According to several sources, the demise of Casares as Chief occurred the day he was called in to the office of acting COO Saundra Kee- Borges as Casares was getting ready to make Fire Department promotions. Saundra Kee-Borges was trying to secure a promotion for her boyfriend Terry Waller. Apparently the puppetmaster Kee-Borges asked Casares directly "you are going to make Terry a Deputy Chief, right?" Casares apparently gave her a blunt answer, "NO." That did not go over well and Casares announced his retirement shortly there after.
Luckily for Kee-Borges there was someone waiting in the wings willing to sell his soul to the devil to get those all important Chief's bugles for his collar. That person was Carlos Huertas, a veteran of the Hartford Fire Department. Huertas has not been shy about telling people about the deal he had to cut to get the Chief's job. It was a package deal, According to Huertas, he was told he would have to take Kee-Borges boyfriend Terry Waller as his Assistant Chief if he was to get the permanent Chief's position. Huertas claims the message was the same from Kee-Borges and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, the job was his if he took Waller.
Huertas wanted the job so desperately, he agreed to those terms and appointed Waller as his "acting" Assistant Chief. The rest is history.
The last year of the Hartford Fire Department , under Huertas, has been a disaster. Numerous arrests of firefighters, on duty and off, and unfortunately the first on duty death in 40 years.
The most troubling part though is that a man I thought was honorable has proven himself to be quite the opposite. I personally have been lied to directly by Huertas on a couple occasions and his less than honest ways extend all the way to the Mayor's Office. As an example, I recently spoke to Huerta at an event and he unveiled his plan to me for a board of inquiry into the death of Firefighter Kevin Bell. Huertas surprised me by telling me he had appointed Deputy Chief Dan Nolan to head the inquiry.
I think he noticed my surprise and he told me that he chose Nolan because he wanted to get to the truth. He told me that him and Nolan had "buried the hatchet" and it was all about getting to the truth of Bell's death. He even went so far as to tell me that they were having lunch that week to go over the inquiry. Nolan is not always known as a "team player" when it comes to the Administration, but if you want to get to the truth, there is no one better. Not surprisingly, the lunch never happened and later that week Huertas essentially shut down the inquiry , he claims on orders from City Hall.
Another Huertas glaring lie apparently occurred today. After the word of the McLoughlin incident surfaced today, apparently City Hall was caught off guard and somewhat embarrassed at the treatment of McLoughlin. Huertas apparently tried to explain his actions by saying that McLoughlin
refused to accept his phone calls as required on a paid suspension so he switched him to an unpaid suspension. Yet City Hall sources have stated that there is in fact an e-mail from McLoughlin to Huertas offering alternative phone numbers and contact information for use during his suspension.
I would think that at the very least, Segarra deserves honest answers from Huertas when questions are asked How can the Mayor have trust and confidence in any department head that doesn't
There is still a lot of information that has yet to come out regarding the Bell fatal fire , which will probably only further the lack of trust in the HFD administration.
This so called leadership or lack there of has only fostered the lack of accountability at HFD and has attributed to the tone of anything goes. This is a perfect example of what happens when you push politics into promotions and force people who are less than qualified through the ranks for personal or political gain.
It needs to end and a competent Chief needs to be found. The lives of our firefighters and our residents deserve it. A Chief needs to be identified and appointed immediately who isn't willing to sell his soul to the devil to get the position. Integrity matters and that needs to be the tone set through the entire Hartford Fire Department if these problems are going to be turned around and brought under control.
That change needs to begin at the top of HFD and the Huertas tenure needs to end immediately.
52 comments:
Anonymous*: says, don't give up on Charlie that quick, Charlie wouldn't sell his soul, and anyone who "Really" knows him, knows that he wouldn't..what people also don't realize is that Charlie inherited all of the rejects and misfits going back to the John Stewart days, the Charlie Teale days...mostly Charlie Teale...Yes Teale you put your half ass relatives on this department, people who couldn't read or write, people who were druggies and drunks, why because they were friends and relatives of yours. Many of us remembered educated and able body people applying for the jobs, but what did you do...you turned them down, so, now the likes of Casares and Huertas have to deal with cleaning up your mess Teale.Yeah we can count the years and how long these misfits have been on the job, and they all came on the job when Teale was in charge. So, don't under estimate Charlie Huertas, we know what he is doing, and so does he.
You are very right about Teale, and Casares wasn't much better, he was locked in the Institute after he threatened to kill the Mayor during one of his cocaine binges.
