MAYOR SEGARRA, HOW IS THAT ENERGY "CZAR" WORKING OUT?

During the Perez Administration, and during a hiring freeze none the less, many of us were surprised to hear that former Mayor Perez had hired an "Energy Czar" to cut energy costs and usage by the City. The "Czar" was hired at a salary of close to $100,000 annually.

At the time many of the Council members seemed surprised by the hiring while other employees were being laid off. One of the members of the Council at the time who seemed helpless to prevent Perez's hiring of the "Czar" is actually now the Mayor himself. Yet, the "Czar" still remains. The only thing that remains is that his office has been moved out of the Mayor's Office.

Hopefully that move was done so that Mayor Segarra doesn't have to be reminded daily of the wasteful position of the "Energy Czar".

At the time of the original hiring, I had suggested that it might make more sense to hold a contest for all City employees and offer rewards to them for identifying waste in their Departments and buildings. A $50.00 gift card to a Hartford Restaurant or something along those lines would encourage their involvement.

The other side of the coin is who knows their buildings better than the people working in them everyday. They definitely know how to cut back better than someone in the Mayor's Office sitting looking at printouts and utility bills and waiting for the direct deposit of his paycheck.

This past week someone from the Department of Public Works called me and expressed their frustration that no one listens to their suggestions.Initially I wasn't sure where the call was going but I listened anyway since that is how this blog exists, by the info I receive from people on the inside of the system.

Once they started to explain their point, I was about ready to run out and get them a gift card for dinner at the Chowder Pot because it made so much sense.

This seems to be a no brainer, but when I explained it to someone at City Hall yesterday they once again accused me of applying logic to the situation, and that is apparently not the Hartford way.

Ok, here goes, let me know what you think. Apparently the City of Hartford has numerous buildings that are heated year round, even though no one uses them all winter. One example is the buildings above. The concession stand and the field house and locker rooms at Dillon Stadium are used Thankgiving Day for a high-school football game. The buildings are then closed up and not used again until April.

The buildings are heated the entire time. There are garages in Northwood/ Soldiers Field Cemetery, the North Main Street Cemetery and a DPW storage garage as well as several others that are heated year round, even though a couple of DPW employees have told me there is no need for it.

Probably one of the biggest energy wastes though is the heating process for the North End Senior Center. The Center is heated by the boiler from the old Burgdorf Health Center. Rather than install a separate heating system for the Senior's, the empty Health Center is kept heated to be able to heat the Senior Center. I know that reasoning is hard to follow, but it doesn't make any sense to me either.

With the cost of energy escalating, the DPW employee suggested it would make a lot more sense to "winterize" the buildings, the same as thousands of people with summer homes in Connesticut do.

I know, applying logic to City operations, but I think they still deserve the gift card for a common sense suggestion.