THIS WEEK'S "WE THE PEOPLE" PROGRAM ON YOU TUBE

Our guests on this weeks "We the People" program, seen Monday's at 1:00PM on Hartford Public Access Television can also be seen on You tube. Our guest this week were former stae representative Ken Green and former Hartford democratic Town Chair Sean Arena as we discussed the upcoming Democratic town Committee races and what the Town Committees do, or should I say are suppoosed to do.

** for some reason the image cuts off the right side of the screen when playing below, when it starts playing, double click over the video to watch it full screen and get the full image

LOCAL ATTORNEY/POLITICIAN ARRESTED FOR DUI

According to arrest records from the Hartford Police Department, local attorney and politician John Kennelly was arrested last night on Asylum Avenue for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs (DUI).

Kennelly was stopped shortly before midnight in the area of 1380 Asylum Avenue by Hartford Police and subsequently charged with DUI. Kennelly was also charged with multiple counts of failure to drive in the proper lane. According to police sources, Kennelly's blood alcohol content was nearly double the legal limit.

Kennelly recently represented Mayor Pedro Segarra in legal issues raised during the Mayoral election. Kennelly is also currently the spokesperson for the 1st District Democratic Town Committee and is running for re-election.

A MOVE THAT MAKES SENSE

The Hartford Redevelopment Agency will meet today, Thursday, February 9th at 6:15 PM, in the Function Room at Hartford City Hall.

The agency's meetings had been held in a conference room at Constitution Plaza which was difficult for many to find and attend the meetings. The new location for the meetings in the Function Room at City Hall should make the meetings much more accessible to the general public.

The Redevelopment Agency Chairperson Sean Arena had pushed for the change to make it easier for members of the community to be able to attend

THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY

I'm paraphrasing here, but what is that saying ... "insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result" ?

It is interesting to see Hartford's Chief Operating Officer David Panagore "tweeting" that he is at the Market at Hartford 21 today working to reopen the market. Panagore tweeted "Just reviewed a proposed new lay out for a market at the #Hartford 21 space; looks promising & good, much smarter & efficient"

Didn't Mr. Panagore also review the first proposal before handing them $400,000 of taxpayers dollars for a failed market? Has Mr. Panagore suddenly taken classes in "grocery store 101" ?

His "tweets" also stated that he "In over at the market working the effort to re-open with the folks from Northland, go #Hartford"

Is that the same Northland that forced the YMCA out of their building on Jewel Street with the promise of of a high rise "luxury" condo development? Is it the same Northland that shut down the Goodwin Hotel? Or is it the same Northland that is in the process of foreclosure on a few of their downtown office building for defaulting on the mortgages? Or maybe the Northland that forced many small businesses out of Pratt Street with drastic rent increases.

And while we are at it, Northland has been so successful with reestablishing retail in the XL Center mall, we should all quickly follow their plans. I know, I know, they are waiting for the "right" tenants.

Maybe we could get references from the previous Market at 21 operators and they can tell us how much fun it is to spend the taxpayers money.

I know I would love a trip to Hawaii this time of year, maybe pay off a home mortgage, even remodel a restaurant, all fun things to do with a loan from the City of Hartford, ....if the price is right.

WHAT DO THE HARTFORD SCHOOLS HAVE TO HIDE?

Apparently last night a meeting was held at Burns Elementary School in Hartford regarding the sudden removal of the principal there.

According to "tweets" from a Hartford Courant reporter, she stated that she was barred from the meeting. According to her "tweets" Vanessa de la Torre stated that Hartford Public Schools Director of No Information David Medina stated "press would be a "distraction" and Kishimoto wants private time with parents".

I can understand why the media is less than welcome though. They might just question the leadership of Superintendent Kishimoto who was responsible for the redesign of Burn's School. Under Dr. Kishimoto's leadership as the then "Assistant Superintendent of Redesign" in 2008 Kishimoto was responsible for the hiring of the Principal who she now just removed.

