LESSON NUMBER 12 FOR HARTFORD CRIMINALS...NEVER LEAVE YOUR CAR AT A GUNFIGHT

I guess lesson number 13 for Hartford criminals might be don't fire on three guys that all are carrying guns of their own, legally with permits.

FROM HPD:

On the listed date and time Patrol Units were dispatched to 215 Branford Street for multiple shots fired

being reported. STF Units were in the area and responded with the Patrol Units. On arrival officers were

flagged down by three parties who identified themselves as pistol permit holders who had just fired their

firearms at a suspect who had attempted to shoot at them. Witnesses stated a black male arrived in the area

of 215 Branford Street in a gray Infiniti. The operator parked, exited the vehicle, and stood in the street

yelling out someone's name. The operator then produced a firearm and pointed it at a resident who was

standing on the sidewalk in front of his home. The resident stated the suspect fired shots at which point all three permit holders returned fire at the suspect .

The suspect fled west on foot out of sight, leaving his vehicle behind. 

Due to no HPD K9 working, a StatePolice K9 responded. A track from the suspect vehicle tracked to the suspect hiding in the rear of 145 PalmStreet along the side of a porch. The suspect was taken into custody after a brief struggle by Detective Rodney and Trooper Charette. The suspect was still in possession of a .380 caliber firearm. 

The suspect,identified as Russell Payne, was not struck by gunfire. The suspects vehicle and a citizen vehicle was struckby gunfire. Witnesses positively identified Payne as the shooter. The suspect was in possession of keys that fit the Infiniti. An extensive neighborhood canvass was conducted in the direction the shots were fired to  ensure no random victims were struck by stray projectiles.

Accused Payne was irrational and violent throughout the incident. Payne spit at officers, refused to submit to

the booking process and flooded two cells.

Accused: Russell Payne, M/B/24 (12/20/1989), of 73 Lenox Street, Hartford, CT.

Charges: Carrying a Pistol w/o a Permit, Possession of Pistol w/ Obliterated S/N, Crim. Attempt Assault 1st

Degree, Assault on Police, Reckless Endangerment 2nd Degree, Threatening 2nd Degree, Interfering w/

Police, Refusal to Submit to Fingerprinting and Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree.

Firearm Seized: Bersa .380 Caliber Firearm w/ Obliterated S/N, with one chambered round and empty magazine.

MORE FROM HPD

 

On August 14, 2013 at 9:57pm Hartford Police Department patrol units responded to 48 Evergreen Ave. on the report of shots fired. On arrival two victims were located in front suffering from numerous gunshot wounds. They were identified as Jerome Copeland 1/18/91 and Rasheed Sterling 3/20/91.  

Both were transported to Saint Francis where Copeland was pronounced deceased at 2223 hours. Sterling survived his injuries. The HPD Major Crimes Division Homicide Detectives responded and began an investigation. Several witnesses were identified and interviewed. Detectives located key physical evidence at the scene that assisted in the investigation.  

A suspect was developed and on 6/26/14 an arrest warrant was secured charging the suspect Demetry Mclean DOB 5/28/1992 with  Murder, Criminal Attempt Murder, Assault First Degree and Carrying a pistol without a Permit. Mclean has a judge set bond of 3 million dollars cash or surety. 

Mclean also has 3 additional warrants for Failure to Appear in court on separate cases. It is believed that Mclean is a flight risk and has possibly already left the state and/or country. HPD is looking for information on his whereabouts. 

 

 

HARTFORD CITY COUNCIL...WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES

All of the attention to the Rock Cats deal is drawing attention to the real problems at City Hall. Apparently the media hasn't figured out that Mayor Segarra placed $450.000 into a special "non-specific" account in MUNIS. MUNIS is the City's accounting and operations software program. . The money is  in the "secret " account that has been used to pay a couple hundred thousand dollars so far for consultants , lawyers and  other "incidentals" related to the Rock Cats deal.

Although Segarra had to sell off City assets to balance his budget, he was able to find almost half a million in Capital Improvement Project (CIP) money to stash away to work to start the crazy deal. This probably isn't even legal since reallocation of CIP money typically would require a City Council resolution to re-allocate the Bond funds.

Where is our City Council  as far as addressing this violation? They are too busy holding press conferences and back pedaling now to worry about playing by the rules.

But my reason for this posting is a rather scary document I received that should have the Council scrambling to find every penny they can to avoid a huge disaster on the horizon.

The Council Has repeatedly cut money from the Hartford Police Department budget, especially for Police hiring. This year Governor Malloy and the legislature found and gave a couple million dollars to give to Segarra to once again bail him out. I am not sure they will fall for that again after $60 million was just handed to a group of real estate billionaires from a City that claims to be broke.

The money from the State that allowed the Council to re institute a Police Academy class of 20 or 30 officers is definitely a good start.  Thank you Governor Malloy, shame on you Hartford City Council.

It is a good start.Unfortunately police hiring is not just a matter of placing an ad in the paper. It is almost a two year process from testing to backgrounds to hiring to academy training to FTO (street) training and evaluation. And even after that, most officers will admit that they really weren't comfortable on their own until maybe four or five years into their careers. And the statistics support that. The learning curve for problems in those first years is high. For everything from cruiser accidents, bad shootings  bad arrests they are all high in the first few years and then drastically  begin to dip around year seven.

The chart below, which I am sure is available to any Council person if they cared, shows that disaster on the horizon I mentioned earlier.  Even though the Council will be replacing up to thirty officers, those numbers somehow seem to get cut when we really get around to it , and then typically 5 to 10 usually don't make the cut in the end. We may actually get 20 new officers if they fully fund the class.

 The chart shows the 94 officers that can retire before that next class would be ready for use on the streets. Now when a Council addresses budget issues for a City that is broke and talks layoffs and tax increases  and then within weeks are ready to give away $60 million they don't have, I am comfortable in saying they either can't add 2 plus 2 to get to 4 or they don't understand economics.

Here is a quick tutorial for Council President Wooden. if you have 94 Police officers that can retire and you have 20 Police Officers that complete the Police Academy how many Police Officers does that leave you?  Don't bother taking off your shoes to use your toes to count,.It is a net loss potentially of 74 Officers. A "net Loss" is not a good thing Councilman. Kind of like when you are broke and selling the parking garages on the monopoly board  and have no cash to pay the $200.00 to pass go.

