PEREZ CORRUPTION ARREST, CHAPTER 2

Good things come to those who wait.

After weekend denials by the Mayor's Director of Misinformation (aka the "Mouthpiece")Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez today stepped to the podium at the office of his defense attorney and announced that he will once again be turning himself in to face additional corruption charges. The depth and details of the charges will most likely be public as of Wednesday when Perez turns himself in once again.Although the Grand Juror's Report has remained sealed up this point, many questions may be answered when the arrest warrant affidavits are made public. No one knows whether this will be the last arrest or just another in a series of arrests as the corruption probe continues. Be patient as we wait to see the eventual outcome. The video of the Perez announcement is below, and in the true spirit of "aggregation", feel free to share the video with your friends.

HARTFORD TAX COLLECTOR FACING EVICTION

Millions of dollars in tax liens have been sold to Hartford Tax Collector Marc Nelsons former employer XSPAND. Those liens could result in the eventual foreclosure and evictions of numerous Hartford homeowners who are behind on their taxes as XSPAND moves to recover their investment in the purchase of the liens at all costs.

As the homeowners face possible eviction, Nelson has the same opportunity to experience first hand the eviction process. In court filings dated August 18, 2009, Nelson's landlord for his home in Canton has begun the eviction process to throw Nelson out of the home for non-payment of rent.

JUDICIAL BRANCH DOCKET SHEET BELOW

Nelson Judicial Printout

ESI'S USED TO BEAT THE BUDGET

Last Wednesday when I received a call that Matt Hennessey was given a substantial bonus upon leaving as Mayor Perez's Chief of Staff, I have to say I was surprised. But then again, nothing this corrupt administration does surprises me anymore. The caller informed me it was done through a process known as "ESI", exceptional service increments. The caller also suggested I look at who has received ESI's and that the awarding of ESI's was an easy way to get around the budget process and staying within the parameters of someone's salary range. An ESI can be given for up to 10% of a persons salary. Although, like I said, Hennessey's bonus surprised me, it surprised me even more that someone such as Perez who is under the magnifying glasses of both Federal and state investigators, he seems to not care who is watching. Even more, where is the outrage from both residents and the city's union leaders. Do the unions not realize that the layoffs and givebacks thay gave are helping to finance Hennessey's ESI? Was a $60,000 plus Harvard vacation not enough of a bonus for the Mayor's faithful Chief of Dirty Tricks? A Harvard vacation that we now have only seen barely a years worth of the benefits from since Hennessey is leaving.

Although Hennessey's ESI surprised me, the other names on the list were even more surprising. THE LIST OF RECENT ESI RECIPIENTS IS ATTACHED BELOW .At the top of the list is the City Auditor, H. Patrick Campbell at $10,097.50. It soemwhat bothers me that the person entrusted with locating waste in City Goverment would take a "bonus" above and beyond his $100,000 plus a year salary. Maybe an audit of ESI use is needed to expose the waste for people that are already being paid to do a job. Next is James Keaney, from the Mayor's Office. Since Keaney was given an ESI of $18,172.98, this would indicate his base salary is currently $181,729.80, since the ESI maximum can be 10% of his salary. This is in addition to his luxury SUV Ford Explorer with the heated leather seats that is provided to him as his city vehicle to commute back and forth to his home in Cheshire. Another notable ESI is the $10,096.08 provided to Deputy Corporation Counsel Carl Nasto, most likely for his consistency in his "exceptional" legal opinions from him and his boss John Rose. It pays to always decide in the Mayor's favor I guess. The second largest ESI on the list was to Mark McGovern, who filled in as "acting" Director of Economic Develeopment. McGovern's ESI was $16,000, and although it may have been justified compensation for the extra work he did while "acting", it would seem to be above the 10% allowed , unless he is actually making $160,000 a year in salary.

And while the Police Union was attempting to work with Perez on givebacks,(which Perez rejected) at least two members of the Police Department were moving in the other direction. Deputy Chief Paul Hammick and Deputy Chief John Horvath each received ESI's of over $4200.00.

And a little quiz to see who's paying attention.As you look down the list of ESI's given out, see how many Democratic Town Committe members you can identify off the list.

PARTIAL "ESI" LISTING BELOW

ESI LIST 1

IS THE END NEAR FOR THE PEREZ REGIME ?

This morning my phone began ringing incessantly at 9:07am. The callers all asked me if I had heard the news yet. Apparently a local news station was running a story in their 9:00am newscast that Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez was apparently going to announce his resignation as of September 5, 2009. This resignation would come less than 4 days before jury selection was scheduled to start in Perez's trial for his January 2009 arrest on corruption charges. Although it has been thought for several months that more arrests were coming, both for Perez and others,none have been made as of this date. The Office of the Chief States Attorney has suggested that more arrests were possible since the day of Perez's original arrest.

