CITY GOLF COURSE AUDITOR'S REPORT

Yesterday I posted about management problems with MDM Golf and the possibility that Hartford's two golf courses may not open if MDM defaults. Here is the city auditors report, obtained through an FOI request, outlining problems with MDM Golf

Final+Report+1313+ +Keney+and+Goodwin+Golf+Course+Management+and+Operations+Audit

HARTFORD BOARD OF EDUCATION OFFICES RAIDED BY FEDS

High level sources in law enforcement and at both City Hall and the Hartford Board of Education have confirmed that federal investigators armed with a search warrant seized at least four computers earlier today from the Main Street offices of the Hartford Schools.

The City has remained very tight lipped about the search, and a spokesperson for Mayor Segarra, Maribel LaLuz denied any knowledge and said it "sounded like a hoax".

Nonetheless, sources confirmed that federal investigators seized and removed at least four computers as well as documents believed to be records for Hartford High School and other School Building Committee projects. Sources also said they believed that records  were being seized from Diggs Construction as well. Diggs was the construction manager for former Mayor Eddie A. Perez.

One source said they believed that investigators were also going to a basement storage area at Hartford High School that may contain additional documents.

In June of 2011, a undercover operative for the FBI , William Myles, testified to the corrupt activities involving Hartford school building projects during a trial in New Orleans , Louisiana.

A person at Diggs Construction named Derrick asked how I found out and then said "we have no comment " and hung up.A request for a comment from David Medina of the Hartford Schools has not been returned

WNPR's Jeff Cohen reported on that and his story can be found here

MORE ON HARTFORD'S FISCAL CLIFF

Much information is coming to light regarding Hartford's fiscal problems. Not all of the information is worthy of a full posting, but some items will be posted here so people can start asking questions and figuring out where their tax dollars are going.

Apparently the city is required to make a bi-weekly contribution to the City Pension fund, the city has not made those payments since last August. That should raise some eyebrows among City employees who contribute to the fund,. Are their contributions  helping to fund the now-banned ESI bonuses?

CITY HALL PAYBACK?

Sometimes I think City hall is full of masochists who just enjoy getting slapped. All  indications are that another solid slap will be on the way soon for the Administration of our City.

This one seems pretty clear but I really wonder what the motivation is or what any possible justification can be. This involves Hartford Police Officer Robert Murtha. Murtha has already won a long court battle with the city after he was terminated, wrongfully according to the State of Connecticut..

The decision cost the City hundred's of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and back pay, interest and benefits and settlements for Murtha. Now the City is exhibiting their ignorance once again.

Murtha, who completed law school and is actually an attorney is entitled to a 7.5% pay increase as part of the Hartford Police Union's agreement with the City of Hartford..
 The City grants a 2.5% bump for an associates degree, a 2.5% bump for a bachelor's degree  and another 2.5% for a Master's or Doctorate degree. As an attorney, Murtha has his Juris Doctorate degree and has passed the bar and actually practiced as an attorney.

The City of Hartford is apparently refusing to grant Murtha the pay bump, even though according to sources, the raise was signed off by Chief Rovella.Human Resources Director Valda Washington, who has apparently been terminated herself, issued a terse response when questioned by the Union as to why she was rejecting the raise. "it  is my decision and the decision is final"

This will most likely end up in court and will cost the city large amounts once again.

Is it that hard to actually do the right thing or does vindictiveness run the operation

To read more about Murtha's earlier win against the City, click here

WILL HARTFORD'S GOLF COURSES OPEN THIS SUMMER?

Hartford's two municipal golf courses, Keney Park and Goodwin park may be in jeopardy of opening or remaining open for the entire season based upon the default of the vendor MDM Golf of Wallingford.

In a report to the Internal Audit Commission last week, acting Corporation Counsel  L John van norden painted a somewhat bleak picture of the future with MDM as the city has declared them in default of their contract twice now.

Van Norden expressed concerns about the viability of MDM to live up to their end of the agreement and stated to the Commission that in his opinion "they don not have the financial where with all to do this" referring to MDM .