Huertas will readily tell the story to anyone who will listen how he sold his soul to get the Chiefs job, now the time has come to pay the price
Annonymous ** Kevin lets be real firefighters behavior off the clock is a direct reflection of the individual and not that of the chief. Secondly the chief has taken action on those who broke laws and now the outcome in-part depeneds on what happens in the courts. I don't see any comments about our great judical system. We are tired of those who keep blaming the chief for the actions of law violators. In order to take action I believe the criminal case needs to be ajudicated. Everyone is in a rush to say that the problems is the department head but many do not agree.
Do you miss me yet?
Reggie,
I have no way of knowing if this is really you but I will take a shot that it is.
We had this conversation when you were an Assistant Chief here. I never felt you had the actual firefighting experience, but management wise I think you beat most of your competition hands down. I think you would have realized the liability implications of the Mcloughlin situation immediately and never made such ridiculous moves.
Don't you find it somewhat comical that the Fire Chief who had to borrow cash from you through an improper and unethical loan to get his kid out of jail is now being called on to restore direction to the Department? Why start now, he didn't when he was there.
Yes, I think you might be a good fit to bring some management to HFD at this time
Good to see you are still following the antics here
Reggie,
I have no way of knowing if this is really you but I will take a shot that it is.
We had this conversation when you were an Assistant Chief here. I never felt you had the actual firefighting experience, but management wise I think you beat most of your competition hands down. I think you would have realized the liability implications of the Mcloughlin situation immediately and never made such ridiculous moves.
Don't you find it somewhat comical that the Fire Chief who had to borrow cash from you through an improper and unethical loan to get his kid out of jail is now being called on to restore direction to the Department? Why start now, he didn't when he was there.
Yes, I think you might be a good fit to bring some management to HFD at this time
Good to see you are still following the antics here
Hey Pedro, since your flexing your jello muscles and trying to act Mayoral (which is a joke and NOT working), when can we expect the
5 O'Clock press relief stating "Tic Tac Toe Terry" has resigned; "to spend the much needed time with his family".
You nene are a big JOKE! How was the caviar last night? I wish you and the Dictator Charlie a 2015 filled with the same shit you placed on the Taxpayers, city employees and this hopeless city; deception and pain.
Unhappy New Year CRIMINAL, may you be blessed with JUSTICE and a pair of Handcuffs, flake!!!!
Hope your Pill filled day is as miserable as you!
Anonymous @ 6:16,
You are correct, off the job behavior cannot be controlled by the Chief. You cannot blame the Judicial System either.
The problem lies in the discipline handed out by the Chief, and the firefighters Union.
Paid Administrative Leave is no deterrent to stop bad behavior. Those on PAL get full pay, benefits, still accrue sick, earned, and vacation days. That is not punishment.
The only way to discourage bad behavior is to hit guys in the wallet. Suspension with NO pay, and no accruing of any time. That will hurt guys and I believe that is the effective way to deal with them.
Whoever is the Chief should also stop letting the Union have a say. Let them earn their money fighting to get jobs back.
Also, in extreme cases, start firing people. Another great deterrent for acting like an idiot.
The situations that are so prevalent now in the H.F.D. are not surprising to anyone that looks at past disfunctioal administration's Huerta was not the choice of the Mayors Office which was known at time of his being made some seem to think Dan Nolan should be the new savior, H.F.D.needs someone with no vengeful personal aspersions nothing personal towards Dan but, his history doesn't make everyone feel all that confident.
This probably isn't a good time to mention a another issue or issue's we have policies in the H.F.D. that address Harassment in the Department which seems to be ignored or buried, at least Danny faced his critics, getting back to Harassment problems somebody ask the current Administration if there are any issues relating to those policies, Sexual, Violent and Racial.
please consider bringing someone outside the State Mr. Mayor to help us on this sinking ship.
No more Freeman types, we need a real leader
Was Freeman ever given the chance prove what he was capable of? Or Nolan for that matter
Freeman had no chance, SKB had to remove him from HFD to make room for "Tic Tac Toe Terry". Caesar and Huertas knows the deal, supoena them, Caviar and SKB! I heard it directly from both Caesar and Huertas' mouth. When Huertas had dignity, he stated; I'm being pressured to hire Terry as AC, I can't, he hasn't even earned Deputy. Now Huertas joined the dysfunctional band wagon. SMH!!!
