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Thursday, October 28, 2010

OK, I HAVE TO SAY THIS AND GET IT OVER WITH

I have been accused of being over protective of Mayor Pedro Segarra. Some have even accused me of being a "mouthpiece" for the Mayor.

With that being said, I have to say to Mayor Segarra...WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING?

Steve Goode at the Hartford Courant and "Cityline" just posted a column regarding "Disgraced former Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez". You can read Steve's column by clicking here

Apparently Mayor Segarra was in attendance at the "State of the Schools" address this morning at SAND School. "Disgraced former Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez" was also in attendance. According to Goode's article, Mayor Segarra's comments included remarks about "Perez, who served for a time as chair of the board of education, for his dedication early reform efforts, including his effort to bring Adamwoski on board and his choice of fellow board members to support Adamowski's vision."

Mayor Segarra, no one can deny that Perez did positive things while in office. No one can deny that he has done some terrible things that have done huge damage to our City and its reputation also.

That Board of Education that you mention is also the same Board of Education that recently approved a lobbying contract for Matt Hennessey for $58,000. I have not heard any comments about that, yet praise is heaped on a Board and a Superintendent that continue to support individuals who played a key role in the corruption scandal.

To have a convicted felon parading around an elementary school and then being praised as some sort of hero is wrong. It sends a terrible message to the very students we are trying to set on the right path in life. Is doing wrong and being sentenced to prison a Hartford value? To a student viewing this fiasco it might seem that way.

This administration has made some large strides in attempting to make people feel good about our City in a short couple of months. I fully anticipate seeing a news story soon showing Mayor Segarra on a ladder rescuing a kitten from a tree. He has that personality that people want to trust and support.

On the other hand though, from the phone calls I get, people also want to hear him setting the tone that business as usual in Hartford will not be tolerated. Sending mixed messages does nothing but confuse people as to what is acceptable. I had a long conversation with Mayor Segarra about this last Saturday.

Mayor Segarra is by no means naive. He knows that City Hall is still full of Perez supporters who would like nothing more than to see him fail. Some of them are quite clearly undermining him every chance they get, and I think the Mayor knows that. The question is then, why are they still there. I fully get the concept that we can't terminate everyone, but we can't sit back and wait for those same people to finally plunge the proverbial knife with the fatal blow as they stab Mayor Segarra in the back.

I'm not going to get into specific names here because I think Mayor Segarra is fully aware of who needs to go.

Sending these mixed messages though is confusing, and in some cases the silence is also confusing. Eddie Perez is hired by a non-profit receiving major funding from the City of Hartford.....silence....nothing said. No comment from the Mayor, no comment from the Council. Former Corporation Counsel John Rose gets a job with a law firm he paid almost a half million dollars to in the last couple years.....silence....nothing said.No comment from the Mayor, no comment from the Council.

Former Chief of Staff to former Mayor Perez gets a $58,000 lobbying contract as part of a deal with the Hartford Public Schools.....silence....nothing said. No comment from the Mayor, no comment from the Council.

In my conversation Saturday with Mayor Segarra, he said that the money had already been approved for the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition and there was nothing they could do. I strongly disagree. A clear, unambiguous statement from the Mayor needs to set the tone. I would even be happy to allow the Mayor to "cut and paste" this into a press release, not that anyone pays any attention to press releases coming out of the Mayor's Office due to obvious reasons(speaking of backstabbing and undermining by Perez loyalists).

"The funds were already appropriated to the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition for this year, but as Mayor of Hartford I have to say I am extremely disappointed in the decision to hire someone who left Hartford City Hall in disgrace after his conviction on felony charges resulting from a corruption investigation. The people of Hartford deserve to know that their tax dollars are being spent responsibly by any organization receiving those funds. Although our hands are tied to do anything now, rest assured that future funding requests from any organization will be scrutinized to make sure they are being used properly and in a means beyond reproach"

That seems pretty simple, doesn't it? The tone is set, the message is clear and the residents of Hartford are getting what they expect from our Mayor.

