I KNOW, I'M BEATING A DEAD HORSE

It seems that anyone outside of City Hall realizes Hartford has some real problems, but once you enter that building something seems to happen to reality.

I keep griping about the lack of leadership at City Hall, and each week it seems to become more and more obvious. I could go back and bring up example after example, but let me just mention a couple of the most recent examples.

Back in the early summer, Reverend Henry Brown stopped by my home and we spoke one night about his frustration with gang violence and the city's response, specifically Mayor Perez's response. Rev Brown told me that he had approached the Mayor in an attempt to set up a meeting to address what Brown saw as the rising gang violence in the City. Perez's response was that Hartford didn't have a gang problem and essentially brused Reverend Brown's efforts off. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly if you take into account Perez's issues with honesty and integrity, at about the same time that Perez said we didn't have a gang problem he was supporting a Federal grant application stating that Hartford was suffering from a "gang infestation". Although I'm sure that at the time the grant application and the Police Department's Intelligence report were being prepared, Perez, and others, never thought that report would see the light of day in any public way. Only through the diligence of a couple of reporters from the Courant did the report become public. Once the report got out, the spin machine went into overdrive. We heard the Police Chief trying to educate us on "formal" gangs versus "informal" gangs, like it makes any difference. Are we supposed to feel any better if a family member is shot or robbed by a "formal" gang member instead of a less trained "informal" gang member?
The Mayor's staff also went into overdrive doing the radio talkshows, speaking a lot but saying nothing. Do five homicides in seven days still keep us in contention as a safe city? And then, one of the most ridiculous comments by our esteemed Council President/Puppet Calixto Torres, "we need to protect the image of the City". No mention of protecting the residents of the city or visitors to Hartford, just the image of Hartford. Newsflash Calixto, take care of the crime issues and the image will fall in place. Most people are getting tired of the smoke and mirrors, and it has become quite obvious that it is a false facade. The bottom line is the question that needs to be asked, and hopefully answered; was the report a fraud or was the grant application itslef a fraud? The answer seems to clearly be one or the other. The Police Department Intelligence report was misleading and contained fraudulent information or the City submitted a fraudulent application to get the $500,000 grant money knowing they didn't have a gang problem. Which was it? Luckily though the truth finally came, it was the media trying to make Hartford look bad, it was all the media's fault.

Then we get the hiring in the Registrar of Voters Office of a person guilty of voter fraud and appropriately fined by the State of Connecticut. When the Democratic Registrar of Voters Olga Vazquez was asked for a comment by the media about Prenzina Holloway being hired, her response was "how much damage can she do on the inside?". ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????????? Not even an attempt to disguise this hiring as legitimate. Maybe "she will be an asset during the election period", maybe "we need the help", maybe even "she's still suffering from that financial hardship she used to have her fines reduced so we gave her a job". Nope, none of the above just the brilliant remark "how much damage can she do on the inside". If only that Grand Jury report would be released in its entirety, we could probably answer that question much better as to "how much damage can be done on the inside?".

And finally, in less than a weeks time we have another prime example of the stellar leadership exhibited by those at the helm of the USS Hartford as we steam fullspeed ahead toward that iceberg that threatens to sink us. After layoffs of some of the lowest paid city employees, after cutbacks and concessions by the unions, furlough days imposed on most workers and tax increases imposed on struggling small businesses, we continue to hear about ridiculous spending. As I posted earlier, Mayor Perez's Chief of Staff and ten to fifteen others are in Florida this week at a trasining seminar for the City of Hartford's software system. Would it not have made more sense to fly one instructor to Hartford than it would be to fly fifteen individuals to the instructor, paying their airfare, hotel, meals and who knows what else? It would be interesting to note how many of those individuals in Florida for "training" would readily agree to sit in three days of classes at City Hall for the same purpose. I'm sure several of them would find a reason not to attend the training if it didn't include airfare to Florida and a hotel stay in Orlando.