I only posted those potential retirees that could retire over the next 2 years before a new Academy class would graduate. There are a total of 94 Officers. The first column are the officers, second column is their rank, third is their date of hire and the fourth is the year they could retire.

As with the baseball Stadium, the numbers just don't add up

Hpd Retirement Dates0001

THE HPD "CRASH CHANNEL, LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

This posting is not the beginning of the latest police novel or a promo for a new television show. It may be a sad chapter of the latest HPD history to play out as an internal police investigation takes shape.

It will be a lengthy posting so, keep reading.

In the mid to late nineties a unit was established in the LAPD  to combat crime in one of the worst precincts in the City, the Rampart Division. It was called the "CRASH Unit". It evolved into the Los Angeles' Police Departments  worst corruption and frame-up scandal. News reports have revealed a widespread pattern of unjustified arrests, beatings, drug dealing, witness intimidation, illegal shootings, planting of evidence, frame-ups and perjury at the CRASH unit of the Rampart Division of the LAPD.

CRASH is the acronym for the "Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums", an anti-gang program. It was police officers essentially going to any length, legal or not, to make arrests and get gangs off the street. Numerous LAPD officers were actually arrested and sent to prison after it was revealed they planted drugs and set people up for arrest...or worse.

You might be asking yourself what his has to do with HPD? I am not insinuating that any extreme actions like that have occurred in Hartford. Sometime around 2006 or 2007 a group of Hartford Police Officers were able to convince the radio technicians that handled the City's trunked radio system to establish and set up a special talk group that only certain officers could access and talk on, Very few supervisors had access to the channel and it was not monitored in the Dispatch Center. High level administrators were aware of the channel, but apparently did nothing at the time to shut it down.

The channel was called the CRASH Channel by the officer's who had it set up, apparently named after the LAPD Crash Unit  who had a history of operating outside the normal boundaries  and supervision.When the Hartford Officers who had access to the channel wanted to operate "under the radar" they would instruct others with the channel "to go crash". That meant to switch their portable radios over to the crash channel and they could communicate without supervisors or others knowing what they were doing.

On the evening of December 1, 2007, shortly before 7:00PM  a vehicle pursuit  was started by HPD officers in Hartford's southend. the chase quickly got up to high speeds and LT. Brian Foley who was a southend zone Lieutenant at the time, (Now Deputy Chief Foley) immediately ordered the chase to be broken off and for the HPD Officers to stop pursuing the vehicle. According to sources familiar with the chase ,Foley believed the officers involved obeyed his order and the pursuit had ended.

Again, according to sources the order to " go crash" went out over the radio and unbeknownst to Foley and anyone else except the officers involved and using the "CRASH Channel" the pursuit continued at high speeds south into Wethersfield on Ridge Road where an HPD unit attempted to ram the vehicle being pursued but the vehicle did not stop. All of this is in direct violation of the HPD pursuit policy. Again sources that were part of this pursuit  eventually verified these facts through an Internal Investigation.

I have requested that report through the Freedom of Information Act and will post it here as soon as I receive it. The lead vehicle in the pursuit was operated apparently by HPD Officer, now Sergeant Felix Ortiz and apparently Ortiz was also the operator of the cruiser that rammed the vehicle they were ordered by Foley not to pursue while on Ridge Road in Wethersfield.

The vehicle and the chase continued at high speeds south into Wethersfield over Cedar Mountain through Newington Center and eventually up Fenn Road headed toward West Hartford. Again, this pursuit was taking place on the "Crash Channel" and no Hartford supervisor except for Ortiz and those officers following him were aware of what was taking place. Once on Fenn Road the vehicle being chased apparently lost control near West Hill Road. The vehicle apparently crashed into a house and a passenger in the vehicle, a teenaged female, was killed.  The Crash Channel  immediately came to life with orders to "get out of here before anyone realizes who we are" Ortiz and the others did just that. Apparently no first aid was rendered, no one called for Emergency services, they just returned to Hartford. 

At the time I was told that none of this was recorded, but that was untrue and the IAD file reportedly contains all the details as well as audio recordings of the incident. Ortiz was apparently disciplined  after this incident by former Chief Daryl Roberts but there is no indication why criminal charges were not pursued for the death that resulted from the  illegal chase.

You might be asking yourself now why this matters seven years later.

It appears that this past Monday morning , history may have repeated itself. Sergeant Ortiz who was working Sunday night into Monday morning as the Supervisor for the Downtown Detail around the bars was near Club NV on Allyn Street when a motorcycle began revving its engine, quite possibly in an effort to bait a cop to chase him. Ortiz took the bait and the chase was on. According to sources who witnessed the activity said the motorcycle fled at high speed, cutting through downtown lots with Ortiz in hot pursuit. The motorcycle headed towards Pulaski Circle  and the Conlin- Whitehead Highway eventually to head towards 91 north.

At the stop sign from Jewel Street to  Pulaski Circle (by the skating rink), witnesses have stated  that
Ortiz activated his overhead lights and siren and was pursuing the motorcycle at high speed toward the highway, within a short time Ortiz radioed HPD Headquarters  and told the dispatcher that apparently "a citizen" had stopped him and said that there was a bad motorcycle  accident on I-91 North. within seconds , Ortiz was calling for Fire, EMS and an Ambulance for the motorcyclist as if he happened to come across the accident and not because he had continued his pursuit  onto the highway where the motorcycle operator had crashed and died.

How could a "citizen" have witnessed th e accident  and then notified Ortiz back down at Pulaski Circle?  Did they come upon the accident and then back off of 91 and down the Conlin Highway to find Ortiz and advise the officer who just seconds earlier had been in pursuit or was this the second time an Ortiz pursuit had taken a life.

A couple things in this matter will prove interesting. Video is everywhere now. The Attorney General's building at 55 Elm has several cameras recording shots of the street and the area  around Pulaski Circle.  I believe that at least one media outlet has or is in the process of requesting the video through FOI. There are also numerous restaurants  apartment buildings and other places recording 24 hours a day.

There are also Ortiz's fellow police officers who witnessed the events and probably aren't going to jeopardize their careers by lying in something that has the potential to evolve into a criminal investigation.

