HARTFORD -- Hours after union demonstrators swarmed City Hall in Hartford and police had to escort the mayor back to his office, Luke Bronin told FOX 61 he won't back down from the proposal prompting that response.
"I believe it would give us tools that would make it easier to meet this crisis," said the newly minted mayor.
The problem: a nearly $50 million deficit expected next year.
His solution: to establish a committee to review Hartford's budget, make suggestions and take control of union talks, something that union members have now publicly protested multiple times.
Bronin had a message for them, post-protest: "The difficulties we face don't end with the passage or failure of legislation. Regardless of what happens with the legislation, we've still got to make some very tough choices and everyone is going to have to make some very tough concessions, it's the only way through."
The mayor said a few options are off the table, as far as he is concerned.
"We're talking a lot about the $48.5 million deficit. That's an important number but an even more important number is 74.29. That's the mill rate in the city of Hartford. We cannot raise it, I will not raise it," said Bronin.
His budget is due to the city in less than two weeks.
"Even last night, a few people who were saying 'well, why don't we just kick the can down the road for another year?' I think that's the last thing we should do," Bronin said. "If you take out the one-time money -- things like selling parking garages or pulling employee benefit reserves or restructuring debt -- if you take all that out, the city of Hartford has been running a $20 or $40 million deficits for the last few years, so it's not a new problem, it's been hidden."