HUMAN RELATIONS DIRECTOR'S POSITION TERMINATED

In the continuing effort to clean out City Hall, another resignation has been accepted by Mayor Pedro Segarra. Lillian Ruiz, Hartford's Director of Human Relations was shown the door yesterday and escorted out of Hartford City Hall.

Ruiz's department played a large part in the Perez corruption scandal according to testimony at former Mayor Perez's trial. Contractor Carlos Costa had testified that he was not in compliance with contract requirements and had reached out to at least one employee in Ruiz's office as well as Mayor Perez and Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson to intervene on his behalf.

Ruiz is another one of the "Perez Allies" who is being purged from City Hall. In more changes announced today by Mayor Segarra it seems that several programs that drew criticism are being jettisoned. Aside from Dora, I mean Lillian Ruiz, her entire Department of Human Relations will now be under the Office of Corporation Counsel. Another sensible choice since the majority of what Human Relations does is deal with compliance in City Contracts and federal equal opportunity requirements.

Another change that definitely makes sense is the re-assignment of the Office of Capital Assets, also known as James Keaney and Charles Crocini, to be under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. That is where it should have been all along, not in the Mayor's Office. The only difficulty here is that James Keaney is most likely making close to $50,000 more than the Director of Public Works.

This could be an interesting match up since the DPW Director Kevin Burnham took away Keaney's SUV with the heated leather seats and assigned him a smaller vehicle shortly after Burnham became Director. I noticed last week that Keaney's city vehicle is now also adorned with the City of Hartford seal on it's doors now. So much for the stealth missions in the City's car. Maybe he has them on with Velcro.

The "311 Center" is also being moved to come under the Office of Policy and Management rather than directly under the Mayor's Office. This could be a problem at election time since "311" was also believed to be the unofficial polling operation for Perez.

City Hall sources are telling me that more changes may be coming in the near future, but my "hit" list for City Hall removals I posted earlier this year is getting smaller by the day. These changes are not only removing problems from the Perez administration but they are also removing a lot of the "fat" from a top heavy City Hall that we can not afford.

The official version :

MAYOR SEGARRA OUTLINES STRATEGY OF RESPONSIBILITY

FOR CITY OF HARTFORD GOVERNMENT

ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL STAFFING CHANGES/REORGANIZATION



---NEWS RELEASE---



(August 31, 2010)--- Today, Mayor Pedro E. Segarra made a 45 minute presentation to Department Heads to demonstrate how his administration is focused on four key goals that will move the City of Hartford forward during his tenure. He outlined the role of his Cabinet and announced that staffing changes and structural reorganizations are underway in order to reduce the cost of government and to achieve an increase in efficiency and effectiveness.



“Changes need to be made for the betterment of the organization. By clearly stating goals and objectives and the means of achieving these results, Hartford will be able to be proactive and progress towards common goals. The City Charter does allow for experimentation by the CEO of the City during the fiscal year in order to meet new demands and goals,” said Mayor Segarra.



By strategically working with all levels of governments, businesses, and community entities, the City of Hartford will address long-standing issues and opportunities to create sustainable changes that improve the City.

1. Ensure that each City office and department is held accountable for operating in a fiscally accountable manner and for getting results that advance the City’s interest.

2. Safeguard the health, cleanliness and safety of the community in ways that reflect the wants and needs of the people who live, work and visit Hartford

3. Create jobs and improve the quality of education and for Hartford’s children and adults

4. Pursue opportunities to accelerate and expand the economic vitality of Hartford’s business community and neighborhoods.



Internally, the size of the Mayor’s Office will be reduced, returning operations to departments where possible while holding them accountable for results.

1. The Office of Capital Assets will be merged with the Department of Public Works.

2. The Office of Human Relations will be merged into Corporation Counsel, eliminating the position of Director of Human Relations

3. Workforce and Minority and Women Business Enterprises certification moves to Procurement, to be overseen by the Chief Operating Officer.

4. The Office of Management and Budget will oversee 311.



“Change for the better is already underway and the Segarra administration intends to expand and accelerate it. A new standard for effectiveness and success is being established,” said COO David Panagore.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE AND WORSE, DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE SECRETARY AND LEGISLATURE CANDIDATE ANGEL MORALES UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

Angel Morales, pictured above, 2nd from right

So many things are going through my mind right now, but here goes. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I had supported Angel Morales in his run for State Representative from the 4th District. Eventually I also served as his campaign manager. Shortly before the primary, several incidents drew Angel's integrity into question as far as I was concerned and we parted company. Morales lost the primary by a handful of votes.

Although I saw several things that questioned his integrity, nothing prepared me for the calls I began receiving last night. Several sources began calling me after 7:00PM and talking about Angel being caught up in some sort of investigation that was the result of a "sexual" type allegations.

The police report below speaks for itself, but apparently Morales approached a young man in the area of the Washington Street Post Office and offered him a job. Morales was apparently driving the Lincoln he had rented with campaign funds when he picked the young man up. That in and of itself is another issue as to why he still has the car so long after the primary and is he still using campaign funds for the rental. Morales also apparently has no drivers license to be driving a car.

The young man, according to his statement, freely got into the car at which point Morales went to his campaign headquarters at 21 Franklin Avenue with the man. Again, that raises another issue as to why Morales is still maintaining the Headquarters with the Campaign election funds which should have been closed after the August 10, 2010 primary.

Once inside the headquarters Morales apparently locked the door behind them and stated he needed to use the bathroom. According to the victim, after a period of time, Morales came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his blue boxers with an exposed erection (the incident report states "unexposed" but police sources have confirmed the mis-type, it was "exposed").

After Morales asked the young man to time him as he did pushups, the man became upset and uncomfortable and fled from the building. He ran back to his home and reported the incident to his mother. His mother described her son to the police as "mentally retarded". Whether Morales knew that he may be taking advantage of a mentally challenged person is unknown at this point.

Morales has not met with or cooperated with investigating detectives at this point.Although the final line of the report states that the officer found no violation of Connecticut laws, HPD supervisors thought differently. The Major Crimes division is actively pursuing the case and sources have told me an arrest of Morales is likely.

Morales' future as Democratic Town Committee Secretary is unknown. Repeated calls to Hartford Democratic Town Chairwoman Jean Holloway for comment have not been returned. According to Hartford DTC minutes from their March meeting, State Representative Minnie Gonzalez nominated Morales for DTC Secretary and he was elected with 40 votes of the 64 member Town Committee.

HARTFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT INITIAL INCIDENT REPORT

Morales Case Report-redacted

LET THE COMMONERS BE DAMNED

In a classic example of the wheeling and dealing that went on for the Council replacement seat, the final selection wasn't even part of the recommendation solicited from the public. The attached letter from the Democratic Town Committee sent to the Council on July 30, 2010 indicates that their selection process supported Arnaldo Sierra and Raul deJesus. Alexander Aponte apparently didn't even make the cut in the public selection process.

This appears to be just another sham process to make it look like our elected officials were listening. Many members of the public actually attended the public interviews and listened to the candidates who submitted to the process on July 12, 2010. For those that don't recall, July 12th was in the midst of one of the July heatwaves when the temperatures went above 90 degrees with terrible humidity.

I am sure that many of the attendees, as well as the candidates, would have preferred to be somewhere else but attended to be part of what they thought was a legitimate process. But then again, nothing in Hartford politics is even close to legitimate.

In the end though, the loser of the interview process was actually the winner of the Council's vote. Alexander Aponte, who didn't even place in the interview process was the ultimate beneficiary of the arm twisting and horse trading. Although Councilwoman Winch switched her vote after she pledged she wouldn't, it seems to be working out well for her. A special meeting has apparently been called for Tuesday to coronate her as the new Council President.

And if you don't think there were dirty deals, ask yourself why if only 5 votes were needed for approval, then why did the Councilwoman cast the sixth vote. The answer is simple, her Council Presidency was riding on her support of Aponte and by voting no and crossing the Aponte supporters, she would not get their support as Council President. It must have been a tough choice for her, keep her word and do what she had promised or trade her vote, support Aponte and get the prize she has been after- the Council Presidency.

The hell with what the people want, our elected officials know better I guess. Maybe next year we can encourage voters to choose candidates that actually listen to their constituents and realize they are there to represent the people, not promote themselves.

HERE IS THE LETTER FROM THE DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE:

DTC Recommendation Letter

ANOTHER ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR THE PEREZ YEARS

The website 24/7 Wall Street has confirmed what many of us already knew.

The Perez Administration has nearly killed Hartford. The website "24/7 Wall Street" has ranked Hartford as number three in its list of America's top 10 dead cities. Hartford takes its place of prominence with other cities like Detroit and New Orleans.

This actually comes as welcome news because the only direction under Mayor Segarra is "up". Once you hit rock-bottom the bar isn't set too high to improve and it seems that the bar is moving upward everyday. Already progress is being made in our parks. I have already noticed trees that have been left dead in parks for years are now being cut down and removed and simple tasks like cutting the grass is becoming a regular event.

Maybe it is time to change Hartford's slogan from "New England's Rising Star" to "At least we aren't as dead as Detroit"

The full article can be seen by clicking here:

I KNOW, I KNOW...INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

PICTURED ABOVE, HECTOR ROBLES'S UNION ENDORSEMENT MAILER


After residents in Hartford's Southend got a political mailer that stated "Endorsed by the Hartford Police Union" before the recent primary, my phone was ringing. People were asking why the Police Union would support Robles if they knew the Internal Affairs Investigation was going to be bad and Robles might be getting arrested?

At that time no one had seen the report and much of the information was not known yet. Once the IAD report came out people, myself included, were asking "what was the Union thinking?".

Now my phone has started ringing asking why Hector Robles is still allowed to be working. I spoke to someone who saw Robles working a "PJ", a private duty road job, downtown last week. Today I got three calls asking why Robles was directing traffic on Preston Street for a construction site?

I responded that it might be contractual and maybe Chief Roberts hands are tied when it comes to suspending Robles. I think we have to ask though, why is Hector still allowed to work PJ's, or even be on active duty for that matter. It seems as though the City has no problem putting others on "Paid Administrative leave" as they handle employee hearings, why not Robles.

The first question to ask is why are they allowing the fox back into the henhouse? If you read Captain Ciesinski's original memo that led to the extensive IAD investigation, it was all about Officer Robles's abuse of PJ's and his double dipping, although others refer to it as larceny.

For a department that has worked hard under Chief Roberts to re-build its image with the community and show that Police Officers are not above the law, this does not bode well for building on those achievements.

Again, innocent until proven guilty, but for Hartford residents to see a Police Officer they know is potentially facing an arrest and termination any day now, this does not build trust or confidence in our Police Department.

An administrative suspension with pay would seem to be in order, anything else sends a terrible message to those that want to trust and believe in the good officers of the Hartford Police Department.

For those that might have missed it, Captain Ciesinski's memo is below:

Ciesinski's Robles Memo

MAYBE WE DO NEED AN "ANTI-RACISM" ORDINANCE

Pictured above: State Representative Minnie Gonzalez, on right in striped shirt, being threatened with arrest as she yells at Sean Arena to "stay the f**k out of Puerto Rican politics" Tuesday night at City Hall


I have been getting a lot of comments from people who have been wondering what Councilman Luis Cotto was thinking when he referred to "lily white people". Maybe it is time to remind people that racism is not a one-way street.

I have read the comments posted here about "Puerto Rican politics" and wondered who would use such terms. Do we also have special ways to deal with Black or white politics? Is it proper for lawmakers to design or gear laws to benefit only one group? Is there really such a thing as "Puerto Rican politics"?

Well, after witnessing the behavior of State Representative Minnie Gonzalez at Tuesday nights Council meeting, I have confirmed there apparently is such a thing. Gonzalez was yelling quite loudly at former Democratic Town Committee Chair Sean Arena outside the Council Chambers. The shouting attracted quite a bit of attention and at one point Gonzalez was swinging her arms at Arena and yelling at him to "stay the f**k out of Puerto Rican politics".

A Hartford Police officer assigned to City Hall stepped in and told Gonzalez that she would be arrested if she didn't stop her behavior. The altercation was pretty intense and the picture above was taken as the officer stepped in.

This divisive politics is childish and racist at the very least. Should Hartford voters vote only for for candidates by race and if we do that are we being properly served by the system? As long as nothing is said about the statements "lily white" and "stay the f**k out of Puerto Rican politics", we are condoning racism and allowing it to divide us as a community.

We need to look for, elect and support political leaders who can look at their constituents as "color blind" and serve each and everyone of their constituents as equals. Until we can do that, Hartford will be stuck with political leaders that belong in the deep south of the 1960's, not a multicultural community like Hartford in the year 2010.

It is one thing to represent a heavily Hispanic area or District, but to advocate for a single group when you are elected to represent all is wrong and offensive. If politicians can't learn to be "color blind" then maybe it is time to show them the door and elect people that treat everyone as equal.

YOUR WORD IS YOUR BOND...EXCEPT IN HARTFORD POLITICS

Does anyone in Hartford politics understand the words honesty and integrity?

Monday night I was surprised to find myself having dinner with rJo Winch and her mother Prenzina Holloway, Jan Appellof,Sean Arena and a couple others. Surprisingly, the conversation was cordial and I thought I saw a side of Councilwoman Winch that I might be able to work with.

One of the people who had thrown his name in for the vacant Council seat was also there, A.J. Sierra. Councilwoman Winch was talking about the need for new ideas and we needed to stop recycling people through City Hall. She had promised her support to Sierra and was not going to support anyone else.

It was strange agreeing with her on her ideas for the future of Hartford, and to also be in agreement with Jan Appellof and Sean Arena made me feel that maybe people had seen the light and that Hartford's corruption and scandals might just be leading to a new beginning. I actually thought that the following night, maybe, just maybe, the Council would make a good decision and select the right person to fill the Council vacancy.

During the conversation it was also discussed about the potential "baggage" at least two of the other candidates might be bringing to City Hall. The conversation focused on a food stamp fraud investigation that has become pretty much common knowledge in which one of the individuals is believed to be involved. I usually prefer to deal in facts and documents, so Tuesday I tried to confirm whether the allegations were factual.

It didn't take long to confirm the facts through sources in and out of law enforcement. One law enforcement source confirmed the investigation was ongoing and confirmed the facts as I laid them out as to what I knew although they wouldn't provide any additional information.

I then received a call from an attorney who also had first hand knowledge of the investigation due to the fact that they were representing a "co-operating witness" in a current Federal Investigation involving a potential Council candidate. The attorney also confirmed the basic facts of the investigation that involved the laundering of food stamps through some of Hartford's "bodegas".

Essentially individuals receiving food stamps could find someone that would pay cash for them at a fraction of the face value of the stamps. The money and the receipts from the food stamps would then be "laundered" through sham LLC's (Limited Liability Corporations)set up by an attorney and the profits were then passed through.

The attorney said he could not say with 100% certainty that criminal charges would be brought, but he felt the odds are pretty good that Federal charges would be filed.

I relayed this information to several Council people and it didn't really seem to phase any of them, except one. I guess when it comes to Hartford's image, corruption and possible criminal activity isn't a problem. Only one of the Council people I spoke with, Dr. Deutsch, actually seemed to pay attention and in the end voted against the replacement nominee.

Councilman Ritter said he asked about it and the nominee said the allegations were untrue. Would I expect anything else from Hartford's political circle? Perez said his allegations were untrue and apparently a jury thought different. Hector Robles says his allegations were untrue and everything was settled. The recently released IAD report paints a much different picture.Councilwoman Airey-Wilson claims her arrest was bogus, as the clock ticks down on her date to accept the State's plea deal arrangement. So honesty when it comes to less than flattering allegations of potential criminal wrongdoing is not a strong suit of Hartford's politicians.

So after having dinner with the Councilwoman and seeing and hearing her give her word to Mr. Sierra to support him, I felt good that maybe the right thing would be done the following night.

Imagine my surprise when the final vote was called and an individual potentially caught up in a Federal food stamp fraud investigation received the support of the very same Councilwoman that less than 24 hours earlier had spoke of change and getting the right people involved in politics. The horse trading was obvious and it quickly became apparent that nothing is done for what is best for Hartford, everything is done on how individuals can benefit from the system.

November 2011 is only 14 months away and the opportunity to put the right people in place can be ours, not the horse traders we have sitting on the Council now.

OFFICER BATES ARRIVES BACK IN HARTFORD

Hartford Police Officers awaiting the arrival of the hearse contaning Officer Bates earlier today at the Ahern Funeral Home (sorry for the quality of the pic)


Hartford Police Officer Jason Bates, who passed away in Boston from cancer this week, arrived back in Hartford today. The hearse carrying Officer Bates was escorted back from Boston this morning by members of the Hartford Police Department and a police motorcycle escort.

A line of Hartford Police Officers, including Chief Roberts and Deputy Chief Horvath, stood at attention as the procession pulled into the Ahern Funeral Home at 180 Farmington Avenue in Hartford The officers attended the tribute in uniform, most of them on their own time, to honor one of their fellow officers.

As the hearse pulled into the front lot escorted by six police motorcycles, the motorcade passed a line of Hartford Police cruisers parked with their red and blue roof strobes and their headlights flashing. Bagpiper Pat Whelan added to the tribute as he piped traditional music as Officer Bates was carried into the funeral home by six Hartford Police officers and Chief Roberts.

From what I have been told, the wake for Officer Bates will be Monday and the funeral will be Tuesday. I don't know any more of the details yet than that.

YOU KNOW IT IS GOING TO BE A BAD DAY WHEN......

There are many ways to answer that question some days. But it can't get much worse than when you finish that sentence "you know it is going to be a bad day when a prisoner handcuffed in the back seat of your HPD cruiser finds a way to slip out of his cuffs, climb through a broken partition between the seats, get into the driver seat and take off and escape with your stolen cruiser".

That was how the sentence ended today for a Hartford Police officer who shall remain nameless, mainly because the incident is under investigation at this point.

The officer was at Hartford Hospital with the prisoner when the incident occurred and apparently much of the incident was caught on video. After the prisoner fled, nearly striking a few individuals, he eventually ended up at the Windsor boat launch where he ditched the car on a trail that ran along the river.

The prisoner for some reason removed the laptop from the cruiser and disconnected the battery. The damage to the vehicle did have some new dents and also was driven over a rather large downed tree laying across the trail.

The suspect is still at large, but that will most likely change quickly, it is never a good idea to steal a police car.

MESSAGE TO THE COUNCIL: HURRY UP AND PASS THE COTTO ORDINANCE BEFORE THIS HAPPENS AGAIN

The following story was posted on line this afternoon. If only the Council had passed the proposed "Cotto" ordinance sooner, we could have hosted 46 of the people arrested. The 47th was already here as a guest of the Connecticut Department of Correction. I wonder how this would have been handled in Hartford?

The crimes alleged seem relatively minor,attempted murder, carjacking, assault and battery with dangerous weapons, assault to rape and possession of firearms.
I can see why we would want to welcome them with open arms and prevent the Police from asking unnecessary questions of these stellar individuals. I'm sure they were only looking to start fresh in the Land of Opportunity. And how dare they "target" foreigners without giving the same opportunity for arrests to regular citizens.

Here is the full story:

IMMIGRATION AGENTS NAB 47 IN MASS, MAINE, CONNECTICUT


BOSTON — Federal immigration officials say a three-month operation in Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut has led to the arrest 47 of people suspected of being gang members or having ties to gangs.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Harold Ort said on Friday that many of the suspects had histories of violent crimes including attempted murder, carjacking, assault and battery with dangerous weapons, assault to rape and possession of firearms.

The operation targeted foreigners and those born abroad. They will appear before immigration judges, but their criminal status renders them removable from the country within 10 business days.

They include residents of Boston, Chelsea, Dartmouth, East Boston, Fitchburg, Leominster, Lynn, New Bedford, Randolph and Springfield, all in Massachusetts. One person who was already in custody at Hartford Correctional Center was also arrested, and others were detained in Providence, R.I., as well as Portland and Westbrook in Maine.

THE PRIMARY NUMBERS ARE IN

Apparently these are the official voter turnout numbers for the August 10, 2010 primary as being reported on Courant.com, where you can search by town for the results.

TOWN Hartford
Eligible Democrats 33829
Democrats Voted 7484
Democrat Turnout 22.12%
Eligible Republicans 1719
Republicans Voted 404
Republican Turnout 23.50%

Pretty dismal numbers, but the number of eligible Republicans surprises me. It looks like the Republican vote is shrinking more and more each year. A few more years and they should be non-existent.

How is the budget for the Republican Registrar of Voters justified with such small numbers compared to the Democratic numbers?

HARTFORD POLICE OFFICER PASSES AFTER BATTLE WITH CANCER

Hartford Police Officer Jason Bates passed away this evening after a year long battle against cancer.

Officer Bates graduated from the Hartford Police Academy in 2007. Approximately 18 months later Officer Bates was diagnosed with cancer and has been receiving treatments in Boston.

On August 5, 2010 Hartford Police Sergeant Jim Elliott began a 24 hour bicycle ride around the outer borders of the State of Connecticut as a fundraiser for Officer Bates.

For the ride, an account was established for donations. Anyone wishing to still contribute may send donations to the "24 Hour Bates Bicycle Ride" in care of the Greater Hartford Police Federal Credit Union at 50 Jennings Road, Hartford, CT, 06120.

I don't know anything at this point regarding Officer Bates family situation, but please consider donating if possible.

Thanks

WHAT IS UP WITH THE HPD WEBSITE?

For an agency that is still using hand written index cards to keep track of time records, it might be a jump for them to keep up with this new-fangled thing called the internet.

The only problem is that we are paying for someone to maintain the Hartford Police Department's website under a special contract worth more than $60,000 per year. The person with the contract is also collecting a pension as a retired City of Hartford employee.

In taking a look at the website last night, it shows that the weekly crime statistics haven't been updated since May 15, 2010. They used to be relatively up to date, maybe lagging a couple weeks at a time, but over 3 months behind?

Much of the basic information is also outdated. It show's Lt. Luis Rodriguez as Commander of Vice and Narcotics, he hasn't been there in probably over a year. Lt. Pat Jobes is listed as the Headquarters Lieutenant for "C" squad, he retired months ago. Many other mistakes and outdated information is on the site, but you get the point.

Shouldn't we ask for our money's worth if we are paying over $60,000 a year to have someone make sure it is correct?

Another problem I have is that the City is paying a police Sergeant to function as the Public Information Officer. If information was flowing out of the Police Department it might be worthwhile. But if you go by what is on the website, there have been five press releases for the entire month of August, one on the 2nd, three on the 3rd and one on the 5th, nothing since. Ten press releases for May, one for June, and none for July. Probably a mistake on the part of the webmaster, but if nothing else, it shows that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

With the current staffing issues, do we really need to tie up a sworn police officer writng a handful of press releases a month. With all of the gun and drug arrests being made, why aren't these being made public? Would it hurt to let people know what their Police Department is doing?

WHAT IS BEST FOR HARTFORD?

What is best for Hartford? That seems like a logical question that should be asked before important decisions are made for our city's future. Unfortunately, that question seems to be lost on some City Council members as they prepare to select the replacement for the vacant seat on the Council.

Horsetrading at its finest is being carried out behind closed doors in the Council offices. It is not about selecting the best possible candidate, it is about shoring up the foundations and political favors for some Council people and their political futures.

The promises for support down the road are being made by those with Mayoral aspirations. Comments like "I'm voting for R*** D******* on the first ballot because I promised M***** G******* I would to get her support next year" (the full names were left out to protect the identities of the horse traders). Or "if I vote for .... "insert candidate name here"...will they vote for me for Council President?"

Those are honestly questions and statements that have been made by council members, they aren't questions I am making up.

I'll admit, the choices seem pretty slim, but out of the three front runners,at least one candidate seems to stand out.

Hartford Attorney A.J. Sierra was the one that seemed to impress the audience members the most from the feedback I got. Sierra relayed how he put himself through law school by running a hot dog cart downtown at night in the bar area. He then went to law school, passed the bar and set up shop in Hartford where he has remained and lives here with his family and has his offices here also.

I would think what we need now is someone with common sense who has built their own business, understands what the people of Hartford are going through and can bring some new ideas to a stagnant Council.

The horse trading "politics as usual" mindset by the current Council needs to change. I didn't name the council people involved in the wheeling and dealing, but I may after they meet Friday to make their selection.

I have a few suggestions for the possible candidates that they might want to ask. If the Robles incident means anything, they should probably not expect honest answers to their questions from some, but who knows.

They might ask the candidates "Have you ever been asked to leave or failed out of a Police Academy because of a poor attitude and a failure to respect authority while in that Academy?". Also a good question might be "Have you ever been or are you currently involved in a food stamp fraud investigation that could potentially result in your arrest?". This question might prove interesting also "Are you aware of any past or current investigations by any agencies into your law practices that may result in the loss of your license to practice law?".

I'm sure the Council members have plenty of their own questions they could ask if they really wanted to find the best candidate. For some reason though I think most of those on the Council follow the old adage "Silence is Golden"

RITTER BY A LANDSLIDE, DOUBLES HIS LEAD

Apparently another vote was found in Bloomfield, Matt Ritter has doubled his lead over incumbent Ken Green.

Ritter is now sitting on a comfortable 2, yes two, vote lead as of 6:30PM. Ritter's victory is almost assured now

HPD NEEDS YOUR HELP

The picture above is from a surveillance camera at the ATM at the Bank of America on Blue Hills Avenue while a 78 year old woman was being robbed on August 8 at approximately 9:38am.

If you recognize the individual in the picture, please contact Hartford Police Major Crimes Division at 860-757-4256

LOOKS LIKE RITTER BY ONE VOTE

The numbers are still being finalized for the official results, but unofficially with the recount complete it looks like Matt Ritter has taken the 1st District State representative primary by one, yes one, vote.

WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?

As usual, tonight was another eye-opener in Hartford. I had planned on attending the 6th District Town Committee meeting for a while and then run over to City Hall for the Cotto ordinance public hearing to protect Hartford's "lily white" folks (his words, not mine) or whatever he was trying to accomplish.

I never made it to the hearing but from what I hear, it was about 50/50 split with speakers in favor or against. One observer did tell me that the majority of the speakers against the ordinance were actually Hartford residents, while many of those in favor were from outside Hartford.

The 6th District Town Committee was like watching a train wreck that you knew was inevitable, but you just couldn't turn away from it. Hartford politics being what it is, the fact that the meeting was called in the first place was surprising enough. There was probably 15 or 20 people there and Jan Appellof, the 6th District spokesperson hosted the meeting at her home. Appellof as well as many others in attendance seemed to feel betrayed that Robles had apparently lied directly to them only a couple weeks before the IAD report was released

First up was Marie Hamilton who claimed the meeting was a "witch hunt" and she would not participate. Before leaving the meeting she vowed to work against the members supporting the meeting at election time as she had done to get them elected in the first place. As she started to leave she stopped in front of me and I thought I was the next one to suffer her wrath. Instead though, she told me how much she loved the blog and that was the only way she knew the meeting was being held because she read it here.

The cast of supporting characters continued to trickle in, Al Marotta, Lou Watkins, Jean Holloway, Alyssa Peterson and I can't forget Hallie Jackson from Channel 3 who was already there when I arrived. (Hi Holly)

Next up was Al Marotta who voiced the typical "innocent until proven guilty" defense as the proposed reason for taking no action. He perfected that during the Perez trial, I hope he will notify us when the first prayer vigil for Hector is being held. Marotta was also indignant that outsiders were in attendance. How could they possibly conduct a meeting with members of the Public and the media present. I guess that whole open and transparent idea is beyond his comprehension.

The focus of the meeting quickly turned to the perceived impending arrest and all of the "what ifs" that an arrest would cause. I made a comment at that point that I thought it would evolve into a witch hunt if they started to consider , as the lawyers say, facts not in evidence. I do believe that if the justice system does actually work and the facts are even close to those laid out in the IAD report, an arrest is 99.9% coming sometime soon. The focus should be on the IAD report which seemed pretty clear as to what Robles had been accused of and admitted to already.

I listened to the conversation though and began to think when is enough enough? What degree of criminality do we need before we feel that our trust has been violated enough to ask a public official to step down? Does it take a conviction on a Class A felony or just an arrest? Is a conviction on a misdemeanor enough or can we ignore an arrest or two? Maybe a DUI? Maybe possession of crack cocaine? Or once we feel as though a public official has violated our trust, damaged the integrity of the system of democracy and disgraced himself and their office can we call for their resignation?

Innocent until proven guilty is a cute catch phrase, but if no charges should arise does that mean people like Robles or Perez or other untrustworthy politicians be allowed to remain because they never faced a jury. Aren't we the voters allowed to determine their fate when they violate our trust?

For me the decision regarding Hector Robles was clear after he lied to me twice regarding the accusations. As a friend, he spouted off to me the same misleading statements and lies he has given to the media and others. He stated it is all administrative and he had actually been cleared and it was a misunderstanding. He was right in one aspect, it was administrative to a certain degree. All IAD investigations could technically be called administrative, those "administrative" investigations many times unfortunately evolve into criminal cases.

That is the situation that Hector finds himself in now as his fate is being considered by the Office of the Chief States Attorney.

Unfortunately, as evidenced at the meeting tonight, people that may have stood behind him if he had told the truth are now calling for his resignation. Anyone who has read the IAD report can read that Robles was very aware of the facts and that he admitted his actions constituted larceny, he knew he was "double-dipping" and he readily admitted to providing false time records.

It is not a matter of if or when he is arrested or convicted. It is a matter though of how willing are we to tolerate the violation of our trust by a corrupt politician. The cloud of corruption was just beginning to lift after the Perez trial and conviction. Mayor Segarra had just begun to restore some confidence in the operations of Hartford government. Now Hector Robles has made that dark cloud over the city even darker by not only blemishing the image of the Police department but calling into question his integrity as an elected official and a member of the Hartford Legislative delegation.

It shouldn't be only the 6th District Town Committee calling for Robles's resignation. Any member of the Hartford delegation who hasn't benefited through corrupt activities should be calling for his resignation. That might be difficult for some, you know that old "people who live in glass houses" thing, but there are others who actually have integrity and should be offended by Robles's activity.

Most importantly all of us who get out and vote should be leading the charge for Robles to resign. This is another slap in the face to every voter who takes the 5 or 10 minutes to actually vote and it contributes to the increased sense of voter apathy and the feeling that all politicians are corrupt. By the 6th District taking swift, yet fair and thought out action, they can start sending a solid message of their own. To do nothing sends the message that it is "business as usual" for corrupt activity in Hartford.

The old style politics that have contributed to Hartford's increasing apathy need to end. It is our system, we need to take it back and we need to actually find the leaders that are willing to take a stand and confront corruption head on. Corruption will not go away if we continue to allow those that tolerate it to be our "leaders".

Those that remain silent or oppose action are the ones getting the bus contracts, the do-nothing City jobs, employing their relatives or have greatly benefited by a corrupted government.

It is time to speak up and say enough is enough. Let the Democratic Town Chairwoman and the members of the 6th district DTC know you are fed up and want change. Feel free to post your comments here, I know most of them read the blog.

And Hector, I know you read the blog also. Remember the words I spoke to you that you told me kept running through your mind for the DTC vote the second time around? I hope they are running through your mind now and you pay attention.

HOW THE ROBLES INVESTIGATION GOT STARTED

Although the Hector Robles report was posted here a few days ago, it might be interesting to some to see how the investigation actually began.

A short time before August 13, 2009, Lieutenant Paul Ciesinski, was promoted to the rank of Captain and was assigned as the commander for the Southeast District. Ciesinski in his review of his newly assigned area apparently looked at the performance of the personnel assigned to the Southeast area of the City.

As part of that review he checked into the performance, or lack thereof, of Officer Hector Robles who was assigned as the Community Service Officer for the South Meadows area.

Prior to being promoted to Captain, Ciesinski was assigned as the Lieutenant in charge of HPD's Internal Affairs division. A thorough review was conducted of Robles's performance and it looks like red flags were shooting up in every direction.

Ciesinski's internal memo to Deputy Chief Paul Hammick is posted below, it makes for some very interesting reading. Although Ciesinski was new to the district, it raises some very serious issues regarding the level of supervision before his arrival. Is Captain Ciesinski's memo the first time anyone noticed Robles's performance?

Also included is the Department's advocate, Lt. Bernier's recommendation for "termination of employment as a Hartford Police Officer"

Ciesinski's Robles Memo

Robles Advocate's Report

A BUSY NIGHT TONIGHT FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

Two important meetings will be taking place tonight and they both could prove to be very interesting.

The first meeting at 6PM is being held by the 6th District Democratic Town Committee. The meeting has been called to discuss the fate of 6th District State Representative Hector Robles. The meeting will be held at the home of Jan Appellof at 687 Broadview Terrace. THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Robles is caught up in a "double-dipping" scandal at the Hartford Police Department where he is being accused of stealing almost $10,000 through fraudulent time cards. According to the Internal Affairs report Robles admitted to knowing that his actions constituted larceny, he was "double-dipping" and provided false information for his time records.

The Office of the Chief States Attorney is reported to be in the process of reviewing the IAD report and an Inspector has been assigned to potentially prepare criminal charges.

The second meeting will be a Public Hearing held at Hartford City Hall in the Council Chambers at 7:00PM. That will be for the public to comment on proposed ordinances. One of the ordinances has caused a lot of discussion and comments here regarding Councilman Cotto's proposal to limit the actions of the Hartford Police when it comes to immigration and intelligence gathering. The ordinance was posted here previously under "Is it time to disarm the Hartford Police?".

Show up and feel free to speak your mind.

4TH DISTRICT RECOUNT- ROLDAN IN, MORALES OUT

It appears the recount numbers are complete for the 4th District Democratic primary. Due to the closeness of the vote last Tuesday a recount was required and that was done today.

Kelvin Roldan apparently retained his seat by a five vote margin over his challenger Angel Morales.

THE ROBLES IAD REPORT

Below is the actual narrative from the investigator assigned to the Hector Robles case.Due to the size of the report I had to scan it in 5 sections and it is lower quality scan than I had hoped.

Robles IAD-part 1
Robles IAD-part 2

Robles IAD-part 3

Robles IAD-part 4

Robles IAD-part 5

ROBLES TO RESIGN....MAYBE

Word from sources moments ago is that Hector Robles will be tendering his resignation from both the 6th District Town Committee and his seat as a State Representative.

Sources are also confirming that Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy earlier today referred the HPD/Robles IAD report to Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane for criminal prosecution.

More as I get it.

6:30PM UPDATE

Although at 1:00PM today Hector Robles had promised to deliver his resignation from the Democratic Town Committee and the State Legislature to 6th District spokeperson Jan Appellof, as of 6:30PM he has not arrived. Maybe 2nd thoughts? Who knows.

8:30PM UPDATE

Apparently now Robles is claiming he never offered to resign, never mentioned a letter of resignation and has no plans to step aside. Eerily similar to the Perez, saga, isn't it?

MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS WHEN IT COMES TO ROBLES ALLEGATIONS

Although no one can be blamed for Hector Robles's behavior except Hector himself, how could this situation occur unchecked for so long?

Is anyone else amazed that in this day of technology and "blackberry this" and "i-pad that" that the Hartford Police Department is still using handwritten index cards to account for payroll time? And what about tracking and payroll software? Were there no red flags when the payroll was input that he was billing for the same, duplicate hours?

Is it really conceivable that Officer Robles is the only rocket scientist that figured out how to beat the system by double dipping? Out of a force of almost 460 officers could Robles be the lone fox feeding in the "PJ" henhouse?

How could an Officer that was assigned to the South Meadows as the community service officer be missing in action on all those occasions he was alleged to be double dipping? Did anyone ever notice he was making no traffic stops , no arrests, no case numbers being drawn, no productivity of any sort?

Where was the supervision? Where was his Sergeant who should be checking on him throughout the day? Where was his Lieutenant who at the very least should know what his activity was for his area for the week?

And just for the sake of Officer safety, why wasn't the dispatch center aware who is working and who is not? Routinely only patrol units sign "on the line" at the beginning of their shifts. Shouldn't every officer, detective, supervisor, Lieutenant Captain right up through the Chief be accounted for when they are working? Who tracks that all officers on the street are safe and return at the end of the shift?

It amazes me that no single person, whether a dispatcher or the Headquarters Commander could answer specifically at any given time who is available and accounted for. That just seems like a huge safety issue. Not to mention shouldn't it be known what resources are available at any given time?

Whatever happened to that modern technology we were supposed to be implementing called "GPS"? Would that have not shown that Robles's assigned cruiser was stationery for hours at a time at a construction site when it should have been patrolling the Southend of Hartford?

And with the number of Assistant Chiefs and Deputy Chiefs assigned to know what is going on in their areas of the City, were they all asking "Hector who?"

Heads need to roll on this one and it shouldn't just be Hector's head. He is responsible for his actions, but a lot of others need to be held accountable for theirs.

Fortunately a new supervisor assigned to the area noticed something wrong with Robles's productivity and started asking questions that others didn't. Luckily HPD has a Chief that has taken his responsibility and accountability to the community seriously and immediately launched an Internal investigation. And more importantly, Chief Roberts has built an Internal Affairs Division that handles investigations promptly and efficiently and has greatly reduced the backlog of investigations that he inherited as Chief.

A year to complete the IAD may seem like a long time to complete the investigation, but I think a 300 page report speaks for itself as to the extent of the investigation and its thoroughness.

It is getting late, but maybe tomorrow I'll try to address the timing of the reports release as my sources have explained it to me. It had nothing to do with politics.

If you have questions as to how this happened , feel free to post them and I'll try to get the answers

IS IT TIME TO DISARM THE HARTFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT?

That might just be the next logical step if Hartford City Councilman Luis Cotto has his way.

Cotto has introduced a proposed ordinance that will drastically limit the efforts of the Hartford Police Department in obtaining information and intelligence gathering.The ordinance is below for you to view.

Since when can the Hartford City Council supercede the powers given to law enforcement by State and Federal law? Do we have any confidence in our Police Department and our Police Chief to do the right thing? Unless I'm confused, Federal law trumps State law, State law trumps municipal ordinances and resolutions.

As an example, one of the dictates being placed upon our police officers by the ordinance is "Reasonable suspicion that an offense has been committed may justify a cursory pat down of outer clothing for weapons but shall not justify a search, seizure or collection or retention of intelligence information".

Are you kidding me? A police officer can have a "reasonable suspicion that an offense has been committed" and it ends there? No questions asked, no id shown, no further search, just a simple pat down and now be on your way courtesy of Councilman Cotto. In any other jurisdiction, apparently besides Hartford, "reasonable suspicion that an offense has been committed" is known as probable cause.

Is Councilman Cotto attempting the rewrite just about every court decision that defines probable cause and a law enforcements right to proceed once that basic and necessary element has been established?

Why don't we just handcuff the police officers now and get it over with. The "collection or retention of intelligence information" after stopping someone is known as an "FI Card".The "FI Card" stands for Field Interview and is filled out by an officer after a contact with an individual on the street.

A police source familiar with the procedure stated that the FI cards are invaluable and that an alert officer filling out the card often leads to identifying suspects involved in crime trends. The source even stated that on at least one occasion a homicide suspect was identified through an FI card and someone being able to connect the dots to the suspects activities.

Maybe under Cotto's proposal we can do away with "intelligence gathering" and instead issue all Hartford Police officers their own crystal ball. It would probably do about as much good when it comes to Public Safety as this ordinance will.

I'm already prepared for those that will throw out the term racist and racism and claim that I have no idea what racial profiling feels like and the rest of the garbage that accompanies nonsense legislation like this. Illegal immigration is the elephant in the room that no one wants to speak about. Notice I didn't say "immigration", I specifically said "illegal immigration". If you don't follow the process and you are here illegally, you are a criminal, no matter what the reason. Someone robbing a bank because they need money and haven't eaten in days and are on the streets is still a criminal, no matter what the circumstances.

For hundreds of years people have been heading to the shores of what became the United States. There is a process, a legal and systematic process, for those wishing to enter our country and become citizens. My relatives did it, legally, and just about everyone reading this has done it legally or their relatives and ancestors did it legally. Some were forcibly brought to this country, but none the less, they hold the title of US citizen.

What's wrong with following and enforcing the process? I am reluctant to connect violent crime to illegal immigrants, we do well enough with violent crime committed by US citizens. I think most "illegal immigrants" actually come here for the same reason my ancestors did, and for the same reasons those following the process to become legal citizens arrive here. Quite simply, for a better life and to live in a great country like the US.

There is a process to enter this country legally and if Cotto or others don't agree with the procedure, then work to change that. Tying the hands of law enforcement only endangers those that are here legally and encourages more illegal immigration to sanctuary cities like Hartford.

Concilman Cotto might need to be reminded of the oath of office he took when he became a councilperson a major part of which he swore to "uphold the Constitution of the United States". Where does undermining State and Federal law enforcement efforts to enforce laws on the books play into "upholding the Constitution"?

This proposal is pure nonsense and is nothing short of pandering to a specific audience. I would hope that any law enforcement agent that is not allowed to do their job when necessary as required by law as result of this ordinance, if passed, will remember another law also on the books. It is called "Obstruction of Justice" or the lesser charge of "Interfering with a Police Officer", which is exactly what this proposed ordinance is all about.

It would be interesting to see what our new Corporation Counsel and Mayor thinks of the legality of this proposal.

Please turn out Monday night for the Council Hearing on this wonderful proposed legislation.

Cotto's Proposed Intelligence Ordinance 8-11-10-1

ROBLES INTERNAL AFFAIRS REPORT RELEASED, TERMINATION RECOMMENDED

"Honesty, Integrity and making our neighborhoods safe" as the campaign brochure states is hardly the image portrayed in the document released today.

The Hartford Police Department's Internal Affairs report into the alleged misconduct of Officer Hector Robles has been released today. The 300 page report documents in detail allegations that will most likely result in criminal charges against Robles.

The report outlines "double dipping" allegations that Robles was collecting pay for private duty jobs (PJ's)at the same time he was getting paid for his regular shifts as a community service officer (CSO) in Hartford's South Meadows area. The report documents almost $10,000 in alleged thefts from the city by Robles' actions.

I will post more as I review the report and the investigation narrative.

The Department is recommending that Robles be terminated. Sources are also telling me that the report was delivered to Hartford County States Attorney Gail Hardy for criminal prosecution. That may not be the end of the road though as some are suggesting that the State's Attorney Public Integrity Unit also review the case due to Robles's position as a State Legislator from Hartford's 6th District.

Robles won his primary bid on Tuesday beating his challenger by a 2 to 1 margin. Questions had arisen during the campaign and Robles had assured the voters, media and even his own Town Committee that the report was administrative in nature, was not a criminal investigation and that the issues had been resolved. That apparently does not seem to be the truth of the matter as outlined in the IAD report.

In an unusual move, the Hartford Police Union endorsed Robles for re-election in a mailer sent out prior to Tuesday's primary. The IAD was fairly common knowledge and allegations were being raised even before the mailing was sent out promoting Robles's "honesty and integrity". According to Alyssa Peterson, Robles's opponent in Tuesday's primary, she was not aware of any selection process used for the endorsement. Peterson states she was never contacted for an interview or questioned before the Union arbitrarily endorsed Robles.

IT IS TIME FOR REAL TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN HARTFORD

Pictured above, 4 Year old Lillany Rodriguez, killed by an out of control driver at Main and Belden Streets yesterday

Traffic laws, speeding, red lights, stop signs, improper passing, not to mention proper registrations and insurance are all pretty much ignored by many within Hartford's City limits. The reason? Your chances of getting stopped and cited are almost non-existent unless the offending vehicle is wrecked and can't move and the driver doesn't run away.

A tragic example of this occurred last night at Main Street and Belden Street. A vehicle being operated by a driver apparently high on drugs, possibly PCP, was headed south on Main Streets at speeds that some estimated approached 100 miles and hour. The driver rear-ended another vehicle in which 4 year old Lillany Rodriguez was a passenger. Lillany initially survived the accident and was resuscitated by the Hartford Fire Department but died of her injuries this afternoon.

Hartford's streets are a nightmare, and I fully understand the staffing problems with the Hartford Police Departments limited resources. With that being said, it is time for a Traffic Unit at the Hartford Police Department that actually enforces traffic laws.

Forget the parking issues and tagging scofflaws. Let the Parking Authority take care of that. Forget the abandoned cars. The Health Department tows them from private property now, let them handle the streets also. Forget tagging and towing cars from side streets in the Westend during the morning rush hour. Again, let the Parking Authority handle that. If it is a matter of assigning responsibility to these agencies, have the Council deal with it.

If a decision needs to be made as to towing a parking violator from Willard Street at 8:00am or taking a dangerous driver off the road, the choice seems simple. If a choice needs to be made over tagging a parking scofflaw on Washington Street or saving the life of another 4 year old from an out of control driver, the choice seems simple.

An aggressive traffic enforcement program needs to be initiated immediately to protect the conscientious drivers who actually register their cars, insure their vehicles and pay attention to our motor vehicle laws. Have you ever noticed the difference with which many drivers act when they exit the city at the Windsor, Wethersfield, Bloomfield or West Hartford borders. The stereos get turned down, the speed drops and the traffic laws seem to be obeyed.

Why is that? Because they know the suburban Police Departments have a lot more time for ticket writing and the odds increase drastically that poor driving will grab the attention of a suburban police officer.

I know a lot of the cell phone and distracted driver "campaigns" are the result of Federal Grants, but they seem to obtain results, both with drivers and the media. It's time the Hartford Police Department start something like that on their own.

We had no problem asking for help from the State whenever we needed Troopers to combat crime. Maybe it would make sense to ask for their help with some traffic enforcement, that is their specialty. And while we are at it, ask for a few Motor Vehicle Inspectors for good measure. It would send a strong message quickly and it might save the life of the next four year old that could potentially be the victim of an unchecked, out of control driver.

Last week after the tragic events at Hartford Distributors in Manchester, the Town of Manchester relied heavily on HPD resources. Hartford's SWAT team members and an armored vehicle were sent to Manchester almost immediately. HPD's Bomb Squad was also sent when questions arose about the shooters vehicle and whether it might be rigged with explosives. Several HPD Patrol Officers and Supervisors and cruisers were sent to Manchester to answer calls for service from Manchester residents. Manchester's resources were stretched so thin that Hartford was called upon to help out.

I for one would have no problem asking the City Administration to ask for some help in return from these towns we always step up to help when they ask us. It is the perfect example to move toward some regionalization efforts. Maybe one weekend night a month cover areas of the city with traffic enforcement.

I'm sure the efforts would not only yield traffic violators, but more serious offenders with weapons, drugs and even individuals wanted for other offenses.

In the meantime, Hartford PD's Traffic Units should be focusing on getting the message out that there is traffic enforcement in Hartford, and not just for double parking in front of Starbuck's during the morning rush hour.

LABOR BOARD ORDERS OFFICER MURTHA RE-INSTATED

Just getting word on this and I don't have all the details yet, but apparently the Labor Board has ordered the re-instatement of Hartford Police Officer Robert Murtha.

Murtha was terminated and eventually arrested after an on-duty shooting incident. A jury cleared him of the charges after his trial.

More on this as I get more details.

WHERE ARE THE LOCAL POLITICAL OPERATIONS ?

The more I see, the more the "political operations" in Hartford continue to surprise me. The Republican Party in Hartford is dead and has been in steady decline for years. Many reasons can be thrown around to deflect the blame, but pure and simple, it comes down to a lack of leadership. Any leadership that might be claimed by the Republicans on a local level is held by those with outdated, antiquated ideas that have harmed the party on all levels.