We all know these motorcycles are a nuisance but is it worth chasing them? In the meantime I will hopefully have the 2007 IAD investigation soon to post here

MORE FROM HPD- ANOTHER HOMICIDE WARRANT

 

 

On Saturday June 14, 2014 at approximately 12:56pm, Hartford Police Dispatch received reports of shots fired and a person shot in the area of 66 Main Street South Green. Patrol units were immediately dispatched and responded to the area. Upon arrival the victim, later identified as Huberto O'Neil DOB 07/15/1979 AKA KILLA BEE or KB, was located lying face up on the west sidewalk of Main Street with apparent gunshot wounds to the face/head.

 

Responding Hartford Fire Department Engine #1 and Emergency Medical Technician's (EMTs) arrived shortly after patrol units and began to administer emergency first aid.  O'Neil was subsequently pronounced deceased, on scene, at 1:12pm.

 

A post Mortem examination of O'Neil was conducted by Chief Medical Examiner and the manner of death ruled: Homicide.

 

The suspect, Michael Pryce DOB 04/03/1993, was identified through subsequent investigation by Hartford Police Homicide detectives. On June 18, 2014 an arrest warrant was obtained by detectives charging Pryce with one count of MURDER, C.G.S. 53a-54a. The warrant is active.

 

Pryce’s whereabouts are unknown at this time and information has been received that he is currently homeless. Efforts to locate Pryce have not been successful. Pryce has a judge set $300,000 cash bond only with full extradition across the United States. The firearm in this incident has not been recovered. Pryce may affiliate himself with the BLOODs street gang and may have contacts in the following previous arrest locations:

Arrested on Babcock Street, Edgewood Street, and  Thomaston St. Hartford, CT

Anyone with information on Pryce’s whereabouts is asked to contact Sergeant Brandon O’Brien at (860) 757-8940.

 

FROM HPD

 

Miles Harris is wanted for questioning in last weeks reported Church Burglary (see details below, and attached pictures) Harris is also actively wanted and has an outstanding felony warrant for Larceny 2^nd in Hartford related to an incident where an elderly man was seriously assaulted. Harris is also a suspect in other Church Burglaries in the area. Efforts to locate Harris have not been successful. We are asking for the communities help in locating him. Anyone with informtation is asked to call Sergeant Brandon O’Brien 860-757-4089

 

Burglary on 6/12/14, case number 14-19064,  650 Blue Hills Avenue “Family Worship Center”.  Items taken;

 

• 40”Insignia Television ( no serial number)
• 60” Sharp LC LED Television serial number 206847463 model number 60LE640U

The suspect is this case appeared to be  a black male, with short hair,  thin built, approximately 5’08”, in his late teens or early twenties. The suspect was wearing a brown hooded sweat shirt, baseball hat, red T-shirt under his sweat shirt, dark colored pants, adidas (black and white) sneakers and carrying a blue Yankees string book bag.

The surveillance camera revealed that on 6/11/14 at approximately 2000 hours the suspect entered through the front entrance of the church during bible study. The suspect walked through the hallways of the church and entered the rear office without detection.  It was later determined that the suspect cut one wire to the rear entrance alarm and left the south side window unlocked.

The Pastor called the alarm company in order to reset the alarm that was malfunctioning, unaware that the alarm was tampered with.  The alarm company called the Pastor at 2300 hour later that night because the sensors were setting off but they decided not to call Police thinking that the alarm was malfunctioning.  Surveillance later revealed that the suspect returned and he was the one setting off the sensor but at that time he did not take any items.

Surveillance also revealed the suspect returned for the third time on 6/12/14 at approximately 0900 hours and ripped both of the televisions off the wall and exited through the rear entrance where the alarm was tampered with.  The suspect carried out one television at a time.  -4089.

 

 

STATE REP. ARCE ISSUES SMALL BUSINESS ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact: Marta Collazo

June 20, 2014                                                               

  860-240-8637                                                                                  

 

 

REP. ARCE ALERTS LOCAL BUSINESSES ON

DEVIOUS SALES OFFERS

 

State Representative Angel Arce (D-Hartford) is alerting business owners about a potentially deceitful sales practice that various local merchants brought to his attention today.

According to various Hispanic-owned Park Street and Franklin Avenue small businesses, sales representatives visited their stores selling them labor laws posters, depicting state and federal laws and regulations that should be posted inside their establishment.

“I received a few calls from local business owners asking me if the state was running a campaign to have these posters in every store,” Rep. Arce said. “After further investigation, I found that a company is selling them posters that these businesses can get free of charge from the state.”

Arce noted, “The ‘business representatives’, go door to door telling small business owners that they have to buy the poster in order to be state compliant, otherwise, they could be fined thousands of dollars for not having them posted. In turn, out of fear, they bought into it.”

The Connecticut Department of Labor has several posters, guides and information FREE of charge to employers and businesses. For more information, please visit:  http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/ . To get copies of Connecticut state posters with information on wages, hours of work, or working conditions, not posted on their website, please call (860) 263-6790.

Rep. Arce said, “I am talking to state agencies about getting more information about this business to verify the legitimacy of the company and find out more about what they are doing. In the meantime, I urge merchants to stay alert and not invest their money on posters that they can get free of charge.”

 

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE

Just when you think you have heard all of the incompetence, a new story comes along. This one is shocking in so many ways though and probably explains why Hartford's Education process is such a mess.

The Courant posted a story today about Dr. Michael Sharpe, CEO of the Jumoke Charter School. Problem is Sharpe never received his Doctorate and is not a Doctor at all but used  fraudulent credentials to apparently further his career. But lets not stop there. He is apparently also a convicted felon who has done prison time.And none of this was known to the Hartford School System. Board Persident Richard Wareing tells the Courant he was "shocked" and "disappointed" to learn Friday afternoon that Sharpe may have misrepresented himself.

Misrepresented himself?  He perpetrated a fraud on the taxpayers of Hartford and anyone that allowed that to happen needs to resign and Sharpe should be prosecuted for his deeds

Here is the Courant's story

Apparently his explanation to the Courant was that he may not have been as aggressive as he should have been correcting people  when they called him "Doctor". Why would he when it would probably have exposed him immediately as the fraud he appears to be.
Apparently he used the title "Doctor" on his website and even signed letters and correspondence as 'DR". It sounds like he needed to correct himself before he had to worry about others.

