Mayor Pedro Segarra has maintained quite proudly on the campaign trail that he has spent a total of 41 years in Connecticut's capital city, but one local lawyer calls that into question.
According to documents provided by the Florida Bar Association, Segarra practiced law in Florida from 1999 to 2005. His addresses are all in the Miami area.
"It was a commute situation in which I co-owned an office in Florida and I co-owned an office in Hartford," Segarra said.
He added that clients in both locations didn't even notice he was gone when he was in a different part of the country.
Bruce Rubenstein of the Hartford Internal Audit Commission cross-referenced the years in Florida with years Segarra claims to have lived in Hartford by checking local listings for both law practices and residences.
What Rubenstein found when it came to Segarra's residence and professional listings surprised him. Segarra had no listings during that time in the Hartford area.
"I’ve been practicing law in Hartford for 34 years. I’ve met thousands of lawyers," Rubenstein said. "I’ve never met a lawyer yet that failed to have a White Page or Yellow Page listing in their professional life."
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The Florida Bar has a record that Segarra had an office at 250 Main Street Hartford, but it's unclear whether Segarra provided legal services out of that office.
The mayor has made the issue of residency in Hartford a key talking point of his campaign. He maintains that Luke Bronin, his challenger in the Democratic primary in two weeks, doesn't have roots in Hartford.
Bronin moved to Hartford in 2006.
During an interview Wednesday, Bronin said Segarra has created the issue and now can't back up his claims.
"The only reason we’re talking about residency is that Pedro Segarra has made that the centerpiece of his campaign, and now we find that the number he’s used at every public appearance isn’t true," Bronin said, referring to the 41 years in Hartford that Segarra claims.
The mayor said he could provide documentation to prove he lived and worked in both Hartford and Miami during the period of time in question.
Segarra also allowed his Florida Bar affiliation to lapse due to a lack of Continuing Legal Education.
The mayor said Tuesday during a press event touting construction progress at the new Yard Goats stadium that was always his intention.
"I no longer have an intent to practice in Florida. They require that you do continuing education, and I believe several years back that Florida license lapsed," he said.
Rubenstein said the residence and professional issues are part of a greater problem for the mayor.
“He’s been extremely deceptive about his past," he said.
Multiple attempts to reach the Segarra campaign Wednesday were unsuccessful.
