MORE PIECES TO THE LIEUTENANT DAILEY PUZZLE

I know many of you are loving the use of the "alternative means" to bring you documents here.

The document below is another such case. It involves the Lt. Ed Dailey investigation by Captain James Bernier. The whole matter has the potential to be another legal mess costing the City substantial amounts to settle.

Last week I posted some of the documents I obtained through "alternative means" and many of you were surprised by the "one-sidedness" of Bernier's report. Dailey's rebuttal to IAD Commander Lt. Rob Davis seemed to raise more questions than provide answers as to how Bernier chose to leave much of the information that would have helped Dailey out of his "investigation".

Dailey's rebuttal memo was submitted to Davis after the previous IAD Commander Lt. Neville Brooks was removed under another questionable decision that also has the potential to cost city taxpayers substantially to settle.

Now another document has been given to me by "alternative means". In April, I made an FOI request to the city for "any and all documents" related to the Lt. Dailey investigation to an incident that happened on Rockville Street. No document, not even one piece of paper was given to me responsive to my request.

Hearing's were finished today before the FOI Commission, and the more documents I receive through "alternative means" that are relative to my request, it becomes much clearer how wrong this whole matter is and it seems to make the Rudewicz report pale in comparison. It also seems to make it clear why the City and HPD did not want the documents anywhere near my hands to be able to read.

I doesn't take a lawyer or a Judge to read Lt. Tedeschi's memo and realize that the Dailey investigation conducted by Captain Bernier was the furthest thing from fair and unbiased. It could be characterized as a witch hunt. I think the big question for me is that if Bernier was willing to leave out much of the information that would have cleared Dailey, a fellow police officer, to what length would he go if he wanted to slant a case against an average citizen..

The major fact in Tedeschi's memo is that even though Bernier kept referring to the crime scene and the assault, witness statements led to a different conclusion. There was no assault according to two witnesses, Tillie and John Pittman. A report by Officer Caron stated that the Pittman's witnessed the alleged "assault" victim fall down their rear stairs after he was pounding on their rear door.

Tedeschi also interviewed John Pittman and was told the same version, yet the Caron report was not included in Captain Berniers report, which would have seemed to show that no crime had even taken place to start with. Tedeschi, as Department Advocate, further states in his memo that Dailey's actions do no rise to the level of the charges lodged against Dailey.

It really makes me question the integrity of some at HPD and to the extent that some will go to carry out personality conflicts and vendettas. It also raises the issue of how a document such as Tedeschi's memo can be in existence, with apparently no action being taken against the original author of what now seem, most likely, to be false allegations against Lt. Dailey.

A call to Captain Bernier earlier this evening for comment was not returned.

Tedeschi Advocate Memo Dailey

"IT'S NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL IT IS ON THE BLOG"

Apparently that was the word on Facebook today regarding the sudden retirement of Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts. And now for all of my blog readers, it is official , Chief Roberts is retiring effective December 31st 2011.

I think we all knew it was coming, one way or another. The Rudewicz Report was apparently submitted to the City on Monday and word is that Tuesday was not a pleasant day for the Chief at City Hall. Thursday was a little bit better, Chief Roberts won a set of golf clubs at the HPD Union Golf outing. That may have been an omen that it was time for retirement for DKR.

And now today Chief Roberts submitted his letter of retirement. We won't know what was in the Rudewicz Report until Mayor Segarra releases it under that policy of transparency we keep hearing about. I think it is safe to say though that the report had a lot to do with this retirement.

It really is unfortunate that we are at this point now. DKR came in at a time when we needed a strong Chief(not that there ever is a time you don't need a strong Chief). He was well accepted by just about every corner of the City. He had a personality that people could relate to, myself included. Even when we weren't on the best of terms, the Chief still took my calls and responded when needed.

He had a lot of potential, but that old management saying that "you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with" should have been painted on his office wall in 2 foot high letters to remind him everyday. Daryl surrounded himself with some that were clearly incompetent, some that were set on undermining him to get his job and some that just had no business being anywhere near the second floor.

The really sad part is that Chief Roberts knew it. We had a discussion a few months ago he readily acknowledged that he knew that some of those around him were undermining him regularly, yet he still kept them there.

