If I use schadenfreude to describe my immediate reaction to the news that the state's attorney's office searched Eddie Perez's house, does it reveal too much about me?

 

Sitting here in Florida reading the comments after the Courant's article, a few things stood out. First and foremost, the judge who signed a warrant for the search didn't do it on a whim, i.e. - the prosecutor presented some credible evidence that a crime of some sort was committed.

 

I would like to think the judge was wise enough to consider that signing a warrant would impact the election. And then determined that the facts before the bench merited such judicial action.

 

Eddie's apology or explanation is crap. As my mom always said, excuses are like assholes, everyone has one. I understand that Eddie's wife's illness was a terrible thing, but to blame your inability to pull a permit on her aneurysm is wrong.

 

Once it comes out that law enforcement officers are rummaging through your belongings, the only reasonable thing to do is resign. Eddie's continued presence in the mayoral office can only harm the city, as we have seen with John Rowland, Phil Giordano, Joe Santopietro, Joe Ganim, etc etc etc.

 

I redid the bathroom in my condo a few years ago, and my plumber wouldn't even do the work unless I pulled the permit. I don't believe I ever closed out the permit with a final inspection from the building department, but I paid the fees and posted the paper on my wall.

 

So what kind of contractor does work without demanding a permit? One who thinks he can get away with it.

 

And what kind of disrespect for the city and its laws does Perez show when he doesn't get a permit? It's the same cycle with him over and over and over again. The commenters at the Courant point out that a) Perez got the work done, then waited almost a year to pay it (that should sound familiar to political watchers) and b) he took out a second mortgage after the work was done. Why?

 

Perez has to go. None of the mayoral candidates have pounced on this on their websites yet. But the criticisms will come, and the investigation damages Eddie deeper than anything Art, I. Charles or Minnie could say.

 

However, Eddie has a $400,000 campaign purse, and he will try to spin this, as his apology did. In his paragraph explanation, he claims he has the highest ethical standards, hints that the investigation might be politically motivated, and tries to acknowledge some wrongdoing. It's straight out of the politician's playbook.

 

Who knows what else Perez is hiding? It's always crazy to think about interactions I've had with Perez, and to think that when I spoke with him, he knew this stuff, and pretended like it didn't exist. The duplicity pisses me off.

 

And a special note to Kenny Curran - quit before your reputation is seriously damaged by your involvement with Perez. You are young and have a long career ahead of you. Hopefully, people will forget.