THIS SHOULD BE FUN

Hartford's IT Department, MHIS (Metro Hartford Information Services) has done a tremendous job in moving forward to put City Information on line.

The Hartford Open Date site appears to be up and running, I haven't done too much exploring on the site yet to see what information is actually available, but it looks interesting.

Take a few minutes to check it out, let me know if you find anything interesting and since I know City Hall are regular readers, feel free to leave constructive comments and suggestions on what else you think could be added.

https://data.hartford.gov/

REMEMBERING A FRIEND

 

From the Hartford Courant:

 

A memorial celebration of the life of Janet Ann Appellof, who passed away on April 16, 2014, will take place on Saturday, May 31, 2014 at the Hartford Marriott Downtown, 200 Columbus Blvd, Hartford from 1 - 4pm. The family invites all whose lives were touched by Jan to come and share your memories.

There are people that everyone says something good about after they die, and then there are people that you don't have to say much about because the way they lived their life told the whole story.

Jan was the latter. She was one of those people that was valuable as a friend because she wasn't into sugar coating her message. If you were right she would tell you and support you and if she thought you were wrong, she made that clear also, usually in no uncertain terms and in her own very colorful way. And she also was a big enough person to admit when she saw the other side and was not ashamed to admit her mistakes. That usually came with a few weeks of not speaking. but in the end, friendship would win out and you agree to move on

Jan and I had several such times over various issues, but her love for her City was something that could not be questioned. She had an energy for community events and worthwhile activities and was a regular fixture at various meetings, including the Maple Avenue NRZ monthly meetings. She was very focused on initiatives she believed in including Saint Phillips House in Plainville, a residence for people afflicted with HIV/AIDS and raised countless dollars for the services offered there.

Jan was also a huge part several years ago of the 25th Anniversary Of the Connecticut Pride Festival and was instrumental in bringing a weekend long block party to Main Street  in front of Hartford City Hall that the City has not seen the likes of since. Jan was notorious for her love of a good party and was well known for her annual Holiday Party that she threw every year at her south end home, Any one that was anyone in Hartford politics, or wanted to be someone, in Hartford politics coveted that invite.  Jan was the life of the party wherever she was invited and was always sure to show up loaded with desserts and the promise of a lively conversation.

Jan is someone that I was fortunate to have met by living in Hartford and someone that also kept me focused on what is important on many occasions with a phone call or a sharp conversation, but I always knew her intentions were correct. She will be sorely missed but her actions definitely made Hartford a better place,

Stop by tomorrow and celebrate her life

Rest in peace Jan, job well done

THE FUTURE OF HPD

On May 3, 2014, twenty two members of the Hartford Police Explorer Program  competed in the Connecticut Cadet Stations Day Completion at POSTC (CT Police Academy) located in Meriden, CT.  Stations Day is a one day competition where Explorer/Cadet Programs from all over Connecticut and  New England area compete. Explorers/Cadets use the skills they have learned during their weekly classes to respond to different scenarios as if they were the officer on scene. This year Hartford Explorers won seven awards in the following events:

1st place:

Domestic Disputes

Suspicious Person

Tactical Response,

2nd Place:

Building Search

MV Stop

Male Physical Agility

Female Physical Agility.

The Hartford Police Explorer Program is for youth residing in Hartford, from the ages of 14-21 years old, and who have an interest in pursuing a career in Law Enforcement. The Explorer Program currently has 35-40 active members that participate each week.  The Explorers Program has classes every Sunday, from 1000 – 1300 hrs, that is held at the PAL building located at 50 Williams Street, Hartford, CT.

The Hartford Police Explorer Program provides hands on career training in the Law Enforcement Field, build life skills, leadership skills, provide personal fitness and community service. The Hartford Police Department has many current and past officers who were successful members of our Explorer program.

The Explorer's program is a great way of recruiting future Hartford Police Officers from the ranks of City youth. Unfortunately both the Explorer program and the HPD Cadet program are taking budget hits this year. This comes back to the old saying "penny wise and pound foolish" As you can see from the awards listed above, these are Hartford's youth who are already fine tuning their Law Enforcement skills and potentially can be a huge asset to the future ranks of the Hartford Police Department.

Congratulations on your efforts

I WILL SAY IT AGAIN

The Hartford City Council needs to step up and show that they are capable of leadership and putting Hartford back on the right track, despite a delusional Mayor that has no concept of fiscal responsibility

For any Mayor that advocates for increased taxes in the City with the highest mill rate in the state just tells me that he is out of touch with the majority of residents and business owners who will be burdened with the tax increases. I think it also shows he is out of touch with Hartford's corporate world who won't necessarily be willing to shoulder his reckless spending much longer.