The sealing of the recent Grand Jury report has led to more questions than answers.It raises the question as to why city officials potentially identified with corrupt activities have more rights to privacy than we have as citizens of Hartford to know if our government is being abused and corrupted. Why is the fact that information contained in the report is so "damning", that if it were released those mentioned in the report might have their reputations damaged. Isn't that the whole idea of the investigation, to expose corruption and corrupt officials? But on the other side of the coin, is it possible that the Chief States Attorney and the Public Integrity Unit wasted 18 months on a witch hunt of the Perez Administration producing very limited results? I doubt it, they must have had cause for two six month extensions, but if the Grand Jurors report stays secret to protect the reputations of alleged corrupt officials we may never know. It seems like a rather strange move on the part of the States Attorney to call his own reputation into question to protect the reputations of individuals potentially involved in corrupt actions.

As many of you know, Hartford's official motto is "after the clouds, the sun". Well, if what sources are telling me tonight proves true, we may see the sun starting to burn through those clouds that have overshadowed our City for several years of the Perez Administration. Sources are telling me, that a deal is close to being announced that in order for Perez to avoid trial, he has agreed to resign in exchange for a possible jail sentence of up to 18 months. There have been so many twists and turns since Perez's original arrest, that I will believe it when I see the press release, but these are very credible sources. The date mentioned to me for the resignation is September 5, 2009,next Saturday, which seems to negate the possibility of a special election for Mayor through "normal means" on this November's ballot. September 3rd was the date that seems to be the deadline date for a special election, although there may be other means available under Connecticut state law to force an election.

When I say the sun may start to burn through the clouds, that is because we have a long way to go to reclaim our City, and just the resignation of Perez will not solve Hartford's problems. First off is the "Mayor-in-waiting", Cal Torres. I don't expect much change during his limited time in the hot seat formerly occupied by Perez.
Torres has been the chief bobble head of the Council and allowed much of Perez's corrupt activities to go unchecked. Real change will only come when a new Mayor is elected and reopens the shades of secrecy that have shrouded City Hall. A new Mayor that is able to read a dictionary and understand the word "transparency", a Mayor that appreciates honest city employees rather than silence and terminate those that are true public servants. A Mayor that understands that "public documents" are truly that, documents that are open to the public, and no resident or even any council member should have to be forced to subpoena public documents. A Mayor that works with every person in this city, regardless of their viewpoints on the new Mayor's policies, and understands that at some times dissenting opinion may be more valuable in forming policy than the support of the "yes men" surrounding them.

And finally, to reclaim our City, another piece of the puzzle missing now, but needed to make the system work, is a City Council with guts and backbone to stand up to the new mayor. We need a slate of council people willing to run their own campaigns, financed by themselves, not like most of those on Council now, elected through Perez's support and financing to be loyal lapdogs, both Democrats and Republican alike. We need Councilpeople to do the job they were elected to do. We don't need more council people tripping over themselves to get to the latest taping of "Face the State" posturing to become the next Mayor. We need council people who can look us in the eyes and answer the questions "what did you know?", "when did you know it?" and "what did you do to correct it?". I think on this council, with the exception of relatively newcomer Dr. Deutsch, the majority of council members could be described as "unindicted co-conspirators". Through their lack of attention and lack of action as Perez ran out of control, they allowed much of the damage to go unchecked. And finally, whoever the new Mayor is, a full clean sweep of City Hall and every department needs to take place to remove anyone that doesn't understand that they work for the residents of the City of Hartford and that the only reason they have jobs are because of the residents and businesspeople of the City. They don't have $80,000 plus a year jobs because they were good at putting up lawn signs during Perez's campaigns. They don't have city jobs because they were good at threatening neighborhood groups and neighborhood leaders and "squashing them like bugs" when they failed to support Perez. They don't have city jobs because they were good at supporting corrupt activities and falsifying bidding documents. Anyone in city employ needs to be reminded that when they receive a paycheck from the City, they are receiving that check because we expect them to strive everyday to make Hartford, its local government, its people and our city overall the best possible city we can be and strive to once again be a leader in the region and the state. A city free of corruption, free of petty politics and free of the activities that have pushed us backwards under Eddie Perez.

It sounds like an impossible task, but I have no doubt that with the proper new generation of leadership we can definitely succeed. Do we need to ask those leaders to step forward or they already in our midst? I think they are already out there, and not at 550 Main Street.

