Hartford City Councilman and Assistant Majority Leader Amilcar Hernandez announced that he would resign from his elected position on December 31, a year before his term ends, to focus more on his family, but the resignation also coincided with the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) voting on October 7 to investigate allegations that Hernandez was living outside of the city, potentially violating Hartford’s residency requirements.
The complaint submitted to SEEC by Hartford resident and activist Alyssa Peterson alleges Hernandez has not lived in the city of Hartford “since the summer of 2025,” and instead was living with his fiancé – now wife – at addresses in West Hartford and Bloomfield. Peterson goes on to claim there are multiple witnesses “who could verify” that Hernandez lived outside the city, along with social media posts.
“Respondent was first verbally confronted about his non-residency and wrongful conduct in November and December 2025 by respected Hispanic members of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee,” Peterson wrote, claiming that Hernandez’s continued membership on the Council amounted to “unjust enrichment.”
According to the Hartford City Charter, city council members must reside in the city as an elector or else they are “deemed to have resigned.”
Peterson had filed a “Bill of Discovery” in Connecticut superior court in May alleging a majority of council members “are compromised or corrupted in their ability to perform their duties,” because the council did not investigate several scandals and ethical lapses among council members, including a sexual harassment lawsuit against Council President TJ Clarke, the arrest and conviction of Alexander Thomas for money laundering and larceny, and Hernandez’s residency, among others.
“In over 6 years, a Council majority has willfully neglected or failed to act on their sworn ministerial duty to report or investigate anyone for prohibited conduct identified by the Charter, including Council members, their staff, or the former Council Clerk.”
According to Peterson’s SEEC complaint, attorney for the city Andrew Crumbie suggested at an “informal meeting” that her allegations were better handled by SEEC, so she withdrew her court claim and pursued the matter through an election complaint.
City property records show Hernandez owns a home in Hartford that was purchased in 2019. The definition of “domiciled” is essentially the place where an individual “has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home,” and where they normally eat, sleep, and maintain personal effects.
Reached for comment, Hernandez denied that SEEC opening an investigation had anything to do with his decision to resign from city council, stating that he was informed of SEEC’s decision after his resignation letter had been sent and that he had contemplated and planned his resignation months before his announcement.
“They notified me of the decision after I had already submitted the letter,” Hernandez said in a phone call. “The resignation had been an ongoing process for the last two months since I knew I was getting married and I was going to have a baby.”
Hernandez said he and his wife had to plan for whatever transition they chose to make and that such decisions take time, but when they ultimately decided to move out of the city, he submitted his resignation. “The decision had been made months before,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez also denies that he ever lived outside of the city, stating that he would spend some nights at his fiancé’s home, but continued to maintain his residence in Hartford.
“I had my house in Hartford, I still lived in Hartford, and then if I spend a few nights at my fiancé’s house that would be it. Depending on my schedule, I would spend maybe a day or two over there and then come back and spend my time in Hartford,” Hernandez said.
As part of her argument and evidence that such rules in the city charter have been enforced in the past, Peterson referenced former city councilwoman Cynthia Jenning’s forced ouster after she changed party affiliations in 2018 from the Working Families Party to the Democrat Party to help campaign for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim.
The same provision of the city charter that deems a council member to have resigned when they cease to be an elector of the city, also deems automatic resignation of a council member who changes party affiliation outside of three months leading up to an election. Jennings had switched parties in January 2018 but remained on the council until the change was discovered in June. She was forced to resign and pay back part of the $15,000 paid to councilmembers, according to the Hartford Courant.
“In addition to a declaratory finding by SEEC, Complainant seeks criminal referral to Hartford State’s Attorney or CT Chief State’s Attorney’s (Public Corruption Unit) due to Respondent’s falsification of Council payroll records as he was ‘automatically resigned’ from Council once he was no longer domiciled in Hartford,” Peterson wrote in her SEEC complaint.
“Obviously SEEC is going to do what they need to do to make sure they got all their ducks in a row, and I spoke to them and we’re still waiting to see what they decide to do now,” Hernandez said. “It’s nothing that I’m worried about because the facts are the facts and that’s what it is.”
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