Name that party (Hartford edition)

Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez surrendered to authorities on corruption charges yesterday. The Hartford Courant’s initial story by Jeffrey Cohen and Mark Pazniokas omit the mayor’s party affiliation. (As JammieWearingFool notes, however, Perez is identified as a former community organizer.) In their subsequent long story on the charges, Cohen and Pazniokas identify the mayor’s party affiliation in the thirteenth paragraph.

Hartord residents will continue to enjoy the mayor’s services while he defends himself on the charges. He has no plans to resign or temporarily step aside. He admits only to a lapse in judgment in employing a city contractor to work on his home.

Jim Hoft places the charges against Perez in a larger context:

He joins three fellow [D]emocratic mayors caught in scandal this year. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted Jan. 9, 2009, by a grand jury on 12 counts, including perjury, theft and misconduct in office. Racine Mayor Gary Becker was arrested on charges of attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement and possession of child pornography. Portland Mayor Sam Adams, the first openly gay mayor from a major American city, admitted last week that he had sexual relations with a teen intern.

Jim asks whether we can we call it a “culture of corruption” yet. I think we can, but we have to supply the details that the newspapers and wire services are reluctant to provide.
.
To comment on this post, go here.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses