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By Kerri Provost, November 1, 2011 8:25 am

It is not the job of the media to promote candidates.

Reporting on a candidate’s actions and quoting him verbatim should tell voters all that they really need to know about a politician’s qualifications and character.

On November 8th — between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. –  Hartford’s registered voters will have the opportunity to provide their own opinions about who they believe should hold office. Here is an image of a sample ballot, provided by Hartford Votes:

Image courtesy of Hartford VOTES

On this sample ballot, you can see where the instructions state to “vote for any six.” Sometimes this presents confusion. You do not need to vote for six City Council candidates. You can vote for zero, one, two, three, four, five, or six, but, you can not vote for more than six. The same holds true for Constables; you can vote any number up to, but not exceeding, four. If you want to just vote for Mayor, but for nothing else, you can do that as well.

We trust that Hartford voters will be making smart, informed decisions at the polls, and that they do not need a media outlet suggesting to them where their votes should go.

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By Kerri Provost, October 28, 2011 6:37 pm

“These make us look like the Village People,” Mayor Segarra commented while he and other officials donned construction helmets before digging with their ceremonial shovels at Friday afternoon’s groundbreaking for the “Capewell Townhomes.”

Future site of the Capewell Townhomes

Although plans had been announced months ago for the development of townhouses on the vacant parcel of land between Wyllys Street and Popieluszco Court, some details have changed. Continue reading 'Groundbreaking Ceremony for Capewell Townhouses'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 17, 2011 9:28 pm

Try ignoring dozens of sunflowers towering over you.

Neither could Mayor Segarra nor Governor Malloy while talking about how arts and cultural institutions have shown themselves as assets to the economy. Segarra said that being at events where there are fresh flowers and vegetables make him a “happy mayor”; Malloy reminisced about the sunflowers that bent under their own weight, which he saw on his last vacation before taking office as governor.

On Wednesday afternoon, they, along with Cary Wheaton (Executive Director of Billings Forge Community Works) and Elizabeth Hucker (Director of Community Investment with the Greater Hartford Arts Council) addressed a small gathering on the green in front of the community garden beds at Billings Forge on Broad Street. A few gardeners tended their plots while all this was happening a few yards away. Continue reading 'Billings Forge Recognized on Governor Malloy’s Jobs Tour'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 13, 2011 10:21 pm

The 49th Annual Greater Hartford West Indian Day Parade tried out a different route Saturday afternoon. Continue reading 'A Glance at the West Indian Day Parade'»

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By Kerri Provost, July 22, 2011 2:12 pm

Because the Hartford Democratic Town Committee convention did not start on time, there was opportunity to check out the fashions. Continue reading 'Is this what Democracy Looks Like?'»

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By Kerri Provost,

A large room crammed full of powerful people (and those aiming to be) dressed in red, white, and blue, with buttons and signs galore. The party casts its votes, maybe some numbers don’t match up and a recount is needed, but the endorsements get made and the evening moves on. Reporters pushing their way through to get to the newly endorsed or to those left behind. That’s the image that comes to mind, and to an extent, that is what happens. But for those who have never been to a convention and who are not politically connected, it might be eye-opening to learn that the behind the scenes “back room deals” are not so secretive after all.

The Hartford Democratic Town Committee’s convention was scheduled to begin at 5:30 on Thursday evening in Bulkeley High School’s air conditioned auditorium. We assumed that this was the fake time, which is told so that events kick off on time about thirty minutes later. Segarra’s supporters were gathered around the building’s entrance with signs and stickers at 4:30 pm. By all accounts, I thought I would be home by ten, latest.

Upon entering, we had our choice of seats. Nothing was roped off. Nobody was serving as an usher. I sat with Emily of Live in Hartford, and near reporters from The Hartford Guardian and The Hartford News, two small, local newspapers that work hard to get the story, like journalists from days of yore. We were in the second row, center, and nobody seemed to mind.

