Real Hartford

…electoral politics also affect our lives. A gentle reminder that tomorrow night is the Mayoral Candidates Forum at the Hartford Public Library. If you are like me, you really just go for the free soda and veggies that are available at 5:30. It officially ends at 7:30.

If you need directions on where to park, then you’re not from around these parts.

Tom Condon of the Courant will be moderating, which should entice those of you who are fans of the Condon Graffiti that decorated the city a few summers ago.

If you’re planning to go, can I get a hell yeah?

There’s some kind of festival going on at Colt Park–food vendors, ferris wheel, etc. It’s not listed on any of the event calendars.

How would people feel about an open air bazaar in the city that happened maybe once a month during the summer? There have been punk rock versions of this in the past, but something more inclusive of all crafters, artists, farmers, etc., might have a better kind of appeal and vibrancy.

Finally, we have reached the time when complaints of police brutality are taken seriously. No more need to rally the community, turn in endless petitions, and get legal action going to even win the possibility of the guilty officer getting arrested or even getting moved to desk duty.

Or is it that such swift action is only assured when the victim is the mayor’s nephew?

In other accusations of police brutality, the community has not once seen such expedient action as we’ve seen in this past week.

Let’s hope that while strings are being pulled, it’s not forgotten that the mayor’s nephew is also accused of criminal activity–and another man might have permanant damage to his vision because of it.

Over “Spring Fling Weekend,” several hate crimes occured, which have only been reported by the school newspaper and by the Hartford Independent Media Center. An email I sent to WFSB asking why a cracked ceiling at the U of H gets coverage, but assaults on gay students there do not has gone ignored. There has been no coverage from the Hartford Courant, Hartford Advocate, Journal Inquirer, WTNH, NBC 30, or Fox.

That would suck, wouldn’t it? The mayoral race was hot before, but now with Perez’s own relatives doing the best they can to create the kinds of scandals that make a politician seem pretty undesirable (Perez has no control over what hid family members do, but how he responds is the important thing here), the office of mayor might be more available than before.

On May 15th, you can meet any of the mayoral candidates who have officially declared their intentions. You can grab refreshments at the Hartford Public Library around 5:30, and the actual program is supposed to begin half an hour later, ending around 7:30pm. It’s free, and a good chance to hear them answer questions live, without aid of a public relations staff.

Today’s rally in the park had more people than I thought would actually come out.

And I sincerely hope that people picked up after themselves. This city hosted the rally, and has hosted many others. I’m composing (in my head) a zine called Ethical Protest, which will give activists some pointers for minding their manners. Here’s a boiled down version of what I’m thinking about:

1. Familiarize yourself with the city you plan to protest in, finding out things like where to park, where the jails are, and where the restrooms are.
2. Avoid fast food! Give your support to the people and businesses of the host city. (Today I saw a lot of people walking in with Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. Gasp!)
3. Throw your trash in receptacles, or carry it out with you. Just because you don’t live here doesn’t mean nobody else does. We don’t enjoy your empty coffee cups and napkins blowing into our streets.

Thanks and have a nice day!

The Cross-Cultural Academy of Arts & Technology has no money to remain open, but don’t fear. The building they abandon can be used to house either the proposed magnet school responsible for the ecological wreckage at the corner of Farmington/Asylum and Broad, or perhaps we can move the Capital Prep Magnet School kids out of the Capital Community College space and into a room of their own.

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.

I spent yesterday in New York City, after months of obsessing.

This was not my first time in NYC by any means. It is worth its reputation, but it gave me another bunch of things to appreciate about Hartford:

• entire blocks don’t smell like dead, rotting chickens
• entire blocks don’t smell like they’ve been spritzed with urine
• our too expensive is not the same as their too expensive
• the size
• not having really confusing numbered streets, or streets that divide into two, but still have the same name