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Friday, August 31, 2012

HPD INTERNAL AFFAIRS SINKS ITS CLAWS INTO LOBSTER THEFT INVESTIGATION

HPD sources have confirmed that a veteran HPD Officer is finding herself in hot water over alleged theft of lobsters and other seafood from the New Park Avenue Stop and Shop. Officer Natoya Guthrie is apparently being investigated for the theft of the lobsters while using the self checkout line recently at the store.

 The incident was apparently observed by Store security personnel and referred to a Hartford Police Officer that was working a private job as part of the store's security efforts. Sources have also confirmed that it is believed that this was not the first time Guthrie used the scheme at the self checkout register.

 A review of Guthrie's shopping records and  Stop and Shop customer card and related seafood purchases caused Stop and Shop to review other video that apparently uncovered other instances. The Hartford Police Internal Affairs Division is working hard to crack the case. In the meantime Officer Guthrie may be transferred to the HPD Marine Unit Dive Team to acquire her seafood direct from the sea

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

ANOTHER HARTFORD FIREFIGHTER ARRESTED

Sources tonight are confirming the arrest of another Hartford Firefighter by Law enforcement officials in Rhode Island. Firefighter Rory Wentworth of Engine 11 on Sisson Avenue was apparently arrested after assaulting another Hartford firefighter Patrick Phelan of Engine 8 on Park Street. Sources have confirmed that Wentworth was arrested on felony assault charges after causing serious injuries to Phelan during the assault. No further details are available at this point or on Wentworth's status with the Hartford Fire Department. Hartford Firefighter Rafael Diaz who was arrested on numerous drug charges on August 2, 2012, was also in Court yesterday and his case was continued to October 3, 2012. You can read more on Diaz here Unfortunately thi behavior is not limited to the Fire department. Sources have also confirmed that two Hartford Police officers are facing possible ciminal actiom related to their behavior. One for possible larceny Charges and another for mishandling of evidence. More on those two cases as information develops.

SOMETHING STINKS

Is history about to repeat itself in Hartford. Is it time for another grand Jury to look at Hartford's development deals being cooked up at City Hall. The answer might quite possibly be yes.

While the appeal is still in the works for former Mayor Eddie Perez's conviction on corruption charges, another land deal is starting to raise some eyebrow's . We  may just be looking at our next "Butt Ugly Building" in the making.

 On July 25, 2012 I posted about the difficulties of the Hartford Police Credit Union to close on a property that they wanted to purchase for the new home of the Hartford Police Federal Credit Union. You can read that post here.

It didn't seem to make sense that the City would place obstacles in the way of the land purchase, considering that the Police Credit Union would be purchasing essentially an abandoned property, investing several hundred thousand dollars in its rehab and returning a non producing asset to the City' tax rolls.

But eventually the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place as people came forward with information. It seems that Hartford's COO David Panagore had come up with a plan to physically move the Credit Union building to a property at 1391 Main Street. According to sources, Panagore had told them that there was "federal" money available for the move. That has since proven not to be the case and there is no money to move the building  unless funded by Hartford's Taxpayer's.

Now the million dollar question, actually make that the half a million dollar question, $500,000 to be exact. Why the need to move the property? Well that becomes somewhat clearer as you dig down deeper to find out who all the players in the deal are. It may be a coincidence, but since I have begun digging into this and obtaining documents, at least two of the key players are no longer City of Hartford employees, David Panagore has submitted his resignation and Roger O'Brien was officially terminated today after a 7 day suspension.

After tracking down the ownership, it still is not clear who the actual owner is, but t appears that it is a Texas Corporation represented by Hartford Attorney, political operative and former Councilman John Kennelly. TLC Properties INC is listed by Dun and Bradstreet as both a Louisiana Corporation formed in August of 1996 and a Texas Corporation also formed in August of 1996. The president and CEO is Kevin P.Reilly. Reilly is also listed on numerous filings as the President and CEO of Lamar Advertising.
According to the City of Hartford's Assessor's Office the Fair market value of the property is listed at $164,700 with an annual assessment of $115,290 . The land value according to the Assessor is $53,060.

On June 22,2012 the License and Inspection Department of the City of Hartford served the property owners and their Attorney John B. Kennelly with a "Order to Abate" which essentially meant they condemned the property, claiming that the building "is in imminent danger of failure" The billboard above the property, owned by Lamar Advertising, was immediately removed .

On June 20, 2012, Kennelly apparently applied for a demolition permit to tear the building down. That has not been completed as of this date, but a demolition contractor from Milford is listed on the permit application.