To praise a convicted felon is wrong and sets back any progress being made. Please , lets move on and start setting a clear tone that all of the good deeds someone may have done do not erase the corruption and damage brought to the people of Hartford.

Feel free to copy this and send it to all of the Council members, they have voices also that they need to start using.

23 comments:

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Pedro Hugged Perez at this meeting and praised him? WTF....this is awful.One of the reasons why Hartford is in dire straits is because of the desperate need of elected politicians to be liked...they hug everyone and become "enablers" of corruption.Look at the evidence...these political leeches leave city hall and yet find their way to city funded non profits or some other group funded in whole or in part by the City and once again suck the financial lifeblood out of the City.Check out the new jobs of Perez,Rose and Hennessey....and watch Susan McMullen become the new director of Hartford 2000.

Hank said...

F.Y. I. Ummm, hmmm, this is the way a city grant approval/appropriation works: An agency submits an application/funding request to the responsible city dept usually via an RFP. City dept staff review/score/rank/recommend or not recommend agency for funding. Mayor may accept dept's recommendation and/or deny/modify it. Mayor's recommendation then goes to council for vote. Council in turn may accept Mayor's recommendation and/or deny/modify it. Any final allocation to the agency is adopted by Council through a resolution. The resolution is certified by the town clerk's office and then sent to the responsible city dept, e.g., HHS, DPW, Dev Serv, etc. The responsible city dept then prepares a funding agreement/contract with the agency which must include a scope of service/project AND a line item budget/approved use of funds.

So, unless the agency told the responsible city dept that they were going to hire a consultant and that service was incorporated into in the scope/budget section of the contract, then the agency has breached the contract and the city has the right to terminate the contract. So, for Segarra to say basically that the funds were already approved is a lazy half backed answer and quite frankly a frightening answer from an attorney who should be welll versed in contract law.

Another potentioal violation of the contract would be the "procurement" section. That is, even if the consultant were part of the scope/budget, the agency has to show that it has complied with the city's procurement process by letting an RFQ for said consultant. If the grant funds originate from the state and/or fed, then the agency also has to comply with those procurement processes as well.

So, Kevin, should you be looking for some homework, may I suggest you FOIA a copy of each of CARC's applications, award letters, and contracts for ALL city funding sources. You could then refer the case to the state or the fed depending upon where the grant funds come from. The city in most cases, unless the funds are city "general funds", acts merely as a "pass through" of other state/federal funds to the community agencies.

Anonymous said...

I agree Bruce. If Pedro just hugged Eddie and everything else he was doing was solid we could write it off the hug as him just being polite. However, with Eddie, Rose and Hennessey in new city linked jobs and the lack of cleansing of Perez sponsored employees Pedro is losing my trust fast. I had high hopes for him too.

My first flag was when Eddie was still in court and he worked himself into the Council President seat so he could be in line for Mayor when Eddie was found guilty (I think Ritter was supposed to be next?). Pedro wanted to be Mayor with that move yet he was on the news saying how he didn't expect this and got tossed into being Mayor and such. Bullsh*t!

When I first started following Kevin's blog I would thing that the people who posted stuff like "The State needs to take over Hartford" or "Everyone needs to be voted out so we can start over" were radical and crazy. Not any more, now I'm starting to believe them.

Anonymous said...

Brookman, Exploited Rubber Stain,

Whatsup-WTF, ya two fools must have a Fecal Attraction to Perez?

Get a FKG life, have sex, read a book, do something.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Mr or Ms Anonymous 8:59PM

No, you appear to have a "fecal attraction" to remaining anonymous for lack of cojones.Try growing a set...read a book..get a life...do something you can be proud of for once.

Anonymous said...

