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Eddie Perez has a long history in Hartford as he seeks to return to the mayor’s office he left amid corruption charges

  • Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez leaves Troop H after being arrested...

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    Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez leaves Troop H after being arrested in this September 2009 file photo.

  • In this November 2001 file photo, Hartford mayor-elect Eddie Perez...

    PATRICK RAYCRAFT/Associated Press

    In this November 2001 file photo, Hartford mayor-elect Eddie Perez is carried into a victory rally on the shoulders of his brothers.

  • Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, right, and political consultant Matthew...

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    Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, right, and political consultant Matthew Hennessy at Camp Courant's 125th anniversary fundraiser in February.

  • Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez rallies with supporters at a press...

    Bettina Hansen/Hartford Courant

    Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez rallies with supporters at a press conference at city hall in September 2009 after he turned himself in on criminal charges.

  • Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez's home on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford...

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    Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez's home on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford in August 2007.

  • Eddie Perez catches up with Mayor Pedro Segarra at the...

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    Eddie Perez catches up with Mayor Pedro Segarra at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Windy Metal Garden on Pope Park Highway in Hartford in September 2011.

  • The resignation letter of Eddie Perez.

    Brooke LaValley/Hartford Courant

    The resignation letter of Eddie Perez.

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Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, who left office in 2010 after he was found guilty on corruption charges, will announce Thursday he plans to run for his old job.

Perez, 61, served nine years as mayor before resigning. The city’s first Hispanic mayor, he plans to frame his campaign around his decades of community involvement in Hartford before he ran for office as well as his accomplishments as mayor. In a television interview Wednesday, Perez admitted he “made a mistake” and apologized for the actions that led to his criminal conviction.

As Perez prepares to launch his campaign, here is a look at his history in Hartford, what got him onto law enforcement’s radar and why he’s back in the political fray.

Early years

Perez is born in 1957 in Corozal, Puerto Rico. He arrives in Hartford in 1969 at the age of 12 with his eight siblings. The family moves 14 times between the Clay Arsenal and Frog Hollow neighborhoods while Perez was growing up. He is a member of the gang the Ghetto Brothers and graduates from Hartford Public High School and attends one year of community college.

Community service

As a volunteer with the federal Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program in 1978, Perez founds the community group Organized Northeasterners/Clay Hill and North End Inc. (ONE/CHANE) and serves as its executive director for the next decade. The group advocates for improving housing and economic conditions in North Hartford. Perez then spends two years as director of the Make Something Happen program to help public housing residents in Hartford’s Stowe Village. During this time he completes an associate’s degree at Capital Community College.

In this September 2000 file photo, Eddie Perez, president and executive director of Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance and Sanchez Elementary School principal Delia Bello walk along Park Street in Hartford looking for merchants who will agree to display Spanish language posters promoting next week's return to school.
In this September 2000 file photo, Eddie Perez, president and executive director of Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance and Sanchez Elementary School principal Delia Bello walk along Park Street in Hartford looking for merchants who will agree to display Spanish language posters promoting next week’s return to school.

Trinity College

Perez is hired in 1990 as Trinity College’s director of community and government relations. At the same time, he chairs the nonprofit community group the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Association (SINA). In 1996, Perez graduates with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Trinity. As head of SINA, Perez helps guide the $110 million Learning Corridor project to completion. The campus of four schools just outside the gates of Trinity College is part of a larger $220 million project to revitalize the Frog Hollow neighborhood.

In this November 2001 file photo, Hartford mayor-elect Eddie Perez is carried into a victory rally on the shoulders of his brothers.
In this November 2001 file photo, Hartford mayor-elect Eddie Perez is carried into a victory rally on the shoulders of his brothers.

Entering politics

In 2001, after then-Mayor Michael Peters announces he would not seek another term in office, Perez announces he will run for mayor. An early front-runner, he captures more than 70 percent of the vote in a Democratic primary and easily wins in the November election. Perez campaigns on a promise to significantly boost home ownership in the city. A year after he is elected, city voters approve charter changes establishing a “strong mayor” form of government. In 2003, Perez easily wins re-election, becoming the city’s first strong mayor.

