IS HARTFORD'S MAYOR VIOLATING FEDERAL LAW...AGAIN

You would think that someone that claims to be an attorney, would have a better understanding of Federal Law.You would also probably think that someone that was elected  would have thicker skin and be able to take some criticism.

 But not Hartford's King Luke

Luke Bronin doesn't deal well with anyone that challenges him or criticizes him, apparently especially when that person is a City of Hartford employee.

Bronin didn't fare too well when he stepped afoul of Federal law and was rebuked by a Federal Judge when he refused to indemnify Hartford Police Officer's from a Federal Court judgment, You can read more about that here.

Yesterday , apparently a City of Hartford employee voiced his displeasure with King Luke through a posting on social media venue "Twitter" as follows:

The City employee was quickly met with a response from the thin skinned Bronin as follows:

Apparently in the Kingdom of Luke, Federal law doesn't matter. But lets give King Luke the benefit of the doubt, can we really expect Mayor Bronin to keep up on Federal law as he is guiding us down the road to Bankruptcy.

Our Federal Courts recently ruled that an elected official can not block their constituents from criticizing them on social media, no matter how thin skinned they are.  It determined that the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause does indeed prohibit officeholders from blocking social media users on the basis of their views

In the Federal Court decision of  Davison vs Loudon County Board of Supervisors it involved the chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Phyllis J. Randall. In her capacity as a government official, Randall runs a Facebook page to keep in touch with her constituents. In one post to the page, Randall wrote, “I really want to hear from ANY Loudoun citizen on ANY issues, request, criticism, compliment, or just your thoughts.” She explicitly encouraged Loudoun residents to reach out to her through her “county Facebook page.”

That Kind of sounds like Luke Bronin's campaign promises to be "open and tarnsparent" . That is until you criticize him and then you will be BLOCKED.

Davidson sued, alleging a violation of his free speech rights. As U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris explained in his decision, Randall essentially conceded in court that she had blocked Davidson “because she was offended by his criticism of her colleagues in the County government.” In other words, she “engaged in viewpoint discrimination,” The Court cannot treat a First Amendment violation in this vital, developing forum differently than it would elsewhere,” Cacheris wrote, “simply because technology has made it easier to find alternative channels through which to disseminate one’s message.”which is generally prohibited under the First Amendment ,Judge Cacheris explained. 

Maybe Luke is just emulating Donald Trump , who has been criticized for the same behavior. Another decision noted that citizens can use social media to “petition their elected representatives and otherwise engage with them in a direct manner.” The decision’s reasoning can also be applied neatly to Trump’s practice of blocking Twitter users with whom he disagrees. When Trump blocks Twitter users, they can still see his tweets—by, for instance, viewing them in an incognito window. But they cannot engage directly with his tweets, at least not without resorting to an intricate and unreliable workaround. 

 Toughen up Luke and grow a set, it goes with the territory. We have much greater issues to deal with than your feelings being hurt on Twitter.

Here is more on the Federal Court's decision

BOB KILLIAN ON CHAPTER 9 FOR THE CITY OF HARTFORD

JUDGE KILLIAN TALKING CHAPTER 9 ON MONDAY'S SHOW

On Mondays, "WE THE PEOPLE " program we will be talking Chapter 9 and Hartford's possible bankruptcy filing with retired Probate Judge Bob Killian. Get past the hype and the bad information, hear why it may make sense and what it really means. Bob Killian is very knowledgeable on Hartford's history, what got us to this point and how do we try to fix it and what structural changes he may feel need to be made to get us back on a sustainable financial path..

 It should be a very interesting and educational hour and it will be posted on youtube afterwards.

For those in Hartford, you can watch live on Hartford Public Access, Channel 5 at 1:00PM

MAYOR BRONIN HOLDS A DANCE RECITAL AT PUBLIC COMPSTAT AT HPD

Mayor Bronin arrived a half hour late for the awards ceremony at the Public Compstat meeting Thursday. The awards were given to four Hartford Police Officers for outstanding life saving efforts above and beyond what they do every day. It is no surprise though that Bronin's watch was off since he has not shown a huge amount of support for our first responders, both police and fire, during his tenure.

But Bronin's dance recital didn't come during the awards ceremony, it came when he showed his total disrespect and trust for community members present and his lack of understanding of the word transparency. It came during a point when community members present were heaping praise on HPD Chief Rovella regarding his  service to the City and his announcement that he would be retiring in February.

During that praise, community activist Hyacinth Yennie asked the Mayor point blank if the selection of HPD's next Chief would be an open and transparent process. Here is where the Bronin dance began. It is probably one of the worst kept secrets in Hartford's history that the next Police Chief has already been chosen. There was no public input, not one bit. The King has spoken and has made his choice.

Now Bronin is within his rights to do that. As Mayor, Hartford's charter allows him the power to select Department Heads, the Police Chief included. And those Department Heads serve at the will of the Mayor, with one exception. Connecticut Stater law governs the removal of a Police Chief " for just cause" only to avoid political retribution.

There is probably no more important Choice for Hartford's Mayor to make than his selection of Police Chief . In this current climate, that choice can make or break the City and how the City, more importantly its residents, work with the men and women of the Hartford Police Department. We saw what happened with the last Police Chief that was shoved down our throats without any public input. Patrick Harnett may have had a stellar career at NYPD , but he was a terrible fit in Hartford and never was accepted by the community and there was never any community "buy in" to his plans or his management style.