I THINK IN SPANISH THE WORD IS "COJONES"

Does anyone know how we could find a set for our Council President Calixto Torres?

The larger question though is, how could anyone allow the body that they chair to continue to be made a mockery of by the Perez Administration. Time after time I leave the Council Chambers shaking my head wondering how Torres has any self respect left. He continues to dance at the end of the marionette strings that Perez is pulling making Torres do the Perez shuffle. Although I could write all night(and probably all day tomorrow) about incidents where Torres seems like the captain of the Titanic headed full speed ahead toward an iceberg because Eddie told him to, the most recent incident happened this week.

As Councilman Segarra and others have been warning about our impending budget disaster, the Perez administration continues to stonewall the release of information requested by the Council's budget committee. Apparently the Perez Administration has even gone so far as to forbid department heads from attending Budget Committee meetings and answering questions regarding city finances. Rather than Torres stand up as Council President and insist that the information be provided as required by Charter, he rolls over and defends these actions by Perez. I'm not sure if Torres understands his position and responsibilities, or does he see himself as a member of the Mayor's staff and beholding to the man that handpicked him to be his puppet. How could anyone with any self respect chair a meeting where the debate focused on whether a public body (the Hartford Court of Common Council) should have the power to issue subpoenas to compel the Mayor to provide budget information. Does anyone get that these are public documents and should be provided to anyone upon request, ESPECIALLY COUNCILPEOPLE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES. It would seem that at the very least any department head that refuses to work with the council is treading on insubordination charges at the very least. I'm sure John Rose will issue another one of his off the wall opinions, once again forcing many to wonder if he really does have a law degree, stating that Perez can do anything he wants and the Charter means nothing. And I'm sure that Rose, in his typical stance regarding transparency of government, will withhold any public document that he feels will embarass Perez and his botched administration, because he can't allow these documents to be used as weapons against a corrupt administration. And in the true spirit of fiscally responsible spending, Rose will commit to appealing any FOI Commission decisions aginst Perez, no matter what the cost, because it is not their money.

How many times will Torres allow his buddy Perez to publicly make a fool out of him before he says enough is enough and steps up to do what the people of this city elected him to do? There have already been more than enough moves by Perez to show his total lack of regard for the Hartford City Charter, unless of course the wording of the Charter benefits him. Remember when he lectured Clarence Corbin about ethics? Just the fact that the Mayor's Chief of Staff stood before Torres and others during the recent budget hearings and publicly stated that the Mayor's Office considered the Council's resolutions merely advisory and not really binding, speaks volumes. Those comments would have sent anyone with a backbone into orbit, as it did to Concilman Segarra, but not Calixto Torres. That was just Perez being Perez and Calixto has agreed to take it as part of their unholy union.

How bankrupt can a person be in their self esteem account before they decide to stop allowing themselves to be made a joke of ? When does one decide that their reputation and image are more important than continuing to dance at the end of the strings of the corrupt puppeteer? I'm not a betting person, but I think Calixto Torres might just be on the streets long after the corrupt puppeteer has gone packing. Hopefully when he passes his former constituents on the streets, the comments might be "that's Calixto Torres, he waited a long time, but in the end he did the right thing". I know, we can dream, can't we?

WELCOME TO HARTFORD, NEW ENGLAND'S RISING STAR

We are all most likely well aware of the poor condition of Hartford's parks and public spaces due to layoff's of Public Works staff. But you have to wonder what people getting off of I-91 at Pulaski Circle in Hartford think of their first impression of Hartford. In the center of the traffic circle is a planter that was originally donated to the city by the Greater Hartford Jaycee's. Unfortunately, maintenance of the island is the City of Hartford's responsibility, and they seem to have forgotten about it. It would seem that numerous city officials drive by this spot everyday and apparently ignore its condition.

These traffic islands as you enter the city at different points are the first
impression that many visitor's have of our city, and it must make you wonder what they think of Hartford if we can't even maintain our "welcome mats".

For several years I have been trying to get the city to start an "adopt-a-spot" program , similar to those most of our suburban neighbors have where a group or organization would volunteer to maintain areas that the city obviously can't or won't. The island I have pictured here I have weeded for the past 5 years prior to this summer. This year I decided not to since we are laying off city laborers while increasing the Mayor's staff with $100,000 plus a year jobs.

