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.