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Saturday, February 27, 2016

THE COST OF INSANITY


If anyone needs proof that we just came through six years of  incompetence and reckless financial
management  ( or maybe I should say mismanagement) the info above should be all the proof you need. It is a screen capture from a payroll report, known as "page 1" around HPD. It is the total wages paid to the top earner at HPD for the 2015 year.

LET BE VERY CLEAR ON THIS POINT. This officer did nothing wrong, who wouldn't quadruple their annual salary if given the opportunity. Especially if it was your last year before retiring and that salary contributes to your pension calculation... for the rest of your life.

 The 'PJPay Amount" doesn't bother me as much as the "OTPayAmt". Although I have to wonder what shape any officer working those hours would be in, both physically and mentally. It has to take a toll on someones family life and even their attitude when they report to work after working all those hours. Keep in mind that many of the PJ hours are accrued working "road jobs" or construction jobs during summer months. Who wouldn't be exhausted after standing in 90 degree heat directing traffic all day on a hot street during July?

The City of Hartford does make money off these road jobs though, last year alone over $3 million dollars in profit was seen by the City on PJ invoices billed

But the greater concern to me is that these earnings , especially the OT and pensions, are not sustainable for the City's budget..

For the last several years, under former Mayor Pedro Segarra and Council President Shawn Wooden, the City has turned a blind eye to its financial responsibility and accountability. Mayor Luke Bronin has inherited a mess. That mess must now be addressed and it is going to mean some tough decisions that aren't going to make everyone happy. It will, in reality, probably make very few , if any happy.

The choices now have become a necessity after years of neglect and incompetence. Hiring in the police Department has pretty much been ignored by Segarra for years. He can't say he didn't know. The documents to both Segarra and the reckless former Council are there. The warnings were loud and clear, the documents and e-mails prove it

But to be fair, anyone with a scintilla of management skill should have been able to look at the numbers. In the 1980's and 1990's , Hartford was hiring large numbers of Police Officer's. Common sense would tell you to keep an eye on the calendar because those large numbers being hired would be retiring in twenty ( now twenty five years) after their hire date.

We never kept track or planned for the future, so now HPD as well as Hartford's residents are in a crisis situation, paying huge OT costs and trying to scramble to rebuild HPD staffing levels.

Thank you Pedro, Shawn and our former OMB Chair Ken Kennedy for driving us off the financial cliff. I only hope Mayor Bronin can bring us back on track before a State take over or a bankruptcy is necessary.

I guess the one positive thing that could come out of a State takeover is that apparently all contracts and agreements would become null and void and we could begin over with some common sense.

In the meantime, it would be nice to see some of those salary dollars going to qualified Hartford residents. They are out there, we just need to do a better job of finding and recruiting them

29 comments:

Gimme my pj!! said...

What did Reckless Reathis make? What does that guy even do around here? All i see is him standing on pjs!!

Anonymous said...

Most of that Quest was fueled by anger for the establishment and spite for the management......
But this obtuse amount will pay for many years of xmas gifts from supplement city and pottery barn.

Anonymous said...

Insane. One point to consider; did the chief ever complain to Maria Cigars and his obedient council boys about OT? Just wondering.

Now to address Maria Cigars; do ya think the town's folk could gather one evening with pitch forks and battle axes and torches and march down Prospct Avenue to Maria's house and batter the door in. Then do the expected chores of a vigilante mob with pitch folks and touches would do for evening's entertainment.

Oh... I forgot to mention, when can the pension be reviewed for substantial modifications? The mathematics of the pension should be based on lifetime not income for the few years leading up to retirement. The retirement age should be bumped up to 80 years of age. How about that. Work until 80 including police and fire. Now we'll save money. But really, I though a pension was supposed to allow the retired a continued income. Not to retire and run off and get another job. That isn't the intent of a pension. So they get a pension, social security, and income from some peon job.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

12:46PM

$213,920, plus a city car and gas for those pj's

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

2:10PM

there are numerous documents to verify the Chief's notification of the impending crisis to the former Mayor and former Council. no one should have been unaware of the problem

Anonymous said...

