As funding for Hartford's non-profits continues to tighten, tough decisions need to be made as to who gets the money and who gets cut out. Hartford's City Council will have to be making such tough decisions soon.
Many organizations who have applied for funding will find themselves getting nothing.
Among such groups are the Connecticut Science Center, Inc, the Hartford Public Library, the Hartford Stage,the San Juan Center as well as others.
I made my first visit to the Connecticut Science Center this past Friday, and even at 10:00 AM, there were hundreds of school age children visiting the Center. Why the city would not do everything possible to work with and fund the Center is beyond me. I would venture to say that except for sporting events at the XL Center, the Connecticut Science Center is probably the number one draw bringing people into Hartford at this time.
I'm not sure how decisions are made as to who gets funded and who gets cut, but according to City Hall sources, much of the decision making is political and essentially no reporting is done to see if we are actually getting our money's worth out of the grants.
I'm still researching all of the grant applicants, over 70 in all, but a few interesting facts are popping up. Federally required reports, Form 990's, must be filed annually by all non-profits. These are essentially the "income tax" forms for 501c-3 and other non-profits.
One of the interesting form "990's" is from a group that had been in the news quite a bit over the past couple years.
The Ebony Horsewomen were put in the spotlight when they were trying to push through a plan to develop almost 300 acres of Keney Park for an Equestrian Center on public land. Many issues were raised about the project but one of the most interesting was the groups use of the City's horse stables off Vine Street in Keney Park.
The project happened to coincide with the re-instatement of the Hartford Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit. The Ebony Horsewomen were using the stables vacated when the Hartford Police disbanded the mounted unit several years ago. Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts apparently had a conversation with the Ebony Horsewomen's President Patricia Kelly regarding the need for the Horsewomen to vacate the stables.
Kelly refused and created a somewhat tenuous situation. Apparently Chief Roberts asked Kelly to provide him with information regarding her programs, the demographics the Ebony Horsewomen served and other information so that he could lead the charge to leave her programs intact and find an alternative for the mounted patrol.
According to Chief Roberts, despite repeated requests he received nothing. On a 1Hartford program where Kelly was our guest, I asked her about the Chief's claims and she disputed Chief Roberts version and claimed she had provided all of the information he requested and then some. She so strongly disputed the Chief's claims, she said that she would e-mail me everything she had sent to the Chief to prove her story.
To this day I have received nothing from her.
This points to a major problem with these grants.I would be naive to think that political pressure doesn't enter into the awarding of government money, locally, state level or national level. But on the other hand, even if the money is awarded as a "political" favor, shouldn't there be some accountability and an obligation to see that we are getting our money's worth in return?
Ok, so back to the form 990's. They are a great resource and only paint a small portion of the picture, but in many cases they raise more questions than they answer. This is exactly the case with the Ebony Horsewomen. I can't say whether their programs are worthwhile or a scam for someone to profit from a non-profit.
Take a look at their 990's and decide if you would be comfortable giving $10,000.00 of your own money to them without having a few questions answered.
In the 2008 Form 990 filed by the Ebony Horsewomen and signed by Patricia Kelly as President of the Board of Directors and CEO, she lists her compensation as $0, no compensation.
Then scroll down a little further to page 4 and look at the section for "Independent contractors paid over $100,000". In that section you will find a payment to "Diversified Equus Corp." for $108,584.00. A quick trip over to http://ct.gov/sots and search Concord to find out more about Diversified Equus Corp.
According to the Secretary of States Office, Diversified Equus is the company of Patricia and James Kelly and a 3rd party from Maryland. For a Board member of a non-profit to benefit from their "service" on that Board is both improper and highly unethical, and some would say criminal. Is that the case here? I wish I could say, but since Patricia Kelly has never provided the information to me that she had promised, I can only say it looks bad and questions should be asked before checks are cut.
In addition, Kelly was boarding horses in the stables for profit, according to sources, one of them who had actually boarded a horse there, the money was paid to Kelly on a monthly basis. Since no documents or information is available, it is unknown if that money benefited Kelly personally or was actually put back into programs.