Now the interesting part. Several sources at City Hall have called telling me that there is an offer being prepared by the City to purchase the property for $500,000. A property that has been condemned and a property that the assessor says the land is assessed at $53,060 may now be purchased by the City for ten times that value. The big question is why. Is this another deal like the Butt Ugly Building where Mayor Perez was quoted in Grand Jury testimony as saying"we need to take care of Abe". referring to politico Abe Giles. Should we now list another political operatives name who needs to be "taken care" of at the taxpayers expense?

And for what, to move an abandoned building that sits perfectly fine on the lot it was built on . And a property that the HPD Credit Union was more than willing to purchase at $170,000 with no additional expenses to the taxpayers of Hartford?

As a loophole to gathering information, pending real estate transactions and negotiations are exempt from disclosure under Freedom Of Information statutes in Connecticut. So none of this would be public until after the taxpayers cut a check.

Requests for comment from TLC Properties and Lamar Advertising were not returned. Attorney Kennelly did return a voicemail message stating that he was busy.
1391 Main Assessor Record 1391 Main Condemnation Order

OLGA IS NOT HAPPY

Apparently James Spallone from the Secretary of the States Office sent an e-mail to every election official in the State with information regarding an audit of election results to be conducted in the Secretary's Office tomorrow. The e-mail appeared to have probably well over a thousand e-mail addresses that it was sent to.The text of that e-mail is below

:Dear Election Administrators,

I wrote last week to inform you that we have scheduled the post-election audit for Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 11 a.m. in our Capitol office.  Unfortunately, we just discovered that due to a technological glitch, many of you did not receive that message.  I apologize for that.

Some of you may have heard that one of the candidates from the 5th Assembly District (including parts of Hartford and Windsor) has filed a complaint in Superior Court regarding the results of that district's Democratic primary.  Below is a link to an article from the Hartford Courant about the case, and attached is a copy of the complaint and summons.

http://articles.courant.com/2012-08-28/community/hc-5th-district-lawsuit-0829-20120828_1_mcgee-and-canty-absentee-ballots-election-officialsctmail
.ct.gov/OWA/redir.aspx?C=1ad50a031fbf4d0b9b9042c47376e3a0&URL=http%3a%2f%2farticles.courant.com%2f2012-08-28%2fcommunity%2fhc-5th-district-lawsuit-0829-20120828_1_mcgee-and-canty-absentee-ballots-election-officials>

If you are unable to open the attachment, please contact my assistant, Tina, at tina.prakash@ct.govctmail.ct.gov/OWA/redir.aspx?C=1ad50a031fbf4d0b9b9042c47376e3a0&URL=mailto%3atina.prakash%40ct.gov> or 860.509.6212.  She will be happy to fax a copy of the attachment to your office.

Sincerely,
James F. Spallone

Well, apparently Hartford's Democratic Registrar Olga Vazquez was not happy that her incompetence was once again being highlighted to her peers and she took offense to the e-mail. Vazquez's reply to Spallone is below :

Mr. Spallone,

Please, explain; what is the OBJECTIVE to your email addressed to all Election Officials in reference to McGee lawsuit. I can clearly see
Your objective and explaining due to a technological glitch I get, but I do not get it when you forward such email to all Election Administrators and only reference McGee vs. Vazquez.

I do not agree with your objective however; I also believe that because I am not the only Registrar named in this Summons.

I do not agree that the two matters should have not been combined.

Regards,

Olga Iris Vazquez,

Democratic Election Administrator/Registrar of Voters

Olga, this is what is known in the real world as transparency. If the e-mail keeps another city or town from having to incur the legal expenses that your incompetence will cost the taxpayers of Hartford, I strongly approve of Mr. Spallone's actions. And I think the reason he only mentioned McGee vs Vazquez is because no other district is being sued for losing ballots the Hartford/Windosr lawsuit is uinique to this primary cycle. The Bridgeport people must have taken some training for this election to keep themselves out of the news. Maybe Hartford should try that.




Tuesday, August 28, 2012

CHIEF ROVELLA ON "WE THE PEOPLE"

Chief Rovella was our guest on the "We The People " Program Monday on Hartford Public Access. the complete program is posted here.

And I apologize for some of the rough audio, there is no money put into equipment or maintenance at Hartford Public Access Television

Monday, August 27, 2012

LAWSUIT TO BE FILED TUESDAY IN 5TH DISTRICT HOUSE RACE

Numerous sources are telling me that lawsuit will be filed tomorrow in Hartford Superior Court challenging the results in the race for the open seat in the re-aligned 5th District legislative seat. Candidate Brandon McGee will be filing the suit in an attempt to overturn the results.McGee's suit is based upon two missing ballots that apparently were not counted.

At least one ballot was missing from the JFK School polling place in Windsor and one missing absentee ballot in Hartford. The Hartford ballot was an absentee ballot and although there are 79 envelopes counted from the submitted ballots, only 78 ballots can be accounted for.

