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Thursday, February 24, 2011

HOW DO YOU SAY HYPOCRITE IN MANDARIN CHINESE?

KELVIN ROLDAN, PICTURED ON THE RIGHT

Hartford Schools employee, bonus recipient and 4th District State Representative Kelvin Roldan could probably answer that question and provide the translation without any difficulty.

Roldan, who rose up quickly through the Perez administration and until he landed his lucrative Board of Education job, was one of the behind the scenes henchman for Perez. Roldan, also known as the fictitious creator of Perez's phony e-mail address "willienunes@hartford.gov", has now seemed to have appointed himself as the champion of truth and justice.

Roldan once again chose to take a shot at Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra today, insinuating that Segarra made a special deal for a payment to Carlos Costa, the contractor in the Perez corruption case.The press release is below.Maybe Roldan needs to be reminded that he is where he is today because of his close allegiance to a corrupt official and a corrupt system that is still alive and well today.

Oh, and one more thing Kelvin to be spelled correctly "Segara" has two "r's"...S.E.G.A.R.R.A.

ROLDAN CALLS ON SEGARA TO RELEASE DOCUMENTS ON PAYMENT TO CONTRACTOR ACCUSED OF CORRUPTION
2/24/11
CONTACT: Kelvin Roldan 860-656-7918

Hartford State Representative Kelvin Roldan called on Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra today to release all city documents concerning the decision of his administration and the city council to authorize the payment of $485,000 to Carlos Costa and his firm USA Contractors in September of 2010. Costa was denied Accelerated Rehabilitation today in Hartford Superior Court for his alleged role in a bribery scheme involving the very contract the Segarra administration authorized additional payments for in 2010.

“Mayor Segara defended this $485,000 payment to Costa in September by stating it was in the financial interests of the city. However most citizens find it hard to understand why the Mayor and city council would think it was in the best interests of the city to pay nearly half a million dollars to a contractor accused of bribery, who was at the center of a scandal that seriously damaged the public trust in city government. Segarra should release all documents concerning this settlement to the public as immediately. Only through full disclosure of all documents, including e-mails, letters, briefs and memos will the public have the chance to make their own judgment about the soundness of the decision by the Mayor and council to authorize this nearly half a million dollar payment.” Roldan stated

THE MONEY TRAIL FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BONUSES

When the information on the $2.7 million in bonuses given out by the Adamowski administration was revealed here, I was given a 25 page list of names and dollar amounts. I thought the whole process was wrong, especially for a City facing the deficits and budget gaps we have on the horizon.

Still though, I fully understand that some of those receiving bonuses were very deserving of them, Principal's and teachers and those day to day educators working in the trenches to teach Hartford's students. After more research and more help from people familiar with the system, it seems like many of the bonuses were given to people who never set foot in a classroom but rather are Central Office bureaucrats.

Over 97 of the payments were made to paper pushers and individuals working out of the Board's Central Office at 960 Main Street. Some of those payments should definitely raise eyebrows as to why they deserved to get bonuses for just doing their jobs that they are being paid very well to do.

Here is the list below of the "big money" earners, you decide if you think this makes sense. Why the "media spokesperson"? Why the Superintendent and the Chief Fianacial Officer who are by all reports running the district into a deficit? Is the Director of Strategic Partnerships not content with almost a $130,000 a year?
BONUS AMOUNT
Dr Stephen Adamowski...Superintendent...................$16,412
Alexander Nardone......Chief Operating Officer..........$11,306
James Thompson.........Asst.Superintendent..............$12,327
Miriam MoralesTaylor...Asst.Superintendent..............$10,152
Christina Kishimoto....Asst.Superintendent..............$11,904
Paula Altieri..........Chief Financial Officer..........$10,955
Penny McCormack........Chief Academic Officer...........$11,300
Kelvin Roldan..........Director,Strategic Partnerships..$7,961
Jill Cutler-Hodgman....Chief Human Resources Officer....$10,152

Here is the entire list of the 97 Central Office recipients:CENTRAL OFFICE BONUSES

I REALLY THINK WE ARE MISSING THE POINT


The reactionary finger pointing that we have sadly become accustomed to in Hartford government is running forward at full speed. Was it Mayor Segarra showing that he does have a spine and standing up to the Board of Education that torpedoed the appointment of Dr. Kishimoto? Or was it Board President David McDonald proving that he doesn't have a spine by knuckling under to Segarra's demands?

The answer is probably quite simple, but I think we have lost sight of the real culprit. If Mayor Segarra expects us to believe that he first learned that the selection process was flawed just moments before the cheese and cracker platters were being delivered for Dr. Kishimoto's coronation, he really needs to rethink that. The talk in the community for weeks has been how Adamowski was hand picking his successor and if the Mayor wasn't privy to any of those conversations, he is drastically out of touch with his constituents.

The wrangling that went into the selection process and even the e-mails flying back and forth between parents, councilpeople and others painted a picture of a done deal for Kishimoto from day one.

The revelation of the $2.7 million dollars in bonuses revealed here a few weeks ago I'm sure didn't ease any tension between Segarra and Adamowski. The Mayor was actually forced into addressing the issue publicly after it was posted, even though I find his claims of ignorance to the process somewhat surprising.

The final straw though in the derailment of Kishimoto's appointment wasn't Segarra or McDonald. It was from the Trojan horse hiding within the Adamowski/Kishimoto inner circle. It was from one of their own loyal and faithful apostles of the Gospel of Perez, David Medina.

For those not familiar with the name David Medina, here is a quick education. David Medina is a former editor from the Hartford Courant. Medina was a member of the Courant's editorial board at the same time that the editorial board surprised many when they endorsed former Mayor, and now convicted felon, Eddie A. Perez for re-election in 2007. Even though Perez's home had been searched by State Inspectors and even though they were aware that a criminal investigation was in full gear, the Courant's Editorial Board endorsed the future felon Perez for re-election.

