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Friday, June 13, 2014

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:

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.


Sunday, June 8, 2014

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