990 Ebony Horsewomen
Below is the information from the Secretary of State's website:
| DIVERSIFIED EQUUS CORP. | 0699463 | 1132R BLUE HILLS AVE., BLOOMFIELD, CT |
| Mailing Address: | Citizenship/State Inc: | Last Report Year: |
| NONE | Domestic/CT | |
| Business Type: | Business Status: | Date Inc./Register: |
| Stock | Active | Dec 18, 2001 |
| Name/Title: | Business Address: | Residence Address: |
| JAMES KELLY DIRECTOR | NONE | 1132R BLUE HILLS AVE., BLMFLD, CT |
| PATRICIA KELLY DIRECTOR | 337 VINE ST., HARTFORD, CT | 1132R BLUE HILLS AVE., BLMFLD, CT |
| HEATHER R. LAWSON DIRECTOR | NONE | 1401 BLAIR MILL RD., SILVER SPRING, MD |
| IMPORTANT: There are more principals for this business that are not shown here. | ||
| Agent Name: | Agent Business Address: | Agent Residence Address: |
| TONYA A. LAWSON-DURHAM | 1256 COTTAGE GROVE RD., BLMFLD, CT, 06002 | 25 WINCHESTER ST., HARTFORD, CT |
Next up on on the 990 list is a non-profit that applied for funding under the classification of "HOPWA", housing of persons with AIDS. A worthwhile classification addressing a much needed service in our City. But as with the Ebony Horsewomen, one of the non-profits receiving a proposed grant of over $70,000.00 raises some serious questions as to why it is being funded by the City of Hartford.
In pulling up the form 990 for the organization, Saint Philip House, I was immediately confused. I had heard of Saint Philip House, but other than that I knew very little about them.
The first question was raised by their address. Saint Philip house is located in Plainville. I'm not saying this is not an honorable operation, but why are we funding an operation in Plainville. I'm wondering how much CDBG money Hartford organizations receive from the Town of Plainville. The answer is most likely $0.00, nothing, zero.
But then, like I said before, the 990's are a great tool to answer some questions. And also like I said before, one of my City Hall sources said much of the process is influenced by politics rather than merit. So...... go to page 5 of the 990 and the answers become clearer.
The President of the Board of Director's for Saint Philip House is Jan Appeloff. For those that may not be all that familiar with the figures in Hartford politics, Appeloff is a member of the 6th District Democratic Town Committee and a huge supporter for Mayor Perez. Appeloff was also the driving force in the 6th District behind the failed attempts to re-elect former Democratic Town Chair Sean Arena. Appeloff's home has also been the headquarters for meetings held to chastise 6th District State Representative Hector Robles for his role in the downfall of Chairperson Arena.
With that being said, go down the list of Board members for Saint Philip House and right under Appeloff's listing as President you will find Ralph Arena listed as the Boards Treasurer. Yes Ralph Arena is the brother of former DTC Chairperson Sean Arena and another faithful Perez supporter.
Coincidence? It has to be, this is Hartford and nothing underhanded would happen here. I mean there has to be a logical explanation, why would we not grant the requests for funding for Hartford based organizations serving the needs for "HOPWA". There has to be a reason why we would underfund Hartford based organizations providing services on the streets of Hartford , while providing almost the full funding request to an orgainzation from Plainville.
Is it a political decision? Nah, can't be, tell me it isn't so. This is Hartford don't forget.
990 Saint Philip House
And finally for today, read the staff analysis for this program and tell me how you would vote.
"2008 financial statement presented, cannot ascertain current operational/financial capacity to execute proposed program. Budget and narrative contradictory. No historical data on success, business openings, business retention and growth due to program participation. No date presented to justify demand for proposed level of service; recommend partial funding".
End result, even after that review, is that the recommendation is to give the Spanish American Merchants Association $35,000.00 even though the application submitted is "contradictory.
Politics, no, please say it isn't so. End result, Spanish American Merchants Association- funded, Ebony Horsewomen-funded, Saint Philip House in Plainville-funded, Connecticut Science Center-rejected. It all seems to make sense.