This should not provide comfort to any Hartford Parent and they need to question the security process. Who is doing the background checks on the people that come in contact with their children on a daily basis. It appears that the answer is no one

If they didn't know that Sharpe was a fraud, how can they promise that they haven't hired other criminals or even sex offenders in Hartford's Schools.

Maybe if Mayor Segarra is too busy to do his duties as a member of the Board of Education, he  and others should resign to allow someone else on the Board that knows how to use GOOGLE to check  on new hires. Who approved the multi-million dollar contracts to Sharpe without checking his credentials and fulfilling their  responsibility to the City of Hartford and its children

We should be demanding a refund ,and filing legal papers to make sure it happens.. His contracts with Hartford and other municipalities should be terminated immediately.

FROM HPD

On 6/5/14 at 1:35pm, Peoples United Bank , 290 Franklin Avenue, Htfd. CT. reported a bank robbery where a large white male suspect, wearing a pink wig, sunglasses, blue plaid shirt and white gloves, walked into the main lobby of this bank and displayed a hand written note which read (something close to) ‘THIS IS A ROBBERY’. This suspect then ordered the bank manager, Pina Lo Curzio, to get him cash from the sole male bank teller. Curzio complied and then handed the suspect $790.00 U.S. currency (all in ten dollar bills) at which time the suspect exited the bank. Witnesses reported that the suspect left the area in a blue Nissan Maxima with Mass plates.

MCD Robbery Detectives investigated the incident and distributed Wanted flyers and emails to fellow Hartford Police Officers,  CTIC , D.O.C. and surrounding Law Enforcement Agencies.

On 6/12/14 , Detectives were contacted by New Britain Detectives who were investigating a New Britain Robbery which had a similar suspect and vehicle description. Both agencies exchanged photos and information regarding their robbery investigations.

On 6/19/14 Hartford Police South Conditions Officers initiated a proactive stop on a suspicious vehicle (bearing Mass plates) in the south end which lead to the arrest of Festim Shyqeriu (8/16/93) documented under HPD case # 14-20049. This arrest produced several items in the suspect’s vehicle consisting of one black bb gun, one pink wig, and a hand written note which read “hand me all the money now.”

Detectives post-Miranda interviewed Shyqeriu in a MCD interview room at which time he confessed to the above described bank robbery and provided a sworn written statement which contained his full confession.

HPD and NBPD Detectives then interviewed Shyqeriu on the New Britain robbery which he also admitted to conducting . Shyqueriu then provided NB with a full written sworn written confession. 

Shyqeriu was then escorted to the Hartford police Booking Facility on separate charges.

HPD Robbery Detectives then obtained an arrest warrant for Festim Shyqueriu for the Peoples United Bank robbery under HPD case # 14-18172 with the charge of ROBBERY in the THIRD DEGREE (53a-136).

On 6/20/14 this arrest warrant was “walked thru” and signed by a judge at Hartford Superior Court, 101 Lafayette street, Hartford, CT.

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE, THE LEASE

Hartford's new BFF  crew

As if to say "Leave us out of this"

As always feel free to leave your comments and observations.

Rock Cats Lease

I'M NOT SURE WHY I DIDN'T DO THIS SOONER

The picture above was used by Courant columnist Kevin Rennie to describe Hartford Politician's and their efoorts to include a skybox for themselves in the Rock Cats deal

I didn't go back through my archives, but I think I used the same picture in the past 

UPDATE: I did go back to my archives and I used the picture in July of 2013.Here is more on Hartford's "pigs at the trough". I got it off the internet and I don't claim any ownership to the pic, so if the pigs fit, use them

Kevin's blog addresses much of the same political sluggery ( is that a word, actions committed by political slugs) that aggravate me also, except more on a statewide level.

The link in the right column will take you to Kevin's blog on a daily basis if you want to check out his  DAILY RUCTION'S

ANOTHER ANDREW UPDATE

My nephew Andrew (R) and his younger brother Ryan(L) on our trip last year to Fenway

Regular readers are probably used to the occasional updates regarding my nephew Andrew.Andrew had viral encephalitis  at a couple months old that affected his muscle development and was eventually diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Andrew lives with CP, but doesn't let it get him down.

He realized several years ago that he enjoyed skiing and despite muscle issues caused by his CP he excelled at skiing. Rather than rehash everything the link below to a Courant article done this week on Andrew explains an awful lot. You can read that article here

Or for more information about his quest for the Paralympics go to his website andrewraces.com. Andrew will be leaving next week to begin training with the US Paralympic Ski Team at Mount Hood Oregon. If you would like to help him with his efforts, donations can be made on the website or you can keep track of upcoming fundraisers there.

Andrew graduates tonight from Fermi High School  and is heading to Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah in the fall

Andrew was also recently recognized by Governor  Malloy as part of the Governor's Coalition for Youth with Disabilities program with a scholarship

Congratulation's Andrew and Ryan also for being such a good brother, it makes a difference.

IT IS ALL BECOMING CLEARER NOW

I changed the batteries in my crystal ball this afternoon and it is all becoming clearer now.

Between the Rock Cats deal and other financial messes, it makes you question the people that are forming the fiscal policy on the Government level for us little people. Now I know Mayor Segarra and some of his "Cabinet" have had their share of appearances in Federal Court for their bankruptcy appearances .That kind of makes me question their suitability to oversee a half a billion dollar a year budget. But I guess we already know how that is working out.

Now it appears that Zach Jankowski at the Yankee Institute (link to his site is in the right hand column) has developed some information that might explain why the finances for the State of Connecticut are always in trouble. It seems that Hartford Senator John Fonfara might need to get some remedial training in the Finance area.

Hartford Democratic Sen. John Fonfara, is chairman of the legislature’s finance, revenue and bonding committee which handles state tax policy. The IRS has a $50,406.93 tax lien against the Hartford home of Democratic Sen. John Fonfara  Uh-oh. And he is guiding the course of the State's financial policy?It might just be time for his colleagues in the Senate to ask him to step aside and let someone competent chair such an important committee.

Fonfara previously chaired the Energy and Utility committee in the Senate, which might explain why we pay some of the highest Utility rates in the United States here in Connecticut

It is unclear why the IRS hasn't moved to attach Fonfara's $42,000 annual salary as a Senator.