The Mayor made it a point recently to let me know I was wrong about my opposition to his hiring a scheduler. Yes, you read that right, his scheduler. The man that follows him everywhere he goes at a salary of $65,000 a year. Not bad work if you can get it.

Segarra became indignant and said I didn't know what I was talking about, his scheduler was so much more and besides "he has a masters degree" .I don't care if he can spit Gold, it is a position we can't afford, no more than we can afford Segarra's "Secret Service" style protection detail . I am sure you have seen them with Segarra, complete with dark sunglasses and their earpieces.

Ads I said at the Budget hearing, if I have a choice between a scheduler walking behind the Mayor or a police officer walking a beat, I will choose the police officer all the time.

The Council needs to show leadership. The Hartford City Charter is very specific about the positions to be authorized for the Mayor's Office, and nowhere i the Charter can I find a $65,000 a year scheduler.

311 also needs to go, I honestly don't think I have met anyone that can recite a 311 success story, plenty of failures, but I would really like to hear a success story. I recently called for over 3 months to get burned out bulbs replaced on three downtown street lamps on a busy street. I still think they are out. Technology needs to be used and advanced as City Hall needs to be more efficient. the "SEE,CLICK,FIX" App is something that should be used to faze out 311

Similar apps should also be used for Public Safety and many other City Hall functions. Twitter and other social media sites have proven a great resource for the City to get information out and should be used in the opposite direction to make Hartford more efficient.

A couple other necessary cuts need to be made. Council President Shawn Wooden last year tried to move a plan through that would have cut the Council staff in half. We can no longer afford to be so top heavy. Each Council person does not need their own Administrative Assistant. I might question why a couple of them even need an assistant based on their work product.

Several years ago the State legislature went to a system that assigned one Assistant to every 3 legislators. It seems to have worked there without any undue harm and it should be the same at City Hall.

One of the largest draws on City revenue is the money dumped into Hartford's Schools. I think with the money allotted, we should be able to demand better results than a 71% graduation rate, but more on that at another time.

One of the first things a new superintendent should look at is how much of that money goes to educating children and how much is wasted on just making adults wealthier. Do the Hartford Schools really need a spokesperson to address media inquiries once or twice a month? Is that the best use for $120,000 a year  plus maybe another 30% additional for benefits. Eliminate the position .

Do we really need all the Assistant Superintendent's and Special Assistant's for this or that. And if we are paying all these assistants for who knows what, shouldn't at least one of them have been groomed to fill in when the next Superintendent skips town to escape the heat instead of paying a fill in $900.00 a day to keep a seat warm

There is plenty of wasted money flowing through City Hall, but we need a Council that can cut reckless spending and look Segarra in the eye and say "enough is enough" no more Empire building...deal with it. Cut the Mayor's budget to what the Charter allows, eliminate the scheduler, and cut the fat out of the City budget. It is a matter of survival for the City of Hartford

SEGARRA: WE ARE ONLY FAILING ONE THIRD OF HARTFORD'S KIDS NOW

That was apparently the message of Mayor Segarra's press release issued earlier today. Segarra was touting the numbers released that showed 71% of Hartford's High School Seniors are graduating now. Granted, that number is up, but what about the other almost 30% who don't graduate. Is that a number Segarra is proud of?

It seems like he is almost feeling good saying "we  are no longer failing half of our kids, we are only failing a third of them now" .

This is definitely not something for Segarra to be proud of until that number is much lower and every Hartford child has a fair shot at a decent education

Statewide last year, the graduation rate was 85.5%

CITY OF HARTFORD SCHOOLS POST LANDMARK GRADUATION RATE

Increase of 43 Percentage Points Over Seven Years of Reform

--- NEWS AND COMMUNITY STATEMENT---

(Wednesday, May 14, 2014) Hartford’s high school graduation rate, which seven years ago stood at a low of 29 percent, has completely reversed itself and hit a landmark high of 71.2 percent in 2013, according to figures released today by Connecticut’s State Department of Education. The figure represents a steady climb of more than 43 percentage points, since 2006 when Hartford Public Schools launched an ambitious effort to reform its education system and began calculating its graduation rate based on a four-year cohort.

“This is great news for our entire city, especially our students, parents and schools,” said Mayor Pedro E. Segarra. “Absolutely nothing is more important than the education of our young people. This increase is the result of collaboration, parental engagement, rigorous academic standards, and the focus and attention needed for our students to succeed. I’m pleased with our progress so far and I encourage all those invested in this issue to stay involved so more Hartford students graduate in the future.”