I spoke to someone that attended a dinner in Stamford last week as part of the "Save Chris Dodd's Job Tour" by President Obama. The person told me that they sat at a table and the topic of conversation turned to politics in Hartford. What about that corrupt Mayor of yours, what about the mess that Hartford is, what about those gangs, what about that crime, why has Hartford become such a joke? I felt bad for the person that was attending a fundraiser, only to hear such negative comments. And the person that relayed this to me is one of the good people that cares about the future of Hartford. If only our Councilmembers and Mayor would listen to these comments and realize they have made a joke, a very sad, sad joke, of a once very proud and prosperous City.

Why is it that everyone on the outside of City Hall gets it?

YOU GOTTA LOVE HELEN UBINAS FROM THE COURANT

Earlier this week I posted about the latest political crony and Perez puppet to be added to the City of Hartford payroll. Today Helen Ubinas from the Courant posted a comment on her blog at courant.com about the Democratic Registrar of Voters Olga Vazquez's comment about the hiring. In light of Prenzina Holloway's actions in 2005 resulting in charges of voter fraud and subsequent fines imposed by the State, Vazquez commented "how much damage can she do inside?"

Look at Helen's blog for the answer to that question, and be sure to click on the link at the last sentence for the real answer. click on "Are you?"

click here to go to Helen's blog

IF YOU WERE GOING BROKE, WOULD YOU TAKE A TRIP TO FLORIDA ?

PICTURE ABOVE OF THE GAYLORD PALMS HOTEL, THIS WEEKS HOME FOR PEREZ CHIEF OF STAFF SUSAN McMULLEN AT THE TAXPAYERS EXPENSE

Apparently those in the Mayor's Office at City Hall would answer yes to the above question.

As Hartford faces one of the toughest financial years in its history, Perez Chief of Staff Susan McMullen and at least 12 other city staffers have jetted to Florida for "off site training". From what several sources are telling me, McMullen along with Budget Director Rick Galarza, Tax Collector Marc Nelson, MHIS Director Eric Jackson, Deputy Finance Director Christian Johnson and others are spending several days in Florida, all expenses paid by the taxpayers of the City of Hartford. The "off site training" is apparently regarding the "Munis" software, Hartford's in house software program. The entourage flew to Orlando on Sunday and is staying at the Gaylord Palms Hotel , pictured above. The cost for the classes are listed as $624.00 per person. No total cost estimates for the trips are available at this time, but early estimates are that it would most likely cover the salary of at least one of the employees Perez laid off to balance the budget.

Hopefully Hartford's unions will consider more givebacks in the near future so that McMullen can take a winter vacation at the expense of Hartford taxpayers also . For anyone wishing to welcome the entourage back, they arrive at Bradley at 8PM tonight on Southwest Airlines

FROM THE "YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP" FILE

Well, one of the items on the Hartford City Council Agenda tonight is an appropriation of additional funds for the Registrar of Voter's Office. Apparently they can't manage the budget with the allocation provided to them at budget time in July. Surprisingly, one of the items that is helping to drive them over budget is the hiring of Democratic Town Committee operative Prenzina Holloway as a "consultant" for 40 hours a week. Yes, that Prenzina Holloway, mother of Councilwoman Rosezina "rJo" Winch, and the same Prenzina Holloway that was found guilty of voter fraud by the State of Connecticut Election's Enforcement Commission and fined $10,000. In July of 2005 Holloway was found to have been illegally in possession of absentee ballots and had signed the name of another person to an absentee ballot application, according to the Elections Enforcement Commissions website. Holloway was fined $10,000 by the EEC. That fine was subsequently reduced to $2,000 when Holloway claimed "financial hardship", at or about the same time she purchased an H2 Hummer. So much for the financial hardship.

