Everybody who knew Hartford Mayor Mike Peters has their own story about the man who is properly credited for jump-starting the capital city’s revitalization during the 1990s. He had a terrific sense of humor, and journalists loved quoting him. He returned calls. He was unfiltered. And his comments weren’t first vetted by a spokesperson. What you saw was pretty much what you got.
But there was a side of Peters’ tough and funny exterior that most never saw. He wasn’t just a good communicator who talked the talk. He sincerely, passionately, loved his hometown. He had a vision of how it could be better. He was willing to fight for it, with no private gain for himself.
Years before I met Mike Peters, I gained some very personal insight about Hartford’s most vocal cheerleader and advocate. During the early 1990s, a time when I had put down my reporter’s notebook for chalk and a blackboard at the University of Hartford, I had assigned my students a five-minute speech. The topic: the person they most admired.
A Grateful Son
During the seven years when I taught public speaking and communication classes at the university, I had heard hundreds of these student speeches. Often, students selected a prominent public figure, a famous and influential author, and sometimes they talked about their grandparent, who had offered them great wisdom, unconditional love while rising against all odds to become successful either at home with their family, in business or in their community. But never had one of my students identified a parent as the person they most admired.
That was until David Peters gave his speech. For five minutes — what can seem like an eternity when standing in front of a classroom for someone not accustomed to public speaking — David talked about his dad, Mayor Mike Peters, a city fireman who had had become mayor of Hartford because he wanted it to become a better place.
David talked about his father’s passion for Hartford, for the NHL Hartford Whalers team, and how he worked tirelessly — day and night — asking people to invest in the city. At home, although Mayor Mike was often on the job for the city, David talked about how his dad was always there for his kids. I remember David Peters telling his classmates that his father had been a good dad, someone he and his other siblings could always count on, despite whatever else was going on with him personally, as a firefighter, or with the city.
Back To Cheerleading
David’s short speech struck me. I never forgot it.
Nearly a decade later, I was waiting for a press conference to begin, and Mayor Mike was there. I took him aside, and recounted David’s student speech, how it was a loving tribute to him. The usually glib man had no comment. He looked around quietly, considering what I had told him with some thought.
Then the press conference began, and Peters had some cheerleading to do for his Hartford.
On Violent Crime In Hartford:
On The Media Coverage Of Violent Crime:
On City Treasurer Kathleen Palm:
On Hartford’s Revitalization:
On The People Of The Hartford:
On Becoming A Firefighter:
On Running For Mayor:
