News this afternoon is that the Rock Cat's delivered their past due property tax check to the City of New Britain. They may still be going to court to try to get a Judge to reopen negotiations for their tax deal, but they might want to try repairing the bridges to New Britain that they destroyed based on false assurances of a "Done Deal" with Mayor Segarra.
This deal apparently may be causing more problems for Segarra , according to City Hall sources. There have apparently been questions circulating as to where the money has been coming from to fund the attorneys fees and consultant's fees associated with the 18 month secret deal and planning sessions. Since the Hartford City Council never voted on or appropriated the estimated half a million dolllars and no where does it show in the current budget.
So the question arises, how is Segarra doing this legally? The answer now may be that he wasn't and instead may have tapped into School Construction Building money, essentially creating his own "Rock Cats " slush fund and attempting to maintain the secrecy without anyone noticing where the money was being spent.
According to a source familiar with finance and payment processes at City Hall said that this week City Treasurer Adam Cloud has refused to sign a check for over $76,000 cut for payment to the law firm of Updike , Kelly and Spellacy. According to the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Cloud questioned the expenditure when presented with the check to sign and where the money was coming from and which account.
It was apparently found to be drawn from an account for Architectural and Engineering Design work on School Building projects. According to the source, both Federal law and State Statutes are clear on using grant or bond money for purposes other than which they are authorized. Criminal charges could potentially apply to any misuse. A proper investigation by appropriate authorities would be needed to determine if that line has been crossed.
The source stated that the City Council would need to pass a new bond resolution for a substantial re-use of any bond dollars. No record of that being done can be found at this time. Re-purposing school dollars for use on a baseball stadium would be considered a substantial change requiring Council approval.
A clause in state statute also holds anyone releasing funds improperly can be held personally liable, which means Cloud could be on the hook for the $76,000 or possibly any other checks he signs and releases if the funds aren't being drawn down properly.
This deal stinks with every corner turned, and now it might be time for outside authorities to begin taking a closer look, especially if money intended for Hartford children and schools is being used to fund the Segarra Field of Dreams.
City Treasurer Adam Cloud was unavailable for comment at the time of posting.
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39 comments:
Mayor Caviar took at least $100k from the women's homeless shelter on South Marshall Street.
to fund the Rock Cats exploration?
What happened to the Rob Ford case?
Kessler gets 10 days. Rob Ford gets nothing.
Rovella does nothing.
Proud sons of Italy.?
When is this crooked mayor and members of his staff going to get arrested? Also what is going on with the Rob Ford investigation? And is there even an investigation into Paul west? Why is Rovella protecting them so much?
Gotta laugh that Adam cloud is questioning a payment after wifey wired that $670 k to buddy o'garro. Money that is still missing.
Can't fault a guy from learning from a mistake
Too bad Pedro doesn't learn from his mistales, SKB would be long gone by now
Double standards for Rob Ford---
Rob Ford --Do as I say not as I do.
Outrageous!!!!
Anonymous 10;22PM.
Let the I-file run its course, his is by no means done or being swept under the rug. Each day the subtle attempts at revenge and retaliation are being noted and statements being taken whether it is the schedule changes to lock officers out of PJ's , or the sexual comments to female officers ( I Guess you and I should be f*****g like the rumors say) The hole is being dug deeper everyday. Not everyone is capable of management
Please don't lose faith
As far as the Paul West matter, that is not dead either. The CITY is hiding behind a recent Supreme Court decision relating to an FOI decision that relates to arrest records , not to protecting release of video that may substantiate allegations of possible Police misconduct. Fighting forward on this one also, but it will probably be a test case before FOI.
Crookism at its best. Served with caviar.
Mayor Caviar, why don't you do us and yourself a favor and resign? We've had enough of you, your cronies, your behavior. The City of Hartfotd is not your piggy bank.
On the way out please take SKB, T Waller, T Deller and S Wooden with you. The city of Hartford and its residents will do much better without you.