You should be concerned about PJ's if their still used in the PD pension calculation. Unless it has changed salary, OT and PJ's were used in the final average pay formula.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

I agree, but the more dangerous budget number is the OT and how an annual budget can not realistically be kept in check with outrageous OT costs. the PJ numbers affect the long term stability and viability of the pension fund, but that is more the responsibility of the Council and Mayor to get that in check than it is day to day management by the Police Chief.

Anonymous said...

Ummmmmm when does Mui sleep an how is this even scientifically genetically an humanly possible that he can work this many hours without peeling over an dropping dead ??!!!!

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

4:41pm

Exactly and I think there would be a bigger concern of officer safety. How alert can he be when he showed up for work

Anonymous said...

You might of put the PD in the hot seat is the media outlets get a hold of this an run a story someone is going to want to know when this guy actually sleeps an how alert he is when he's doing his regular shift in patrol !!!

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

he is retired now

3 js a week 4 me said...

If rovella really really wants to cut the overtime, take a little look at the sick call out list every weekend posted in 608..... Not to mention the other 30 or so employees deemed unfit for duty.....

Danny Mui said...

how did Mui do it? Simple he had the drive and work ethic that the majority of people don't have. He's not LAZY pain and simple. Mui is a machine. Mui only slept 2-3 hours a day and functioned better than others. Mui is retired now and still only sleeps 2-3 hours. Mui loves his retirement now because he raises his child now and enjoys his family because he worked hard for his 144k+ pension.

Thank You city of hartford.

Danny Mui 7175

Anonymous said...

The cost of this insanity is all covered under the police union contract. yes, the pensions are huge however the police contract has been modified and pensions will begin to go down in 20 years. The only way to clean up this mess is to break completely with the police union and that will never happen. I dont think city officials can just change the union contracts. Hoefulluy Mr. Bronin will hire a labor specialist to resolve these contracts.

Anonymous said...

No, they do not collect social security. Because they have a pension plan they don't contribute to social security and can't collect it when they retire.

Anonymous said...

@2:20 Thank you Kevin, for putting that info out. My god, how could the previous administration have turned a blind eye toward this problem? Well, that is easy as pie. Be a business flop then run for mayor.

Anonymous said...

&1:49

I admit I am not informed on this but I would think that a person who has contributed to ss all his working life is entitled to benefits upon reaching the age of 62 or older. So no, if he has not reached that age, no benefits. But he will in the future access social security benefits.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Police Officers collect a pension, they are not eligible for Social Security

Anonymous said...

I've said it before many times, and I'm saying it again, how did a dirty cop like Rethis make it thru the system ? He was a dirty cop when he left New Haven to come to Hartford, and after all these years he was over looked and promoted. Nice going Hartford, let this guy walk off with a nice retirement !

Anonymous said...

Enough blaming Pedro Maria Caviar Segarra. Pedro was and still is a f---ing idiot, why don't you get it

Anonymous said...

Police Officers don't receive social security from their police earnings but can be eligible foe social security payments from other earnings, when social security has been deducted and they have the required quarters. Their ss payments will be reduced under a formula for anyone receiving a pension from a state, federal or municipal pension.

Anonymous said...

Kevin why dont you post the income of the top 5 earners who work in Shooting Task Force. Take a close look at what they have accrued in overtime compared to pjs. I would call those 5 insane. Getting paid rediculous amounts of overtime to hide 95% of the time until a gun call is put out over the air.

Anonymous said...

Weaver......stop hiding and be a man and put your name to the papers you distributed at PSC yesterday. You've never done anything productive.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you attach your name to your post Weaver?

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

what were the papers? If you reply and don't want it posted, just let me know

Anonymous said...

Kevin can you please post the top 5 earners from STF as requester earlier. Most of your readers including me are interested in what they make in overtime from our city.

Anonymous said...

I think I said it once. Let's look at all the deputy chiefs. That will be a good chunk of change saved Down the road if you get rid of them. All you need is a chief and you can even go as far as a captain instead of an assistant chief tof help the chief. That will be a savings of a few hundred thousand.

675 put me on-line said...

Now all you whiners just added 20 vin members to the pj rotation. There go your daily guaranteed jobs....lol.

Trim the Fat said...

Very much agreed. A LOT of un-needed waste at the top. Go back to the days of one chief and one assistant chief and done. All these deputy chief positions are a complete waste.