As Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra was hard at work inside his new city hall office, a city worker was busy in the hallway outside, etching Segarra's name on the door.
Monday marked Segarra's first full official day at city hall as mayor. The city council president took over as mayor late Friday, after former mayor Eddie Perez resigned. Perez stepped down one week after his conviction on five corruption charges.
"It's a big undertaking. It's a big responsibility and it keeps you on your feet, I can sure say that," said Segarra, in the hallway outside his office.
His first full day on the job included attending a presentation by Congressman John Larson on a community development proposal.
He also spent time thinking about how best to staff key positions at city hall.
"I'm still in the process of trying to get my head a little bit clearer and try to figure out the issue of appointments and the issue of staffing the mayor's office," said Segarra.
Among his first official duties, Segarra asked for the resignations of about 35 city hall workers including all mayoral staff, department heads, the corporation counsel, and other direct reports. He plans to review those resignations and decide, starting on Wednesday, who will stay and who will go.
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"Some people obviously in order to have some stability and in order to continue to provide our services will remain on board," said Segarra. "Some people which are people that I will rely on and need to rely on and need to be responding back to me, those folks will need to get careful review."
With Segarra serving as mayor, the Hartford City Council will now have to select a new president. That could come during its meeting Monday night. Council members rJo Winch and Jim Boucher, both democrats, are interested in the job. The council will also have to begin the process of filling Segarra's empty seat.