Waiting for the event to begin, we noted who was conversing with whom. Julio Concepcion, an HDTC member, stopped over and we chatted about the waves he made when he publicly questioned the 2-2-2 strategy days prior. In the audience was a young man, a teenager about to enter Hartford Public High School after attending Bellizzi. He began the evening as the embodiment of idealism. We never saw if he looked the same, or disenchanted, when he slipped out later.

At 6pm, we thought the event was going to begin when the committee announced that the little people had to move our seats:

The rationale made sense. Leave room so that HDTC members can easily access the microphone and be heard; one wonders why this was not announced earlier. One also wonders why this was even attempted, as the members were scattered throughout the auditorium, some griping that they could not hear, all the while not moving their seats, despite the vacant ones now reserved for them. Continue reading 'Behind the Scenes at the Hartford Democratic Town Committee Convention'»

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By Kerri Provost,

2-2-2 Continue reading 'Hartford Democratic Town Committee Convention: Numbers Game'»

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By Kerri Provost, June 30, 2011 6:24 am

I spoke with Mayor Segarra in person at Elizabeth Park.

What are your top three favorite things (events, places, people, etc) about Hartford?

Before we sat down to talk outside of the Pond House, Segarra said a few words thanking representatives from Knox Parks and “Friends of” various city parks at a dinner in the Banquet Hall. In his remarks, he described the parks and green spaces as one of Hartford’s assets.

That’s the type of comment to expect when addressing an audience of park enthusiasts, but I wondered if he would be consistent when later I asked about the positive aspects of Hartford.

“The people, the diversity, the different communities of people, the culture” were ranked first on the mayor’s list of favorite things. This was followed by architecture, parks, and historical sites. He named the Lyric, Lyceum, Billings Forge, and the John E. Rogers House as examples of architecture and historical sites. Segarra described the old industrial buildings as being “underutilized” historical landmarks.

“Institutions — public, corporate, and religious” ranked third on his list of favorite things about Hartford. Among them, he named the United Way and Real Art Ways. Continue reading 'Five Questions with Mayor Segarra'»

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By Kerri Provost,

Death and taxes.

That’s all people ever seem to ask candidates about. What will the magic wand look like that they will wave over the city to make violent crime and high taxes disappear.

When I interviewed the four viable mayoral candidates, I began with a question about their favorite things in Hartford. Too often, interviews, forums, and debates are framed in a negative way. Hartford is terrible. It’s broken. It’s unusually violent and should be pitied. Now, who will be the superhero to rescue us? And, who will we blame when this superhero turns out to be merely human? It’s a bogus approach. No place is perfect, including Hartford, but it is not a cesspool either. So, I thought that by framing this differently, I could do two things: (1) encourage candidates to be positive, and (2) find out quickly who lacks civic pride. Using that as a base, I wanted to continue in the positive. Rather than finding out how they would “fix” the city, I asked how they would “boost” it.

The third question is much more specific. It came about by asking a few Real Hartford readers what they would want answered by the candidates. Continue reading 'Five Questions with the Candidates'»

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By Kerri Provost, June 12, 2011 7:46 pm

Image courtesy of Cristy Road

It seemed like the plans to build an official skate park were moving forward, until there was some grumbling at last week’s CDBG meeting. Mayor Segarra proposed $150,000 for the enhancement of  New Ross County Wexford Park; some City Council members felt like this amount was too much.

A phrase heard often in the sustainable food movement is that one has the choice to either “pay the farmer now or pay the doctor later.” We know this is an oversimplification, but the same can be applied here. Spend money to give youth something constructive to do now, or spend money later to deal with the consequences of idle hands.

June 27th is when this item will be voted on. The last public hearing on this issue is June 13th at 6pm in Council Chambers.

Emails and phone calls can be made by those not inclined to go to the public hearing on Monday evening. Such messages should be sent to the five people who will be voting on this: rJo Winch, Jim Boucher, Larry Deutsch, Ken Kennedy, and Bob Painter.