There probably isn't enough space to list all of the poor decisions made by those around him, yet the Chief condoned them and allowed them to snowball. The Secore case, the Murtha case, the Brooks case, the Condon case, the Dailey case, the Foley case, the Pawtucket Street shooting matter and the list goes on. Several of these matters have already cost the City huge amounts and the potential is there for a lot more liability.

I recently had a somewhat heated, although respectable, discussion about things that were happening at HPD and I asked him to look at the facts in several of them. At one point Mayor Segarra looked at me and asked me "do you know why Chief Roberts still has a job?" , I said "no" and his response was "because of you". That was a shot, but he was right.

Shortly after Mayor Segarra took office last year, there was talk that he was going in a different direction for the leadership at HPD. I asked to meet with the Mayor and we set up a time to meet in his office. One of the things we discussed was the tenure of Chief Roberts. I asked the Mayor to give Chief Roberts a chance to prove himself without being under the control of our former felon Mayor Eddie Perez.

Eddie Perez kept Chief Roberts on a very short leash and in my opinion that kept DKR from being able to function and have a real impact on crime. Mayor Segarra made the decision to keep Chief Roberts on and I want to thank him for that, but I will admit now that it probably wasn't the best choice.

Myself, like many others, had high hopes for the Chief. Unfortunately we saw the opportunities squandered over the last year. Just the fact that the Governor and our Chief State's Attorney had to step in to create what will probably go down as one of the most effective crime fighting initiative in HPD history, the Shooting Task force, is troubling.

If Chief Roberts had surrounded himself with the right people, he would have had that initiative presented to him months ago. Instead vindictiveness and petty differences kept gun fighting ideas from moving forward when they were suggested, and I( know for a fact that they were suggested and funding was denied by the second floor brain trust

It is just sad to see an organization implode as we watch. I spoke with someone earlier today who expected the media to ask for a comment regarding the Chief's retirement. They didn't want to use that "canned" response we saw from the Mayor's press person with the usual accolades which any casual observer knows weren't true.

My advice was to say that in any organization there comes a time for change, new leadership and new direction. For HPD that time is now to begin building a once proud and admired organization.

Best of luck in your retirement Chief, I am still proud to say you are a friend. For the good of the organization the time is right, but if HPD is going to move forward, DKR's retirement is not the only one that needs to be submitted, And if they aren't submitted, I think Mayor Segarra knows what needs to be done.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS SET FOR JOHN O'CONNELL

John and his grandaughter Brigid on August 12, 2011


The funeral arrangements for John O'Connell have been set. The wake will be Friday from 4:00PM to 8:00PM at Sheehan Hillborn Breen Funeral Home located at 1084 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford. The funeral will be Saturday at 10 am from Saint Bridgett Church, directly across from the funeral home on New Britain Ave in the Elmwood section of West Hartford

ANOTHER MISTAKE FOR CHIEF TEALE

Sorry Charlie, not this time.

Chief Teale was apparently in the audience today at the "Regis and Kelly Show". At the end of the opening "chat host" segment they pick the number of a winning audience member for a prize. Teale mistakenly jumped up when the number was called, thinking he had heard his number. Sorry Charlie.

Chief Teale has a tendency to take "gifts" as the transcripts in the Nolan hearings proved, but alas Chief, this time it was not meant to be. I guess some people verify what they are doing before they hand over the bag of cash, and in this case Teale was not the lucky recipient. But look at the bright side Charlie, at least you didn't have to donate this "gift" to charity after you got caught.

Sorry Charlie, maybe next time. You really can't make this stuff up.

MAYBE THE TAXES ARE TOO HIGH ?

Jeff Cohen over at WNPR is still following the life and times of Eddie Perez. It seems that the house that will potentially land Perez in jail isn't moving any time fast. Cohen is reporting that the price has dropped from $350,000 to $325,000 to now $300,000. Maybe Hartfords mill rate which was raised consistently by Perez every year of his administration could be keeping buyers away.

Click here to check out the listing for Casa Perez You can see a few photo's of the Dark Emperor granite counter tops and the steam shower that have Perez headed for his new home, courtesy of a Superior Court jury and the State of Connecticut

AN INVITE TO ALL RUNNERS AND WALKERS

The Farmington Police Department, in co-operation with Winding Trails in Farmington is sponsoring a 5 mile trail race and a 5K Walk/run event on Sunday, October 16, 2011. Details for the event and registration forms are in the PDF file below.

