Search This Blog

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

MORE TROUBLE IN THE KINGDOM OF LUKE

It appears that "team building" is not a strong point for Mayor Luke Bronin and his reign over the Kingdom that includes Hartford City Hall. Bronin's list of Department heads still left is dropping faster than the City's Bond Rating.

DPW Director, gone. MHIS Director ,gone. Health Director, gone. HR Director, gone. Police Chief, going. And now add to the list, Daryl Hill, the Finance Director who resigned today effective November 4, 2017.

It is probably not much of a resume builder for Hill to be the Finance Director or Chief Financial Officer of a City about to declare Bankruptcy. But then again, not much of what Hill has done in Hartford would bolster a resume. The baseball stadium and the debacle of the Dillon Stadium fraud were two of Hill's claims to fame in our City.

I think Hill's departure was inevitable based upon calls I have been receiving from City Hall insiders who have been eyewitnesses, or maybe "ear witness's" to the frequent raised voices and shouting matches coming from the area of the Mayor's Office and the COO's Office on the second floor of Hartford City Hall.

(Helpful hint to the King- City Hall is like a canyon and those voices echo throughout the building quite clearly)

I will give the King as pass on the well deserved retirement of Chief Rovella, Chief Rovella has served the people  of Hartford  and has proven to have vision  as well as creativity to be able to still operate under such adverse conditions as he has been placed under during his tenure, and still produce impressive results.

I am still concerned about our Fire Chief and the pressure being placed on him by the King to manage two very difficult Departments after the Public Works Director quit last year. Chief Freeman was doing a very good job of returning the Hartford Fire Department back to order before his efforts were diluted when he took over DPW as the acting Director.

And even though King Luke will surely try to put a positive spin on these departures, it does not bode well for the stability of his Administration during these difficult times. How do you explain not having a permanent HR Director and even the acting interim HR Director calls it quits during Police contract negotiations? And departing when there is a need to hire over 100 firefighters and approaching 125 or more Police Officers.

Luckily the guillotine  is gone, or City Hall would be a much messier place to work than it already is.


20 comments:

03-01 said...

No contract. Reactive services. A pj to wet my whistle ..

Cheech said...

Mr Hill is one of the finest people to ever work in Hartford and we will miss him dearly. Mr Hill always went out of his way to say a kind word to his staff and enjoyed a great relationship with his subordinates. He did a superior job monitoring the Dillion Stadium deal and the Dunkin Donuts Stadium. He can be forgiven in not paying his car taxes in a timely manner since he was spending a lot of his time making sure that no one ripped off the City regarding the Dillion Stadium deal and worked very hard with I Charles Mathews to see that Dunkin Donuts Stadiuum only cost the City 103 million instead of the 55 million it was budgeted for.

Anonymous said...

Kevin, you forgot refinancing the city's debt. It meant that Pedro didn't have to make any hard decisions about cutting spending or raising taxes but it left us with the debt balloon that is going to kill the city. Cloud and Hill were partners in that game. Cloud rode it to another term and Hill somehow convinced Bronin he knew something about finances. Only in Hartford.

I think a lot of Luke's supporters were unhappy when they heard that Hill was going to be put in charge of finance and not shown the door. It should have been a sign to everyone of what was coming down the highway.

Unknown said...

Rovella promised to put the HPD on the street-he didn't;last year was a new record for murders in the Shooting Star;this year could top even that. Rovella deserves no praise.Let's ask Sheriff Arpaio to take over.

Anonymous said...

Sad....driven out by Luke the dictator.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

Just for clarification, how does the police chief prevent homicides?

Unknown said...

By putting police on the street-"To serve and PROTECT",that's how.I'm shocked that you couldn't figure that out.

Unknown said...

You are so right,"Anonymous".

Alyssa said...

9:46 AM

I was stunned to hear Bronin agree with those same sentiments last night, only I added Shawn Wooden's name to the mix during my comments. Hill wanted to act like a savior/player, got Wooden to foolishly agree and get 5 more votes, and then Cloud had his bond pals/consultants help fake out Moody's and Standard & Poor and issue the debt. Honestly, the prior ratings of Hartford's debt were ridiculous. Little boys playing BIG finance = Hartford's RUIN.

I've sent Kevin the 5 yr. Capital Plan and approved budget from 2014-15 showing that our debt was manageable. Not now, not after these refinancing gigs and a failure to cut or realign City spending in Segarra's last year and a half, thank you Darrell.

Next up: REAL charter reform, where our City Comptroller is elected and held accountable to the public, and our City Treasurer is held to a higher standard regarding debt and financing, in addition to other checks and balances to correct our flawed strong mayor model. Anyone remember when Treasurer Kathleen Palm used to say "NO" to Mayor Perez?

Anonymous said...

Hartford politics will never change. There are many well connected players. City Treasurer Adam Cloud and his Deputy Carmen Sierra are a joke. Sierra's connections
supposedly was the only way Cloud could get rid of Marc Nelson. I Charles Matthews dose not live in Hartford yet has so much to say. Charter reform is a long time away. Hartford dose not have the ability to connect with the residents. Reading is vital. Thousands of Hartford residents cannot read and are not citizens. Hey, Hartford Public Library, Hartford Board of Education and Hartford Court of Common Council Hartford residents can't READ!

Anonymous said...

Former City Treasurer Kathleen Devine Palm was always right on target. Also were Hartford treasurers who presided before her. Hartford is a mess. Hartford on the Rise! Go Hartford! Hartford the Rising Star!

Anonymous said...

No city is perfect. Hartford has had trouble for years with every budget. So, why would it be different in 2017. Hartford is a very small and presently very poor city. The flight began years ago and continues today. The only solution is to go bankrupt. Then, Hartford can start over and hopefully not repeat the mistakes of the past. I almost forgot. The State of CT dose not have a state budget. So then how can Hartford moved forward?

Unknown said...

Bankruptcy is the way to go. Then we can make a fresh start.

Anonymous said...

Bankruptcy is NOT the way to go. No Capital city has ever
filed for bankruptcy before. There is no fresh start.
If Bankruptcy was so great everyone would do it.
Bankruptcy hurts everyone.

Anonymous said...

Poor Leigh Ann. She used to spend her whole 8 hour shift with her "working pal" She will now be so bored...

Anonymous said...

Agreed, bankruptcy is NOT the way to go. Luke could easily restructure debt and lay off some librarians and Board of Education fat and balance the budget. Bankruptcy will destroy what’s left of this state. Hartford will never recover.

Anonymous said...

Hartford will come back. Proper guidance is essential. It will take time but it will happen.

Anonymous said...

I heard she "Leigh Ann" was the first one to find out - that's why she's been so miserable.

Anonymous said...

Hartford is dead. Time to start selling off pieces of the city to the neighboring towns.

Anonymous said...

Most people here are pushing for bankruptcy, saying will be so great. For who? The lawyers and judges!
If Hartford goes bankrupt, the city will go down the toilet so far it won't recover. There will be very few police officers and firefighters. You will be lucky if you get a cop to respond within 12 hours. The city will burn, a bankrupt city's property is worthless, therefore it will burn. Mom has a heart attack, 30 minute response from HFD. Garbage will pile up. You can forget snowplowing the roads.
Detroit filed bankruptcy and has surpassed 500 murders already this year. Detroit FD has non stop fires. It resembles Beirut. If this is what you wish for, fine. Just don't bitch when it's lawlessness 24/7.
A capitol city that files bankruptcy will never be able to hire anybody. Who in their right mind would apply to a city that will have shit pay, no benefits, and basically be a disaster area?
All the free shit Hartford hands out, gone. Be very careful what you ask for....