Fonfara Tax Docs

MORE BOGUS NUMBERS FROM SEGARRA ON ROCK CATS DEAL

The fiction just keeps flowing from Hartford's Mayor Pedro Segarra, as more of the lies are exposed .It also is exposing the incompetence of Segarra and his  Economic Development  Director Thomas Deller.

This plan was so poorly thought out and I still do believe it was done to try to Make it look like Segarra has done something, anything. The only thing it is proving is that Segarra is willing  to bankrupt the City of Hartford and its taxpayers to try to boost his ego. The ego also played in ,I am sure, in the need for secrecy. Pedro has a proven track record of listening to poor advice. Anyone that he may have asked for advice that would have pointed out the pitfalls  of his plan could not be tolerated.

Is there a reason that the Council  was kept in the dark and not one Councilperson could be trusted enough to be brought in to seek their opinion on plunging Hartford into $60 million in debt? I know some on the Council  love the TV camera  and can't wait to get in front of them, but someone should have been trusted.

If the Hartford Parking Authority was going to play such a key role in the revenue to pay down the debt, why were they not included? Why was Hartford Treasurer Adam Cloud not consulted in the beginning? No bonds can be issued for any project without the approval of the Treasurer. None of the planning, negotiations dinners at Max or Salute mean anything if the Treasurer isn't on Board.

 The numbers just don't make sense. It has been said previously  that the the City could sustain approximately $50-60 million in bonding for Capital Improvements annually. This year alone the number far exceeds that.  $60 million for a baseball stadium, $100 million for Weaver High School and approximately $10 million for Dillon Stadium.

 In an interview yesterday with the Courant, Segarra , Deller and the "consultants " were asked questions about the development. You can read the article and their answers here. If you read the entire article , it most likely will not instill a lot of confidence in their plan. Instead of solid answers most are "we think" or "we believe" type replies.

One of the replies that tells me Segarra just doesn't get it is his reply to add a vehicle parking tax or assessment on parking in Hartford. One of the major drawbacks to people coming into Hartford, I am always told by others, is the high cost of parking in Hartford. Rates usually skyrocket on event nights and adding another $2.00 per parking space in the City is crazy. People will go to West Hartford Center for dinner and be able to park for free or for the cost of the change in their pocket. Unlike Hartford where $10.00 a space in surface lots is the going rate.

The other part I am being told is the projected interest rate for any bonds sold. Apparently the bonds can not be sold as tax exempt government bonds because a potion of the debt is being paid back by private enterprise, the lease payments from the Rock Cats. Recently Stamford sold bonds for a TIF project. TIF is tax incremental funding. A municipality can essentially set up a special district for development where once the boundaries are established it becomes a special financing district . The taxes collected in the district go to stimulate development .

50% of the taxes collected go to pay the tax obligations for the property, 50% goes to paying down the debt service for the bonds. The recent bonds in Stamford apparently sold for between 7 and 9%.  That would probably be a hard sell in Hartford  since the buyers would be assuming the risk on a project that is financially shaky at best

One of Deller's comments that jumped out at me from the article is below.

You can read the interview here

Courant: Do you have an estimate yet of how much revenue you expect the city to get annually from parking during ball games?

Deller: No. But if you figure 2,700 vehicles — if they park in the MAT garage [on Chapel Street] … the parking authority has been saying they would probably charge $5. So 2,700 times 5, times 71 games — that's the high-end number

From the Hartford Parking Authority website:

The MAT Garage is a five-level garage with 907 spaces, bounded by Trumbull, Church, Chapel and Main Streets. In addition to serving monthly parkers in the central business district and being the on-site parking facility for the Hartford Stage Company, the MAT Garage is an ideal option for downtown shoppers, diners and those attending games and shows at the XL center.

I know , a small detail, but when you add it all up, it comes out to over a $5 million dollar a year hit for the people of Hartford

How do you count revenue for 2,700 cars in a garage that can only hold 907. This just shows the research that went into this project and the lack of truthfulness

I know , a small detail, but when you add it all up, it comes out to over a $5 million dollar a year hit for the people of Hartford

It is time for Segarra to pull out his book of Mark Twain quotes once again. "If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember the lies

HPD INCIDENT REPORT _ FIREFIGHTER CALDWELL'S LATEST ARREST

Back in January I posted a cryptic blog post regarding the numerous e-mails and phone calls I had received about a Hartford Firefighter that was endangering the lives of his fellow firefighters as well as Hartford resident' s and the general public by his alleged on-duty substance abuse.

Here is the January posting

Here is the Courant's latest story about Caldwell's Suspension

It took a while but the HFD Administration finally realized that they needed to do something since it was now out in the open an no longer a dirty little internal secret that could be contained inside a Firehouse. Firefighter Douglas Caldwell, after a stint in rehab that was apparently unsuccessful, has now been suspended without pay and given one last chance to clean up his act.

CALDWELL'S ARREST REPORT

HPD Case 14-18823 Landscape

COMING SOON

.City Hall tries give the appearance that they are business friendly. They must be, they are willing to give $60 million dollars to a group that has no ties to Hartford.

There are plenty of other Hartford businesses though that have horror stories of their dealings with the city of Hartford and Economic Development. Hear about the roadblocks and lack of attention to an event that brought thousands of visitors to Hartford last summer  and supports dozens of permanent jobs.

There are many more stories of business owners trying to make it in Hartford, but getting to the point of calling it quits and taking their jobs elsewhere. Most of them say they have never been contacted by the City of Hartford or Economic Development to see what help they could use.

If you have a story you would like to tell, feel free to  contact me.

 IS IT RACIST?

Where does racism begin. Read the story about comments made by  a Hartford Police Deputy Chief when one of his officer's requested a day off for ethnic issues, Something to think about, Racism is definitely a two way street. Apparently complaints have already been filed on this matter. Much more to come on this.

HARTFORD NEEDS LEADERS NOT FOLLOWERS

 

Keep reading , the picture will eventually make sense.

 

Although it is probably not working out as planned at Hartford City Hall, the Rock Cats deal is exposing the real leaders in Hartford. Those elected officials who actually have the best interests of  Hartford and its residents in mind. Those officials who actually have some vision and realize Hartford's problems .

I Think the timing of the Rock Cats announcement was for a couple of politicians to say to the public "look we really are doing something" The results don't matter ,the elections would be long over before  the damage to the City would be realized by gullible voters. They just never planned on the Hartford apathy taking a break and people actually being organized and vocal in their opposition. Hartford residents very rarely turn out to vote, why would they turn out to oppose a $60 million dollar boon doggle.