ANOTHER F.O.I. LOSS FOR THE "TRANSPARENT" PEREZ ADMINISTRATION

After receiving several calls from people questioning the frequent purchases of food and beverages by Superintendent of Schools Stephen Adamowski on his City of Hartford credit card, and the continuing word that the City of Hartford pays for Adamowski's aprtment at Hartford 21, I submitted an FOI request to the office of Adamowski at the Board of Education. The request was for "any employment contracts or employment agreements","housing and or agreements regarding any living expenses covered by the City of Hartford and/or the Hartford Board of Education" as well as "any documentation regarding use of any City credit cards and/or expense reports or requests for reimbursement submitted to the City of Hartford and/or the Hartford Board of Education." On March 20, 2009 I received a fax from the Board of Education containing a six page employment agreement and a one page summary of Adamowski's city credit card with one line of detail showing the total charged year to date. The employment agreement clearly referenced other documents and supplemental agreements, which were not provided as outlined in the request. Also, since I had previously received detailed documents outlining Adamowski's credit card use from other sources, I knew that the item they had provided was far from what was available as a public document.

Based on my belief that the Board of Education and the City were being far from open and transparent, I filed a complaint with the Freedom of Information Commission. The hearing was scheduled for Monday, July 27, 2009. On Friday, July 24, 2009, less than one business day before the hearing, the City of Hartford's Corporation Counsel's office apparently suddenly saw the light and provided me with what they claim was all of the requested Credit Card information I was looking for. Attorney Melinda Kaufmann from John Rose's office assumed that since they had provided the documents I would now withdraw my complaint. My response to her was "absolutely not", that a delay of several months in providing the documents was unacceptable, and I intended to proceed with the hearing and let the FOI Commission decide if the City's actions were proper and lawful. Apparently the FOI Commission agreed with me and on August 6, 2009 issued a proposed Final Decision, the details of which are below in the PDF Document, and in a rare move by the Commission, a fine is recommended against Jill Cutler Hodgman, the person that the Commission determined was the one responsible and in the care and control of the documents and is the official directly responsible for the denial of my FOI rights (line 49 in attached decision). The decision further goes on to describe the unusual civil penalty "would have a deterrent effect... should Ms. Cutler Hodgman and the other respondents believe that their actions to stonewall the provision of public records can be entirely cured by a last minute offer of documents days before an FOI Commission hearing and that no adverse consequences will flow from that action" (line 50 in FOI proposed Final Decision)

Unfortunately, rather than pay the fines, John Rose and his followers will probably run true to form and appeal this decision , costing the taxpayers another $100,000 as they have done with their court appeals of FOI Complaints brought by Jeff Cohen and the Hartford Courant. They just don't get it, maybe they might want to take an FOI training course offered free by Tom Hennick of the FOI Commission.

And the question still hasn't been answered as to who pay's for Adamowski's apartment in Hartford 21.

Foi Decision Bd of Ed

A MESSAGE TO "CITIZEN" , A COWARDLY CALLER AND POSTER

Tonight I received an "anonymous" phone call and then the comment from "citizen" on my recent posting regarding the Hartford Fire Department. The female caller made threats and accusations, the same as in the posting from "citizen". She accused me of writing only about minorities and trying to make minorities look bad. To the best of my knowledge the only minority I can definitely say I have written about was John Thomas, and the reason I know that is because I have seen his mugshot from his arrest after he ran a pedestrian down in the street. I can also confirm that yes, Dan Nolan is white, because I have met him in person. As for Henry Biffle, Gregory Simon or Dion Hightower, I wouldn't know them if I saw them, and the facts speak for themselves, no matter what race they are. When I asked the "anonymous" caller if she knew their races, she said yes, I asked her how and she said she "just knew". I then asked her which one of the firefighter's I wrote about she was related to, and she replied "I don't have to tell you that". It is easy to throw around the term "racist" when you have nothing else to stand on, but I think the facts and documents speak for themselves. As I told the spineless, I mean "anonymous" caller, if she had names to give me, I would look into anything that people give me. If the circumstances regarding Dan Nolan had painted a different picture, unfavorable to him, I would have posted that here also, Lowering standards for the hiring of firefighters is not a matter of racism, it is a matter of Public Safety. If the cowardly caller, I mean "anonymous" caller, is in fact related to a firefighter, I would think that you would want to know that the rest of the firefighters in a burning building behind your loved one are the best qualified and best trained persons for the job and not the one who made the best overture to a politician or city official to get a job.

After tonight, I will no longer take blocked calls, so if you are a coward, don't waste your time. I stand behind everything I say, grow a backbone and try doing the same. And anytime you want to pass along information, feel free.

IS HOMICIDE #21 ON THE BOOKS ?

Hartford Police were on the scene of a deceased person found in a car on Dover Street most of this afternoon. After personnel from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office arrived on the scene, they observed a single gunshot wound to the persons head. From what sources are saying, apparently no weapon was found in the car, which most likely rules out a suicide. The body was taken to Farmington for an autopsy.