Concerns apparently began when the City received numerous complaints regarding the operation and management of the two courses. An audit was conducted by the City's Auditors and numerous problems were found. One of the larger problems was that numerous repairs and maintenance issues were required under the contract between MDM and the city.

In order to assure that those conditions were met, a letter of credit for several hundred thousand dollars was required by the City. Although MDM did initially provide the letter, it was allowed to lapse. When the city realized the letter had lapsed they requested a new letter of credit from MDM and that was never received.

According to Van Norden" we had some concerns about whether MDM had the financial where with all to do that (supply the letter)We were fairly convinced they couldn't, at that point we declared default again"

Ther is no indication of the amount that MDM is in default or the value of the improvements that have not taken place as required under their agreement with Hartford. According to Van N?orden , negotiations have apparently taken place and MDM was prepared to walk away from the leases The discussions were focused on not creating a lot of controversy in order to get MDM out , according to Van Norden.

Van Norden seemed somewhat critical of the entire process and claimed that much of the confusion occurred because "you had too many hands making the soup". He further stated that "my understanding of where this ultimately has to rest is with the supervision of the COO.

When asked about the process by Attorney Bruce Rubenstein, it seems that some basic practice's were not followed by the Office of the Corporation Counsel. Rubenstein questioned whether  a "hand off letter" was issued by the Corporation Counsel's Office to other City Departments involved to advise them of their responsibilities on the enforcement of the contract. Van Norden said no such notification was given after the contract was complete.

The hand-off letter to the finance Department would most likely have helped the letter of Credit from being allowed to expire if the Finance Department kept track of the dates.

In the meantime, although Van Norden hopes that MDM will be capable of opening and operating the courses, it seems questionable, A of today, the phone number for Keney park has a recording that" the number is not in service, the number has been disconnected", not a good sign

2ND SHOOTING VICTIM PRONOUNCED DEAD

photo courtesy of WFSB'S Len Besthoff

 

HPD PRESS RELEASE

 

Homicide #2 and #3 03/25/13, 1704 hours

Barbour Street & Judson Street Double Homicide

HPD received reports of shots fired, as well as reports of victims down and injured. These reports were confirmed by the HPD Shot Spotter System. Both victims were transported to the hospital by private vehicle. The crime scene was located near the intersection of Clark Street and Judson Street and was secured.

Victim #1- Kwante Feliciano 19, of Hartford. GSW- chest
Pronounced by Dr. Marshall of St. Francis Hospital at 1724 hours on 3/25/13

Victim #2- Kelly Cooper, 30, of Hartford GSW- head, pronounced at 1145 hours today 3/26/13 by Dr Proshaoud Grover.

Major Crimes Homicide detectives are working to identify suspect(s). The preliminary description available is that of a H/M, 5'06", 180 lbs., wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.

Detectives do not believe this was a random act of violence. Hartford Police are seeking and requesting the community's help.

Anyone with information about Monday's shooting is asked to call the Crime Stoppers tip line at 860-722-8477 or Sgt. Brandon O'Brien at 860-757-4089. Callers will remain anonymous.

SEGARRA EXPECTED TO VETO RESOLUTION

This post will be short , it is the first one I am writing using a new I-phone app.

Word is that a veto message is being composed by Mayor Segarra to strike down the council's overtime resolution passed last night.

It is unclear whether the votes would exist for the Council to override a veto.

More on this when I get to a computer and can actually type on a keyboard

AWESOME JOB H.P.D,.

It usually isn't a good thing when my phone rings early in the morning and wakes me up. Friday was one of those days. My phone rand and it was a firefighter from Engine 5 on Sigourney Street, ( I have to apologize here for not getting his name , but I was still half asleep.)

Any way, he said that he had been cleaning up papers outside the firehouse and found a binder that belonged to me and it had my business card in it. Now since i used that leather binder for business, I kept it in my car, so as the fog started to clear, I realized that my binder being on the lawn of Engine 5"s house wasn't a good thing.

Someone had broken into my car.




Surveillance video of Denzil Nurse throwing a wrench at my car's window repeatedly until the glass finally broke so he could climb into my car. When confronted with the video by HPD Detectives, Nurse apparently admitted to upwards of 25 car breaks over the last few weeks


Sure enough, I went outside and the pile of glass on the driveway of what used to previously have been my driver side rear window wasn't starting my day off.well. Several electronics items were missing and i walked over to Engine 5 and got my binder back.

