State Statutes have been put on the books over the years to keep politics out of Police hiring. For the most part it has worked. The procedures for background checks, polygraphs, and many other safeguards are in place. A Police Chief in Connecticut is protected by statute and can't be fired on a political whim. By law a Police Chief can only be fired with "just cause " and after a hearing if he or she so requests. So even for political favors, giving away Police jobs still require some standards.
Not so for Fire Fighter jobs.
And upfront, I apologize to those firefighters that think I am painting HFD with too wide a brush. Before getting upset with me, ask yourself if you think there is a problem at HFD and do you think there is leadership in place to address it. Does the recent history embarrass you with what HFD has become?
Any political hack can obtain a fire department job regardless of background, drug use or many of the other disqualifiers imposed on Police positions. Other than training after being hired, there are no statutory requirements .Hartford is the perfect example and the recent history of HFD is showing that. Drug use and sales right out of Fire Houses, gun crimes, DUI's,severe alcohol abuse, hit and runs by Firefighters,larcenies and the list goes on and on.
This is sad because of the previous proud tradition of the men and women of the Hartford Fire Department. When a call was made to the HFD , you knew you were going to get a Class 1 Fire Department responding. There are still many good firefighters in Hartford, but the bad few are overshadowing the many good ones. This is sadly, from all appearances, being condoned by the administration.
Every firefighter, new and old , deserves to know that the firefighter along side them in a fire is the best qualified candidate that applied for the job. That that firefighter earned their job by being the best trained and most qualified HFD could find. It shouldn't instill any confidence in that firefighter , or their families, to know that the person along side them was hired because they knew how to put up lawn signs for a politicians campaign or is sleeping with a politician willing to promote them
Chief Huertas needs to grow a backbone. If Terry Waller is qualified to be Assistant Chief, then appoint him and stand by the decision. If Waller is not competent but is being forced on Huertas by Waller's squeeze (SKB) and Segarra, then stand up and say no, actually say "HELL NO" .The lives of Hartford's firefighters are too valuable to be compromised by by political favors.
No job is worth ones integrity, we know Saundra Kee- Borges , Waller and Segarra have no integrity, but don't let them steal yours Chief. Don't let that be your legacy .
Even your predecessor knew when to walk away when SKB made the demands on him in her office at City Hall "You are going to make Terry a Chief, right?" Chief Casares response was reportedly "NO" You must remember, that's the day Chief Casares announced his retirement and the position opened for you.
When the Chief starts succumbing to political pressure and knowingly is promoting and hiring unqualified individuals to get the dream job he always wanted, the decay and rot of a once proud organization has begun.
It is also sad when a Mayor allows his college study buddy to operate as the puppet master using City Hall for her own personal gain. I'd love to know what she is holding over Segarra's head to survive this long. It must be a doozy for Segarra to overlook all the scandals she has dragged him into, seemingly unscathed.
THE PUPPETMASTER, SKB
In the meantime we should be happy the puppet master can't get her hooks into HPD. She will have to settle for her and Terry's kids at DPW, 3 are there already
24 comments:
That is the first man/ woman couple of Hartford. Get used to it. No blog or email dribble will bring down terry. He goes 12 rounds and they all fall down ! By spring, mark my words, terry will be in charge. Fact. Huertas will be in florida..... The deal is done !
Years ago when I joined HFD the job was a thing of pride which was respected by many in this state. Now my friends call to poke fun at the department on a regular basis. If you think things are bad at HFD now, wait a few years. A lot more officers will be eligible to retire in Janurary, further eroding our experience level. Things can only get worse from here, and I'm sure Sandy will make sure another politically connected group of flunkies gets hired.
Yeah but seriously guys, all hatred aside, aren't they just a cute couple! By the way, who is Captain Lush? With over 25 years on the job, I thought I've seen it all, guess not! I guess its time to go back into the bunk room and hide.
This is what happens when you discriminate against non residents in the hiring processes. YOU GET SHIT
anonymous 7:20,
yes a lovely couple.I had the same question, I never heard "Captain Lush " before
Het Terry-Tic-Tac: Huertas will be on the witness stand before he goes to Florida
Captain Lush=SSU
Leave Terry alone, he was too busy with major construction work at 287 Park St., and since he did all the work without any permit or approval - including serious structural work - the work had to be done when city inspectors can't notice. Terry finally paid taxes owed for this property last month.
This is a scandal together with incompetence. This is Hartford.
This is indeed the first couple of Hartford: first in scandals, first in corruption.
Just think, with all the overtime Capt. Lush is raking in she'll have more money to spend in the package stores and help keep the economy moving! P.S. does she look like a "catchers mitt" with eyes or is it just me?
How can Captain Lush be making any overtime if they are using HPD's Foley to keep a lid on their messes? I haven't even seen Captain Lush since that miserable press conference she held trying to mislead everyone into thinking Bell's air tank malfunctioned. TRhat was a miserable performance, and now that I think about it, that was orchestrated by Foley also. Aren't they concerned why the autopsy showed no cause of death and what the toxicology will eventually show? hmmm...And you wonder why the push for a coverup?
Tic tac toe Terry, the first woman in the photo identified as "the puppetmaster SKB" looks like she suffers from the "Battered Woman Syndrome", defined as a physical and psychological condition of a person who has suffered physical, emotional or sexual abuse from another person.
Tic tac toe Terry, your comments please.
When you go to "FireHouse" to do your reports, do some searching, it lists by the hour what every person in the FD is getting for overtime. Special Services, Fire Marshall's, and the Deputy Chiefs have the best racket going, their raking in the OT and us poor schmucks in Suppression are getting squat.
Tic Tac Toe would you please tell us what the first man/woman know about Segarra and others, that makes them the first man/woman of our city
Sandy, or SKB as they call her, looks like a ROTTEN OLD WOMAN. Real rotten.
Its pretty clear all you have on your next chief is some half assed made up tales of permits and mystery e mails.. Is that all? You really think the feds care about something like this? Exactly. Bigger fish to fry. Terry will dodge and dance 12 rounds around all you little haters. SKB is smarter then you think. The Mayor runs this city. Remember that !!
Tic, Tac, Toe,
what City do you live in, Pedro answers to SKB, otherwise she will spill her guts and the whole house of cards will collapse. How do you think her and Terry have survived this long? This can't go on too much longer without someone taking notice. Maybe Terry can be the volunteer fire brigade Chief at Northern Correctional
Who's the mayor running this city? You talking about Charlie O. or SKB?
Tic tac toe you know of the illegal work done at 287 Park. You know the property was in danger of collapse. You know the work you performed there: no structural engineer, no license, no permit, nothing. Is that all we have? No, Terry, we have more.
anonymous 9:17PM
lets see if anyone at City Hall has the guts to look into your info. If so they can contact me for the pictures of the work that a resident provided to me of the illegal work. Since Deller runs that Department, don't hold your breath waiting
City Hall does have guts. . . to sweep it under the carpet. City Hall with its puppeteers will most likely do anything to conceal it. And if they get caught? For that we have Chief of Lies Mariel La Luz with her new assistant Hilda Munoz. Let's see, they're going to call it a misunderstanding, miscommunication, mis something.
Deller to investigate Waller? We would like to see that.
Terry, looks like you still haven't paid your taxes for the land you own at 52 Warren St. and the property at 130 Homestead Av. What are you cooking with these properties? You want better job, higher salary, you got to pay your taxes man.
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