The race was determined after a recount and gave a one vote advantage to Leo Canty, who was determined the winner by the single vote..

Once the suit is filed I will post it here.

This will be interesting as it moves forward, but even more importantly it raises the question of how the Democratic  Registrar of voters will attempt to justify a missing absentee ballot. Once again the taxpayers of Hartford will have to foot the legal bills for defending an office that appears to be the epitome of incompetence. Actually, let me rephrase that question, should the taxpayers have to pay when this appears to be beyond negligent or should the Registrar be on their own for the defense

Friday, August 24, 2012

A JOB WELL DONE BY ALL

A very observant resident from the Southend made it a tough night for two Hartford criminals. The resident observed some activity that he thought was suspicious as he saw two men park a minivan  in the lot of 90 Brainard Road and then walk to the McDonald's Restaurant next door. A short time later he saw the two men run from the McDonald's, guns drawn and jump in the mini-van and take off. The resident called 911 on his cell phone with a description of the van and he followed the van as it got on I-91 North

A Sergeant from the Southeast Conditions Unit was able to observe the vehicle as it headed north on 91 and exited to 84 West, they followed the vehicle until it exited 84 at Sigourney Street. The not too bright robbers were unable to negotiate the "T" intersection at the bottom of the ramp and instead crashed into a concrete barrier, ending their night of crime.

The cash stolen , a facsimile firearm and a 9mm handgun were all recovered from the vehicle.Both robbers were apprehended.

It just shows how important observant residents are in reducing crime in our community

Monday, August 20, 2012

INTERESTING READING

 Here is a story from the New YorkTimes archives, if you have the time, take a few minutes to read it,  just click here

PANAGORE OUT

Hartford's Chief Operating Officer is out, He submitted his resignation today effective September 15, 2012.

On July 27, 2012 I had called for Panagore's removal in a posting stating "I can go on and on, but let me be the first to go on the record and say David Panagore needs to go and take his travelling circus show of incompetence with him."  . less than a month later, he resigns. Not bad. You can read that posting here


MAYOR SEGARRA ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER DAVID PANAGORE
Former City Manager and Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee Borges to Assume Position of Interim COO
--- MEDIA ADVISORY---
(August 20, 2012) Mayor Pedro E. Segarra today announced that he has received and accepted the resignation of David Panagore, Chief Operating Officer and former Director of Development Services for the City of Hartford since 2008. Panagore indicated that he is leaving in order to pursue other professional opportunities.
“David played an important role upon my taking office in 2010. The immediate successes we celebrated, the demolition of the H.B. Davis Building and Capital West, stabilizing the budget and increasing the Rainy Day fund, are just a few of the hallmarks he helped me move forward. He is creative and knowledgeable and I have no doubt that he will have great success no matter what he chooses to do next,” said Mayor Pedro E. Segarra
“I am truly grateful to have served Hartford and Mayor Segarra,” said David Panagore. “The opportunities that I have helped to restructure and professionalize the operations, and the projects I have been able to work on, like Capewell, Colt, iQuilt, and the One City, One Plan have moved the City forward and they were all professionally rewarding. I will miss the staff, the City of Hartford and the many friends that I have made over the last 5 years. I am looking forward to the next chapter in my life.”
Panagore’s last day will be September 14, 2012. Mayor Segarra also announced that Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee Borges will serve as Interim Chief Operating Officer while a national search is performed to identify a permanent replacement. She will remain as Corporation Council but will temporarily assign her day-to-day administrative duties to Deputy Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden. Segarra also announced that his Chief of Staff, Jared Kupiec, and his Special Advisor and Director of the Department of Families, Children, Youth and Recreation, Dr. Jose Colon-Rivas, will remain as members of the Mayor’s Cabinet and may assume additional internal duties as assigned by the Mayor.
###

Saturday, August 18, 2012

HARTFORD, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Our new Police Chief James Rovella speaks often about the "moral compass" of our youth and the importance of keeping it adjusted from an early age. The You Tube video below isn't from New York City or Chicago or LA, it is from right here in Hartford, 222 South Marshall Street to be exact

If there is a moral compass on these youth , it is clearly spinning out of control like a gyroscope. Is this the best that they can do for activity, especially troubling , besides the females fighting is the young boy that appears to be about eight years old and the kicks he is taking to the head of the girl on the ground. Where are the adults and why is no one stepping up to stop this beating?

Also note the ankle bracelet on one of the kids, so he is obviously not a stranger to the Criminal Justice System at an early age

Thursday, August 16, 2012

I LIKE IT

After years of dressing up police cars in blue or red, adding fancy swishing graphics or nothing at all, more police departments are returning to tried-and-true: going back to the "retro" black and white look.