More to come on this, but I hope the City Council does a little more due diligence before making their decisions.
Since the site I use to get the 990's is a subscription site and not available to the public, if you have a 990 you would like to see, let me know and I'll post it here. Just provide me with the legal name of the organization and I'll see what I can do.
35 comments:
Kevin,Good job flushing out these blood sucking vampires,sucking our tax money into their pockets and/or the pockets of their personal non-profits.
The financial situation of Hartford is so dire that funding non-profits while our taxes continue to increase and while city services are cut is almost criminal.I for one want the Council to terminate all funding of non-profits and plow that money back into essential services like police,fire and garbage collection.The revenue base of Hartford should not be a political piggy bank for avaricious politicians and greedy well connected citizens.
By the way were are those REFORMERS that took over the Hartford DTC on this? Why arent they speaking up about this sort of thing...perhaps they are awaiting their turn at the patronage trough.
Kevin please post the City funded non profits of Kathy Evans and her daughter who I think is a high staffer in the childrens theatre,Andrew Woods,Cornell Lewis and where Jim Boucher works.
HOPWA $, unlike the other grants must be allocated throughot the htfd emsa which includes several surrounding towns, not strickly the city proper.
W'sup Kevin,
I just wanted to throw out some stuff that might be helpful to you and others.
1) Anyone who wants to look more into non-profit financials can goto www.guidestar.org. You have to register but it costs nothing and they have everyone's 990 forms.
2) whose tax dollars? I believe the specific grant program you're posting about is the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. These dollars come straight from the feds so, while they do represent OUR tax money in that we all pay federal taxes, they are not local tax monies. That being said at least two of the organizations you mentioned do get city considerations that are derived from City taxpayer dollars:
a) Ebony Horsewoman received (I think) $10k from the City's Civic Engagement Account which I believe went towards installing a new fencing systems on the grounds at Keney Park.
b) I'd have to do some research to see if SAMA has received similar funds. But I do know that SAMA has received 50% waivers in the past for events that they have sponsored in and around Park Street (Three Kings Day parade is one example)
3) "Staff Analysis" - I think Panagore said it best when he said that any and all recommendations from the staff are only to be used as a guide. That's one of the reasons that, initially, the staff scores were not listed in documents we received...even though they had been in the last 2 years. Just two that I will point out where I might differ with the "staff analysis"
a) AETNA Foundation Center for Children had a total score based on their program of 94 or 97 (out of 100)...they received a recommendation of 0 (zero)
b) San Juan Center - we all know that SJC has been doing yeoman's work over on Main Street w/ their boxing program to a population of kids that no one else reaches. The staff analysis included a comment of sustainability...I'm sorry but they've been around for over 20 years...that, to me, is a program that is sustainable. Yet, they received a recommendation of 0 (zero)
3) Board members and the 6 degrees of seperation - I don't know Ralph Arena but, c'mon, Hartford is a small town and everyone up in that place (City Hall) knows everyone...you know that and I know that. If we looked at the Dem Town Cmmttee alone (66 members) we could probably cover all the non-profits in the city if we played the degrees of separation game. So it's a faaaar stretch to say that a group received money because a brother of a friend is the treasurer on a board of the group.
Just my own quick thoughts on the CDBG process as I've experienced it in these past 3 cycles. This is the single most political process that I've seen. The political-ness is balanced out by some very stringent federal rules, but (at least the public service dollars) can be worrisome.
People apply for upto 4-5 caqtegories. The one that is less stringent is the public service area where you will see most of these non-profits saying that they do kick ass stuff in the community. Mind you, it's a killer application so one does have to do SOME work, and, in my estimation, the application and reporting mechanisms are not worth the money if all your getting is $10k.
So, the people in grants management get the apps and have to kill themselves for 2-3 weeks to make sure stuff is correct and legit (because the City also gets in trouble if we're giving this money to organizations who don't fit the guidelines) and then the staff makes their recommendations.