After that endorsement by the editors, it wasn't a huge surprise when one of the reported authors of the endorsement, David Medina, landed a $100,000 a year plus job as spokesperson for the Hartford School System. Actually his official title is "Director of External Communications".

From what I hear from most media people I speak with, former media people make terrible "spokespersons" or "external communicators". That seems to be true with the "former media person" in the Mayor's Office as well as the Board's choice of Medina. They both seem to have forgotten where they came from.

In Medina's case, boundaries and ethics seem to be foreign to him. That lack of boundaries on Medina's part was most likely the straw that broke the camel's back in the Kishimoto appointment.Not McDonald and most likely not Segarra either as the finger pointing would suggest.


On Tuesday, WNPR's Jeff Cohen reported on Medina's antics in his willingness to make phone calls and political arm twisting to garner support for Kishimoto's ascension to the Office of the Exalted Ruler at 960 Main Street. You can read Jeff's initial story here, and his follow-up story here

It seems that only after Jeff's story was posted that Mayor Segarra was forced to play his hand and step up and address the issue. The timing was highly suspicious and no matter what the Mayor's intentions were, it just looked like a political move to most peeple. And as you can tell, I am not a supporter of Kishimoto or Adamowski, but to eliminate the choice in the final hour is a showing of a total lack of respect for Dr. Kishimoto.

I do agree that a larger search is definitely in order.Did Mayor Segarra suddenly have some miraculous epiphany at lunch on Tuesday to call a hastily planned "media event" to derail the selection process that he had weeks to weigh in on? Who knows.

The one thing that makes me think it wasn't political on the Mayor's part or re-enforces that Segarra has terrible political advisors is this: If Segarra was actually interested in using the process for political gain, the smart choice would have been to support the only other candidate, Tim Sullivan. Sullivan's mother, Geraldine Sullivan, who also happens to be the sister of the late former Mayor Mike Peters, is still a political force to be reckoned with that can deliver votes.

Most people I have asked have told me that Tim Sullivan is a capable and qualified individual to be the Superintendent of Schools. Not all teachers support him because he apparently sided with Adamowski on the hotly contested issue of assigning seniority for teachers by individual schools rather than by district wide rankings. But even teachers that disagreed with his position on that issue agreed that he could be a good Superintendent.

My point is that if it was a political move, it would have been a no brainer for Segarra to push for Sullivan and most likely garner vote support for making the hometown kid and product of Hartford's Schools himself, the next Superintendent.

But then David Medina decided to throw all the boundaries and ethics away and let his fingers do the walking as he made his improper phone calls. And as anyone knows, apparently except for Medina, nothing in Hartford stays quiet. The word got out, the Mayor was forced to re-act, the Board and its new President had no backbone to stand up to the Mayor. The cheese and cracker platters and the fruit platters were assembled but left unused because the Kishimoto Coronation was cancelled.

And the rest is history, history as only Hartford can let it play out. And finally, for his role in the whole matter, David Medina has been "reprimanded" according to McDonald. Luckily for Medina, in most other places in the real world, Medina would have been terminated and escorted out of the building for unethical behavior like he showed here, especially when it ruined the appointment of his current boss's hand picked successor, embarrassed the Mayor and the Board of Education, a perfect trifecta.

Helen Ubinas also has written her column Thursday about the selection process,another blackeye for Hartford. Click here to read Helen's column

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

HARTFORD BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING CANCELLED....NO CORONATION TODAY

Apparently the pressure on the Board of Education is being ratcheted up and their meeting for today to announce the Coronation of Dr Kishimoto as the replacement to outgoing Superintendent Adamowski has been abruptly cancelled.

More on this later, but a hopefully legitimate search will now be announced by the Board, according to sources.

It sounds like the bonuses to Adamowski, Kishimoto, Roldan and Medina combined with Medina's improper lobbying and phone calls on Kishimoto's behalf might have backfired.

Monday, February 21, 2011

ANOTHER MAYORAL CONTENDER?

Numerous sources are telling me that Southend businessperson Paul Mozzicato is about to announce his run for Mayor. At a Southend small business group meeting last week, Mozzicato apparently informally announced to the group that he intends to enter the race for Hartford's next Mayor.

An official announcement is expected soon.

Mozzicato ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2007, losing out by a very small margin. Many think that Mozzicato's experience as a small business person in Hartford could play a key role in making retention and development of Hartford's small businesses a critical issue in the election.

EARNING HIS BONUS....ONE PHONE CALL AT A TIME


A couple weeks ago I posted about the $2.7million dollars in bonuses paid out by the Hartford Schools. I agree that some of the bonuses might be well deserved by some teachers and administrators, but it still seems to be poor timing by a school system running a budget deficit and potential layoffs of staff.

A few of the bonuses made no sense to me, especially the one paid to the Hartford Schools spokesperson David Medina for essentially doing his job that he is paid very well for.

This weekend though, the entire picture became clearer when Jeff Cohen reported on the shady behind the scene phone calls being made by Medina to influence people to support Dr. Kishimoto for the new Superintendent of Schools. To read Jeff Cohen's report, click here.

To anyone who has observed the selection process for the new Superintendent, it should be pretty clear that it wasn't about honest competition and selecting the best candidate. The process was clearly designed to select Adamowski's handpicked successor, Dr. Kishimoto.

Medina also has a vested interest in seeing Kishimoto picked to run Hartford's School system. Without her, Medina would most likely be on the unemployment line. Especially when it comes to keeping three teachers or getting rid of one spokesperson. Most superintendent's really interested in the children and their educations would choose the teachers first.