Then the process of being a victim began. Call the police, call the insurance company, being told by the GEICO claim rep that they could have someone out in a week, next Friday to repair the glass right in my driveway so it would be convenient for me. The thoughts started running through my mind, why? why? why?

My walkbeat Officer for the area, Officer Zweibelson, showed up and took the report, took a blood stained hat ( the thief apparently cut himself pretty good as evidenced by the blood in the car and on the hat)and the wrench the thief threw through my window to break the glass as evidence  and took the necessary information they routinely get from victims .

I knew that the blood DNA on the hat wasn't going very far, even DNA from homicides is backlogged at the lab. But it did make me feel a little better that somewhere out there a thief was not only running around with my electronics, but hopefully he was feeling a little pain from his lacerations.

Fortunately I have security cameras watching my driveway and the video clearly showed him committing his crime at 5:16am. He wasn't very skilled, it took him several attempts to break the glass, (the wrench kept bouncing off the glass) but there he was, clearly making me Hartford's latest victim.

I found a local vendor who was here a lot quicker than GEICO's convenient one week to repair the glass(Pete's Auto Glass from Grant Street in Hartford 860-543-2337) They were here quickly and did a great job of repairing the window. The thief was smart enough to know that the alarm would have gone off if he opened the door, so he just smashed the window out. Unfortunately when he climbed through the window, his belt buckle left a few deep scratches in the paint. Oh well, at least I got him to leave some blood behind as payment.

I figured that was the end of it until about 1:30PM when Officer Zweibelson called me and said they had just apprehended a suspect at Main and Gold Streets downtown. They needed a copy of the video to be sure, but he felt comfortable the clothing matched and it was the right guy.

Apparently, the thief was observed breaking into another car at the Mark Twain House and their security people followed him to the bus stop where they called the police and gave the police the bus number he got on.
Zweibelson, Officer Adam Demein and Officer Chanaca were waiting for the suspect as he stepped off the bus near City Hall. He had several cell phone car chargers and electronics cords in his possession

None of my property was on him, but apparently he was a suspect in upwards of a dozen car breaks around the City. A one man crime spree, really affecting the quality of life in Hartford.

The suspect was taken to the Major Crimes Division where he was being interviewed and when confronted with my video, he apparently began talking to investigators.

I am still not thrilled that I was  a victim, but I am extremely impressed by the response from everyone involved and the cooperation from all parties involved to get this slug off the street . All of the Officers I dealt with were either walkbeats or CSO"S which just shows the importance and the impact these Officer's have on our Community

A great job by all, My sincerest thanks

HARTFORD POLICE PRESS RELEASE

Hartford Police in the Central District have made an arrest in numerous car breaks and electronic thefts in the Downtown, Asylum Hill and West End neighborhoods. The suspect was captured this afternoon after a security guard witnessed him smash a car window on Asylum St. downtown, enter the vehicle, steal an iPod and flea. The security guard followed the suspect and contacted HPD. Central District Officers quickly apprehended the accused: Denzil Nurse, 41 of Hartford, on Main St. Several members of the community have come forward with video and security footage of Nurse over the past several weeks and days.

HPD Deputy Chief Neville Brooks, of the Central District (Downtown, Asylum Hill and West Neighborhoods) would like to thank the community members who have stepped forward to assist in the investigation, as well as the dedication of the officers assigned to the Central District and private security guards.

Nurse has 27 arrests in the City of Hartford and an extensive Burglary history. Investigators believe he is responsible for a significant rash of car break thefts in the three neighborhoods. Investigators estimate he is responsible for 25-35 car breaks over the last several weeks. Nurse is immediately being booked and charged with Burglary 3^rd, Criminal Mischief 3^rd, and Larceny in the 6^th. The Major Crimes Division is assisting in the investigation. Officers and Detectives will be applying for several more arrest warrants in the next few days. Call Foley with inquiries, Garcia available.