Now, again, their recommendations are just that, recommendations.
The Mayor then gets it, massages it and sends it to council as HIS/HER recommendations.
** The "massaging" part is one area where this gets political **
The Council then has an opportunity to "massage" it some more before it gets passed.
Keep in mind, this is how it's always been. So, Mayors and Councils of the past have all had a chance to "massage" the original rec's from City staff and, unfortunately, a few of these "massages" might have had rationales that were not cool with what we would like to see from our elected officials.
On an encouraging note: I've had some conversations with staff, administration and council members to look into how other municipalities deal with their CDBG process in order to adopt a process that is as transparent as it can be.
peace!
Kevin: Cotto has some nerve. Eddie got Cotto's wife a job @ CRT via his relationship with Lena. What Cotto refers to as "six degrees of separation" is really confict of interest in the real world. The city charter, the state and the fed all have language prohibiting conflict of interest. Where is Cotto employed anyway? At one point I had heard that he worked for Billings Forge and that that organization received funds from the city. Cotto is not the only council person to engage in "six degrees of separation". For many years Cal Torres worked as the Executive Director of the CT Puerto Rican Forum, which received all kinds of city funding and/or state funds funneled through the city which paid for part of his salary; the most notable source of funding was the "Building Bridges" funds from the CT Judicial Branch to be used for ex-offender community re-entry programs. (LOL, how ironic. It's kinda like Eddie setting aside $500,000 in his proposed incoming fiscal year budget to have ex-offenders work in the parks.) Another interesting item to examine is the list of ALL sources of city funding, not just CDBG. I think you will see that many non-profits actually receive from multiple city sources (CDBG, Health & Human Services, Youth Services, etc.) P.S. I love Cotto's creative lexicon: "Massage" = "Political Patronage".
Hello Anonymous, I have more than some nerve so, thank you. :-) And apparently I have a little more nerve than you as I am willing to post with my name as opposed to you O' brave one. Are you more afraid that I, with all my political power and clout will come get you or that you are just wrong and know it and are only vested in spreading stupid rumors that only desperate people believe.
I think, if you actually read my post, you would see that my comments to Kevin were along the lines of agreement and further explanation to the processes at City Hall. Yes..."six degrees" does = "conflict of interest"...hence there are conflict of interest clauses in many things that are done at City Hall. You might notice, that we at City Council do recuse ourselves from votes with possible conflicts.
Your mention of my employment is the most glaring of your statement, and the most damning to your baseless accusations. You "HEARD" blah, blah, blah...of course you gonna "hear" something...this city is filled with people who stand to benefit from spreading rumors.
But, in the interest of appeasing such ignorance, I'll indulge you.
I had a consultant contract with Billings Forge from Jan. - Jul of 2009. They did apply for Phase 1 of the Arts Stimulus of which I sat on a 10 person selection committee. I recused myself from two discussion/votes during that process: An application from ACORN (because of Working Families relationship with ACORN) and Billings Forge (because of my work relationship with them)
Now see, I've gone and given you as much information as you might want regarding what you "heard", but something tells me that you will just choose to believe what you wanna believe...so, whatever.
Luis negliected or forget to tell us that his ex employer charter oad culteral center received alot of money as well.
Luis...enough already....Hartford doesnt need to feed the non profits of the political class and those well connected....I propose that Hartford is in such dire straits that the CDBD money should either be spent on essential services like police,fire and/or garbage or SEND THE FKN MONEY BACK TO THE FEDS AS THEY ARE IN DIRE STRAITS AS WELL and can ill afford to fund the pet non profit projects of the politicians and politically connected.
Your dismissive atitude about the
'blame game" is merely cover for the funds going to Billings and Charter Oak in which Luis, YOU are the intersection.Nor do I care if you recused yourself from voting, we all know how that game works.
Bruce, it's unfortunate that you play the "one side has to be wrong in order for the other side to be right" thing. I think you would know more about the "game" since you played it yourself when you were allowed to play.
