Over fifty residents walked from 1212 Main Street to City Hall on Monday during rush hour to tell representatives that they oppose the use of public money for building the proposed Rock Cats stadium.
Various media outlets have misreported Segarra’s move to take one of the two resolutions off the agenda as meaning that the entire stadium proposal has been withdrawn. The remaining resolution calls for the City to purchase land for $1.7M which has been tied to the stadium proposal since June. This item was on the public hearing agenda Monday night.
Activists stood on the steps of City Hall chanting “Hey Segarra, you can’t hide. We can see your greedy side.”
Segarra did not meet with activists at the rally, nor did he attend the public hearing.
“We have been excluded from this process for long enough,” said Wildaliz Bermudez, referencing the exclusion of public comment until after Mayor Segarra stood on those same steps in early June to announce that the Rock Cats would be moving to Hartford.
Cornell Lewis said of the deal: “it was done in secret.”
The people of Hartford “have been disenfranchised for very many years,” Lewis said.
State Senator Eric Coleman praised the Hartford Coalition to Stop the Stadium for its quick action, but warned that “as easily as the initial resolution was withdrawn,” another could take its place. He spoke to the need for “overburdened taxpayers” to “be vigilant.”
Hartford resident Anne Goshdigian said that City officials are trying to turn this area into a “playground.”
“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” she warned. “It’s not going to do what they tell you it’s going to do.”
Real Hartford will publish details about tonight’s public hearing on Wednesday.