ENOUGH RHETORIC,LET'S SEE SOME GOVERNING

 

 

If Mayor Segarra is comfortable with his decision to provide ESI bonuses, you sure wouldn't know it by the e-mails and press releases flying around over the last twenty four hours.  For something that is supposed to be a good thing, every effort was being pulled out to try to make us believe the bonuses make sense as Hartford is flying toward its own Fiscal Cliff like the Titanic toward an iceberg.

I am not sure Mayor Segarra has not grown out of touch with his constituents. To try to justify a $10,000 bonus to one of his buddy's who is already making over a $150,000 a year salary doesn't sit well with most residents I have spoke with. One former City employee I spoke with yesterday was telling me how glad they were spring was here because they were struggling to pay their heating bills. Other seniors tell the stories of cutting expenses to pay for medications.

Those are the realities Hartford resident's face.,  City hall employees who actually show up for work and do the jobs they were hired to do are handsomely rewarded with bonuses. But at City Hall , the orchestra is still playing loudly on the Lido Deck as that first iceberg begins scraping the hull and impending disaster should appear obvious to anyone watching.

The iceberg begins to rip open the hull ,mainly because Captain Segarra was in his quarters signing ESI bonus checks. His Media spokesperson runs below decks frantically trying to close the watertight doors to prevent as much damage as possible, but the damage has already been done. City Hall is taking on water and beginning to list to port side.

Luckily the Mayor's Cabinet members were already on deck and they are able to shove their way into the lifeboats, leaving Hartford's residents sitting in the deckchairs as the icewater comes up around their ankles.

The fate of the residents of Hartford is sealed because the life boats are full and they have no where to go except listen to the Band playing as their futures slip away.

While the media spokesperson was trying to seal the watertight doors, she was also meeting other people at the railing, myself included to explain that Segarra wasn't nearly as reckless as his predecessors and the whole story needed to be told.

Segarra's ESI bonuses were more palatable because they were a fraction of his predecessor, Eddie Perez. Perez had a high annual figure $179,484 while Segarra's highest was a mere $38,184.

While I looked at the list it was interesting to me that with the exception of one assistant Police Chief, there appeared to be no bonuses to any police officers or firefighters, some police officers who had actually been shot in the line of duty. Now to me that would be exceptional service. But then again they know what the salary is when they accept the job, and getting shot, unfortunately is part of the job they accept when they sign on and the salary they agree to.

Why that same thinking doesn't apply to a department head making $150,000 dollars a year is beyond me, They were hired to do a job, now do it and be happy with your salary, if not, get out the wanted ads.

The rhetoric continued this afternoon as another press release was fired off, seeming to blame the criticism of the Mayor on a Councilman who has a political agenda. Maybe, just maybe the Councilman might have a little bit better gauge of the public sentiment regarding bonuses given out by a cash strapped City. The release even took a shot at the Councilman's assistant because she received an ESI.

MAYOR SEGARRA STATEMENT ON EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE INCREMENTS (ESI)

--- NEWS AND COMMUNITY STATEMENT---

(March 21, 2013) – Mayor Pedro E. Segarra released the following statement regarding ESI’s for City employees:

“To suggest that we don’t take Hartford’s fiscal challenges seriously is completely false and inconsistent with every financial decision I’ve made since the day I took office. The ESI’s are just that; compensation for additional responsibilities or the delivery of services that goes above and beyond the usual. The average ESI amount is $2,000 and they fall within the allotted payroll budget that is approved by Council. We follow a judicious process that involves a series of interdepartmental approvals, all within the parameters set forth by Human Resources.

“To juxtapose them with the 14 individuals who were laid off is false advertising. The layoffs were a result of not securing $1MM in employee concessions; part of Council's unanimously approved budget. The ESI’s are distributed only after thoughtful consideration, many of those employees have also taken furlough days; questioning them suddenly undermines their hard work, including Mr. Kennedy’s assistant who received one in 2011.

