This is another one from the "You can't make this stuff up file".
Apparently according to the resolution passed on August 23, 2010 by the Hartford Court of Common Council, Councilman Alexander Aponte was appointed only until January 1, 2011. According to legal sources , even though it most likely was a typographical error, once the resolution is certified by the City Clerk, the exact wording becomes official.
The document was certified and Aponte's term is now done as of January 1, 2011 according to the official certified resolution. A copy of the resolution is attached below. It seems that legally the only way to correct the mistake will be to "re-vote" Aponte back onto the Council.
That could prove to be an interesting task though since a lot has changed since the original Council vote and Aponte's appointment. First up is the matter of how Aponte got his five votes.
If you recall from other posts here, Aponte got the fifth vote he needed from some old fashioned "horse trading". The night before the vote, Councilwoman rJo Winch had stated that she would never vote for Aponte to be appointed. Less than 24 hours later, Winch changed her opinion, voted for Aponte to join the Council and the Aponte in turn voted for Winch to become Council President.
Winch would have never become Council President without Aponte's vote. Nowthat she has her position, it will be interesting how she proceeds now that all bets are off and she is not obligated to Aponte.
Another critical piece is that at least three of the Council members at the time of the vote felt deceived by Aponte. At the time of the vote, myself and others had raised the issue of a Federal Investigation involving Aponte for Food Stamp fraud as well as other issues. Aponte denied any knowledge or involvement in the investigation when asked by Council members prior to the vote. That turned out not to be truthful when documents released and an article in the Hartford Courant showed a rather deceptive case against Aponte.
This could all be very interesting to watch as this plays out for Aponte's next shot at getting voted onto the Council.
UPDATE 4:40pm:
I had originally called City Clerk John Bazzano to see how this matter was being handled. He called back at 4:35PM and said that the matter was "being corrected". I asked how and he stated that his staff had told him that "Certified Resolutions" had been corrected in the past. I asked for a specific instance and the legality of doing that. Bazzano said that he was told by "people in his office" that it had been done before and he didn't think it was a big deal. He also stated that the previous corrections were done before his time so he couldn't give me any specifics.
He further stated that he believes the mistake was noticed at the time of the meeting, but for whatever reason it was never corrected. Bazzano stated that he was waitng for a video copy of the meeting from Public Access to verify what happened. I asked if that meant the matter was corrected and he replied "not yet, not until we get the tape".
Requests for comment from Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee-Borges and Aponte will be posted if and when they are recieved.
Aponte Resolution
TO READ THE OFFICIAL COMPLAINT REGARDING APONTE'S FRAUD AND MALPRACTICE ALLEGATIONS, CLICK BELOW
APONTE MALPRACTICE -FRAUD COMPLAINT
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12 comments:
Sorry to burst your bubble. The Town Clerk has officially ruled the date as a typo since the resolution clearly states that the appointment is to fill out the remainder of Pedro Segarra's term which expires at the end of 2011. But it was a fun couple hours at the City Council offices I'm sure.
Be that as it may, why wasnt the "typo" discovered when such a resolution has to go thru so many channels ?
Gigi,
You haven't burst my bubble at all. Just because someone in City Hall says "fix it" doesn't mean it is legal or proper. None of the "fixers" have been able to provide me with any procedure or statute that gives them the authority to just "fix" a certified document or prior instances where it was done.
At least three attorneys and one former Councilperson have all said that just "fixing" a certified document is not proper. If it was a typo, the time to fix it was clearly the night of the meeting.
Stay tuned
Kevin, you need to ask the Lazu #1 or Lazu #2 how to handle it, they both work for the City.
Kevin,
I hate to interrupt a good tempest in a teapot, but when in doubt, read the directions.
Chapter III, Section 4(c)(3) of the charter provides:
(3) Filling Vacancies in Any Elected Office. Subject to the provisions of
applicable provisions of the General Statutes (C.G.S. §9-221) governing the filling of
vacancies in municipal office, in the event a vacancy shall occur in any elective office (with
the exception of Mayor, which is addressed in §4(b)(3) of Chapter IV of this Charter and the
Board of Education as set forth in §5(c) of Chapter IX of this Charter) the Council shall fill
any such vacancy by appointment until the next regularly scheduled municipal general
election; or, if such election is not permitted by the General Statutes, for the remainder of the
term of office. The vacancy filled by election shall be for the remainder of the term of office.
The Council didn't have any more authority to fill the vacancy with an appointment that lasted only until January 1 than it would have had to say the appointment would last until 2020. A court should consider the termination date surplusage and of no effect.
Kevin: Typos never stand up in the court of last resort. Why don't you work on what your sources say about who is quietly behind both the "other" latino mayoral candidate as well as the strongest announced contender to Pedro? Wouldn't that be a story if they were one and the same...and is it just coincidence that Eddie's rJo wants Eddie's Sean Arena on council, while making subtle waves, along with Sean's honorable state rep, about Pedro's handling of city hall? Connect the dots for us, yo.
aaaaaaand this marks the final "scoop" provided to Kevin via a certain employee with initials "AC". It is as useless and inconsequential as her career at the City has been and will be. Talk about a waste of taxpayer money.
Dear Anonymous 11:32 PM:
My initials are not "AC", I've never worked in City Hall, and I can relate to the sensitive nature of a briss.
Nice try.
Mr. 11:28 PM
Mr. 11:28pm,
I think Mr. 11:32 was referring to the overall "scoop" of the original post regarding Aponte.
It doesnt really matter wether Pedro or Kelvin becames Mayor,Pedro is running a corrupt enterprise in city hall and so would roldan if he became mayor.The only difference between Pedro and Kelvin is which set of corrupt insiders between them gets city work,money and contracts.The citizens of hartford are ill served by such corruption and incompetance.
Will it ever end? Kevin, you are correct, "You can't make this stuff up."
This City becomes more of a joke as the days pass.
It is apparent there are only a few people running the City, each one with an agenda and the lust for power.
Citizens of Hartford Unite, It's time to take control of City Hall. Otherwise the State will.
Notice how quiet Kevin gets every time someone criticizes Pedro.di
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