And to prove the old adage that "politics makes strange bedfellows", the same person that filed the complaint resulting in the charges and fines against Holloway is now the same person that hired Holloway, Democratic Registrar of Voters Olga Vazquez-Aviles. ALthough I guess this is part of the "quid-pro-quo" we keep hearing about in Hartford politics. Holloway was the swing vote who eventually jumped up during the Democratic nominating convention and changed her vote to the Olga Vazquez-Avila camp, resulting in the eventual ouster of Shirley Surgeon as Democratic Registrar.

And we wonder why Hartford is stuck in corruption and political patronage.

FOI COMMISSION DECIDES UNANIMOUSLY AGAINST DR. ADAMOWSKI AND HARTFORD SCHOOLS, UPHOLDS FINES

More on this later, but the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission decided unanimously in my favor today regarding an FOI violation committed by the Hartford Schools and Dr. Adamowski. In an unusual act, the Commission also levied a fine against the person they deemed responsible for withholding the documents, Jill Cutler-Hodgman, a Hartford Schools staff person.

The documents requested included Dr. Adamowski's employment agreements, his personnel records, any documentation of payments for housing/living expenses and a record of all of Dr. Adamowski's City issued credit card expenses. The request was not complied with fully until the day before the FOI hearing in July, almost 5 months after the documents were requested, and even then they didn't provide everything requested.

More will be posted on this later.

HARTFORD HITS 30TH HOMICIDE FOR THE YEAR, BUT DON'T WORRY, THEY AREN'T RANDOM

Hartford experienced its 29th and 30th homicides of the year in a double shooting this morning on Whitmore Street. Although the victims names haven't been officially released yet, the response was immediately that the average person doesn't have to worry, these aren't random acts. I'm sure that is the message that Police Chief Daryl Roberts has been ordered to release, but is that supposed to make us feel any better, or for that matter any safer? Immediately this casts doubt upon the victims and our minds race to the conclusion that they must be involved with the drug trade. I wonder though about the lives of the victims, the Nelson Street victim was apparently getting off the bus at 6:30am after coming home from work. This mornings female victim was apparently an employee at McDonald's and had been a Hartford Police Explorer. And Monday nights victim was chased down like a dog and shot inside a building on Mahl Avenue.

I fully understand that the drug trade has inherent dangers associated with it, but I am not convinced that all of Hartford's homicides are actually drug related.I'm also not convinced that the shooters in these homicides are proven marksmen. During last nights executions, there most likely were at least 40 or 50 people sleeping in the neighborhood separated from the flying bullets by only a pane of glass. Are we supposed to feel better that no innocent victims were hit when a bullet flew through a window into a child's bedroom? Yet we are told "don't worry, these aren't random acts". If someone has no fear of shooting someone down in the street, are we supposed to feel safer knowing that they have selected their intended victim, done their due diligence and are accurately executing their intended victim. Or might they be mistaken and be shooting the wrong person leaving for work or getting off a bus after a days work. But, once again we are reassured "these are not random acts".

If the acts were targeting a different group, other than drug dealers, lets say homeless people,should we then feel better when we are told "don't worry, if you aren't a homeless person, you have nothing to worry about". I'm not condoning drug dealers, but I also fail to see any leadership addressing the issue of the homicide rate and gun violence. Rather, more time is spent trying to "spin" the issue to make it look better. I'm not sure how you can make any homicide or shooting look better, but it is only a matter of time before we hear the Mayor saying "you know, crime is actually down in Hartford", unless he learned his lesson from the last time he did it. Luckily for Perez, he doesn't have to say it when he has his Police Chief saying it. And we all know that Chief Roberts has some credibility in the community, something the Mayor lost after his first and second arrests.

