Tammany Hall Comes To Town Hall

Tell the truth but tell it slant: That was poet Emily Dickenson’s advice.

Applying the maxim to the Carlos Costa case, we get Tammany Hall epigrams from Carlos Costa’s lawyer, the forthright William Gerace:

"He did what he did," said Gerace of Costa, his client, adding that the facts of the allegations against Costa aren't in dispute. It's the interpretation that's at issue.

"Someone else will have to determine if he committed a crime or if he was trying to make a living," Gerace said, adding that what Costa did was grease "the wheels of business."

Costa is the Hartford developer, now under arrest, who sought to grease the wheels of business by performing what he thought was cost free work on Mayor Eddie Perez’s house.

The prosaic Hartford Courant put it this way:

“According to arrests warrants, Costa has told investigators that he thought the allegedly free work was "the cost of me doing business with the City." At the same time he was working on the mayor's house, Costa was working on a $5.7 million city streetscape project. As Costa struggled to meet deadlines and complete the city work, Perez intervened on his behalf and to his benefit, prosecutors allege.”

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Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

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