New mayor for Hartford

Hartford, Conn. (WTNH) - The city of Hartford has a new mayor, one week after Eddie Perez was convicted of bribery and attempted extortion. 

Perez submitted his resignation 5pm on Friday, ending his 9-year term as mayor. City  Council President Pedro Segarra was sworn as mayor shortly after. Segarra was technically already the Mayor when he took the oath of office; The city charter says that he automatically became mayor the moment Perez's resignation became effective at 5 o'lock, but he wanted residents to see this image of him on television and in the newspapers.

"It's been a long and tiring week. It's been a week in which we've had to deal with transitions for which there is no guidebook, there is no resource manual, there is no guidelines," Segarra said.

The letter of resignation was delivered to the city clerk by Perez's chief of staff, Susan McMullen, around 3pm. In it, he said again how truly sorry he is for the mistakes he has made and for harming the city that he loves.

Earlier in the day, boxes were removed from the Perez's offices and brought to his car. Perez himself did not come to City Hall today -- he has avoided cameras all week.

"I assume, at this point, based on conversations we've had, that the items being removed are personal effects," said City Council member, Ken Kennedy.

Perez has a court appearance scheduled for Monday when his attorneys are expected to formally announce they intend to appeal his convictions. He scheduled to be sentenced on September 10th and faces up to 60 years. Prosecutors have not said what sentence they will be asking for.