No one deserves to be gunned down in the street, no matter what the circumstances. But then again, "don't worry, these acts aren't random", does that make you feel any safer? And Chief, I know you remember last year how people were ready to support
you and rally behind you and your Department when you stated Hartford had lost it's moral compass. Although that wasn't well received by the Mayor, it was definitely well received by the community. Maybe another dose of that candid honesty is exactly what we need now. When 30 people can be executed in our city so far this year, we have lost our moral compass. Not just those doing the killings, but the rest of us that can sit back and accept it as business as usual says something about us as a city. Where is the public outcry?

The town of Cheshire mobilized after a vicious home invasion, are we any different?

HERNAN LaFONTAINE LAUNCHES NEW CAREER AS FICTION/COMEDY WRITER

I read the Hartford Courant this morning and I feel compelled to compliment former Hartford City Council President Hernan LaFontaine for giving me the best laugh I have had in a while. His attempt at stating why Eddie Perez should remain in office was just hilarious. LaFontaine starts off by saying "Any objective assessment of his performance in office since he started will reveal an ongoing and quantifiable record of accomplishments benefiting the citizens of Hartford at all economic levels." Let's start by his most obvious financial accomplishments. Perez has singlehandedly driven Hartford to the brink of bankruptcy. He has increased city spending by almost $125,000,000 per year over what was being spent when he took office. This increase in spending while many, including the City Treasure, were telling Perez his revenue projections were unrealistic. This has resulted in Hartford's "rainy day" fund being tapped by Perez on a regular basis. The rainy day fund, which was roughly $54,000,000 when Perez claimed his throne, is now said to be at less than $16,000.000, and if the real books were opened up, probably far less than that number.

LaFontaine goes on to state that "the repeated delays in court proceedings are tantamount to extreme legal harassment that would likely not occur if he were an average citizen." Probably a very true statement, but again, the facts tell a different story. Most, if not all, of the delays have been caused by Perez and his attorneys. The truth is that although we keep hearing Perez and his attorneys state they want a "speedy trial" and "justice delayed is justice denied", in court documents uncovered this week, Perez and his attorneys actually asked the Connecticut Supreme Court to delay his trial until after his term as Mayor, until January of 2012 at the earliest.(these documents can be viewed in a previous post "Does Eddie Perez Really want a Speedy Trial").

In another surprising and somewhat comical statement, LaFontaine apparently equates Perez's troubles to a political witchhunt when he says "The cries for the mayor's resignation and the incessant rumors and allegations against him represent a level of political persecution that has not been seen in Hartford in 30 years." The last I knew, Superior Court Judges don't sign search warrants and arrest warrants based on "incessant rumors and allegations". If anything, I would say that any charges against Perez were given an extra level of scrutiny above and beyond what the average citizen might expect. The standard of probable cause was most likely raised even higher to "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" before any warrants were signed. LaFontaine further writes that "A rush to judgment in the public forum does not take into account the mayor's ability and continuing value to Hartford as demonstrated by the city's forward movement during his tenure in office." Although I am not one to give Perez much credit, there are those that do. But you have to ask, at what point are you willing to stop overlooking any positives, if there really are any, as opposed to the negatives and the damage they are doing to our City. If that was the case, Buddy Cianci would still be the Mayor of Providence Rhode Island. Most people knew he was corrupt, but he still turned Providence into a vibrant city with a beautiful downtown. Should his corrupt activities have been overlooked because positive things were happening? If we are to overlook corruption because the person may claim to be or is perceived as a good leader, John Rowland would still be Governor.

Another very comical claim, it has to be comical because Mr. LaFontaine is well aware of the timeline, is that Eddie Perez is responsible for "increased economic activity in the form of a convention center, and a new hotel and a world-class science center are some of the signs of substantial urban progress generated by the mayor's stable leadership and clear focus on success in municipal government." Need I remind Mr. LaFontaine that Eddie Perez had nothing to do with any of the planning or development of the Convention Center or the Science Museum, it began long before Perez under Mayor Mike and Governor John Rowland, who actually had some vision for the City of Hartford. And although Mr. LaFontaine mentions a "new hotel" he isn't specific. Is this the Hartford Marriott? Is this the same hotel Perez filed a lawsuit against and eventually walked away from the lawsuit after he realized it was a no-win situation? And is this hotel owned by the same people who do not wish to spend another dime in Hartford as long as Eddie Perez is Mayor and phase 2 of their project has not moved forward at all even though it is needed and viable?