The cohort graduation rate is determined by dividing the number of students who graduate in a given year by the number of students who enrolled as freshmen four years earlier. This method of calculating graduation rates, first proposed by the National Governors’ Association in 2004, is considered the most precise way of measuring them. The NGA method is now the standard in many states.

For Hartford Public Schools, today’s news means that of every 10 students who enrolled as high school freshmen in 2009, more than seven of them graduated. In all, Hartford graduated 1,009 students out of a pool of 1,418 entering freshmen. The figures also represent an increase of 6.4 percentage points from the previous year’s rate of 64.8 percent, when the district graduated 905 students out of a pool of 1,396 freshmen.

Statewide, the cohort graduation rate for 2013 was recorded at 85.5 percent.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Mayor Segarra, State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and Dr. Jacqueline Jacoby, Special Assistant to the Hartford Board of Education, announced the state and city graduation rates at a noon press conference held at High School, Inc., the city’s insurance and finance academy at 275 Asylum Street.

“These numbers reflect the great work that our schools have done, our efforts at building leadership that contributes to success and the incredible contributions from all segments of the larger Hartford Public Schools community,” Dr. Jacoby said.

She cited credit retention programs, where students who are far behind in their studies are given time and opportunity to catch up; student success centers that offer tailored academic instruction and personal support to “off-track” students and previous drop outs who returned to city schools; the conversion to smaller themed academies that offer more personalized instruction; and a higher degree of parent engagement in the education of their children.

All but three of the 14 city high schools experienced significant gains in their graduations rates. Among the leaders was High School, Inc., under the leadership of Principal Terrell Hill, where the graduation rate jumped more than 18 percentage points from 52.4 to 72.8. At the Law & Government Academy, led by Principal Frank Samuelson, the graduation rate increased from 47.4 percentage points to 71.7, a gain of 24.3 percentage points. And Principal Steve Perry’s Capital Preparatory Magnet School graduated 100 percent of its 33 seniors in 2013.

INTERNAL AUDIT COMMISSION TO REFER SEGARRA TO ETHICS COMMISSION

I'm not really sure what the mechanism is to enforce  or correct violations of Hartford's Charter. But at least Hartford's Internal Audit Commission is taking the first step to make that clearer.

The Commission today unanimously voted to file charges against Mayor Segarra with the City's Ethics Commission for failing to carry out his duties as required under the City Charter.

Specifically, the Commissioners are bothered by Segarra's failure to follow Charter requirements in the hiring of Department Heads.

The issue was brought to a head after a complaint filed with the IAC over the continued appoinment of Hartford's Director of Public Works Keith Chapman. Chapman has been in an "acting role" over the 6 month period allowed under the Charter. The key issue is, according to sources, is that Chapman refuses to move to Hartford as required if he were to accept the permanent position. Sources have also confirmed that Segarra has offered the permanent position to Chapman, but he has refused to accept it.

The Hartford City Council has authority under the Charter to Conduct hearings and investigate Charter violations but for some reason they seem to choose to ignore the violations and Segarra continues to violate the Charter requirements.

This one should generate some media attention, but also keep in mind that the Mayor appoints the members of the Ethic's Commission. They haven't paid attention to much that has happened so far, so I am not holding out much hope. Maybe it is time for a taxpayers group that might consider filing a Superior Court law suit to force compliance.

THE APONTE CHRONICLES: THE NEXT CHAPTER, THE CORRUPTION CONTINUES

You can give someone the title of leader, but that doesn't necessarily make them one. Such appears to be the case of Hartford City Council's "Majority Leader" Alexander Aponte.

For a refresher, here is a previous posting  that caught Aponte up in a Federal Food Stamp Fraud Investigation http://wethepeoplehartford.blogspot.com/2011/02/aponte-chronicles-journey-of-deception.html

As a result of that investigation and the resulting complaint from the woman Aponte claimed as his client, Aponte and the Statewide Grievance committee accepted a deal to avoid further action against Aponte.

According to recent documents, Aponte has breached that deal and even bounced a check that was sent as restitution ordered by the  "Bad Lawyer Committee". The check was issued in July of 2013, and according to the documents, apparently has not been made good after it bounced.


Be sure to read the "Aponte Fraud Complaint" below and  it should put Aponte's actions into question as far as his integrity and honesty. Is he really someone we want to call a Hartford "leader"? Is this really someone who should have a leadership role on the Hartford City Council. Is it any wonder why voter turnout is so low in Hartford and why most people are so turned off with the system?

I would ask Councilman Aponte to do the right thing and resign, but it is pretty clear he isn't known for doing what is right. Maybe he should focus on his law practice so he isn't bouncing checks to his victims.

What is next for Aponte, a judgeship?