The event will benefit the "Wounded Warriors Project" and "Save Walton Pond". It sounds like something that can meet everyone's ability level whether you are a runner or looking for a picturesque walk on the 3.1 mile course, all to benefit two good causes

5krace

SAVE THE MONEY, DISBAND HARTFORD'S REPUBLICAN PARTY

Hartford has been a heavily Democratic city for many, many years. Essentially that has evolved into single party rule without any real dissenting voices. And now for those who still held to the hope that the Republican Party in Hartford would rise from the ashes once again, think again.

In recent years , the GOP in Hartford hasn't been known for making any tough choices. They remained silent throughout the Grand Jury corruption investigation into Eddie Perez. Not a word was uttered about corruption, Democrats, nothing. Part of that is probably because their own Republican Council Person, Veronica Airey-Wilson was neck deep in the scandal also.

I guess the big question for me is at what price was the deal cut to endorse the Democrats by Republican Town Chairperson Mike McGarry? McGarry who typically isn't known for his inclusiveness of minorities and gays, must now find himself in a strange position of doing exactly that. McGarry has apparently decided to endorse the openly gay Democrat and at least part of the minority representatives on the Council slate. For some reason, McGarry's endorsement does not include Shawn Wooden, Raul deJesus or David McDonald

Is it possible McGarry has seen the light and is now willing to accept all people regardless of their sexual orientation or race? Don't count on it. McGarry has apparently been bragging since primary day that he has cut a deal "with the Dem's".

And why is that? Most likely because McGarry has realized that under his leadership as Town Chair, he has allowed the Republican Party in Hartford to slide into oblivion. The GOP in Hartford probably has less than 1,700 Republican's of which maybe 500 are "prime", or regular voters who turn out to vote. McGarry knows that he doesn't even have the numbers in his own party to get a Councilperson elected.

Combine that with the "Working Families Party" operation and McGarry should rightfully be running scared. Like it or not, the "WFP" has an operation behind it, a formidable operation at that. While the GOP can just barely maintain the minimum balance in their Town Committee checking account, the WFP is well financed, much of it Union money, and they know how to run effective grassroots campaigns.

McGarry apparently cut his deal with the Democrats to try to ensure 3,000 votes for his candidates who are in real jeopardy of becoming extinct on the Council if the WFP comes on strong, as I'm sure they intend to do.

Although this last ditch effort by McGarry to save his slate raises questions, the even bigger question is to what level do these endorsements further the ideals of the Republican Party. The answer is probably none at all.

The Republican Party is typically about, or at least in places other than Hartford it is about, smaller government, reduced government spending, reducing taxes and small business support. The track record in Hartford of those McGarry is supporting and endorsing is the exact opposite. Under those he has chosen to endorse, Hartford has seen its mill rate more than double since 1999, city spending has increased over $150,000,000 annually.Numerous small businesses have been forced out of business by exorbitant taxes.

These actions have all been under the "leadership" of those very same people the Republicans are now endorsing. These are the actions of a desperate politician, Mike McGarry, and not the actions of anyone that wants to see Hartford prosper and see its residents and businesses benefit. Pure and simple it is a move by McGarry to save his own Republican "skin" by trying to undermine the potential of the WFP coming on strong in November, as well as my "independent" candidacy for Council.

I have called several members of the Hartford Republican Town Committee, and none of them know how the endorsements came about. From what several sources have told me McGarry claims to have cut the deal on primary day with Democratic Town Committee Chairperson Jean Holloway. McGarry has apparently told at least one of the "sources" that the deal was orchestrated on primary day and McGarry and Holloway committed to working together to get the Republicans elected.

I spoke with Jean Holloway, the Hartford DTC Chair, and she wouldn't deny the deal was made. She suggested that I contact McGarry to sit down and discuss the conversation that they had. She did say though "when you find those 3,000 votes, let me know and we can go look for them together".

It has to make most people wonder why the Republican's would even consider cutting such a deal, and was it one person or was the Republican Town Committee actually involved. From what I am hearing now, it seems like it was more the wheeling and dealing of McGarry. I would find it hard to believe that the Republican's can actually be supportive of the Democratic candidates when the direction of the two parties is so different.

The opportunity to rebuild the Republican Party is there, with some forward thinking leadership. It doesn't need to be a party of dinosaurs in Hartford. And no matter what party anyone belongs to, no one is well served by single party rule. It essentially ends any political debate when only one strong party has a voice and the minority party rolls over and plays dead.