You sound like a good ole Republican with your rants on what CDBG (it's a G Bruce) monies should be spent on. It's unfortunate that you can not admit that there are a good host of social service agencies who do wonderful work and that the Feds are smart to filter monies down to them. I do agree with Kevin and Anonymous and maybe even you that the process in which that money is doled out can be worked with to limit the amount of "massaging" that can happen.
Yes, Charter Oak received monies, but let's see, so did Hartford Stage and I worked with them maybe 17 years ago...is that also political patronage? Real Art Ways and the Bushnell did not receive funds (both are groups that I've worked for.) So, stop it with your Johnny come lately, if it happened in my time it has to be happening now attitude.
so, Bruce (and I have to admit to not believing it's the real BR, because the comment is so ignorant) enough already with you.
Kevin, I enjoy our conversations and compliment you on your attempts to elevate the dialogue on your site, hopefully your "fans" can follow your lead.
Councilman Cotto:
I am shocked that you would be so insensitive as to compare Bruce R. to a "good 'ole Republican." From my little acquaintance with him here on the net I believe that at least he is concerned about over-spending by you and the other solons downtown. Can you please enumerate any and all segments of the municipal budget that you believe may be amenable to cuts?
Peter, if you want me to specify individually what segments of the budget might be willing to comply with cuts, I can tell you that while no one would be willing to comply, if Council were to cut, they kinda would have to comply.
Now if you're asking me where have I identified areas in which cuts can/should be made, I'll ask you to wait til we all submit our individual resolutions pertaining to that.
For an idea of where I might cut, I invite you to look at my individual resolutions from last year. One of them was to cut our Civic and Cultural Account, which is the account that is allocated to a lot of non-profits. I'll let you guess what the vote on that one was...you know, I won't even have you guess...it was 2 YEAs and 7 NAYs
Oh, by the way, I also introduced a resolution limiting funding to any non-profit to a maximum of two years in a row at which time they would have to take a year break before applying again. Do you think that one had any additional votes? Nope.
"...if Council were to cut, they kinda would have to comply."
Amen. Too bad Council can't cut. Your proposed cuts are not exactly draconian. Lying Eddie is talking about a $590,000,000 budget next year, and a 760,000,000 budget for fy 2015-16. The latter involves a projected deficit of more than $200,000,000. We out here paying taxes on our commercial, residential, and personal property kinda have to comply with whatever you guys decide, except that we are able to pick up and leave. The day of reckoning is not far away, but unfortunately it's not going to be pleasant for anybody.
To Luis and Peter,
First to you Luis, whether myself or others agree with your ideas or what you are saying, at least you seem to be a Councilperson willing to listen and convey your thoughts. I have had several very good conversations lately with Council President Segarra also and understand him better and have gained a new respect for him, I don't envy his position, no matter what happens. Whether as Council President or as Mayor when Perez goes, he is in a potential no-win situation.
To Peter: although we have never met, I like your comments and attention to the facts. Anyone with a single ounce of intelligence ought to be scared as hell that we have a Mayor that continues to project the numbers he does. $760,000 million by 2015? There is no way that Hartford's Grandlist would support spending like that and we know it won't be coming from the State any time soon, yet there is no talk by anyone, other than a handful of us about reducing spending or living within our means.
If we can't attract and retain homeowners and businesses now at 76 mills, what will the mill rate be in 2015, 158 mills? Probably more if people walk away from their properties and they become more vacant lots and "non-producing assets", drawing the grandlist down rather than any growth.
Also Peter, the time and thought you put into your comments is refreshing. I believe you are a Republican, and if there were a few more like you, it might actually be worthwhile to switch back to the GOP. Unfortunately the Republican Party in Hartford seems to have lost their voice. Not a word about the budget, spending tax hikes or acknowledging that Hartford is a failing City under Democratic rule, dying a slow painful death. It really is amazing that we have any businesses left in Hartford, other than moving companies that will be making a fortune as the last people that have been able to survive in this City under Perez will soon be fleeing also.