It doesn't have to be that way. One of the reasons the Republican Party in Hartford has seen its demise is because they fail to embrace new ideas and put any effort into education and outreach to rebuild the party. OK, enough on the dead Republican Party.

What really bothers me though is the current state of the Democratic Party in Hartford, specifically the Democratic Town Committee. In case no one has noticed, the "endorsed" Town Committee candidates took a beating yesterday. In the 1st District Ken Green has won re-election(if he survives a recount and holds his 3 vote lead).Green was the incumbent but also was the challenger for his seat since the Town Committee gave his nomination to Matt Ritter.

In the 7th District, incumbent Doug McCrory won his seat back after the 7th District Town Committee attempted to orchestrate his ouster. The 7th District nominated rJo Winch to run in the 7th, the 7th District Town Committee has a large number of Winch family members seated as members. McCrory handily beat Winch to regain his seat.

In the 4th District, challenger Angel Morales came within 9 votes of de-throning incumbent Kelvin Roldan. A recount will be held to determine the winner in that race.

In the 6th District, Hector Robles had a challenge from Alyssa Peterson. Even though Peterson really did not run much of a campaign and didn't qualify for public funding, she still obtained about a third of the vote.

In the Fonfara/Vargas Senate race, Vargas had a respectable showing until the Wethersfield votes were figured in. Fonfara had a much better showing in Wethersfield than he did in his hometown of Hartford.

The part that bothers me though is that all of the endorsed candidates were pretty much on their own. Where were the Town Committee operations. Where were the phone banks for the "endorsed slate"? Where were the signs to vote for the "endorsed Democrats, vote Row A".

I was surprised when I drove through Windsor Center last week and saw a huge banner on a building across from the Town Hall. "WINDSOR DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS" with just about every endorsed candidates signs in the windows. Windsor has about a quarter of Hartford's population, and Hartford probably has more registered Democratic voters than Windsor has total residents.

I'm not aware of any "Hartford Democratic Headquarters", no phone banks, not even a spot fro residents to drop in and get information about the races. Why not? If Windsor can do it along with many other smaller towns, why can't Connecticut's capitol city?

If you attended Town Committee meetings or listened to Hartford's so called political leaders, you would think the rooms were filled with James Carville's or Karl Rove's. Nothing seems further from the truth. Imagine what could happen if all the talk was actually put into action.

I think a lot of the dysfunction is by design though. If voters were educated and actually got involved, that might present a challenge to those that have become fat and happy with their political stature. Many Town Committee seats, both Republican and Democrat, are hardly ever challenged. If you look at the names on the Town Committee's, it probably hasn't changed much in the last ten or fifteen years. If it changes, in many cases the last names remain the same, only the first names change as families retain their "dynasty" hold and make sure the family names carry on in Hartford history.

The town committee's are the first step in getting the best candidates to run for office. As long as the twon committee's are a mess, our selection process for public officials will remain a mess.

It is time we start looking for the best possible candidates and the best people to represent us on the Town Committee's. Until then, nothing will change.

ANOTHER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION WIN AGAINST CITY OF HARTFORD

I didn't think I would get to use that picture again after Rosie was terminated by Mayor Segarra on July 9, 2010.It's too bad Hartford Corporation Counsel John Rose won't be around any longer to spar with at FOI hearings.

Today I received another proposed Final Decision from the FOI Commission regarding a complaint I had filed against Councilman Calixto Torres and Rosie. The complaint was filed in September of 2009, heard on January 29, 2010 and finally decided on August 4, 2010 and will go before the full commission on August 23, 2010.

FOI complaints definitely aren't a speedy process, but it is what it is. With a very small staff at FOI, it is a cumbersome process that was made even worse by John Rose and the Perez Administration. I guess when you are running a criminal operation, it makes sense to stall any information you give out that might be damaging.

Rather than recap the entire complaint, you can read the hearing officers report and proposed decision below. Essentially it was over financial reports that I had requested and the City's policy that all FOI requests be funneled through Rosie to make sure they controlled the information being given out.

The hearing officer determined that the policy violated the FOI law and ruled that the policy be "declared null and void".

Although I am hopeful that with Rosie gone the City will now begin to obey the FOI laws, but after trying to obtain the Robles' IAD report, I'm not sure.

The Hearing Officers report is below:

Foi Decision Rose-Torres 1-29-10

MATT RITTER TAKES A HIT...BUT IS HE THE ONLY ONE DESERVING?

I guess all is fair when you decide to enter the dirty, in the gutter game of politics.

An article posted on Courant.com tonight detailed allegations that Hartford Councilperson Matt Ritter received an endorsement from a group called "Voices of Women of Color". click here to read the full story It seems that the same group received payments directly from Ritter's campaign for "consultant" work.

Although I agree that there should be some sort of disclosure to keep everything in the open, but why is Ritter being singled out? Maybe as the perceived front runner it might be an easy shot to take by an opponent trying to regain some ground three days before a primary. Maybe it was a shot taken by another group that wasn't given a "consultant" fee and wants their piece of the CEP pie.

Whether Ritter is right or wrong is up to voters to decide on Tuesday. The problem seems to even more widespread amongst others on the Democratic endorsed Row A. It seems that Ritter might not be the only one wheeling and dealing for endorsements.

Although most people have never heard of the "Voices of Women of Color" (sorry Janice)they do have influence door to door in Ritter's campaign area.

One group that most people have heard of though is Connecticut's "Working Families Party". Their strength is based more in Hartford with the election of Urania Petit as the WFP Registrar of Voters in Hartford, and two Council seats went to the WFP in the last council election. Potentially they may become more of a force to be reckoned with statewide in elections.

If Ritter is being criticized for his lack of candor in his endorsements, it pales in comparison to his fellow Row A Democrats.

According to August 3, 2010 financial campaign filings, three Democratic candidates have paid amounts much larger than Ritters payment to people endorsing them. According to the filings, the largest payment was made by FONFARA 2010 to "Working Families Grassroots Strategies, INC." in the amount of $7,800. Fonfara is listed on the Working Families website as one of their endorsed candidates.

Another individual running for the legislature in the district that abuts Ritter's is Windsor's Leo Canty. Canty is also listed on the Working Families website as one of their endorsed candidates. Canty's campaign made a payment of $5,850 to the Working Families "Grassroots Strategies, Inc" on July 15,2010.

Democratic Row A endorsed candidate for Secretary of State, Denise Merrill apparently also realizes the value of the WFP endorsement. Merrill's campaign paid $3714.69 to the Working Families "Grassroots Strategies, Inc." on August 2, 2010.

That's enough digging for tonight, but it seems pretty clear that Matt Ritter hasn't reinvented the wheel when it comes to "obtaining" endorsements.

And in the interest of full disclosure, it's important to say I have not received any "consultant" fees from the Ritter campaign, we could talk though Matt, you have the number

All of these filings can be viewed on-line at ct.gov/seec and then use "e-cris search" to find a candidate by name