LaFontaine goes on to mention Perez's "compassion and sensitivity", I have to say that almost made me choke I was laughing so hard, until I read the next line "He is without any doubt the people's mayor." It has to be comedy, nobody could write that and keep a straight face. Ask the hundreds of city and Board employees who have been laid off due to Perez's mismanagement if they find him compassionate or sensitive to their needs. Ask anyone who has lost their home or business due to Perez's excessive spending resulting in unbearable taxes if they fine Perez compassionate and sensitive.

Finally LaFontaine states "Those of us who have had the opportunity to witness Mayor Perez conducting his everyday work at the highest level of professionalism know that he will continue to withstand the pressure created by the irrational demands of his detractors." Is it irrational to demand that our elected officials not partake of corrupt and criminal activities? Is it irrational to demand that our public servants are truly that, servants that care more about the people they represent than they do about lining their own pockets?

Eddie Perez's legacy might have been much different than what it will potentially be if he had remembered where he came from and the struggles the City of Hartford faces rather than only taking care of himself and his cronies.

LaFontaines entire comedy piece can be read at Courant.com by clicking here

HARTFORD REGISTRAR OF VOTERS, POLITICAL ADS=GOOD, VOTER OUTREACH=BAD

Even though the City of Hartford is facing a huge budget deficit, when it came time to place a full page advertisement in a program booklet for a political organization, the Registrar of Voters Office quickly jumped at the opportunity. Even though the ad doesn't mention one word about voter registration or even the importance of being registered to vote, it does prominently name the Registrars and Deputy Registrars and looks more like a political advertisement. A copy of the ad is below in PDF format. As you can see, the City of Hartford seal and "Registrars of Voters" is prominently displayed in the advertisement.

But even though that ad was ok and use of the seal and "Registrar of Voters" was fine with the Democratic Registrar, a firestorm of e-mails was about to erupt. Working Families Party Registrar Urania Petit added her sponsorship to a voter outreach event, a Board of Education Candidates Forum sponsored by various groups, including Hartford 2000 and the Hartford Public Library scheduled for October 27, 2009. A copy of the flier for the forum is below in PDF format. The issue appears to have started after the flyer was printed and distributed by Hartford 2000 and forwarded out by e-mail. One of the people who received that original e-mail was Kathy Evans, Secretary of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee. Evans, who works for a non-profit partially funded by the City of Hartford, "Organized Parents Make a Difference" known as "OPMAD" then forwarded the e-mail out to unknown recipients from e-mail address at opmad.org. The e-mail was sent under the header of kathy.evans@opmad.org but was "signed" by Sean Arena, Democratic Town Chairman. According to the e-mail, Arena urged the recipients to "try and attend to support our candidates for B.O.E". I'm not sure how OPMAD is set up,but if they are a 501c-3 non-profit and they are using their resources to endorse or support political candidates, that is another issue that most likely will endanger their non-profit status if pursued. Apparently one of the recipients from the opmad.org e-mail on behalf of the Democratic Town Chairman was Democratic Registrar of Voters Olga Vazquez. Vazquez was apparently upset that Petit would have the audacity to sign on to a voter outreach program without clearing it through her first. It should be noted that although Petit is the first third party Registrar of Voters elected in the State of Connecticut, she did it legally in accordance with Connecticut State Law, and there is no difference in authority conveyed to her or the Republican or Democratic Registrar. They are all on equal level in the eyes of the law and no one Registrar is in control of the Registrar of Voters Office. Apparently was so upset by the use of the Registrar of Voters logo that she e-mailed Corporation Counsel John Rose requesting an immediate opinion as to whether Petit may have broken any laws. In Vazquez's e-mail she states " As the Democratic Registrar of Voters, I do not understand why the name of the Registrars of Voters continues to appear as Co-Sponsor for numerous events held by other organizations". I may be missing something here, but isn't that what they are supposed to be doing? We are not talking about a "for profit" event, we are talking about an event that is meant to educate voters and make responsible choices when exercising their right to vote, exactly what the Registrars Office should be doing every day. Vazquez further asks "Can law allow this and is this legal?". The greater question might be "Can law allow this and is this legal that a duly elected Registrar of Voters is actually doing her job and interacting with voters?" The entire e-mail is also below in PDF format. Surprisingly, Corporation Counsel John Rose was apparently having a day in which his thoughts were actually based in law, and forwarded the e-mail to two of his underlings for their opinions and asked "am I missing something here...is this a tempest in a teapot?".