This deal has exposed our leaders who are willing to sell out Hartford's taxpayers for the sake of headlines and photo ops in an election year. I honestly think that Council President Shawn Wooden and others have been standing on the front steps of City Hall since the press conference almost two weeks ago with their index fingers in the air to gauge which way the political winds are blowing.

Apparently the wind sampling is done, and Wooden and his colleagues have realized that it is not a good deal and the back pedaling has begun. From "done deal" to "we need more study". Wooden clearly got an earful. at last weeks Council Meeting. And if he is any judge of character he had to realize that he was aggravating some of the most vocal residents Hartford has to offer. Not a good thing in an election year when you are trying to unseat a very popular incumbent.

Leadership requires strong values and a conviction to the people you are elected to represent. This deal is bad in so many ways, not the least of which is the potential tax burden being placed on Hartford. A City that already places the highest tax burden in the State of Connecticut on its taxpayers who are some of the most impoverished Citizens in the entire United States. Wooden clearly doesn't fall into the latter category and I'm not sure that poverty or means often figure into his thinking if you review the actions of the Hartford City Council.

Self serving is probably more appropriate. Today's revelations by Courant columnist Kevin Rennie are nothing short of disgusting when it comes to the Stadium deal. You can read Rennie's column here. Rennie points out that in the proposed lease in addition to the Rock cats ownership having to provide a skybox suite for City Hall's use they also must provide"tickets to any Ballpark Events, except if Team is required to pay a promoter for any such tickets." The same politicians "shall be entitled to the number of tickets to any event in the Ballpark equal to the sum of the number of fixed seats and bar seats in the City Suite."

Can't you just envision it now, Hartford's political fat cats  hanging out the window of the "City Suite" as they dine on caviar and the finest wines and beverages stocked in the Wooden Suite. Segarra would have probably  already dined at Max before the game so he will probably just be waving over the railing to his loyal subjects below.

Now I can understand how Wooden changed his mind on the stadium. His dedication to long term commitment is not something he is known for. Remember the Mayoral run of 2011 that ended abruptly when he suddenly had a change of heart , some say as the result of a dirty deal that was supposed to control the balance of power in Hartford until one of the key players in the deal reneged on his promise. ( That is a story for another day). Then there is the very curious turn around in the relationship between Wooden and Segarra in the days before the Stadium announcement. The pre-election lovefest is now in full swing and the two have suddenly become best buddies. I guess the old saying is true, politics makes strange bedfellows.

Like I said before, this deal stinks in so many ways and I am sure much more is going to come out. Wishy washy politicians are only going to make it look worse. Even though the deal makes Hartford look bad , the way it makes City Hall and our supposed "leaders" look is even worse. Even Governor Malloy who seems to live and breathe economic development for our State was very vocal that there would be no state support from day one.

Anyone who looks at the numbers had to realize it didn't add up. If we paid the consultants more couldn't we get them to say there would be 1200 new jobs and why not 50,000 hotel nights per year. Those are numbers that would have to grab peoples attention.

Apparently even our Mayor is back pedaling now, His Director of Misinformation Maribel LaLuz apparently issued a statement this afternoon"Since the announcement, We have always said that we will explore all options when it comes to funding the project." . Really , what happened to the "DONE DEAL" comments. Maribel must have been reminded about a George Bush photo-op when he was on the flight deck of a US Aircraft Carrier under the huge "Mission Acomplished" banner during the Iraq military operations

And just as a side note to "DONE DEAL" ,... not so quick Pedro. It is not a done deal until we say so. The voters of Hartford can petition to force a referendum . This would only take roughly 1300 signatures according to the powers granted to residents of Hartford in the Hartford City Charter. It ain't over til the fat blogger  sings.

And if this is such a great deal, then I urge Hartford resident's to support it. Let the Rock Cat owners know we will support their venture, we will buy their tickets. The only stipulation is that they go to the bank like almost every other Hartford business and put their name on the dotted line of the loan application for the funds required to build the stadium. It will probably be completed for a lot less than $60 million dollars if they are on the hook for the money. And if you believe the consultants report, it will be a goldmine.

And you could probably charge the political fat cats for the Wooden Suite instead of giving it away.

And finally, I mentioned conviction and standing by what you believe. I don't expect anyone to go by my comments, but I just want to be clear, I support Eric Coleman for re-election  to the Connecticut Senate. It is leaders like Senator Eric Coleman, Representative Doug McCrory and  Repesentative Angel Arce, as well as Governor Malloy, who are willing to take a stand and say what they mean  and then have the guts to stand by what they say. We have enough "followers" in Hartford to sell us out, we don't need anymore wind gauges at the Capitol.

Photo above from the Internet, credited to Courant.com

HARTFORD FIREFIGHTER DOUGLAS CALDWELL ARRESTED

According to sources, Hartford Firefighter Douglas Caldwell was arrested Wednesday evening for Public Intoxication. I have FOI'd the police report and as soon as I receive it, I'll post it here.

Sources have also confirmed that the "extended vacation" was apparently a stint in rehab... his arrest probably indicates that didn't go too well.

More on Caldwell here

UPDATE FROM HPD, DEPUTY CHIEF FOLEY 3:00pm

I can confirm that on 6/10/14 a Douglas Caldwell, 42, of Hartford was issued a misdemeanor summons for violating city ordinance 4-3, "Public Drinking" while at 291 Barbour St. He was given a court date of 06/17/14 0900 hours.

A COLUMN TO DEFINITELY READ

Hartford's voters don't always think out their decisions well, but for this City to change, we need to start rethinking our decisions.

Try to learn about the  people you are voting for and what have they accomplished? What is their track record? Are they willing to take a stand on the tough decisions ?

Kevin Rennie at the Courant has an interesting take on the August primary and it does raise some interesting issues.

Will the August primary be a personality race or will it be about who actually represents the people and their best interests.

Take a moment to read Rennie's article here

CITY HALL UPDATE

Last week I posted about a City Hall employee that was under Criminal Investigation for stealing from the mail.That posting is below.

Sources have confirmed that an employee at Hartford City Hall is the subject of a criminal investigation being conducted by HPD. Charles Dean, the City Hall Mail room employee, is currently on Administrative leave while the investigation continues.