It's amazing: all these scandals, all this corruption and mayor cavair still able to hang on to his office.
Did anyone check the school fund to see if the three stiogers gave them a loan? You know the Done Deal Crew, will do anything to make this happen at all cost to the people the taxpayers.
If you want this burden to be yours and you own a home in Hartford, then stay. If you don't, SELL and move to leadership, you won't get thst here in corruptville, occupied by idiots with a Despicable Pervert at the wheel, driving Hartford into a ditch!
Bye Hartford, game over, we just put the FOR SALE sign up.
Brookman, the nations around the Caspian Sea have some territorial disputes which increases the prices of the critically endangered Beluga Caviar.
Could this -together with a stadium- increase our taxes if mayor caviar continues indulging himself with, of course, caviar at our expense?
According to a news release from the Mayors Office the cities 'Development Services' has amassed of group individuals to provide recommendations to the City Council regarding proposals for the development of Downtown North... individuals include, among others, David Panagore.
David Panagore will stick his nose anywhere he smells $$$. What has he EVER accomplished, this guy, in Springfield, in Hartford, anywhere? Sorry, he brought on us Hartford21, that overpriced supermarket that shut its doors 6 or 9 months after they received $400,000.00 loan from OUR hard earned money, tax payers money, as a loan that was NEVER paid back. Not 1 single penny. That's Panagore greatest accomplishment. Hey, Panagore, you're a big fat mouth, go back to New Haven. Or Sprinfield if you want.
Panagore , go back to New Haven, fix some parking lots over there but leave us alone, we don't need your expertise
Wooden and Council couldn't stand Panagore as COO, pressured. Caviar to get rid of him, now for the Done Deal, he's worthy. Who is the worse leader; Caviar or the Elitist Wooden?
Panagore take your Penney. Loafers and get to steppin. Add him to the list of recycled idiots, Caviar couldn't find a new idea, vision or his own thought right under his nose.
Take this crew out for Caviar, Cavia. Just get them the hell out of Hartford and you and your control freak husband go with them!
just wondering how members of this panel were chosen by Thomas Deller, the yes-man to the Caviar, the 'expert' (at least he likes to think that) who told us he's a good negotiator, with an idiotic smile on his face (when questioned how the city was able to get $500,000/yr. rent from the Rock Cats, but neglected to inform us that a huge chunk of this goes back to repairs, maintenance and more). Is there any compensation to these members?
Here's the latest from the Courant: "Hartford Panel Hears Plans For Baseball Stadium Development" and added that "The public was not permitted to sit in on the meeting Thursday."
This's what Mayor Caviar calls transparency. After all, the deals are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Small change, but public not permitted.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
The following was written by Paul Zielbauer and published by THE NEW YORK TIMES on January 20, 2002.
"A Familiar Hartford Story About Pay and Performance:
The city manager's pension has people debating the quality of leadership and making accusations about race influencing politics at City Hall.
On one side of the debate are Saundra Kee Borges, 42, the outgoing city manager, who is black, and her supporters, who say she deserves all of her roughly $72,000 annual pension and $41,667 performance bonus. On the other side are critics who say the city, staring at a $47.4 million budget shortfall starting July 1, is rewarding incompetence and finding yet another way to throw money away."
Published by The New York Times, 1/20/2002.
I don't trust anything that has to do with 'Caviar'.
I don't trust anything that has to do with SKB.
I don't trust anything that has to do with Wooden.
I don't trust anything that has to do with Deller.
May they all be removed from their jobs.'
For such a wonderful city,we sure have the worst leaders around
1. Mayor caviar...touch of class client...summer parties with young boys in his backyard and john Mendez.
2. Council president spineless wooden .....who only wants his next higher title
3. Sib....she will do anything for money for terry and family...her son works at Dpw,And shows up for work reeking of marijuana.