“My administration is focused on real solutions to our fiscal challenges, such as reducing department budgets, updating salary classifications and salary ranges, attracting and developing businesses, restructuring our debt, and stabilizing our finances. Unfortunately, some have short memories; my comments opposing an ESI in 2010 were made when the aggregate value was over $100,000 per year, the unemployment rate was higher and one person received $11,000 after resigning. I’ve substantially decreased the amounts compared to the previous administration and we’re considering deferring them altogether next year. I’ve said this before. This political posturing distracts from the real work being done to balance the budget and move our City forward.”

 

The final sentence claims that "This political posturing distracts from the real work being done to balance the budget and move our City forward.” But the question to me is who is actually doing the political posturing.  Councilman Kennedy's assistant Georgianna "Jean" Holloway fired back her own explanation this afternoon.

 

Friends,

 

Below is Mayor Segarra's response to Councilman Kennedy's ESI resolution. (statement posted above)

In January 1994, I was interviewed by Robert Jackson, Chairman of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee and North Hartford leaders for a position as Executive Assistant to former Councilman Louis Watkins, Jr. From 1994 to 2011, I received 2 pay raises at the request of Chairman Jackson, Deputy Mayor Frances Sanchez, and Majority Leader John Stewart. Council President John Bazzano gave the staff the second pay increase. Council President rJo Winch gave the Council staff an ESI in 2011. It's unfortunate that Mayor Segarra developed amnesia today, because this ESI was discussed in leadership meeting and signed off by Mayor Segarra, his Chief Operating Officer, and his Personnel Director.

Councilman Kennedy was never in leadership.

 

Thank you,

Jean Holloway,

Executive Assistant to

Councilman Kenneth H. Kennedy, Jr.

ESI Bonuses 2007-2012

MORE ON HARTFORD'S FISCAL CLIFF

I am not sure that anyone grasps the severity of Hartford's fiscal condition. I am also pretty sure that no one at city Hall with their $100,000 plus salaries, city vehicles , golden pensions and excellent health care benefits are in touch with what the average Hartford resident faces everyday to survive.

A $70million dollar deficit for Hartford's budget next year seems to be a minor inconvenience  for Mayor Segarra and his Administration as they continue to spend like money is being printed in the basement of City Hall and City credit cards are not real money being spent.

Last night I attended the Council's  OMB (Operations, Management and Budget) committee meeting and listened to those defending ESI bonuses (more on that in another posting later) and was amazed by a spreadsheet showing how much money the City gives away for police and DPW coverage for special events that occur in the City.

The spreadsheet, shown below, was provided to the Committee by COO Saundra Kee-Borges. The Council, in its infinite wisdom, had passed a resolution last year that capped the amount for events and parades at a maximum of $10,000.  This was apparently done to appease segments of the community who would have events and then never pay the bill, leaving the City holding the bag for large amounts of Police overtime.

As an example, the 5C's. the group that runs the Saint Patrick's Day Parade typically would accrue costs of anywhere from $30,000 to $35,000 for the annual event. The 5C's had always paid that amount to the City to clear their bill. Other parades were not as forthcoming with the payments.

So the Council decided to cap the amounts charged, so as an example, the St Patrick's Day Parade is capped at $10,000 so essentially we give away about $25,000 in City Services.
The annual West Indian Parade, according to the COO's spreadsheet ,last year cost $50,500.00 of which only $10,000.00 was billed  due to the Councils cap, resulting in a loss of $40,000.00 to the City's coffers.

The spreadsheet gives no indication of which groups actually have paid their bills and which are outstanding.

This is the type of thing that the City cannot afford as we head into projected multimillion dollar deficits over the next several years. If organizations cannot afford the expense of a lengthy parade route, then offer them use of Parks or areas that do not require a police officer at every intersection along a lengthy route.

According to the COO's report over $300.000.00 has been given away in the last year. The other interesting part is that these fees have to be absorbed into the Police and DPW budgets which affects their flexibility to cover other areas with overtime or increased staffing when needed.

The report is difficult to read because of the small text. it might be easier to print it and read it or go to scribd and magnify the image

Scan special Events 20001

GONE

Hartford's embattled Director of Human Resources took, a "leave of absence " yesterday according to an e-mail sent to City Hall employee's yesterday.

According to City hall sources, the "leave of absence" is the cover story concocted by the Mayor's Office and Valda Washington is not expected tot return to City Hall anytime soon.