In this November 2001 file photo, Eddie Perez talks with Abraham Giles on election night.
In this November 2001 file photo, Eddie Perez talks with Abraham Giles on election night.

Deals for friends

A Perez family friend, Carlos Costa, wins a bid for a $5 million project on Park Street that is scheduled to be completed by July 2005. In early 2005, Costa begins $40,000 worth of renovations on the bathroom and kitchen in Perez’s home. Meanwhile, the Park Street project has fallen so far behind that the city’s public works staff said Costa was in default of his contract. A Perez aide assures Costa’s insurer the city won’t kill the project. In November 2006, Perez awards a no-bid downtown parking lot contract to North End political power broker Abraham Giles using rates from 13 years earlier.

Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez's home on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford in August 2007.
Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez’s home on Bloomfield Avenue in Hartford in August 2007.

Troubles become public

In August 2007, state criminal investigators search Perez’s home and Costa’s office. State officials open an investigation into Costa because his company never registered with the state as a home contractor. And officials find no permits are on file for the work on Perez’s home. The mayor admits it was a mistake to hire Costa, but says he paid for the work (years after it was completed, and only after questions were asked, it would turn out). He belatedly files applications for the permits. Costa is fined by the state for renovating Perez’s home without being registered. The issue doesn’t stop Perez from being re-elected in November 2007.

Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez leaves Troop H after being arrested in this September 2009 file photo.
Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez leaves Troop H after being arrested in this September 2009 file photo.

Criminal charges

A grand jury begins looking into the Perez case weeks after he is re-elected. The grand jury works for more than a year, and Costa is arrested and charged with bribery in January 2009. Perez is arrested and charged with bribery and falsifying evidence a day later. In the late summer, Perez is charged with attempted first-degree larceny by extortion for telling a developer he would have to pay $100,000 to get Giles to vacate a parking lot crucial to a plan for condominiums and shopping. It turned out Giles had no lease on the parking lot. Perez pleads not guilty and both charges are combined into a trial that begins in May 2010.

The resignation letter of Eddie Perez.
The resignation letter of Eddie Perez.

Guilty verdict, departure from office

Perez is found guilty in June 2010 and sentenced to three years in prison. He submits a letter of resignation and Pedro Segarra, the city council president, is sworn in as mayor. Perez vows to fight the charges against him and a lengthy process to appeal the Superior Court verdict begins.

Eddie Perez catches up with Mayor Pedro Segarra at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Windy Metal Garden on Pope Park Highway in Hartford in September 2011.
Eddie Perez catches up with Mayor Pedro Segarra at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Windy Metal Garden on Pope Park Highway in Hartford in September 2011.

Appeals, return to public service

The state Appellate Court overturns Perez’s convictions in 2013 on the basis that the two cases should not have been combined. The Connecticut Supreme Court upholds the reversal in 2016. In 2018, Perez reaches a plea deal that allows him to avoid prison. As a result of his guilty plea, a judge revokes his city pension. After Perez leaves office, and during the lengthy appeals process, he holds a number of jobs: he opens an insurance agency on Park Street and then takes a job with the Capitol Region Education Council as a transportation coordinator. He also serves as a consultant for nonprofits.

Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, right, and political consultant Matthew Hennessy at Camp Courant's 125th anniversary fundraiser in February.
Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, right, and political consultant Matthew Hennessy at Camp Courant’s 125th anniversary fundraiser in February.

Another run for mayor

In the spring of 2019, rumors start circulating that Perez is considering running for mayor against Luke Bronin, who defeated Segarra in 2015. Perez says people have been asking him to run, but that he hasn’t made up his mind yet. He drops a lawsuit against the city seeking more than $1 million in legal fees, further fueling speculation that he will run for mayor. In early April, Perez confirms he’s entering the race.

Russell Blair can be reached at rblair@courant.com.