The silence of the Republican Party in Hartford has been a large contributor to its downfall. When was the last time you have seen the Republican Town Committee stand for anything or make a public comment on any issue? Although in fairness, the same can be asked of the Democratic Town Committee. The last time I remember either saying anything was the former Dem Town Chair stating he supported Perez after his last arrest and the Republican Town Chair supporting the only Republican Councilperson after her arrest. It shows the priorities, they can support criminals, oh yeah allegedly criminals, but not a word on forcing people out of their homes by insane spending.
Oh and Bruce, I appreciate you also as well as all the "anonymous" comments also :)
Mr Brush...That is all Luis has...is to compare me to a republican.Not that I would ever mind being compared to a good republican like Abe Lincoln.
When self serving avaricious politicians get caught it is always interesting to see what dodge and deflection they will think of.
Mr Brush I will bet you lunch that Billings Forge and possibly charter oak as well get some CDBG money and of course Luis will recuse himself and claim it was all on the up and up...lol.
Hartford is fast going under where revenue isnt keeping pace to expenses and they dont get it Mr Brush.The tax collection is down and we can expect Luis,Eddie and their allies to be pumping for a tax increase while the City services we get is decreasing. The coming Oversight Board will shut down all this CDBG largesse in due time.I would rather the money be refunded to the Feds then be paid to Luis' cronies or anyone else's cronies.
Bruce, I would recommend you leave the LOLs to those who actually have a sense of humor.
You would probably lose your lunch bet because Billings Forge did not submit an application. Charter Oak on the other hand did and was recommended some money...feel free to study their application and you let me know if it's deserved or not.
I can now goto sleep soundly knowing that after a wonderful two plus years in this business known as Govt., I have cronies! Woo-hoo, who do I give the first parking lot to? Bruce, I take it back, you are hilarious.
Luis...sleep like a baby, until we find out which of all those applications you are sponsoring...in the dark and without fingerprints...
Kevin:
I sincerely thank you for your work, both in researching/gathering docs, and in providing this forum.
Stop the bellyaching, Mr Cotto is simply trying to help himself,his family and friends with the CDBG money, just like alot of the other politicians and political operatives are doing.The Feds know Mayor Perez is on trial and realize that the system is corrupt and that the CDBG money will go to friends,family and allies of the politicians,that is what the money is there for,so get over it already.
Mr Cotto doesnt own a home in Hartford or a car and pays no property taxes and feels free to go along every year for a tax increase.
Mr Cotto has 3 family members feeding off the trough by having city funded jobs which is one of the reasons obligating Cotto to Mayor Perez
Mr Cotto left his past employer Charter Oak under strange circumstances and perhaps he can tell us of the circumstances.
Mr Cotto owns a car and it's registered in Avon where his brother the Deputy Director of Public Works lives. His brother got the job after Cotto, at the Mayors behest, asked him to vote for a certain Charter Oak appropriation, you know the one Cotto!
So Cotto's brother is the Deputy Director of Public WOrks? Wow Cotto who pretends to be "of the people" and who trumpets that he is into helping the small people is a master at helping himself,family,friends and ex and present employers.The guy now has 4 family members receiving a city backed check.He is a master at patronage.
If Cotto has a car registered in Avon and has been cheating on his car taxes to Hartford...he should resign immediately.
Mr Brush..notice in Mr Cotto's last posting that he admits that Charter oak ( his past employer) is "up for some money in Phase 2.It is the very same charter oak that received money in Phase 1 ( LUIS RECUSED HIMSELF ON THE PHASE 1 VOTE !!!)that he very convienently forgets to tell us about when he admits in an earlier post that another ex employer,Billings Forge,received money.
Wanna bet Charter Oak receives money in Phase 2 ?
In an effort to be fair, I have checked with the Town of Avon Assessor's Office. There is no vehicle registered to Luis Cotto on their Grandlist from what they told me.
Also the Deputy Director of Public Works in Avon is Alexander Trujillo, who apparently used to work for the City of Hartford and at one time was the President of the HMEA Union in Hartford.