The Corporation Counsel's Office came back with the following opinion that "Examination of the applicable election sections of the Connecticut
General Statutes reveals nothing in the flyer's contents which would
constitute a violation of Connecticut election law.The existence of the registrar's seal on the flyer does not promote a particular candidate or act in any way to influence voters to vote one way or another. The seal merely shows the support of the Hartford Registrars of an event which promotes educating the voters of Hartford
by encouraging voters to listen to the various candidates in a neutral
forum.". John Rose again was apparently on a roll with using the law and common sense that day and offered the following advice,"the better part of valor would be for the three Registrars to communicate before any one of you uses the office's seal
or the city seal to endorse a program.". It seems to make sense to me.

If people at City Hall only put as much time and effort into doing the right things rather than wasting unlimited resources on doing the wrong things and political back-biting, imagine what we as a City could accomplish. Urania Petit declined to comment on this issue.

DOCUMENTS BELOW

Registrar's NAACP Ad
Registrar BOE Forum

Registrar e Mail

DOES PEREZ WANT A SPEEDY TRIAL OR NOT ?

For anyone who has followed the arrests of Hartford's Mayor Eddie A. Perez, his attorney has insisted on a speedy trial, and in fact said they were ready to go to trial at 3:00PM the afternoon of Perez' first arraignment. Since then we have seen numerous delays, most of them caused by Perez's legal posturing. After Perez's most recent arrest he was quoted at his City Hall post arrest pep rally as saying "justice delayed is justice denied". Well apparently that statement came out of one side of his mouth while he was speaking out of the other side to the Supreme Court asking that his trial be delayed until at least January 2012.

In the same filing requesting Perez's charges be dismissed and States Attorney Kevin Kane be found in contempt of court, Perez was apparently trying to cover his bets. In the motion filed by Perez's attorney it states "should the court determine that dismissal and/or contempt is not warranted in the present case as requested in his September 2 motion, Mr. Perez alternatively requests that this Court order as a sanction against the State that either of the above mentioned trials not commence until the conclusion of his term as Mayor in January 2012".

So much for a speedy trial I guess. Both motions were eventually dismissed and the earliest trial date for Perez has been set for February of 2010, barring any more motions from Perez or his attorney. The first page of the motion. obtained today from the Connecticut Supreme Court, requesting the trial be moved to 2012 is below.

perez 9409motion

IT ONLY TOOK THE ENTIRE SUMMER, BUT FINALLY PULASKI CIRCLE HAS BEEN CLEANED UP

Well, it only took the entire summer, but now, just in time for fall, the planter at Pulaski Circle has been weeded and mums planted for the fall. Why it took so long to get action on this eyesore that serves as Hartford's "welcome mat" as you get off I-91 and enter downtown is beyond me. But regardless, it has been done and serves as a good image as people enter the city. It looks much better than the 5 foot high weeds that sent the message that we could care less about our image as a city. The freshly maintained planter is a far cry from the pictures in the slideshow at the right.