Despite numerous issues, some of them outlined previously here, Washington didn't seem to be a good fit for Hartford. Several sources related that Washington's fall from Grace began when she refused to authorize a $25,000 raise for an employee of Mayor Segarra's buddy and "Cabinet " member Jose Colon-Rivas. Apparently Colon Rivas wished to raise the salary for his employee from $80,000 per year to over $105,000 and Washington felt the jump could not be justified and she refused to approve the raise.

Things took a downturn from there. I am sure there will be a lot more to come out from this story considering what I have been told already

HARTFORD'S FISCAL CLIFF

As the City of Hartford tries to close a projected $70 million dollar budget deficit, some are starting to question if there is any financial management at City Hall. City spending seems to be continuing "business as usual " as large charges continue to be racked up monthly on City credit cards, many of the charges are for items that are far from necessary. Many of the charges seem to be large amounts for food and beverages purchased by City employees at local bars and restaurants.

The city credit cards or "P-Cards" as they are referred to at City Hall seem to be routinely used without much oversight as to how or why they are being used. Recent purchases included flat screen televisions for the the Mayor's Chief of Staff;'s office as well as a flat screen television for the Office of the Mayor's Communication's director as well.. According to sources, cable television was also installed so they could watch the TV's in their offices.

Council President Shawn Wooden is expected to request an audit of the P-card use as well as P-card spending policies at today's monthly Audit Commission meeting. Another area that has been a chronic problem is the issuance of bonuses to City employees. The ESI program as it is known seems to be a backdoor route to circumvent issuing raises to employees, many of them who are already at the top of the salary for their position.

 It just seems that city employee's know what their salary is when they take a position and a $150,000 annual salary isn't enough to keep someone happy in a cash strapped city? One of Mayor Segarra's confidants and former Chief of Staff, Jose Colon -Rivas is paid an annual salary of $152,250 as Director of Family and Children and Recreation Services. Colon Rivas was issued bonuses of almost $12,000 above his salary in 2012.

 How can they issue bonuses knowing that we may be forced to lay other employees off due to budget shortfalls. And all indications that Mayor Segarra's buddy doesn't even live in Hartford, at least not at the address he claims to be living at. The list of ESI bonuses are below. Some that should raise eyebrows are those to Colon-Rivas , Saundra Kee-Borges who is not only collecting a pension from the City as well as her current salary and a large bonus of $4352.63. I guess a love for the City comes with a hefty pricetag.

 Also the Bonus to L. John Van Norden of $2625.00 seems a good deal for a City Attorney who isn't even recognized as an attorney in CT and can't practice law in Connecticut. I think he might owe us a refund rather than accepting a bonus.

The interesting part though is that your viewpoints must drastically change when you go from being a councilmember who frequently butted heads with a Mayor headed for prison, to when you actually become Mayor yourself. The following quote was directly from our current Mayor, former Councilman Pedro Segarra, regarding ESI bonuses handed out by former Mayor Eddie Perez "We have people losing their jobs, we have people that don't get that similar treatment and we are in deep financial straits here," said Councilman Pedro Segarra. "For anyone to think they can run our city like a Fortune 500 company making millions in profit -- it doesn't match our current reality."    You can read the entire article here

 

ESI,2010,2012, 2013 report

CORRECTION OFFICER ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING POLICE OFFICER

 

HPD  Arrest Photo of DOC Officer Jason Beaudry

 

 

A State of Connecticut Correction Officer assigned to the Osbourne Correctional Facility was arrested Saturday after the Saint Patrick's Day Parade for assaulting and robbing a Manchester Police Officer .

Sources familiar with the incident said that the arrest resulted from an altercation in the area of Club Envy near union Place. DOC Officer Jason Beaudry apparently assaulted Manchester Police Officer Jon Carron and left him unconscious on Allyn Street. After knocking  him out, witnesses identified Beaudry  as the attacker.At the time of Beaudry's arrest, he was found to be in possession of Carron's Manchester Police Badge and Identification as well as his wallet, resulting in the robbery charge .

