CORRUPTION, CORRUPTION AND MORE CORRUPTION... WHERE IS THE OUTCRY?

Over this past weekend I had posted and raised the issue that if some of the things that happen in Hartford were to occur in almost any other town, the outcome would be much different.

That posting was in regards to Hartford Democratic Town Chairperson Sean Arena and his 4th District Town Committee delegate brother Ralph Arena and their efforts to avoid Hartford's burdensome mill rate on motor vehicles. The Arena's have been registering their vehicles in New Canaan to avoid Hartford's 73 mill tax rate. New Canaan is 13 mill's, sixty mills less than Hartford.

In that post I had mentioned such behavior would be unacceptable in any other town, except maybe Waterbury and Bridgeport. But I doubt even those two towns would turn a blind eye to such behavior.

And now to my point, where is Council President Segarra? Where is Councilperson Kennedy? Where is Councilman Ritter? And just for the sake of argument, where is Councilman Boucher? So as to still appear serious in my thoughts, I'm not even going to mention Councilpersons Torres or Winch, we know where they stand in the land of "see no evil" "hear no evil" "speak no evil".

How is change supposed to begin if no one takes a stand on the corruption seething in Hartford.

And it's not just the Arena's. The only real voice speaking out against corruption at city hall has been Councilperson Deutsch. Dr Deutsch had publicly called for the resignation of Perez after his arrests.

With the revelations yesterday regarding threats being made against individuals running for the Democratic Town Committee in the 4th District, the cloud over Hartford continues to grow. Yet, not a peep publicly from any of our Councilpeople. And now today I've received calls that it is not only the 4th District where the threats are being made. Hopefully some of those people will be fed up enough to speak out and submit affadavitts to elections enforcement along with those already in.

The most disturbing part of this though is that in private conversations, many of our elected officials admit that they are fed up. There are good people on the Council who do know the difference between right and wrong. There are also others that don't, as evidenced by recent City Hall arrests.

I won't name names here, but two years ago when Bill DiBella was being re-appointed to the MDC I spoke with at least four councilmembers who admitted that they knew he didn't live in Hartford and didn't deserve to be on the MDC. One councilperson even went so far as saying they were afraid of losing their "clout" on the MDC if DiBella wasn't the MDC Chairman.

Clout? what clout?. I think "clout" for Hartford might be measured by the number of jobs delivered to Hartford residents by the MDC's "Clean Waters Project". If jobs are the yardstick, then Bill DiBella should be sent to pasture because he has obviously been neutered and can't produce anything by the looks of it.

Let me go back to the Democratic Town Chairman. Has anyone heard any of the Democratic Councilpeople calling for his resignation. The fact that the Arena's vehicle taxes have been put on Hartford's Grandlist retroactive for three years, the maximum allowed by state law, shows that the claims were factual, not just mere allegations.

Any Councilperson who struggles almost daily with how to make Hartford's budget work should be upset by anyone trying to beat Hartford's taxes. Add into the mix that this person beating Hartford's taxes is the so-called "leader" of the Democratic Party in Hartford and they should be furious. Yet, have you heard anyone of them call for Arena's resignation? Nope, not a peep.

One councilperson I spoke with last week said that if they spoke up then the Democratic Town Committee might not re-nominate them for their council position. I guess I have to ask at what price are you willing to sell your integrity? Is a nomination really worth your silence? And do those forty or fifty delegates from the Democratic Town Committee really seal your fate. Give the voters some credit here, they might just rise up to support the underdog who does the right thing. No one saw it coming in Massachusetts, but I think the message is that people are getting tired of machine politics.

And the outrage shouldn't just be from the Democratic Town Committee. Ralph Arena serves on the board of directors for the Maple Avenue NRZ and the last I knew Sean Arena chaired the South Green NRZ. I'm not certain if he still does because I never hear anything about them. Both groups should be calling for their resignations.

Excuse my english, but how do you say you are advocating for the neighborhoods while you are screwing them at the same time while beating the city out of tax revenue. I looked at many of the people at the Maple Avenue NRZ (MARG) meeting last week and wondered how many of the people in the room, myself included, struggle to meet tax obligations to Hartford. But, at least we are trying, we aren't defrauding the city out of much needed revenue.

I guess if we are going to change the way Hartford politics work, we need to know that there are good people in Hartford willing to take a stand against corruption. Leadership begins at the top, and we can pretty much say that there is no shot of that leadership coming out of the Mayor's Office. The Council can emerge as the ones willing to take a stand against corruption in Hartford.

To quote Council President Segarra and his eloquent speech last week before the Council " ... the fact that so many have come to expect so little from elected officials does not relieve us of our obligation to work hard to improve the circumstances of our people. The apathy of many should not be a reason for inaction but rather a motivating force to send a message that we will take our responsibilities seriously."

President Segarra and members of the Hartford City Council, please send a message that you are taking your responsibilites seriously and that corruption in any form will not be acceptable.

The time to say enough is enough is now. It is time to call for resignations.