Earlier this week, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra called the plan to move the New Britain Rock Cats to the capital city a "done deal."
Now, as he and the city council begin to discuss and debate the measure, at least one state lawmaker says he's concerned. "I couldn't support this proposal as it is," said State Senator Eric Coleman. "I just hope we're not at a point where folks in Hartford are so desperate that they're willing to grasp at anything in hopes that it will work."
Listen below to Coleman's comments on WNPR's Where We Live:
For the better part of a year and half, city officials negotiated with the Rock Cats behind closed doors. They said the deal needed that kind of confidentiality, lest it fall apart.
Coleman said that kind of secrecy alienated some people at the state legislature -- including him. He said he didn't find out about the plan until it was announced publicly. "I'm not certain why for 16, 17, 18 months," he said, "somebody from city hall would have been working on this proposal without drawing in some of the stakeholders, or even some of the key people in city hall."
For the record, Coleman lost the Democratic party's senate endorsement to Council President Shawn Wooden. Wooden supports the baseball stadium plan, although he has also said it has to be fully vetted by the council.