4. Al ILG. ...85 years old and gets 3k a week to sleep at his desk in the finance department
5 Juan Figueroa...a former progressive who sold out the movement for a paycheck. He can't even find the bathrooms at city hall
6 David hill....an empty suit from Virginia who mayor caviar hired to convince the north end that his administration is diverse
7. Maribel la loser. Caviar,s chief flack....who can't write or speak very well
Wow, this was 12 1/2 yrs. ago. She retired, she came back with an additional $170k to her deep pockets.
Public not allowed. What a surprise Segarra.
Don't forget the luxury suite/skybox to mayor caviar & his cronies. Paif for by us.
What a pair:
Caviar soliciting prostitutes
SKB a Political Prostitute
Both of them pimping the taxpayers, city employees and CITY JOBS!
City Hall Brothel with no class, not a TOUCH.
Let's do some arithmetic: Kee Borges gets from the city of Hartford more than $300,000 a year thanks to her double deeping (of which the latest puts in her pocket $169,700 a year). That's more than $25,000 EACH MONTH. It takes most Hartford residents to bring home in 2 full years what Saundra brings home every 30 days. She is not worth it. I trust the numbers listed here, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Here's a comment about yesterday's stadium presentation to the "panel", but public not allowed:
gosh717
A couple of weeks ago, Segarra was quoted as saying that when the RFPs were ready to be discussed, he was going to seek input from "the community". So this is his version of "the community": A hand-picked bunch of toadies who are securely in the city's pocket. There is no one on that so-called panel who is going to rock the mayor's boat. Some of them are there to feel important. Some of them are there with an eye to employment/appointment within city government. And some of them are probably there because they were told to be there. And as was stated, they will not be part of the decision-making process. I'm sure their think-tank sessions will be well-catered, courtesy of the city of Hartford. I'm feeling Shakespearean tonight thinking about this tragi-comedy, and I think Hamlet said it best: "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing".
... and another interesting comment about yesterday's 'presentation':
jimpeterson883
I say build the stadium ,but not for baseball. Instead lets do a Roman thing. Lets feed the tax payers to lions. It will be a big hit , people from all over will come and watch. Also we can pipe in christian music from WCCC to help entertain the crowd.
transparency, input from the community, it's all baloney. Segarra can offer us the moon but it's all crap, there's no more trust
no kidding, we've lost trust in Segarra and his administration/friends/caviar partners long time ago
Kevin can you photo shop Deller Seller in this photo with the othet two insane idiots! Better yet remember the dancing videos with Susan Mcmullen and Panagore, please resurrect that and make one of the three "Done Deal" stoogers and one of the scandal couple SKB and Tic Tac Toe Terry, please. Hartford needs a good laugh, since everyone is laughing at us.
correction: Kee Borges brings home annualy around $250,000 'only' and as indicated in previous comment.
what is Deller the Seller selling? this's Deller the Seller who claimed to be a great negotiator, neglecting to disclose the troubling details of this "Done Deal". this's the same Deller the Seller whose phone was ringing off the hook with 10 offers A DAY. the day Mayor Caviar, SKB, Terry Waller and Shawn Wooden are out of job, they shouldn't forget to take Deller the Seller with them.
Dump Deller The Seller.
Hey Kevin I see what your saying about the I file for Rob Ford and the Paul West incident. But that's its exactly it they will say that until everyone forgets about it and then it gets swept under the rug quietly.
Clearly cloud has not learned that the city's checkbook is not interchangeable with the Cloud personal checkbook. First it was living large on the p card which he thought was acceptable because it was pensioner funded not taxpayer funded. Then he foists fast talking FOC (friend of cloud) O'Garro on the city/pension committee. Now to add insult to injury after he gets caught circumventing sound fiscal procedures in order to pay O'Garro and is provided with a lawyer he racks up 40k with a different lawyer! And tries to charge that to the pensioners too. Did the wife wire that money too? I'm a pensioner and this is just wrong. I worked hard for my pension and it sickens me to see how this treasurer thinks our hard earned money is for his personal use.
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