I'm not sure if there is any relation to Councilman Cotto, but without more information I can't do too much more to connect the dots. Please feel free to contact me with additional info
I swear to god if i didn't laugh I'd have to go key a jaguar somewhere :-)
Yes, I had a brother. He passed away in 1966-67 just shy of his 1st birthday. Happened in Hartford so I'm sure someone can go check. My family is a one car family under my partners name and is registered in Hartford. (I might be dumb, but I aint stupid)
Bruce, yes I recused myself during phase 1. Phase 2 monies where approved by council and development services ran with the program. Council didn't even have a say on the eventual recipients. Heck, we didn't even found out until after it was in the Courant. (which I'm sure doesn't help you since you feel that the City Hall is the same now as when you were here)
Lets see what else, yeah, family. As far as I know, there are four family members who live in the city who all had jobs before I came in. Two for over 20 years, 1 for about 10 and one for 6 years.
If you all want to blame little ole me for your perspective woes, feel free. I put on that teflon coat ages ago when you came after my family.
Someone should check to see why La Paloma is getting money....Luis sold her the business and I would like to know if he is receiving money from her...if he isn't he should recuse himself again.It is interesting to note that there are alot of non profits with applications and approvals with Luis' involvment in indirect ways...the guy is amazing.
Luis...I have no woes as you allege nor did I go after your family, I was merely pointing out the stuff "on the street" that is common knowledge...trust me, I am a lawyer and know how to go after someone if I wanted to.
No Luis...City Hall is far worse and the political system is far more corrupt then in my time.Your advocacy for non profits in which you have or have had some sort of "nexus" sure isnt helping the situation.
"trust me, I am a lawyer"
Just let that melt in your mouth for a second.
Bruce, the difference between you and I is that when I hear "stuff on the street" about you (from people that I know don't like you) I chuckle and let the person know that I am not the place to further their rumor/allegations, when you hear "stuff on the street" you run with it like a two bit reporter.
and, yes, the trust me I'm a lawyer line is priceless
Luis...I am politically involved to further an agenda,just as I am sure you are,though quite possible our agenda's are different, and I dont give a rats azz who likes me or not,which is why I sign my real name to postings, and I certainly dont care what people say about me..if those feeding at the trough dont like me..I am honored.Im not trying to be a "2 bit reporter" as you state, I already have a more then sufficient day job.
I am glad you liked the "trust me" comment....
To recuse or not to recuse, that is the question. My dear Mr. Cotto, as far as the fed is concerned, your recusal does NOT negate your conflict of interest (COI)because you actually occupy a position (council person)that votes on and ultimately adopts resolutions allocating funds. If you are still in denial, perhaps someone should ask the federal Office of Inspector General (OIG)for an opinion. Kevin, the OIG is located downtown on Church St in the stilts building. While you're there, find out if the OPMAD e-mail re the DTC election constitutes a breach of the federal Hatch Act.
I have worked for the same non-profit organization in Hartford for several years. If an agency is going to stay above water then it must have many more options in sources of support than any financial resources the city can offer. Unfortunately there are too many of us working in non-profit who are without much monetary compensation and work too many hours with a skeletal staff. We, as youth workers, are sometimes not doing much better than the clients we serve. There is no appreciation by management for our efforts and too many clients take our efforts to support them for granted. Sometimes I wonder why I even chose such a field for a profession but all my life the only thing I have wanted to do was to serve the community I grew up in, Hartford. Whoever the agencies are that won't receive any support from the city will survive, keep on moving.
Yikes. Took me a while to read this stuff. It's all very deep and dramatic; would make a good plot for a reality show ("Hartford, New England's Falling Star"). So, did Cotto ever answer whether Eddie via Lena got his baby Momma a job @ CRT??? Doesn't CRT receive 10s of thousands of city dollars and/or subgrants funneled through the city (General Fund, ESG, FEMA, HOPWA, etc.) Does Cotto vote on any of these allocations to CRT or does he hide behind his delusion of recusion? Let's see if Cotto can bust a rhyme.
oh ll
Post a Comment