Kevin, if you don't already know this the inside joke, maybe the wrong term because it is a widely accepted feeling, and or beleif is that you cannot be fired unless you kill someone or get caught dealing Kilos of coke. That anyone who is fired generally get's their job back with a chunk of change. Not many have been "Fired" a few have resigned for cause. Admin, needs to get documentation together on deadbeats, do their work and have the balls to fire them.
Congratulations to all the scumbags on "Paid Administrative Leave".
All of you got Christmas and New Years off while the guys who behave worked on these Holidays.
You also got an Earned Day on December 31st, real hard to do while you're paid to stay home. Once again, we worked for ours. Cold weather is coming, so are the snow storms. Hope you guys don't get too cold sitting home laughing and enjoying your free pay and benefits. Thanks in advance for helping to shovel hydrants too.
I know what I should do when the Holidays come around next year, but I take pride in my job.
Nolan wouldn't last a week in a professional department. He's no choirboy its just that even the village idiot looks good up against the current cast of characters
Unposted Anonymous at 11:51,
I suggest you start your own blog if you want your nonsense posted, until then you won't be reading it here no how often you try to post it.
Anonymous 9:05am, I think there are probably a couple hundred firefighters that would disagree with you and that consider HFD a professional operation
I say the other way around Danny is only for Danny so 9:05 is correct its you that wrong I would say over 300 say he is not wanted
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Chief Huertas should be fired.
Anonymous 9:05am and 12:19pm you both are wrong. Nolan will stand up to the politicians at city hall and the union to get the HFD headed back in the right direction. I say at least 250 firefighters want to see him in charge, the remaining 100 plus are the weak, politically connected, incompetent to do the job or just plain cowards. I would guess that both anonymous 9:05am and anonymous 12:19pm would fall into one or all of those categories.
Looks like Dan is having his sisters blog again. The only one who wants Dan as chief is Dan.
Come on Vinnie, give it a rest. Must be getting lonely there with al your stooges out on suspension
HFD needs a new chief from OUTSIDE Hartford. No political personal legal or union baggage. Any one from inside is tainted.
HFD need a new chief. Period. From inside or outside.
The HFD "Task Force" is having it's first meeting today. Get ready Charlie, here comes another wave of shit coming at you. You are a fool, the ex-chiefs are going to totally lay all of the blame on you. The Mayor, SKB, and Tic Tac Toe chose this panel. They are going to destroy you, putting perhaps the final nail in your career coffin, making way for Terry Waller. Charlie, you just don't know when to call it quits, leave with the very little dignity you have left before these guys take the very last little bit. You are going to go away as the worst Chief in the history of the HFD.
Give credit to the Courant when it deserves such credit. In it's editorial today the Courant gave "THUMBS DOWN to members of the task force created by Mayor Segarra to examine the troubled HFD. Three of its members met recently without telling the public, the mayor or even other members of the group. To say the least, that's inauspicious beginning to the panel's work."
Who are the 3 members who met privately? Who arranged that meeting? What are these members cooking for us? What are they trying to manipulate or hide from us?
Why didn't Segarra remove all 3 members from this panel?
The 3 members shouldn't tell Segarra of their private meeting. Segarra is clueless, he's no leader, has no backbone, nothing. But they should have notified the decision makers in the city: CO (that's for Charlie Ortiz, not Carbon Monoxide, although he may be as toxic as the CO gas) and SKB (that's for Saundra Kee-Borges; she 'resigned' but she's still here telling Segarra what to do).
Charlie and Sandy run this city, I agree
Hey kevin did you ever hear the story of an officer firefighter refusing to go to a working fire because personal reasons with the commanding District on scene? Yeah hes exactly the type of chief we need. Our number one job is to serve the citizens of Hartford
Anonymous 12:48 PM,
Dis you ever hear the story of a firefighter on a cocaine binge threatening to kill the Mayor at the time and then being locked up in the psych ward and still being appointed Chief of the department? Oh, and then brought back to help in the restructuring of the department troubled by drug and alcohol problems amongst other things
I guess strange things can happen
Touché
Guess so, when will Terry be elevated to Chief? When he gets shoe lifts? Another little man with a Napoleon Complex. Between him,
Caviar and Charlie O. Maybe we need to vote based on height. LOL
Anonymous 11:09,
Why should I be giving them credit? Isn't reporting on these things what they are supposed to be doing?
Giving credit is a two way street
Kevin: The Courant is supposed to do more, much more than what they are doing. We all know they are soft with Segarra and his corrupt behavior and unprofessional and corrupt administration. However, in my opinion they should get credit for this 3 member meeting report, but they should have asked all the questions that anonymous at 11:22 am asked.
