For the last month or so both here and on Cityline on Courant.com, the yellow hummer and the "hiring" of its driver have been a hot topic. Myself and others questioned the hiring of someone found guilty of voter fraud to work in the Registrar of Voters Office.
As more of the information regarding Prenzina Holloway became apparent, her yellow Hummer and its outstanding taxes of almost $4000.00 played a key role in the conversations. Then came the information that because of the outstanding taxes, the vehicle registration had expired and could not be renewed until all of the taxes were paid. Ms. Holloway was apparently driving the vehicle unregistered since the end of February when her registration expired.
Both here on this blog and at Council Meetings, myself and others suggested that Holloway was not a city employee, but rather a vendor working for the city at election time. That fact gave the Tax Collector, Marc Nelson the right to take any payments headed to Holloway and apply them to her back taxes. Apparently that happened a week ago Monday, when Holloway received what she thought was a paycheck, but instead received a letter from Nelson.
In his letter, Nelson advised Holloway that her check was being applied to her oldest taxes as payment. Apparently dropping the name of the Mayor and a Councilperson didn't influence Nelson, and the check was withheld. For those that follow this blog, I had issues with Nelson that were previously posted here. But as much as I point out critical points, I will also point out when someone is right.
Congratulations Mr. Nelson for doing your job, in what must have been an instance full of pressure to look the other way. Maybe "business as usual" for the old political guard is really coming to an end. The jury is still out on that one, but Nelson's actions show there is hope.
The icing on the "corruption-free" cake came today at about 1:30PM. Even though Holloway apparently knew her vehicle was unregistered, she continued to drive it. Keep in mind that a yellow Hummer is not an easy vehicle to blend in with traffic. I would think most people would immediately find a way to pay the taxes and register the vehicle, or park it in the driveway until it was legally able to take back on the road.
Not Prenzina. The vehicle was regularly driven with the expired registration with what appeared to be no concern for the repercussions of breaking the law.
Well, that came to an end today when Hartford Police officers conducting traffic safety enforcement noticed Ms. Holloway driving with no front license plate. She was stopped for that violation and upon further checking, the officer's realized the yellow Hummer was unregistered. Rather than tow the vehicle, Holloway was given the courtesy of driving the vehicle to her driveway. Hartford Police officers removed the unregistered plate, issued Holloway the appropriate tickets and advised her not to take the vehicle out of her driveway until it is properly registered.
Anyone want to place bets on whether the vehicle goes on the road unregistered?
Maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning of a new style of government where who you know just doesn't cut it any longer. Or, on the other hand, people might be getting tired of being embarrassed when the corrupt activities are exposed.