Maybe "transparency" has a differnt meaning in Medina's world. Hopefully the new Board Members can find a better use for that wasted salary and remove another Perez puppet. Does Medina really think barring the media will prevent information from getting out?

If you would like to check out how David Medina earns his six figure City of Hartford salary, check out his blog here. In the true spirit of transparency though, I think it would be a safe bet the link won't work shortly

MORE HARTFORD DISPATCH CENTER WOES....WHO IS ANSWERING YOUR 911 EMERGENCY CALLS ?

There seems to be numerous issues that have been ongoing in the Hartford Dispatch Center. Until recently those complaints were mostly brought about by community people not being pleased with the professionalism of the way their calls for help have been handled. There have also been numerous issues with the way police and firefighters feel their calls are being handled since the dispatch center was taken out from under police and fire supervision and turned over to a civilian director.

But now the complaints against dispatch personnel, including supervisors, seems to be turning more to criminal complaints.

Earlier this week I posted the arrest warrant affidavit for one dispatcher,Kim Walton. listed by the City of Hartford as a supervisor. Although the accusations against her are troublesome and seem to show a lack of discretion and question her integrity, it gets even worse.

Another dispatcher, also listed by the City of Hartford as a supervisor, was recently arrested for criminal activity while she was actually working. The charges she was arrested on, violation of a protective order, apparently occurred while she was working on the morning of November 28, 2011. This wasn't her first arrest though, by the same Police Department she is dispatching for.

The arrest report is below, but violation of a protective order is a serious matter and not usually taken lightly by judges when someone flaunts their orders. It seems that Cassandra Davis has history of domestic violence with HPD which started with her first arrest on September 12, 2011 after a confrontation with her children's father at 80 Prospect Avenue in Hartford. That arrest was made by the Hartford Police for Breach of Peace 2nd degree and Assault 3rd degree. That arrest report is also below.

I know dispatchers are human beings with personal issues, and I do not want to paint all of our dispatchers with a wide brush because there are some very good ones serving the people and the emergency service workers in Hartford. I am seriously concerned though about someone that engages in criminal activity while they are working.

Can anyone say that Davis's actions while she engaged in her criminal behavior on November 28th violating her protective order endangered police and firefighters? I would think that the odds are pretty good that if she was willing to push the limit and violate a judges order, then her mind probably wasn't in the right place and yes, she jeopardized every one's public safety.

According to Connecticut Judicial records, Cassandra Davis was also arrested by Windsor PD on January 28, 2011 for operating under suspension. That case is pending in Enfield Court.

In the meantime, according to City of Hartford records, both Walton and Davis are still employed by the City of Hartford and receiving their full pay.

And for anyone that paid attention to the Director of the Public Safety Communications Center, Andrew Jaffe recently at a MARG meeting, it raises two issues. Jaffe either lied to the audience or is out of touch with what goes on in the area he supervises. One of the complaints by a resident at that meeting was that dispatchers seemed to be on their cell phones and not paying attention to callers when they were calling 911.

Jaffe stated emphatically to the group that no dispatchers were allowed to have their cell phones with them while they were working. If that is the case, how was Cassandra Davis texting the "protectee" from her cellphone as the arrest report states?

There comes a time when the City Administration may actually have to say they made the wrong choice. Supervising 3 or 4 employees as a police Sergeant when you are responsible for handing out cellphones and pagers doesn't necessarily make someone qualified to run a twenty-four hour a day operation that is one of the most critical links between the public, police fire and EMS personnel. Throw into that the 311 operation also, as was done recently when it was jettisoned from the Mayor's Office, and it puts even more of a burden on a mismanaged operation.

It is time for a serious look at the Office of Emergency Telecommunications before someone gets seriously hurt or worse.The lives of our Police Officers and Firefighters depend on their efficiency and I think many would agree that they aren't comfortable with that level of efficiency at this point.

Arrest Report Cassandra Davis 9-12-11

Arrest Report Cassandra Davis 11-28-11