Word is that black and white police cruisers may start appearing on the streets of Hartford in the near future.

The primary reason for the black-and-white color scheme of police cars is their visibility. Studies have shown that the alternation of light and dark colors increase the visibility of the vehicle in both high and low lighting

.Another major reason for the color scheme is the pride associated with the identification of the two colors. Due to the common usage of the colors from almost all departments in the United States, it brings forth the commonality of a brotherhood in law enforcement.

In the 1990s, many police agencies switched their color schemes to solid white, blue or green colors. This was done as a way to save money, as budgets were getting tighter. Police emblems were embellished as a way to make the cars more distinct from civilian cars.In the mid-2000s, departments began shifting back to the black-and-white paint jobs. Surveys of both officers and civilians have shown that the black-and-white color scheme is more favorable, accessible and identifiable
In Mesa, Ariz., the police department's 287 marked Ford Crown Victoria cruisers — white with a blue decal on the doors — will be switched to black-and-whites over the next six years.

 "Studies have shown that cars with alternating light and dark colors are more visible in low light or high illumination," says department spokesman Chuck Trapani. He says many civilian cars are white in a hot-weather region. Having cruisers painted black on the hoods, trunks and fenders will make them more visible, both to other drivers and the department's helicopter

**Information from numerous internet sources

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

I vote no deal. On Monday night the Hartford City Council will hold a public hearing to discuss a retirement incentive package for a Hatford Police Assistant Chief , two Deputy Chief's and an Assistants Fire Chief.

The lucrative deals are usually created to clear out deadwood and provide an incentive to avoid costly litigation. In most of these cases the beneficiaries are given some sort of health care incentive as well as bridging time if they haven't completed their 20 years of service for their pensions.

In the case of the Hartford Assistant Chief, John Horvath if the incentive package were the only way to get him out the door without a lawsuit, fine, approve it. But Horvath has just accepted a position as Police Chief at UMASS , at Amherst and will be starting there September with a reported starting salary of $140,000

Should a City that can hardly afford it, now provide an incentive package for someone that will be leaving anyway. I say no. The Hartford City Council has handed these packages out like candy for years and it is time to review the procedure and end it.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION

Many parts of Hartford's "crime puzzle" seem to have been put in place over the last 12 months. The implementation of the Shooting Task Force, the permanent appointment of Chief Rovella and even the "faith based" forum held recently by the Hartford City Council are all important pieces.

Hartford's violence, similar to many large cities, is not something we can "Police"our way out of. I think Chief Rovella and others would probably readily admit that the problem is far greater.

Last night I stopped by the crime scene of our latest homicide on Sterling Street. Some of the details are horrendous, especially related to the victim, as if his death wasn't bad enough. The yellow crime scene tape roped across the section of Sterling Street marked the area where the shooting occurred.

The area was still full of police vehicles and police officers on the scene. Shell casings were waiting to be picked up and tagged. Detectives were scanning the street with flashlights  looking for additional evidence and a clump of someones hair that had been torn out during an apparent altercation was eventually placed in an evidence bag.

The victim was actually gunned down and died in the street in front of his 4 year old daughter. The saddest part was that the girl watched her father die as an apparently innocent victim of Hartford's violence. He was not the intended victim, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. From what I was told by witnesses, the shooter opened fire on the crowded street, a street occupied by families and many children out on a warm summer night.

Chief Rovella often talks about the moral compass of these shooters who make the decision to settle arguments at the barrel of a gun. I am not sure this suspects moral compass is capable of being adjusted if she was so cold blooded that she would fire into a crowd and kill an innocent father..

The other sad observation was that our communities almost seem to be immune  to the violence. People would approach the crime scene tape carrying their groceries or other items and be escorted to their front doors by a police officer. Only one person that passed me while I was there actually asked me what happened, and even when I explained it. it almost seemed like they were used to it,

The issue of the moral compass is a huge factor to be addressed. I had a conversation earlier with Congressman Murphy as he was talking to voters at Rawson School. We began talking about Chief Rovella and his plans and I mentioned to Murphy my conversations with the Chief about his plans to buils the PAL program. Murphy to his credit was well aware of the success of the Waterbury PAL program which I wrote about here a couple weeks ago.

Murphy mentioned how less violent Waterbury was and he talked about the officer's in Waterbury and how they were involved with Waterbury youth at a much younger age , during the critical years when their "moral compasses" are still capable of being adjusted and influenced by positive role models.

State Representative Doug McCrory from the 7th District, myself and Chief Rovella met recently to discuss the needs of the PAL program and its future and building some solid partnership with other groups. Since much of this violence clearly impacts McCrory's district, he has a vested interest in being part of the solution. McCrory has a timeline he hopes to stick to for his bridge building and realizes time is of the essence.