The charges allegedly involve Dean stealing items of financial value out of the mail received at City Hall. The items were apparently meant as donations intended for fire victims , donated by a local business. Dean is apparently accused of intercepting the items and then being caught converting them for their cash value at the establishment that donated the items. I know it sounds cryptic, but I don't want to jeopardize any criminal investigation by putting all the details out  until the criminal aspect is complete. According to another source familiar with the situation, this may not be an isolated incident.

It s unclear at this point if federal authorities will get involved in the investigation for the theft from the City hall mail room of mail delivered by the US Postal Service.

Today Charles Dean  turned himself in on criminal charges and was arrested by HPD. Apparently his scheme involved stealing Bob's Furniture Gift cards that were sent through the mail  to the City of Hartford to be used by people in need of replacement furniture after fires, water damage, etc. According to sources, Dean and his son were using the donated gift cards at Bob's Furniture in Southington after the cards were stolen from the mail room at Hartford City Hall

HPD will apparently be releasing more information later today

If history is any indication, Dean will be moving into his new office in Mayor Segarra's suite any day now, probably with new furniture from Bob's

MORE ON HARTFORD FIREFIGHTER CALDWELL

Several months ago I posted about a Hartford Firefighter that appeared to have some severe substance abuse issued. Several Hartford firefighters had called me to complain that this firefighter was constantly under the influence of what they believed to be alcohol or drugs while on duty. Since he was an acting lieutenant at the time at Engine 14 on Blue hills Avenue, they feared that he was a direct hazard to their well being and safety.

You can read more about Caldwell in my postings here and here.

Today the Courant did a story on Hartford Firefighter Douglas Caldwell, you can read that story here

 I raised the issue with Hartford Fire Command Staff members, but with limited results. Apparently, according to the Firefighters that called me,  the Hartford Firefighters Union was also going out of their way to protect Caldwell and his dangerous behavior. Caldwell was eventually transferred to Engine 2 on Main Street.

The addiction problems continued there also. On March 31, 2014, Caldwell apparently went into a local Bodega  and created a disturbance while in uniform. The shop owner called the Hartford Police and filed a complaint against Caldwell.

Unfit for duty , yet we are paying him for an extended vacation, Only in Hartford

Here is that report:

Caldwell Report

THE ROCK CATS, ARE WE GETTING ALL OF THE DOCUMENTS

The simple answer is probably not.  As I mentioned in the previous post, you find little gems that you don't really expect when reading through FOI requests.

One such e-mail was written by Segarra's Chief of Staff Jared Kupiec to the Rock Cats general manager John Willi. Although Kupiec had sent the original e-mail to Willi from his City of Hartford e-mail, he made it a point in the e-mail to advise him of his "personal" e-mail. Most likely knowing that it would be more difficult to opbtain pursuant to FOI.

What other public business is going to "private" emails to avoid detection?

From the e-mail from Kupiec to John Willi:

 Please don't ever hesitate to contact me should you have any

questions or concerns.  My personal e-mail is jared.kupiec@gmail.com

and my personal cell is 860-933-2731.  My work cell is 860-692-2711.

More of the Segarra Transparency.

SEGARRA WILLING TO BANKRUPT HARTFORD

You never know what you will find included in an FOI request. As part of a request for documents related to the Rock Cats deal, the e-mail below was included.

The e-mail was written by the Mayor's former Chief of Staff Jared Kupiec on February 5 2013, before his Grand Theft Auto days.

The e-mail discusses their wishes to get a 500,000 square foot Amazon.com Distribution Center to locate to Hartford. As with the Gang who Can't Shoot Straight, it was actually a 1.5 to 2 million square foot Center, The proposed mezzanine alone was 500,000 square feet. I am not sure where in Hartford they would find the land to accommodate that.

The interesting part though is that in order to make it look like he was actually accomplishing something, according to the e-mail, Segarra told Kupiec that he was willing to bankrupt Hartford to get the warehouse. Kupiec claims "I briefed the Mayor and he said, "If I have to go into the red to pursue an economic development opportunity that creates jobs, I'll do just that."  I asked him to confirm that we could "throw the kitchen sink" at Amazon to "make it appetizing" and he replied with, "whatever it takes, get it done."

Isn't it interesting how he chooses to spend our money with reckless abandon, from Caviar to baseball Stadiums to Distribution Centers. Money is no object.

Segarra Kupiec Amazon Email0001

OUT OF HIS LEAGUE, SOME SAY OUT OF HIS MIND

Let me say up front, there hasn't been a lot that Mayor Segarra hasn't done that I have believed in and wanted to support. As much as I sit here writing this and want to believe in the Rockcat's deal it is just not adding ,up to me. Hartford needs a solid homerun, more likely a grand slam homerun.But we have come to expect the balk instead.

Would anyone go out and buy a brand new Mercedes, fully financed at a high interest rate, when you honestly know the best you could probably afford was the used Hyundai. It sure does make a good show if you went for the new Mercedes, even if you know you can't afford it, but for the short term people might be bluffed into thinking you are doing something right until it is repossessed out of your driveway some night when you default on the payments

Like I said before, Hartford does need some big hits, I think the last large economic development project in Hartford was Walmart Plaza, quite a few years ago. The convention Center and Adrian's Landing were State Projects.

I have so many issues with the project, but I really do want to believe. The first being the issue of how this all started. We really don't appreciate it when Windsor, Bloomfield or Rocky Hill poach our businesses. Do we really want to get into poaching wars with our neighbors. We rellay didn't appreciate losing ING or Met Life to the suburbs. I'll give Rocky Hill a pass on poaching WFSB3 because they really weren't poached as much as they were pushed by a former Mayor and his Chief of Staff.

But back to the Rockcat's. There weren't any other teams that Hartford could have approached to lure to Hartford?  And what type of business plan is behind the Rockcats. It just confuses me why the teams owners would leave a  City that from all appearances has treated them well, and $100,000.00 in annual rent seems like a bargains for what New Britain provides in return.Why would you leave that and go to Hartford to pay, in the beginning, $500,00.00 a year in rent. Not to mention essentially doubling your tax bill for every piece of equipment, every computer, every piece of training equipment, anything owned by the team will now come under Hartford's highest mill rate in the State, almost double the Hardware City's.

