Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra and opponent Luke Bronin spoke with NBC Connecticut the day before a Democratic primary could change the face of politics in the capital city.
They addressed economic development and public safety, plans to provide new youth engagement programs and the improvement of neighborhood schools.
Each candidate also took time during the 14-minute interviews with NBC Connecticut to attack the other on his respective records.
On increasing the number of Hartford police officers, Bronin, who has received the backing of Hartford Democrats, argued that the city hasn't done a good enough job of preparing for retirements and preemptively training recruits to replace them.
"We need to begin the work of stabilizing the force so we make sure the force doesn’t get smaller and smaller, and then begin the work of rebuilding it so we get away from officers working back-to-back shifts again and again, making huge amounts of overtime and get enough officers so they can actually be out of their cars, walking the beat, being that positive presence in the community," Bronin said.
According to a report commissioned by the Hartford Police Department this year, roughly 480 police are needed for full staffing. The force currently has fewer than 400 officers.
Segarra said it's up to the state, and not necessarily City Hall, to come up with funding for more police.
"The state is going to have to pay one way or another. The state incarcerates folks or the state provides us with the resources to make an effective reentry of our reentry population, and at the same time come up with a sufficient amount of police officers to meet the needs of the community," Segarra said.
The mayor said he's proud of his record of increasing the number of students involved in the Police Athletic League Program, which demonstrates what a future in Hartford law enforcement may look like.
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"We need to expose kids to policing very early on so they know what the profession is now," he said.
Bronin said the onus has to be on the police to make themselves known in the communities where they work.
"If you want the best ambassadors who are going to get those kids thinking about a potential career in public safety, (make) sure that there’s an officer that they know – that they know on a personal level, who’s again, a positive force in their community interacting with them in a way to build trust," he said. "That’s the best way that you’re going to kids thinking about that as a possible career."
Both candidates were also asked about the future of the Hartford economy.
Bronin said if an insurance giant like Aetna were contemplating leaving the city, he would act quickly to assemble a group to stop it from happening.
"I’d call them and I’d call up the governor’s office right away and say, 'I want to sit down with the leadership of Aetna and the governor’s office to find out what’s possible' to make sure that we don’t lose what is one of the most important employers in the city."
Segarra said he would make a similar move and float the idea of tax breaks with the state but build in "clawbacks" to ensure such a large and influential employer delivers on its promises.
"Let’s sit down and discuss it. What are you going to do in terms of providing jobs to our residents? What are you going to do in future years with us recouping our investment from your company?" Segarra said.
Segarra stands by the new Downtown North development, which includes a baseball stadium to house the soon-to-be Hartford Yard Goats. He said the project will create nearly 2,000 jobs as construction continues. Projects like those, he argued, help the entire city.
"A lot of people don’t connect the dots in our city between all of the different efforts of the schools that we’re building, the infrastructure that we’re building, the stadium, other components," Segarra explained. "All these things tie in together to make our community a more vibrant place and a more economically productive place."
Bronin said that during the first few months of his administration, he would work to reach out to companies around the country who are looking to relocate and pitch historic Hartford buildings as possible landing points.
"We have a huge number of old buildings, Brownfield sites, and there’s money available from the state if we go after that in a systematic way," he said.
Finally, on education, Bronin said he wants to see increased investments in special education and for students who are still learning English. He said the more Hartford invests in its neighborhood schools, the better it is for every facet of city life.
"If we want to strengthen those schools, we need to first of all make sure... the responsibility of educating the kids with the greatest needs is spread across the system, the magnets, the Hartford magnets, the CREC magnets, the charters, which also means we have to make sure we get that support from the state for those kids in those neighborhood schools," Bronin said.
Segarra said more funds from the state are vital toward improving public schools. Across the board, city schools need to get injections of funds to pay for new technology and for individual programs for the students who need them most.
"We have a very low-income population that has a lot of other needs in the social services area," Segarra said. "We need to get those supports in order to have more equity and not have the achievement gap that we have between our city and other cities."