Aponte 2014 Complaint

Aponte Grievance Panel Finding of Probable Cause

Aponte Malpractice Fraud Complaint

HPD SEEKING HOMICIDE SUSPECT

The Hartford Police Department Major Crimes Division Homicide Detectives have solve a 2013 homicide and are seeking the public’s help in locating the accused.

On September 19, 2013 at 9:31pm HPD patrol officers responded to reports of an unresponsive victim in the area of South Marshall St and Case St. Officers located the victim, 39 year old Kareem Lewis of Hartford, unresponsive, suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso. Witnesses reported hearing a single gunshot. The victim was transported to St. Francis where he was pronounced at 10:18pm.

The investigation by the Major Crimes Division Homicide Detectives led to identifying the accused- Shadeed Islam, Date of Birth-05/08/1980, as being the shooter in this incident.  On April 28, 2014 an arrest warrant was submitted and approved for Shadeed Islam for the homicide of Kareem Lewis.  Islam has a $5,000,000.00 judge set bond. Shadeed Islam has an extensive firearms and narcotics history with 39 previous arrests (just in Hartford). The firearm used in the homicide has not been recovered and HPD believes he may be armed and dangerous.

HPD’s efforts to locate Shadeed Islam have not been successful. The Hartford Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating him. If you have any information please call Sergeant Brandon O’Brien at 860-757-4089. Tips can be posted anonymously and for a potential reward call 860-722-TIPS.

This is the third arrest warrant obtained for a homicide in a week by the homicide detectives.

SEGARRA VETOES KENNEDY RESOLUTION

Mayor Segarra once in a while does so the right thing. Councilman Ken Kennedy, who has a history of introducing resolutions to micromanage the operations of HPD, today lost another round in his scuffle with HPD. Remember the corvette engine resolutions  on the new cruisers?

Kennedy had introduced a resolution to disband both the HPD Fiscal management Unit and their Human Resources Division. Both moves would have been penny wise and pound foolish. The HPD Fiscal unit has oversight over the HPD budget and manages all purchase orders and invoices payable.

For anyone familiar with the internal Audit reports, HPD has never been a problem when it comes to fiscal management. I am not aware of any issues or questions regarding  the use of HPD P-cards( credit cards). The reason... the strict oversight of all purchases by the HPD Fiscal manager. Doing away with that oversight would be a small savings and a huge mistake.

After the Council passed the resolution it was sent to Mayor Segarra for his signature. According to sources, Segarra today vetoed the resolution, leaving the HR and Fiscal Departments intact at HPD, at least for the time being .

DISGUSTING

 

The above comment was apparently made at last nights budget session by Hartford City Councilwoman

Cynthia Jennings and then tweeted by Steve Goode of the Courant.

Now I think most of us realize not to expect too much out of Hartford City Hall when it comes to leadership, but this is a new low when it comes to the Council. The actions of the Council repeatedly show little or no appreciation for HPD, but this is an insult to every good hard working member of HPD and the Dispatch Center .

The big question is why this comment now? This Council has had oversight over the budget for several years and has run the City budget into the ground year after year. Are the deficits suddenly the responsibility of Chief Rovella and HPD. This Council has shared an equal part in the recklessness and over spending for years now.

Not to mention that the "high pay" Jennings' references has all been voted on and approved  by Jennings and her colleagues. Neither police officers or EST Dispatchers make up their own salaries, they are set by the collective bargaining agreements approved by the Council.. If they don't like the salaries, have a backbone and vote against them, don't bully the employees at budget time.

I am not sure how many of the Council have actually taken the time to ride with a police officer or sit with a dispatcher on a busy night. I would venture to say very few.

I would challenge Councilwoman Jenninngs to be the first one jumping out of a cruiser on Garden Street and running toward the sound of gunfire from a Tek-9 machine gun being fired in a backyard, or maybe sitting with the overpaid dispatcher taking a call from a parent whose child is choking on a piece of candy and turning blue.

See how low the threshold is as the overpaid dispatcher multitasks to hopefully save a life, entering the call for EMS and Fire to respond quickly, at the same time trying to calm down the parent who may be watching their child dying in their arms and trying to relay life saving instructions to the caller.

I have to disagree with the Councilwoman, the skill set is extrremely high, especially at those times when we as residents need to rely on our Police Officers and Dispatchers.The Councilwoman also needs to do a little more checking on the skill sets and I think she will be surprised by the number of Hartford Police Officers with advanced college degrees, including masters Degrees and Law Degrees.

No matter what the intent of the comments was meant to be, it is not what I expect from someone who should be a leader and the Councilwoman owes an apology to everyone she offended.