Congressman Murphy, potentially Senator Murphy, can also play a role since the solution to expand the program will not be without costs. Costs that the Police Department budget may not easily absorb. But I guess the big question is what is the cost of each homicide. We know after last night there is a 4 year old girl who will now grow up without the influence of her father in her life. No father to provide for her and keep her "moral compass" adjusted as she grows.

I haven't written much about the "faith based forum" but that is another big part of the puzzle. The church community potentially has a large impact on our young people. The conversations have begun, some solutions have been put on the table, and now they need to be enacted. The schools also need to do their part.

It is not enough to warehouse kids every day focusing on increasing their test scores. There is far more that needs to be done, after school mentoring programs , cooperation with the PAL program and assisting in providing resources to get the job done, including facilities necessary to make it happen.

If people in Hartford are serious about protecting and developing our children, hopefully they will get on board before another 4 year old has to watch her father gunned down

A BAD DAY FOR THE CRIMINALS


The above flyer is from Robles's 2010 campaign when he misled voters by telling the voters that the allegations against him were purely administrative. That was apparently a lie as Robles was eventually arrested after a probe by the Chief State's Attorney's Office


Voters in Hartford and across Connecticut spoke at the voting booths yesterday and it would seem that the message may have been that criminal behavior by our elected officials is  not acceptable. Specifically for Hartford a message was sent on two fronts. Hector Robles the current State Representative in the 6th District was rebuked by Hartford's voters. Robles is currently headed to trial after his arrest and subsequent termination as a Hartford Police Officer.

Although Robles misled his constituents throughout the campaign by claiming that the charges were going to be dropped and he was going to get his police job back, voters apparently saw through that and realized he was lying to them. Despite numerous Court dates, the charges have not been dismissed and Robles is headed for pre-trial activity and potentially jury selection for his trial on October 9, 2012.

 The second Hartford race was for Democratic Registrar of Voters. Hartford political operative Ramon Arroyo was able to obtain the endorsement of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee by calling in his political favors and leveraging positions of employment in the Registrars Office to garner the votes needed to get the endorsement. All of this in despite of Arroyo's previous arrest for soliciting prostitutes while he was a City employee.

One City Hall insider told me Monday that no one cared about the arrest because it was over twenty years ago. Apparently voters may have thought differently. Arroyo was supported by Mayor Segarra, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano 7th District State Representative Doug McCrory and former State Representative Ken Green.

Arroyo appeared on the top row of the ballot with Senate candidate Chris Murphy and the general consensus was that would have allowed Arroyo to ride Murphy's coat tails, but the voters had other ideas and instead chose the current Registrar Olga Vazquez to remain in office.

In the 5th Congressional District the voters chose not to endorse House Speaker Christopher Donovan . Although Donovan has not been charged  in the scandal that has encompassed his campaign, that might change at anytime as the investigation has proceeds.

And finally another vote that exposed the worst of Town Committee politics and the best of voters doing the right thing, Ernie New ton of Bridgeport was sent packing by the voters. Newton was arrested convicted and served jail time for using the senate position he was trying to reclaim to solicit bribes for his own gain His endorsement by the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee surprised many , but then again that's politics, it isn't about finding the best candidates.

And finally, now that the Hartford City Council has approved "Abe Giles Way" can I suggest that we name the street in front of the new Public Safety Complex "Hector Robles Way" so that we can memorialize his criminal activity also....allegedly. He actually did do some good things for the City before he scammed us....allegedly.

Monday, August 13, 2012

JUST A THOUGHT

It amazes me how the Mayor's Office can take months to get a Police Chief selection approved and yet they can get a press release out within minutes condemning Mitt Romney's choice for Vice President.

I think they might need to reassess their priorities. What effects Hartford more, the selection of our next Police Chief  or Romney's running mate. I only wish they would have moved as quick in the Police Chief selection as they did for a partisan press release.

The press release might actually be a violation of Hartford's ethics rules if you read the release it is not just informational, it clearly is supportive of the Obama campaign, and that is improper using City resources and City staff for personal political gain by the Mayor.

As a City, we had better hope that Romney doesn't win , otherwise these words might come back to haunt us when we go looking for Federal dollars. They may want to hit the spell check button also, I left the headline just as it was sent.