That high mill rate has been a deterrent to economic development in Hartford, and if a poaching war begins, it will be a definite advantage to any town trying to lure Hartford companies away. "Come to our Town and we can help cut your tax bill in half" . Business is about the bottom line and increasing profits , and most smart business owners would most likely be willing to listen that pitch. And as we can see from the Solomon family, the days of corporate loyalty and keeping your word to your hometown mean nothing.

The other major factor about this is the major question looming in most Hartford's residents minds is "will this work?" and "who will pay when it doesn't?". As I am here writing this I am listening to the Hartford Police Radio and hearing the almost constant calls for guns, spot shotter activations, and the number of calls being dispatched for assaults, fights and other serious matters. Wait until the summer actually starts and the warm weather arrives

 Yet as this plan is being shoved down our throats by Segarra, it is hard to conceive that a City as broke as Hartford, a city that has cut Police classes, a City that has sold off assets and forced people out of their homes by selling tax liens. A city that has a hard time repairing potholes because of a lack of funds, a city that has had school ceilings collapse on students because they haven't allocated funds for repairs. It just doesn't make sense to me but I really do want to believe.

I also take Governor Malloy on his word that he is keeping out of this, I doubt he want's to see two cities battling. I do have to be a little suspicious that two of the City assets that Segarra and Council President Shawn Wooden just sold to the State of CT,  will almost be touching the sidewalks surrounding the stadium, The Morgan Street Garage and the Church Street Garage. What did they disclose to the state about the possibility of a Stadium locating within feet of the garages, and could we have sweetened the deal if the State knew?

As much as the State claims they are staying hands off on the deal, I fully expect UCONN to announce that they are buying in to the plan,.Any day now I bet we hear that this will also be the new home of UCONN baseball. At least it would make a little more sense than putting the full burden of the backs of Hartford's taxpayers, spread the wealth statewide.

And the 600 jobs? That figure comes out of the same consultant report that states the average median income for Hartford residents is $78,097.00. I think it is a lot close to $18,000.00. If Segarra is going to use "regional" numbers to justify this project as a regional attraction, then fund it and sell it that way. Let the suburbs buy into the wealth of Hartford. And to all those suburbanites that are touting this program as such a great idea, we have many vacant homes in Hartford awaiting your arrival. Come join us , we will gladly tax your vehicles at 78 mills to offset this latest corporate welfare.

Or if you still think it such a good idea, please ask your neighbors and local leaders to join us and buy into the program, so what if it raises your local taxes an outrageous amount to pay the $4.5 million per year debt service interest on the bond. Like you have written in your editorials and letters it is great for Hartford. I really want to believe that is true. And to my suburban neighbors, if you really want to share the wealth of Hartford and tell us what is best for us, we can even arrange for the suburbs to share a homeless shelter or two and maybe even a methadone clinic.

It is all about sharing the ambiance and what is best for Hartford.

I really do want to believe. As much as I like the evenings at Rockcat's Stadium, I wouldn't mind going to a game in Hartford. And just for the record, anytime I have gone to a game in New Britain, we have either tailgated on Franklin Giant grinders we brought or had our fill of Hot Dogs inside the stadium. And to the best of my recollection I don't recall ever renting a hotel room to stay overnight in New Britain and neither has anyone I've ever heard of, but I guess the Consultants know better. For what we are probably paying them for thier report, I sure hope they know what they are talking about.

Walter Harrison, the President of the University of Hartford,who is typically a cheerleader for Hartford, had an editorial in today's Courant. He raised some serious questions that the Hartford City Council needs to take seriously before they rubber stamp this deal. Unfortunately I am not sure that is going to happen since the Public Hearing is apparently scheduled for July 21, 2014 and the items for approval are on tomorrow nights Council Agenda. They will probably get referred to committee which would slow the process down for residents and taxpayers to actually voice their opinions, but this is Hartford so anything could happen http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-op-harrison-pedro-swings-fences-with-rock-cats--20140606,0,2360532.story

But I guess according to the consultants, 23,700 people will use Hartford hotels for "annual room nights". I have a gut feeling that benefit will go across the bridge to East Hartford, but maybe we can close the bridges on game night. That would make about as much sense as the numbers in this report. I want to believe.

Their report will affect the financial health of Hartford and its residents for decades to come.Hopefully the State of Connecticut will be willing to buy this asset like it did the garages when the stadium is unable to attract visitors

Ok, time to wrap this up. My heels are getting sore from clicking them together and repeating "I Believe, I Believe" for almost a week now

CONSULTANT'S REPORT:

Following the lead of our Honorable Mayor, Pedro Segarra, I want to state that I followed his lead and poached the Consultants report from Steve Goode's article in the Hartford Courant. Actually someone approached me and asked me to post it so it wouldn't end up on a Springfield Blog first, I am only trying to keep it in Connecticut

Rockcats Consultant Report

THE TIME HAS COME

Have you ever wondered why the nonsense that Hartford is known for doesn't occur in other towns? Do you wonder why budgets, property acquisitions and projects that effect taxpayers  in suburban towns are properly vetted by their taxpayers?

The answer is  somewhat simple.

Most suburban towns with responsible management are held accountable by the  voice  and accountability brought about by organized tax payer groups. Hartford has no citywide Taxpayers organization that is willing to fight for Hartford residents and raise the important issues.

That is about to change.

Several people I know and respect have stepped forward and we have started to meet to put an organization together. Like I said, these are people I respect, not political prostitutes, we already have enough of that. These are people that truly love Hartford and aren't stepping forward to get the latest contract or see the taxpayers as people feeding them at the trough of City Hall. They don't have their hands out, we just want to be the great City we know it can be with proper leadership being held accountable to the people that put them there, us... the voters

The NRZ's are too connected to City Hall through funding and staffing , and standing up for taxpayers and keeping City Hall accountable was never their mission. The political monopoly of Democrats in Hartford doesn't contribute positively to the situation either. Something needs to change.

If you read this and are interesting in getting involved as we build this from the ground up, please let me know by e-mail or phone. Our initial discussions are leaning toward dividing into three Districts;North, South and Central to keep the areas organized and manageable. we are looking for both residents and business owners, especially small business owners, to become involved

There is much work to be done to bring accountability and sensible government back to Hartford. If you have the time or the desire, or hopefully both, let me know to be included in the planning meetings.

Thanks