It will be interesting to see if the new leadership at Connecticut Republican State Central is interested in re-gaining a voice in Connecticut's Capitol city, or is business as usual acceptable to them?

Much more to come on this subject.

ANOTHER LOSS FOR HARTFORD, JOHN O'CONNELL PASSES

Former Hartford City Councilman John O'Connell passed away this morning at Hartford Hospital. No arrangements have been made as of this time.

According to John's wife Carol, John was re-admitted to Hartford Hospital last night and passed away this morning in the Intensive Care Unit surrounded by his wife, his son Jay and Jay's wife Erica.

John was, in my opinion, the last strong Councilperson on the Hartford City Council in recent years. John was known as the City budget "guru" and even after he left the council he was often called on for budget advice. John was always willing to help or answer questions from anyone, no matter what their political affiliation.

John was on the Council during a period when coalitions were built to get things done and he loved to tell the stories of the various alliances combining all parties to gain the majority vote. In true Irish form, John could tell stories like no one else.

John and Carol came to my home Memorial Day weekend for a cookout and John had everyone enthralled with his stories of being on Council during the Peter's years and the way they accomplished tax cuts> He even had some great stories from behind the scenes that probably aren't suitable for posting here about the actions of some other Council people and politicians.

Although John was a die-hard Republican, he lived for the "democratic" process. He lived his Republican ideals everyday, but he was at his best when it came to using democracy to get things. Whether that was a robust debate, some might have stronger terms for it, John was never one to back down from a challenge when it came to a question of right or wrong. "Robert's Rules of Order" were his best friend, although he willingly admitted at times he would stretch them to move his point along.

John takes a piece of Hartford's history with him in his passing, but he also added an awful lot to Hartford's history through his service to our community. John's presence in a room sometimes was overwhelming, especially if that room was the Hartford City Council Chambers. Whether he was sitting on the dais or in the audience after his term expired, John had no problem letting people know what he thought.

Although John's health had been failing in recent years, mentally he remained strong and was always willing to offer advice to anyone willing to ask for it or listen. In recent months John and his wife were blessed with their firstborn grandchild, Bridgette born to Jay and Erica and John couldn't have been a more proud grandfather.

No arrangements have been made yet, but I will try to post them here when available. In the mean time feel free to post any memories of John or comments here.

LET'S SEE HOW THAT SEGARRA TRANSPARENCY WORKS

The Rudewicz Report was apparently delivered to the City of Hartford today according to several sources. Now the real test of transparency will begin, will the public be allowed to see the report?

Only time will tell, but since the report was funded with taxpayers money, it seems like we should be able to review the report in its entirety, good, bad or ugly.

What do you think?

FINALLY SOMETHING FROM HPD THAT MAKES SENSE

Word is that the shooting task force started by Governor Malloy and Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane has been continued through the fall of 2012.

The numbers alone for the results being achieved by the taskforce are impressive. For the last 28 day period there have been 6 people struck by gunfire, compared to 27 victims for the same period last year. Several agencies and suburban towns are part of the taskforce in addition to HPD

The homicide numbers seem to have leveled off since the task force started, as opposed to the drastic rise we saw for the first half of the year.

Two more Hartford Police Officers will be assigned to the task force as of Sunday, a Lieutenant and a Sergeant will be re-assigned. They are being assigned to a specific portion of the task force, but I have been asked not to provide details for a few weeks. Suffice it to say, these latest additions will most likely add some more teeth to the taskforce and add even more to the operation and success of the group.

Now, if the Courts will add some serious jail time for the arrests made by the taskforce, it should continue to affect the Hartford region's gun violence as well as seeming to put a dent in the drug trade also.

RELUCTANTLY , I THINK NOW I CAN SAY "I TOLD YOU SO"

I think now I can say my predictions are right, the Hartford Courant is reporting that the Market at Hartford 21 has closed....temporarily supposedly. The Courant's story can be found here

Here is my post from last week about the potential closing.
It was interesting to note in the Courant's article that apparently the City of Hartford gave the Market at Hartford 21 an additional $100,000 dollars after they opened and began to struggle. That is in addition to the $300,000 they were originally given.

I would imagine many of Hartford's struggling businesses that have been here for years would like to know where the line forms for them to get their $100,000 checks.