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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

THE CAVIAR MAYOR AND HIS "LIQUOR CABINET"

 
 
 
Yesterday, Mayor Segarra's Chief of Staff issued a media statement claiming that the New years Eve dinner he paid for on his City Credit card had become a "distraction" so he was making the choice to reimburse the City for $457.21 for the apparent cost of the dinner.

A distraction? Lets call it what it really is, it was a criminal act, a theft from the taxpayers of Hartford by a group of pompous City officials who suffer from an extreme case of entitlement. A group of pompous officials who should know better.

Not to mention, where is the moral obligation to the people of Hartford? Mr Kupiec, who spends his fair share of his time in the "entertainment" district downtown, if his credit card receipts are any indication. must notice Hartford residents struggling to make ends meet. After Hartford's bars close and the streets clear, senior  citizens with shopping carts collecting bottles and cans pick up the recyclables trying to make ends meet, a nickel at a time, so they can survive.

Where is the moral obligation to their constituents? How do you dine on caviar and filet Mignon at the expense of the same people you are entrusted to serve.. The same people pushing the shopping carts in the streets.

How do you claim to not realize which credit card was used? It just seems that any thinking person would realize that they don't recall putting their signature on a paper slip and calculating a gratuity. So much of this just doesn't add up. And how do you not remember who else was sitting at the table?  It kind of sounds like a case of selective amnesia, to protect someone you don't want to publicly identify.

Ok, so lets get back to the criminal part. People make more choices everyday. Many of those people regret those decisions after they get arrested and charged with their crime. This was clearly a larceny from the people of Hartford. The fact that restitution was made several months later should mean nothing, other than to confirm they realized what they did was wrong and they got caught.

For the last few days I have used an example that seems to make sense when people say he paid the money back. Let's say you make a decision to rob a bank, that is called criminal intent. You do the deed, the teller hands you a bank bag full of cash. As you begin to exit the bank you notice police cruisers pulling up, so you throw the bank bag back to the teller.

Technically. you made restitution by giving the money back. I seriously doubt that you will not be leaving that bank in handcuffs, even though you gave the money back. The fact that Kupiec paid the money back does not make the original incident go away.

I think the fact that the Mayor and Kupiec readily paid the money back, looks worse for them because clearly they knew their actions were wrong, no one had to order or force them to reimburse the City.

There are plenty of other unsubstantiated liquor and restaurant charges on Kupiec's card that should prove troublesome for him, but just the caviar binge should be enough to get a criminal investigation rolling.

And the greater question for me is how is this tolerated, aside from the fact that the caviar Mayor and his Chief Operating Officer were all complicit in the act, why are heads not rolling? it appalls me that the same people that can so readily rip--off the people of Hartford are still occupying their positions of trust at City Hall to rob the taxpayers once again.

It is also interesting that the beluga swilling Segarra has decided to curtail all credit card users. The Audit report clearly shows that the majority of the offenders are under his direct control, the Office of the Mayor, the Chief Operating Officer,and Corporation Counsel.

And finally, should the Mayor's "Security Detail"  really be sitting  at the table eating with him?  I have never once seen Troopers assigned to the Governor's detail sitting eating with him. It is kind of hard to legitimately assess any security risk  while you are checking to see if your Filet Mignon was cooked correctly.  I know that the dignitary training program these officers go through is well respected and I doubt throwing back a spoonful of caviar is what is taught.

Apparently our Caviar Mayor developed his taste for the good life before he actually became Mayor, you can read more here

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It puzzles me who the mystery officers may be ? but the very evident fact is we all know who thinks he can do ehat he wants in the downtown district If not 40+ hours of overtime a week was not enough to satisfy his thirst, he now pals around with kubiak and the rest of the caviar squad. What does the mayor need armed protection for while stuffing his pie hole on kevin's dime ? But as they say, every beginning does have an end .....

Bruce Rubenstein IAC Member said...

I continue to believe with reasonable grounds, that crimes have been committed and that the Council should appoint an Attorney to pursue re-imbursement from the offenders and to refer the Audit and exhibits to the Cheif State's Attorney for their investigation.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

just a correction, it is Kupiec. I think Kubiak is actually a new police officer

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Bruce,

can't or more appropriately, shouldn't the audit commission be making that recommendation based on the facts at hand?

Anonymous said...

Hey kevin,
I bet this stuff goes no where. Kubiak is a smart guy and will justify this latest corruption in another fireside chat with the news media. Put bestoff on it. New york and other larger municipalities would never allow issues such as this. The governor needs to order an investigation. Or maybe the feds can add this to their pile of crap

Anonymous said...

When is the 3 week old broken gate at the new police dept going to get fixed ? Its a shame that prisoners being released from booking could walk right through our unsecured lot for the city of hartford police vehicles. Im sure it does not take three weeks if a mobile gate breaks at bradley international airport .

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Sorry, can't help you on the broken gate. Maybe Mr. Jaffe wil fix that at the same time the Dispatch CAD system that keeps crashing gets fixed. Or maybe when you see Jared pulling in with his keycard to use the Gym, you can ask him to fix it

Bruce Rubenstein said...

Kevin, The IAC refused to refer it in a 2/1 vote...my vote being the one to refer...since the Council now has the final report,it is now up to the Council to refer it,if it is so inclined, or any private citizens can send it over to the Chief State's Attorney and ask them to investigate.

Anonymous said...

Who cares. politicians are living up on tax payers regardless of party. They are partying...partying. So vote for whoever will promise a chicken in every pot, car in every driveway, phone in every hand, food/drink/smoke in every mouth. Live for today.

Anonymous said...

How depressing to hear that the vote was 2/1. How can they have the Internal Affairs Commission do the investigations, they are not going to go against them,that's a conflict of interest, that was a waste of time. In fairness to all, an outside investigation would have been the right move, they would be more inclined to send it to the States Attorney's office.

In regards to the P-Cards, It's sad that the law abiding employees are now punished because the Mayor and his staff. What a darn shame that the City's top leaders, who misused their power, didn't get penalized. As we can see they will get away with it and they will do it again, and again. Now that's really pitiful.

Anonymous said...

The "alleged" crime that is/has occurred here is Larceny 2nd (53a-123) (Theft from a public community) and is a felony. The Chief States Attorney's office does NOT need a complainant in order to investigate.

By this time Chief Rovella (the highest ranking Law Enforcement Officer in the City)is well aware of this "alleged" criminal activity. Doesn't he have an obligation to A) Launch an investigation or B)Request an investigation by an outside L.E. agency in order to alleviate any conflict of interest? Or is it C)Do nothing and ignore the Oath he swore to because he is complicit (by his tacit approval)in this activity?

Anonymous said...

Last comment, i bet u a steak dinner nothing happens. Its amazing to me how some "special " and "select" few get away disingenuous criminal acts. Rovella has the chance to do the right and ethical thing. It will be interesting to see what happens next .