NOW IS NOT THE TIME ADAM, PLEASE

Many of you have talked to me personally about my support for our City Treasurer Adam Cloud. Adam took a lot of heat over the O'Garro insurance payment matter. In conversations he explained to me, and I agree, it was poor decisions on his part. It was also because the entire chain of procedural errors throughout City Hall led to the mess. It wasn't just the Treasurer's Offices that slipped up .It was the whole process. The COO, the Finance Director, the Comptroller, they were all asleep at the switch , or in legal terms, co-conspirators

And as a sidenote, if there was criminal involvement by Adam Cloud in the payment, I kind of think it would have come out before O'Garro's Federal trial where incidentally he was convicted on all counts of the frauds he was charged with.

But unfortunately, poor decisions in the Treasurers Office are once again rearing their ugly head. Adam Cloud is being criticized for the reported $20,000 raise he is taking  since his re-election. This is one decision I can not support. Yes, everyone is entitled to a salary. Adam does manage a large amount of money, especially with the City Pension Funds. But it is called Public Service for a reason. If the Treasurers salary of roughly $140,000 isn't enough, then Mr. Cloud needs to make a decision if it might be time to return to the private sector where the sky is the limit.

There are far worse choices that could be at the helm in the Treasurer's Office .We should be thankful that Adam and his knowledge are managing Hartford's finances.

Giving ones self a raise of $20,000 is not conducive to trust in government. Compounding that is the fact that no one is willing to give a solid explanation how it was slid through under the budgetary radar. I doubt vey much Cloud can tell Payroll to boost his salary by 20 grand on his own. Did the COO or the HR Director help slide it through ,or maybe someone in the Budget Office thought they could bury the increase in the budget?

Yes, the Treasurer is an important position in City Finances and City government , but no more important than other Department Heads . To the best of my knowledge no other Department Head is slated for a 20 grand raise this year.

And for a city that is quite possibly close to a State takeover or bankruptcy, Clouds raise is bad policy. How do we continue to ask employees for concessions at budget time every year and also ask most Departments to do more with less.

It is time for all of  those in City leadership, including Mr. Cloud to lead by example  and get a grip on reality. Mr. Clouds raise is more than many of the household incomes in our City, and it is a bad start for his new term.

Please reconsider this move Adam.

In the meantime, the Hartford City Council may be taking action at Monday nights meeting to stop the raise.