Here is the text of the release:
JOINT-STATEMENT BY CONNECTICUT’S BIG CITY MAYORS
ON MITT ROMNEY’S SELCTION OF PAUL RYAN
FOR REPUBLICAN TICKET
--- NEWS AND COMMUNITY STATEMENT---
(August 11, 2012) --- Mayors Pedro Segarra, John DeStefano and Bill Finch released the following statement after the announcement that Mitt Romney has selected Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate.
“Today’s announcement should strike fear into the middle class and everyone who fights daily to make ends meet. Ryan’s budget proposal would kill cities like Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. It is already difficult enough for Mayors; every day is a battle to invest in the right job-creating initiatives, make whole on our promise of a high-quality education for every student and maintain a high quality of life. Ryan – and clearly Mitt Romney – thinks that slashing critical funding for social services, dismantling Medicare and tax cuts for the very wealthy is the best solution for America.
We do not support Romney's decision, nor do we support Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" plan. As Mayors of Connecticut’s largest cities, we encourage every resident in our respective cities to look at the facts, especially Representative Ryan's voting record in Congress, to see what kind of future he has in mind. November’s election will not only impact our collective future, but also our immediate quality of life and the bottom line of middle class Americans. We’ve already had to endure the disastrous Bush/Cheney years. At no point in recent history has it been more important that we learn from our past mistakes.
President Obama and Vice President Biden have a clear vision for America: one that is built on fairness, equity, rewarding hard-work and increased opportunity. From saving the American car industry, to making health care more accessible and affordable, to raising educational standards – like we’ve done in Hartford and New Haven and are doing in Bridgeport – it is clear that we already have a team in the White House that is best equipped to tackle our biggest problems.”

Thursday, August 9, 2012

THE FOX IN THE HENHOUSE

I have to ask myself if anyone at City Hall has any previous management experience the more I read and hear about City Hall operations.

As the LSNI ( Mayor Segarra's Livable Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative) has imploded before us over the last couple weeks it seems clear that something is wrong and no one was paying attention.
Segarra needs to be at the top of the "list of blame" because after all he was elected as our "strong Mayor". Next on the list needs to be Perez holdover COO David Panagore.

According to an article in the Courant " Jonas Maciunas, who had supervised the neighborhoods initiative, was reassigned to the development services' Complete Street Program, which oversees streetscape projects, a city official said. Panagore has taken over as head of the neighborhoods initiative."

Can anyone tell me what management style that is that you transfer the person who was responsible for screwing up the project to another critical department. If you don't have the skills, you don't have the skills, bottom line. That is what unemployment is for, you get rid of the people who can't or haven't performed the functions they have been paid very well to perform.And the person who was responsible or the program in the first place, remember the four assistants to Panagore who were assighed to the program, and now Panagore has taken over as head of the program.

What is that definition of insanity, I think it is to do the same thing repeatedly and expect a different result. What will Panagore do differently now, actually pay attention to the program?

Add to that a little claim of fraudulent paperwork submitted and this should be a full scale investigation, most likely leading to criminal charges if necessary. Bottom line is this all rests at Segarra's feet. This was a pet project of Segarra and it fell apart right in front of him. Name any corporation where the CEO would tolerate one of his prime initiatives  being allowed to fall apart by mismanagement. I can promise the only moves would be out the door, and definitely not to another department, especially if the CEO was embarrassed in the media like Segarra has been.

Panagore's explanation to WFSB last night regarding another blighted property was laughable. Instaed of saying the Mayor has taken a strong lead on blight across the City and we will have a crew out there first thing tomorrow morning, he essentially stated "there is nothing we can do" . Does he really think the property owner would fight the City because they cut the weeds on a blighted property. View Channel 3's story here

Another source inside Hartford DPW claims that they have only cleaned 13 propertied total and submitted the paperwork weekly to one of the Assistant COO's, Natalie Pertoso. The Courant's report seems to verify that claim as they have documents apparently for 13 properties that were cleaned. Where did the 26 other cleaned properties com from? Apparently not Public Works. So who falsified the numbers and who was responsible for putting apparently false information out?

Changes need to begin immediately and Segarra needs to step up and perform the role we elected him to perform, strong Mayor. He plays the "Goodwill Ambassador" role very well, as evidenced by his National Night Out performance. He interacts with residents very well, but he needs to step up and make sure the City government operates efficiently. Transferring dead wood around or overlooking incompetence is not efficiency. We deserve more than half a Mayor

 And it doesn't work well when  the person that is supposed to over see city operations, the Mayor's handpicked Chief Operating Officer is at the top of the list of incompetence.LSNI employess all apparently answered to him

ANOTHER DEADLINE MISSED

When the public hearing was scheduled for the July 30, 2012 Council meeting, it was said that the full Council would vote on the appointment of James Rovella as Police Chief at their August 13, 2012 meeting. The Council agenda is out for Monday's meeting and there is no vote scheduled for Rovella's appointment.