What are these idiots like Teale geting? Aside from rovella, what is segara giving these fools? Dirty deeds done dirt cheap !
The mayor will use the task force to get rid of the current fire chief. Now that segarra needs to keep a low profile to get elected.
teale is a major conflict of interest. I cant wait to see his comments when the rumored Tox report is released. Make nolan the chief. Waller can take the bus back to the east side, a delux apartment in the sky ......
Despite what rumors run amuck in this disingenuous place of employment, the delusions of granger by few will be short lived. I believe the mayor and the fire chief look extremely incompetent. What is the term, u cant polish a turd .......an overhual is needed and former fire chiefs like teale and that other pyscho path running their pie holes on fox 61 only make the situation worse.
Here is a solution, bring in third party command staff.
Fire Task Force,
If we had a Mayor with a pair, most of this wouldn't have happened in the first place. Waller would still be at City yard fueling apparatus where he belongs with his skillset. A commission would not be needed to accomplish his dirty work, a phone call would do that "Carlos, I want your resignation on my desk" Done, that's called leadership. dragging Chief Rovella into this quagmire is wrong and trying to get HPD to manage this Public Relations nightmare is also wrong. Isn't that why the Mayor pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to so called media specialists to manage the messes he creates? And I agree with your analysis of the two pie holes
Waller ?nolan? None of these two wil be Chief,chief will finish his contract and then cooper will be asked to move up , they wanted coop up there years ago but he didn't have enough pension time , traditions? What traditions when I came on I experienced racism and politics within the dept, but even then I made it a priority to know my job and know it well , this job is based on reputation good or bad will follow you everywhere it is up to the indivisual to judge , like I said before I've worked with all of the above mentioned in this blog but I don't want them as chief , it's a power position and until u hold it u can't talk , they said Dobson would be good they said the same thing about teal then Caseres but ultimately they were hung out to dry , all by the same individuals who have orchestrated all of this , I lovey benefits and my union and most of all I love the crew I work with and trust with my life regardless of management
Coop, really, he is a nice guy, worked very hard in the training academy when he was down there, but have the stuff to RUN the dept. I think not. will be the same as his contemporaries, thrust into a position he does not have the skills to handle with no help. Recipe for failure.
Reggie, let's talk Reggie. He was brought here and wooed by Casares because at the time " Accredidation" was the buzz. That combined with "class 1 rating" was the bomb. Just so happens Reggie was supposed to be in the know on that. Well with all the committees and all the overtime meetings and research on the accredidation what happened to it? It just got tabled and we heard no more about it. Another thing Charlie just let go. In any event Young Reggie wasn't good enough to fend off the sharks, and the sharks brought Reggie in only to find he had more BS than game. So how good can Reggie be if he was here and a memory in under a year. I do miss his stupid emails that he would cut and paste from Fire Engineering and send to the entire department each day though. Cheif Reggie Freemail.
what i see here from the last ten post is that no one will be good enough to run the department better than nolan? the guys who keeps defying the ranking file,the chierf ,the mayor ?i dont think the mayor will allow that,or am i seeing by these blogs that a young department doesn't know the history of the department when the irsih ran it ,yup there were barely blacks,there was favoritism there was nepotism,assigmentes were handed down and big dan would fight u if you resisted his way,there was no Hispanics on the job either ,remember the spanish kid who died because no one could understand the citizens at that time , so in conclusion not to be sound racist is that no one since the last white chief had been good enough to run the department,reggie would have been good until the irish mob would get tired of him and then campaign to get them off ,after all he is black ,as for nolan? he can set the stage as much as he wants but hes done too much damage to the department by instigating and enticing this defamatory campaign against the firefighters who are embarrassed by all this media attention negative attention,firefighter 101 resolve issues in house ,we are a family ,i cnat remember the last time nolan came around the firehouses addressing or explaing his role in all this , out of respect for us ,not for the media show,
The last good chief was Nelson Carter, the department has been in a downward spiral since his departure, if you knew the departments history, you would know that the corrupt Stewart had the incompetent Dobson coming to hartford while carter was still the chief, the city had to give carter a huge payout to make him go so they could move dobson the dipshit in. Carter was a good man and a great chief, he didn't let the politicians or the union push him around. We need a chief like that now and Nolan is so far the only Hfd chief that has shown he won't let the politicians or the union push him around. Tell me I'm wrong, who else will stand up?