Harnett lasted a little over a year and never really moved HPD forward or gained acceptance from the community.

Compare that to James Rovella, who wasn't Mayor Segarra's first choice for Chief after Daryl Roberts left. If it was up to Segarra, we might have had a Chief that a national search produced. A Chief who had been charged with a DUI a short time before his introduction to us.

Luckily, we as community stood our ground and made our voices heard. After public interview's, some called them inquisitions, Rovella was eventually made acting Chief and then appointed permanent Chief of HPD by Segarra.

The public input was important in the selection. What Mayor Bronin doesn't seem to understand is that, yes the Charter gives him the power, but the public buy-in and participation in the process is extremely important. This Chief is someone that most residents need to feel comfortable with and see as a willing partner to further the relationships necessary for the trust and working relationships in our community. Community policing in Hartford is huge, and the reason it works is because of the trust and relationships between the Chief and everyone else from Lieutenants in the neighborhoods to the men and women of the Hartford Police Department.

Now, no one can ever accuse Luke Bronin of being a good communicator. He did it from the beginning with everything from our Unions to the community groups. His styl;e is that the King has spoken and as loyal servants we will blindly obey.

Now I understand Bronin's dance and his solid effort to avoid Hyacinth Yennie's question as to the selection and transparency. But it might have prepared people a little more if he were to say something like "I have already made the decision on the next Chief, it is someone I feel will be a good fit and will serve the Department and the City well. Furthermore, I have a candidate that I have confidence in that  will hit the ground running and continue the great work of the Hartford Police Department without any interruption.  There is no need to waste the time and expense of a National search"

Bronin's selection for Chief may very well be a great choice to run the Department and be a strong leader. Unfortunately, Bronin's lack of transparency has already put the next Chief at a disadvantage and he will have an uphill chore to catch up and gain the trust that transparency would have started him off with.

It would have probably also made sense, and shown some courtesy for Bronin to contact Hyacinth after Compstat . A simple call saying " Hyacinth, I have already selected the next Chief, I wasn't ready to announce it in COMPSTAT, but I will introduce you to the next Chief and make sure you feel comfortable with him. I know your partnership with HPD is critical for our success and I am not trying to hide anything from you" 

That is called courtesy and communication Luke, it might not be in the Kings playbook, but it is how you need to treat your community partners.

Hartford's Next Police Chief, David Rosado

So in the full effort of transparency, please let me introduce you to your next Chief of the Hartford Police Department. I would hope that despite the Mayor's secrecy, we will support him and give him a fair chance to succeed. The future of our City and the excellent relationship we have with the Hartford Police Department is too important for anything less.

Lieutenant Colonel David Rosado is currently the highest ranking Hispanic Officer in the Connecticut State Police. Rosado is expected to assume the role of Hartford's Chief in March of 2018 according to numerous high ranking sources in Hartford government.

According to the Connecticut Latino News:  "Rosado is a product of Hartford’s South End and is the son of Puerto Rican-born parents who came to Connecticut as teenagers. Growing up he said he had the “best of two worlds, speaking Spanish with his parents and English with his siblings. He said being bilingual is a big help in his job.Looking back at his boyhood, Rosado said it was a “different time” and “we could play in our backyards all day.” The game that most attracted the young Rosado was baseball. He played centerfielder at Bulkeley High School and for the University of Connecticut. After graduation, he remained active as a member of amateur league tceams and currently suits up for the Glastonbury team in a central Connecticut men’s league.

Lt Colonel Rosado will have some huge shoes to fill as Chief Rovella's replacement , but I would hope that he will be given a fair shot at success by us as a community and the men and women of the Hartford Police Department  and not be treated differently because of the lack of transparency by Mayor Bronin.

And Mayor Bronin, it is not too late to begin to fix this to give Rosado a good start, and that means proper community involvement, oh, and some transparency.

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE THAT GUN COULD HAVE COME FROM"

There is no other way to put it, there are way too many guns on Hartford's streets. And way too many irresponsible gun owners in Hartford. Or maybe the proper term is gun possesors, ownership seems to imply a legal right to have the gun.

From HPD, the incident below is a perfect example, this occurred today at Main and Westland Streets:

On 9/23/17, at 0326 hours, HPD responded to the above intersection on a report of a motor vehicle operator "slumped" over the steering wheel. Upon arrival, officers aroused the operator and asked her to step out of the vehicle. Once outside of the vehicle, officers observed a firearm on the floor of the operator's front seat. The .22 caliber firearm with one round in the chamber, and obliterated serial number, was recovered and secured. The operator was taken into custody without incident. The operator stated that she did not know who the firearm belong to. Sgt. Michels was notified. Excellent job by all officers on scene!

Arrested: Milner, Shanell Latisha (10/13/92) 149 Barbour Street, Hartford, CT Charges: Weapons in a Motor Vehicle, Altering or Removing ID Markings, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, and Carrying a Pistol without a Permit.

Recovered: (1) Chrome GPC Model 10 with (1) .22 caliber round in chamber Towed: 2016 Blue Ford Focus, CT Reg. AJ35227, VIN#1FADP3K26GL352169 Registered Owner: Cooper, Latecia 116 Freeman Street, Hartford, CT