Council Ptresident Shawn Wooden told me they have nothing to vote on since Mayor Segarra and his staff have not reached a contract agreement with Rovella yet. Wooden , who will be on vacation next week, had also told me he would have called for a special meeting on Friday for the approval if an agreement was reached in time.

That apparently has not happened. Once again it raises the question of how this Administration operates. Other than the Superintendent of Schools the selection and appointment of a Police Chief is probably the most important appointment by this Mayor. And he has botched this one big time.
Not by the person appointed but by his total lack of strategy and effectiveness  getting"his ducks in a row" before he moved forward. Who advises this guy?

The sad part is that much of this process has now come down to bruised egos and feelings of disrespect. Wouldn't it have made sense for the Mayor to call the Council President in before announcing Rovella's appointment and make him part  of the process and ask for his opinion. That apparently never happened from what I am told.

Segarra came into the Mayor's Office after an extended period of disrespect as City Council President under felon Eddie Perez, you would think that would have resulted in a new era of respect towards the Council since Segarra had essentially "been there, done that"  and would realize the importance of a good working relationship between the Office of the Mayor and the Council. Not in Hartford.

In the meantime, everyday that goes by, HPD is like a ship without a rudder with no clear cut leader as l0ong as the title"acting Chief" is in front of Rovella's name The Mayor needs to get all parties in the same room and not leave until the deal is done so Council President Wooden can call a special meeting and  finalize this vote once and for all.

This is a total lack of respect to Chief Rovella and the men and women of the Hartford Police Department who deserve some solid leadership. Leadership that Rovella as the "permanent" Chief will provide


The City Charter gives the Council 60 days from July 30, 2012 to take action on the appointment of Chief Rovella.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

CHIEF ROVELLA BUSTS A MOVE

The video below is raw video from the National Night Out events held tonight at the Asylum Hill Boys and Girls Club and Upper Albany. Watch the video at about 3:56 as Police Chief Rovella attempts to danec a samba with Mayor Segarraand Fire Chief Casares

HARTFORD SHOOTING TASK FORCE, 1 YEAR LATER

This is the raw video from the press conference today outlining the success on the first anniversary of the creation of the Hartford Shooting Task force

TRANSPARENCY... THEY STILL DON'T GET IT

A couple weeks ago I posted an e-mail I received  notifying the members of the Hartford Redevelopment Authority that their monthly meeting had been cancelled because there was nothing "actionaable" to put on the agenda. I still question how there can be nothing related to economic development to discuss after the City just hired a new economic development director.You can read the oiginal posting here
So after I posted the content of the e-mail and expressed my thoughts, apparently one member of the Redevelopment Commission took offense with the public being made aware of their lack of forward movement.

In an e-mail to all of the Commissioners and City Staff, Board member Suzanne Hopgood wrote the following in an e-mail from her personal account hopgoods@hopgoodgroup.com:
Kevin Brookman's posting (below) concerned me a great deal because it sounded like one of us forwarded to Kevin HRA's internal email to us. I am NOT interested in playing politics as part of my role on either HRA or CRDA and I thought this was totally inappropriate and embarrassed us all. I hope we don't have to worry about this kind public embarrassment going forward.
What she doesn't seem to understand is that all e-mails related to the public's business, with very limited restrictions, are all public documents and it doesn't matter how I get them, the public has every right to see them under the Freedom of Information statutes. And if you don't want public embarrassment, then don't do things that will embarrass you in the Public.
Rather than write ridiculous e-mails, the time of anyone serving on a Public Board or Commission might be better spent taking the time to read the FOI Statutes, available at ct.gov/FOI or by attending an FOI training class, which the FOI staff usually gladly offers. I would also suggest contacting the Hartford Corporation Counsel's Office with any questions, but they don't have the best track record of FOI Compliance.
Hopgood has also recently been name the Chair of Governor Malloy's recently formed Capitol Redevelopment Authority (CRDA). Hopefully the secrecy of the HRDA won't extend to CRDA.

Friday, August 3, 2012

TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND COUNT TO 10

This is a posting I had wanted to write a couple days ago, but I thought it would be best to  calm down before I started writing. Our City is being run by some of te most incompetent people that have ever entered the public arena. It is like watching re-runs of a 3 stooge's episode, but the 3 Stooges never ran a City into the ground. Every day it becomes more obvious that the Mayor and his staff are total amateurs and incapable of getting the City's business done.

The examples arise daily, the HPD Cre3dit Union mess, the Police Chief search, the LSNI implosion ripe with apparent fraud and now the Rovella appointment seems to be hanging by a thread.

The common thread amongst all of these messes has to be the question who is advising Mayor Segarra, and why are we paying these people six figure salaries to create these disasters. We could probably get some elementary school kids to do a better job for free.

