I find it hard to believe that there is nowhere I can register a complaint about an impending health hazard.