As long as the mayor is not willing or able to clean house then everything else is window dressing. Pedro is no fool. He known that he feeds at the same trough as Perez. He is not going to upset the apple cart.BUT..he can promise lots of "free"(free to him) services paid by the taxpayer. After all he didn't promise to get rid of corruption in Hartford. He only promised to get "free" services.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Mr or Ms Anonymous of 11:04 AM

What "same trough" does Pedro feed at ? All he gets is a salary for Mayor..at I might add, probably far less then he was making as a lawyer in private practice.Nor do I recall any of Pedro's friends receiving any city work or contracts since he became Mayor in late June.Your shot at him is unfair and unwarranted.

While I am not happy that Pedro presently remains silent on some of the old Perez cronies who have found their way back to the city trough,I personally believe that Pedro make his feelings known about it when he considers the time proper to do so.

Manny Shehwitz said...

"Nor do I recall any of Pedro's friends receiving any city work"

Are you serious? How about:

• His former executive asst getting an assistant town clerk position only a week after the swearing-in supposedly after some bogus job search by the town clerk.

• His asst's partner who got paid to "intern" with the council towards the tail end of President Segarra's reign suddenly got a nice full time job also in the clerks office.

• Double dipper Saundra Key Borges as Corp Council and her own exec asst are long time city people with full time pension coming back to fee off the trough.

• Two recent appointments, Angel Arce and Marilyn Rosetti to the Hartford Housing Authority.

do we need to say more? Bruce, at some point you have to admit that you have absolutely no clue of what's happening in City Hall. You need to take up a new hobby.

Anonymous said...

His Executive Assistant Lazu working at Town Clerk is a joke. He is still performing work for him. You need to FOI all employee new hires and promotions from 6/1/2010 to present.

peter brush said...

His Executive Assistant Lazu...
-----------------------------------
Are we talking about Edward Lazu? If not, can one of you with such impressive,seemingly comprehensive, knowledge of the personnel arrangements at 950 Main tell me if Ed is still on our payroll. If so, I'd like the ethics guys to give him the same sort of spanking Councilperson Airey-Wilson deserves.
-----------------------------------
Edward Lazu, a city employee also tied up in the corruption investigation, for accelerated rehabilitation. Lazu was charged with receiving a bribe, forgery and conspiracy to commit tampering with physical evidence in connection with trading favorable treatment toward city contractor Carlos Costa for a new driveway at his Hartford home.

Chris said...

Peter:

Ed Lazu has a brother, Sixto Lazu. Sixto is the one employed in the Town Clerk's office.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Mr Manny Shehwitz...

Thank you for your answer and suggestion that I take up another hobby.However if Mr Arce and Ms Rosetti were appointed to the Housing Authority please inform us how these appointments are "feeding at the trough"?How much money do Ms Roisetti and Mr Arce get for these appointments?

Ive been told by folks at city hall that Mr Lazu's transfer was in the works before Segarra became Mayor.

As to Sandy Borges,the City Charter demands that someone hold the position, who is an Attorney living in Hartford and in practice at least 10 years. What is wrong with appointing her ? She has trememdous experience in city hall doesnt she ? Can you name anything she has done wrong since her appointment ?

Tell us more Manny or find another outlet or hobby.

Anonymous said...

Bruce,

Off the top of my head... Sandy has allowed the appeal of Officer Murtha's lawsuit. Bad choice, even John Rose, who's a horrible lawyer, recommended they settle the case. So why did she appeal this case? Interestingly enough the appeal process was contracted to a law firm who's partner used to work for Hartford and probably Sandy. You can read the specifics on Kevon's blog. ( It was posted about a week ago)

Anonymous said...

What "same trough" does Pedro feed at ?
====================================
Bruce,

I am sorry your bubble is beginning to burst. But political trough is more than just your "pay check". You said : "they hug everyone and become "enablers" of corruption"

You think he did it because he wants to be liked. I think he does it because he is smarter than you give him credit for. He is not going to upset the apple cart for himself.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Mr or Ms Anonymous of 12:43 PM

We dont know what the motivation for the appeal is, other then the usual motivation is some credible appealable issue showing up at the trial level.I know as Ive appealed cases in which I tried.

