Search This Blog

Thursday, September 12, 2013

JUMPING (OR PUSHED) FROM THE SINKING SHIP

Two more department heads have abandoned ship and are jumping from the Segarra administration, Kevin Burnham , Hartford's DPW Director has announced his resignation and Finance Director has also announced his resignation today. Both are effective October 4,2013.

Although the resignations, especially Molleda are long overdue, this now leaves the Segarra Administration without a permanent Chief Operating Officer, Chief of Staff, Corporation Counsel, Human Resources Director, Public Works Director, Finance Director, Fire Chief and the Director of Emergency Dispatch Center. Does anyone see a problem here?  These positions need to be filled by competent people that  care about Hartford and actually live here to bring stability back to City Government

We don't need to hire anymore consultants at $85.00 an hour to determine how to fill these slots either.

The Mayor needs to begin re-stocking his cabinet soon though if he is going to  survive. The COO position has been open for over a year now and the next departure from City Hall needs to be Saundra Kee - Borges. Acting positions are nothing more than seat warmers. We need to have strong professional leadership coming out of City Hall for a change. Professionals that have vision and goals and can implement change to move our City forward efficiently in all of these vacant positions

Here is the press release from the Mayor's Office and not one mention of a ribbon cutting

Today, Mayor Segarra announced that he has accepted the resignation of Kevin Burnham, Director of the Department of Public Works and Julio Molleda, Director of Finance. Mr. Burnham has worked for the City of Hartford since 2002 and has an annual salary of $120,019. Mr. Molleda worked for the Hartford Library and Board of Education before coming to City Hall in 2011 at an annual salary of $151,918. Their resignation is effective October 4th.
Concurrently, Mayor Segarra has appointed two long-standing professionals with experience in local government to fill the positions.  Mr. Joseph A. Ruffo, CPA will take over as Interim Director of Finance. Mr. Ruffo, a former Auditor, Accounting Instructor and Budget Reviewer for the Government Finance Officers Association for more than 20 years, has been the Comptroller/Deputy Comptroller for the City of Norwich since 1987. He will continue at the same salary as the previous finance director.

The Mayor has also appointed Mr. Keith Chapman, former Town Manager of Newington, Special Advisor to the City Manager of New London and Hartford, as Interim Director of the Department of Public Works. Mr. Chapman has overseen the Public Works Department in Newington and New London and has over 20 years of experience in city management. Mr. Chapman’s salary is $140,000.

Both Mr. Chapman and Mr. Ruffo will start on Monday, September 16 to begin the transition.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think they were pushed off the ship.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Mayor Segarra has jus said that he actually asked them to resign

Anonymous said...

Let the dancing begin. The person who was in charge of DPW was given the job by Eddie Perez because he was a yes man. You need leadership not sheep who bleep when you call. Mr. Burnham never and l mean never was a leader all those years wasted by someone who was a sidewalk inspector and an assistant who was a secretary. Good riddance. All eyes are watching Mayor don't screw up again.

Anonymous said...

Drug TESTS for ALL!

Anonymous said...

Ghee, when are we going to see Sandra Key Borges name on the list?

Anonymous said...

When are we going to wake the hell up and see the problem is at the very top? This is humiliating and pathetic. Thank god we have a decent Police Chief and a strong acting Fire Chief. Pretty soon there will be no one left to push off the ship but themselves. Oh yeah, have you seen what these fill-in's are getting paid?

Anonymous said...

Does this mean that the city streets will actually be plowed this winter? God I hope so. Burnham should have been fired and arrested after the plows were pulled off the roads for twelve hours in the middle of a blizzard! What was he thinking??? Maybe if the plow truck drivers don't want to plow, we should put cops and firemen in the plow trucks. Seems that whatever the conditions, our cops and firemen get the job done.

It's time for a new crew!!! said...


The next two on the Mayor's list should be double dipping COO Borges and her tail DFC Waller.








Anonymous said...

Kevin,

I think you are missing a few departments. Who runs HHS? MHIS is also acting.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

My crystal ball predicts SKB will not make it through the end of October. Stay tuned. I think Mayor Segarra is learning that it is not as difficult as he thought to hold people accountable for the jobs he expected th to do

Anonymous said...

Do you have inside info, Mr. Brookman? I am marking my calendar to see just how accurate your crystal ball is.

Anonymous said...

Kevin - lets hope the Mayor cleans out those who are within his inner circle. SKB should be the next on the chopping block. Enough is enough!!!!!

Ernie said...

Kevin, what is the status of the directors and dept heads who are NOT city residents and were told to either move to Hartford or submit their resignations?

Anonymous said...

Kevin, Pedro is a complete joke. He does not get it. We need real managers to run our city.