The Rovella hearing was the final straw for me. How do you have people questioning Rovella about his integrity and ethics when they themselves would probably have to look up the definition in the dictionary. How do you have a Councilperson questioning Rovella when the Councilperson himself was fired from the Hartford Police Department. I find that to be a huge conflict.

And who orchestrated the process for Segarra. Would anyone move into a house before the deal is done and you have the actual closing. The smart answer would be no, so why would the Mayor drag Rovella before the Council before the contract was signed?  I would imagine that if the Governor's Chief of Staff created such a mess with a potential  Department head, he would be looking for a job the next day. That's is how leaders work, they hold people accountable.

I have been fielding phone calls for the last three days from people asking me how I can support Rovella when he is holding the City hostage for free health care. This is where accurate information might be helpful, but this all should have been worked out before it was aired in the public. I don't need to speak for Rovella, but I know he is not necessarily looking for free health care. He is more than willing to pay his fair share, what he is looking for is the promise that if he doesn't make 5 years as Chief, it is Hartford you know and anything can happen, that he has a promise that he can purchase insurance from the City's carrier at the going rate retirees pay.

Rovella will be leaving a State job that allows him to purchase insurance from the State's plan, but only in July of each year during their open enrollment. The confusion I think came with the reference to the City's "EMBERS" plan which is given to all Department heads as well as Council people after 5 years of service to the City. Rovella was looking for the promise of a 5 year term as Chief, something that is not possible under the City Charter. the Police Chief and all Department heads are appointed by the Mayor and since the term of Mayor is 4 years and no one is assured re-election, any contract term over 4 years is not possible.

Although the whole process was bizarre, this is even more confusing as to how Segarra has handled Rovella's appointment. Segarra served as Council President in the final months of felon Eddie Perez's pre-conviction term.Segarra knew all too well what it was like to be disrespected by the Mayor and now he is treating this Council the same way.  There were no pre appointment meetings or consultation with the Council asking " here is what I am going to do, what do you think?"

Especially if you knew you were headed down a bumpy road, wouldn't you treat the Council as management partners knowing they could make or break your decision. Why would you not tell your Corporation Counsel to "get the deal done, no ,matter what" before the hearing? That is what leaders do, they express their vision and then make sure it happens. Not Segarra though, and not his staff.

And heading to Miami on vacation without the deal being done is reckless.

The Hartford Police Credit Union building purchase is another issue. How do you let your staff essentially kill a deal in the final hour for a building that will be renovated and returned to the Grand List to produce taxes for a cash strapped City. Is this the way we handle economic development deals in Hartford? And that "Federal Money" that was supposed to be available to move the building, apparently isn't "Federal Money "at all and the Credit Union was told it would be "City Money" to move the building. Don't we have better things to spend City money on?

And the articles in the Courant about the Mayor's "LSNI" program should send the Council over the edge on the Segarra Administration mismanagement. The latest article refers to fraud and paperwork submitted for work that was never done. Immediate hearings should be held, and referrals made to the State's Attorney for prosecution if any fraud is uncovered.

We deserve so much better than what we are getting from this Mayor and his incompetent band of fools surrounding him. I hate to say this, but at least Eddie Perez knew how to get business done. The Rovella mess would have never happened under Eddie Perez. The Council needs t step up now and send a message and turn this sinking ship around

CANDYLAND AT ENGINE 8

A Hartford firefighter has been arrested on numerous drug charges. Police sources have also confirmed that the firefighter was also dealing drugs out of the Engine Eight Firehouse on Park Street. Apparently undercover officers were able to make several undercover buys from firefighter Rafael Diaz, 38 while he was working at Engine 8.

Police served search warrants on Diaz at his home at 124 Douglas Street in Hartford on Thursday, he was subsequently charged with numerous counts  including possession with intent to sell and operating a drug factory.

UPDATE 5:40PM: Although Hartford's Fire Chief Edward Casares stated to the media that no drugs were sold out of the Park St. Firehouse, I stand by what I posted and the arrest warrant and the search warrant will verify that drug sales  were made by Diaz while he was on duty at  the firehouse. The documents will be posted here as soon as they are available afrer his court date

Thursday, August 2, 2012

CALLING IT LIKE IT IS...KEN KRAYESKE

This link is a must read if you want to see an honest analysis of the gutter we call Hartford politics. Ken doesn't pull any punches and says what most people are thinking when it comes to the upcoming elections for State Representative and Registrar of Voters. Krayeske even describes endorsed Democratic Registrar of Voters Candidate Ramon Arroyo as "cavorting with whores" a very true statement , except in this one case the prostitute was an undercover Polic Officer and Arroyo was arrested. Something he still refuses to address when asked about it.

Click here to read Ken's column.