Beaudry 34, of South Windsor CT was charged with Robbery 3rd, Larceny 2nd, and Assault 3rd. His bond was set at $100,000. The HPD Major Crimes Division is investigating

No further information was available on Beaudry's status with the DOC at this time, No additional information was available on Officer Carron's injuries or present condition..

HARTFORD DAYTRIPPING IDEAS

Cruz Residency0002 by

 

Recently, Councilman Joel Cruz requested a residency report on all of Hartford's Department Heads. Under Hartford's Charter, all department heads must reside in Hartford, with the exception of a department head who is an upward promotion within the department they were already working in  (i.e DPW Director Kevin Burnham who was promoted from DPW traffic engineer to DPW Director).

The report apparently is in and and if you are bored this weekend, it could be entertaining to see how many of their addresses are actually occupied by the department heads as they claim. I'm not sure how the Chief Operating Officer created the report, it looks like they might have just taken them on their word as to where they live. Residency  normally requires more than just a mailing address.

Important questions to ask are where are they registered to vote? Are their vehicles actually registered and taxed in Hartford? Do they have any utility bills in their name for Hartford addresses?

You can start your daytrip Downtown at the listed residence of Human resources Director Valda Washington. Don't plan on staying too long to visit though since word is most of her furniture is still in storage. The storage fees are being paid for by the City apparently.(A good question for the Audit Commission...Why?) She might be waiting to see if this whole Hartford employment thing works out before she commits to moving the couch in.

Then head south , grab a hot chocolate at the Dunkin Donuts on Washington Street and as you exit the lot onto Madison Street, look for the address of Segarra confidante and Department Head, Jose Colon-Rivas. I haven't been able to find him at home, but maybe with a hot chocolate for him you might have better luck..

Then head over to Woodland Street and the listed residence of Andrew Jaffee, Department Head for Emergency Service Telecommunications. You probably won't find him there also, I never have. You will probably have better luck waving to him from a highway overpass each day as he comes into Hartford from his real residence in West Suffield, using the HOV lane in his City car.

When you leave Woodland Street, head a few blocks west to "Little Hollywood" and the Clemen's Place Apartments to find our Director of Development Services. His residency is an act worthy of Hollywood, but most nights and weekends he is still doing his performances in Providence ,Rhode Island, his permanent home .

You don't need to travel to the residences of John Bazzano, Police Chief Rovella or Fire Chief Casares. Most people see them out in the community regularly as actual residents who take their contracts and commitment to the people of Hartford seriously. They are actually out in the community , living what we live everyday, experiencing the same things we do everyday and not fleeing to their real homes whenever they can. They all are actually registered to vote in Hartford and have vehicles registered  and taxed in Hartford

Whether eating at a restaurant downtown, smoking cigars on Pratt Street or just walking around the City, the people;e that actually care about our neighborhoods are visible. The frauds using Hartford as a stepping stone and a means for a paycheck should be shown the closest entrance to the highway and sent packing. If you can't make a commitment to Hartford, we don't need you, move on.

And the issue isn't just with Department Heads, more on Hartford's residency issues coming soon.

UH OH !!!

In what may be a worst case nightmare scenario for many, Hartford City Treasurer Adam Cloud    has just announced  his appointment to the City's internal Audit Commission.

 

Treasurer Cloud has appointed Hartford Attorney Bruce Rubenstein as his pick to act as the City's watchdog. Rubenstein, a frequent commenter here on the blog, has a reputation for getting his teeth into wrongdoing and shaking it viciously until the truth comes out.

 

Attorney Rubenstein  is a Hartford Attorney who graduated from the University of Bridgeport (now Quinnipiac College) in 1980 and has been in private practice ever since.Rubenstein has also been involved in both local and National politics, but seems to be able to separate politics from issues of right and wrong.

 

This will hopefully usher in a new era of accountability in Hartford Government as all questionable matters are looked into and investigated by the Commission and City Auditors. The current Commission has not been known for any aggressive pursuits of corruption or wrongdoing.

I have known Bruce personally for several years and I would be hard pressed to find someone more qualified or capable of protecting the best interests of the people of Hartford and question and expose wrong doing.
 

Rubenstein Audit Letter