Are we going to screen newer canidates? Pick those that really want it? Not just the hours or the pay? If not, this will continue,. Just look at the majority of the last 3 classes.
PLEASE MAKE NOLAN CHIEF SO WE CAN ALL SEE JUST HOW LITTLE HE WILL DO
LETS SEE COME TO WORK TAKE A SHOWER
AFTER HIS RUN GO TO THE CREDIT UNION. THEN LUNCH THEN SLEEP THEN CHECK OUT EARLY
YA LET MAKE NOLAN CHIEF GREAT IDEA
JOHN NOLAN STOP FEEDING THE BLOG WITH THE BS THAT DANNY IS THE ANSWER
HE IS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS
you are right carter was a god chief very righteous and called it like he saw it ,but him too was eventually pushed out so the city could bring in a puppet ,yes nolan will stand up but we dont need it at the cost of our union,the union has made this job the most coveted one in the city,ultimately this is about a life style and nolan will stand up yes ,but wont force the city to do what he wants,he too will get replaced,tell me if u were city hall will u hire him knowing all the baggage he carries or will you chose an outsider ,?its all about reputation and its not up to the ranking file to choose who we get as chief its the city ,so yea we could use better leadership but a fresh one,honestly we get city job and move out to the suburbs ,have our kids join the local volunteer dept, and educate them so that they too some day can get a pretend apartment in albany ave and apply for the so deserving job,the city needs to educate our young generation,
OK, I'm pissed about the last comment, I have 2 children who are educated, clean background checks, no drugs and actually have mechanical backgrounds that In America, yes In America cannot pursue the dream of being a Hartford Firefighter,Public Works employee or Garbage Man. In America they will be denied for a job opportunity. Is that not illegal, is that not discrimination. No it is not when the color of your skin is white and you don't live within the borders of Hartford city lines. Don't you even dare call me a racist because what I am talking about, what I am mad about is in fact racism. We just don't call it that , we call it residency.
Now turn it around, if 1 or multiple residents from Hartford were told they could not apply for a job in Windsor, East Hartford, Wethersfield , you name the burb. because they did not live there there would be absolute hell to pay, the Rev.'s and activists and all the organizations with all the letters would be in an uproar over what they would deem, "Racism".
Speak out when your of color you are and activist, speak out when you are caucasion and your are a racist. Just give everyone a "FAIR" shake. Is that to much to ask?
I think that message meant that if u want the job go do what is necessary to get it ,the last three classes where hired because of a federal grant. I think ,there's a lot of people who faked the residency in orther to get a job ,these were kids of current firefighters who at one point lived in the city or not , no one cared then no one cares now ,no one snitched at the fact ,when I applied for the job the first time there was about 1500 applicants ,I had no clue what I was in for , and I failed ,so the next time I was ready I bought books study guides and went full force ,and the next time around I came out top 25 out of 2500 applicants all with out knowledge of the residency requirements ,the point is ,if you want it ?go get it !
In addition to the last message ,"you still need to pass test , "
Anom at 7:55. No, it's not the city's to educate. It's the parents/parent. These guys/girls get on the job just to sit back and ride. The city is happy because it looks like diversity but it's not, it's......LAZY.
i see here that no œne is happy with the way this job is ,or in the direction its going ,n
but i see everyone srill comes to work every day , no one is leaving to go work at the next town,the city needs to offer the same opportunities the surrounding towns,kids get to volunteer ,and go tom fire training school for free , maybe the city should have a better fire explorer program,maybe we should push for that,ive heard that it did have a program but its no longer funded, or maybe give city residents an incentive if the applied,i dont know but would some one please quit this miserable job,with crappy leader ship, i want a job,
You know what will "fix" Hartford but will never ,ever happen???? COMPETENT MARRIED COUPLES PARENTING THIER CHILDREN! Kevin,I see what a positive influence and impact your Dad had on you. Just imagine if the thousands of Hartford's kids were as fortunate as both of us? HARTFORD IS TRYING TO "FIX" THEIR PROBLEM FROM THE OUTSIDE-IN ....IT CAN ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED FROM THE INSIDE-OUT!!!
Anonymous 2:09PM,
First off, thank you. I grew up though as many people did, hating our parents for being so strict. Now we appreciate it everyday and Thank God that we had parents that played a strong role in our lives and taught us discipline and respect.I wouldn't change a thing and appreciate all the times I was told no as a kid, and the occasional spanking or discipline didn't hurt either.
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