Perhaps Sandy and her lawyers found something within the trial record that gives them good reason to appeal? If the appeal was sustained, the issue would then go back to the trial court where the City and its lawyers would have better leverage to attempt to settle the case.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Mr or Ms Anonymous 7:33 PM

Politicians are notorius for having a psychological need to be "liked".I'd rather believe that Pedro hugged Perez out of a sense of wanting to be liked and empathy possibly for Perez's situation,rather then out of some darker motive, in which he is perceived as an enabler or worse.

BTW what "applecart" for hmself does he not want to "upset" ? Your comment made no sense to me as I am aware that Pedro was making far more money then he gets as Mayor.Pedro in fact is losing alot of money a year by being Mayor.The other thing is,Pedro was doing a specialized area of the law called personal injury with some domestic and family law as well and the folks that you allege he is "helping" could never help him in those areas,should he decide to resign or leave as Mayor and go back to private practice.

Your assertion of some dark motive by Pedro is ridiculous to me unless you furnish us some real evidence and post your name like I and others do...put up or shut up.

Anonymous said...

rather then out of some darker motive, in which he is perceived as an enabler or worse.
====================================
Bruce:
YOU SAID he was acting as an enabler!!

You seem to be arguing against yourself or early signs of dementia.

You keep bringing up money as the only motive. Political ambitions don't always follow money.

I am not suggesting the mayor is a criminal or evil. I am only pointing out that he is smarter than you think about his own self-interest.

Name is irrelevant. You seem to suffer from too huge an ego. Perhaps that is why you DO mention your name.

Instead of getting angry try thinking.

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Mr or Ms Anonymous of 9:13 PM

Read what i wrote carefully as I never said Pedro was an enabler.We do not know what his motivation was for hugging Perez...nor am I arguing against myself.

Anonymous said...

"...they hug everyone and become "enablers" of corruption"
=====================================

Your words Bruce.

Anonymous said...

To Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous:

Your comments about Rub on Stain are to the point. If he worked on his "job" as much as tried to be a politician he probably would not be having complaints filed against him so much. He has no life look at him, Its blah, blah, blah and eating.

He is a want to be Politician and talks out of his butt cheeks.

He will kiss butt as long as it makes him look good or sound good (which nothing can do that)in short he talks in circles and even constantly seems to change sides of the fence if it means getting anyones approval. He also has conversations with himself since nobody will listen to him. He asks and answers his own questions.

If he knew anything he would know its not just Perez that makes Hartford a Corrupt place, but the police, the Judges, the DIRTY lawyers, and the Politicians. Get rid of the filth and start over, this would be the only way to clean house.

Anonymous said...

If he knew anything he would know its not just Perez that makes Hartford a Corrupt place
=====================================
Agreed. I wonder if the Mayor had hugged a felon other than Perez, would Kevin and Rubenstein have complained? Probably not. This title of this site should be changed to"
I hate Perez. Everyone else is OK, unless they do something involving Perez."

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Anonymous,

It is very easy to start your own blog if you would like to support Eddie Perez and his crooked activities.

Unless you are willing to admit the damage Perez has done to Hartford and its people you are blind to the real issues facing Hartford.

I could care less about who the Mayor hugs. The context that it is done in is what bothers me. To embrace Perez like some sort of hero and then give a speech praising him is wrong and it sends the wrong message that we are fed up with corruption and going to change .

Praising Eddie Perez for building the Board of Education is about as meaningful as praising Hector Robles for doing a great job directing traffic at construction sites. Both might have been good on the face value, but the underlying criminal activity can not be ignored.

Eddie will need plenty of hugs as he heads off to prison and I'm sure Mayor Segarra can offer support then also.

Anonymous said...

It is very easy to start your own blog if you would like to support Eddie Perez and his crooked activities.
===================================
You are missing the mark. The point is not to support Perez. He did the crime and he is going to do the time.
The point is what you alluded to already:
"I have been accused of being over protective of Mayor Pedro Segarra"

Maybe that is because you have been over protective.

Why didn't he clean house?