"WE THE PEOPLE"

"WE THE PEOPLE" , OUR PUBLIC ACCESS PROGRAM

2012-01-31T09:58:00.003-05:00

Our "We the people" program has been on Hartford Public Access, Channel 5, for a while. This week though we changed our set and graphics. I have received requests from people outside of Hartford asking how they could view the program. I will try to post it here weekly for those that would like to watch it.

This week we discussed Hartford's crime statistics, the Mayor's Board of Education picks and how the City Council responded and a little bit about the Superbowl where I played with my editing software to add a little variety to the program.

Here is the program below:

FUNDRAISER FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE TO BE HELD SUNDAY

2012-01-28T21:50:00.002-05:00

The 2012 Saint Patrick's Day parade Committee will be holding a Hartford fundraiser tomorrow at Damon's Tavern on Prospect Avenue in Hartford from 1:00 to 5:00pm.

A donation of $25.00 always promises a good time, good company and always good music by "Two for the Road". The event also includes drink specials, raffle prizes and a buffet.

Location: Damon's Tavern
310 Prospect Ave

A TOUGH ONE TO WRITE

2012-01-26T07:39:00.003-05:00

I guess it is about time to write this posting because I am getting more and more e-mails and phone calls asking why the blog has been so quiet.

This is a difficult one to write, but I am more optimistic about the future than I was a couple weeks ago.

During November and December I noticed that my vision was getting worse almost daily. I wear contacts and my corrected vision has always been very good and my prescription hasn't changed in years. It got to the point where I went to CVS and bought the "cheater glasses" so I could read things like the newspaper and use a computer.

That helped for a couple weeks, but even that became useless after a couple weeks. I went to my optometrist and was told that it was just "old age" creeping up on me.Around Christmas the "old age" really began moving fast and I didn't even feel comfortable driving. I wasn't looking forward to "old age" if things deteriorated this quick.

I just wasn't comfortable with the "old age" diagnosis and looked up "opthamologist's" on Google. An optometrist can test your eyes and vision, but an opthamologist can prescribe medications and perform surgery and diagnose problems with the eyes. I made an appointment with an opthamologist in Farmington and on January 6th I met with him for an eye exam.

I had a gut feeling from the start that it wasn't going to be a good appointment, the deterioration of my vision was just progressing too fast to be normal aging. I went through several tests with technicians in his office and eventually met with the opthamologist. As he examined my eyes through the high tech equipment he had an assistant with him that he was dictating the specifics of the exam to and she was taking the notes.

He was giving her a lot of information and numbers and reading that meant nothing to me on my right eye, then he went to the left eye and continued his dictating. The first words as he peered into my left eye was "massive edema". I knew right away that didn't sound good. He went on for a few more minutes with the exam and then explained that he wanted to do more testing and I returned to the waiting room for the next test.

Thank goodness for smart phones and I started "googling" edema. I thought it meant a bruise or swelling and that is basically what I found on google, it means swelling.

Bottom line is I went through a few more tests, the most important one was a test where they inject yellow dye into my veins as a technician takes a rapid series of photos of the retina. Apparently the pictures show the vessels of the eye and where those vessels are leaking causing the swelling on the back of the retina.

My opthamologist then gave me the bad news. The official term is apparently called "macula edema", it is one of the side effects of diabetes, and according to what I found on the Internet, is the number one cause of adult blindness in American adults.

I was pretty much given three options. Do nothing and the odds were good I would be blind within a year. Undergo laser surgery and hopefully that would seal the vessels that were leaking and stop the progression of any damage. And number three just made me cringe, a series of steroid shots directly into the eyeball. I told the opthamologist to avoid number three at all costs, it just made me nauseous to think of a needle in the eye.

It is not very comforting to think about not having vision. To make the matter worse, the initial appointment was January 6th, the same day my father died 8 years ago. I left the doctor's office with my head spinning as to how my life would change if I lost my vision. We take a lot for granted, many things you would never think about in every day life. As an example, and I know it sounds trivial in the greater picture, but even things like signing a credit card receipt in a restaurant and filling out the tip.

The bottom line is that I had the laser surgery on my left eye last Friday. The opthamologist says that it could be three months before it is known whether it was successful or not. It will possibly take that long for the swelling of the back of the eye to go down, although he was hopefully optimistic and said worse case they could repeat the laser surgery and the steroid injections were still an option as a last resort.

I guess at a time like this you realize what needs to take priority and my vision is that priority. I apologize for the lack of postings but I fully intend to ramp that up again and I'll keep those interested in what I hope will be a very positive outcome as I face this problem.

I didn't share the information with a lot of people before the laser surgery, but for those who have called and offered support, I really appreciate it. The support of my friends has been very comforting, even as you think about the worse case scenario. To my closest friend Joe who knew when to get me out of the house and unwind and my mother who did what mother's do with her reassurance that everything would be ok, even as I knew it was taking its toll on her, it puts everything into perspective.

Other's called to offer to make sure my dog was walked or to offer rides or pick up food and prescriotions or just to offer reassurance that it would all work out. Thank you for your support.

Life goes on.

THE "NEW" COUNCIL AND THE RIGHTEOUS APONTE

2012-01-16T20:06:00.003-05:00

The first regular meeting of the "new" Hartford City Council was held last Monday and the public comment session was interesting. I wasn't able to attend in person and I just watched the recording of the beginning of the meeting, the public comment session.

I hope that Council President Shawn Wooden doesn't fall into the "Cal Torres Syndrome" as he gets comfortable in his new role. Torres had a way of treating the public with disrespect when it came to shutting them down if they were delivering a message he didn't like. Wooden seemed to fall prey to that as the session dragged on and he made numerous attempts to cut off one person who is a regular at meetings.

The real fireworks began though when one resident who is also a regular at meetings, Alyssa Peterson, raised legitimate and well documented credibility issues regarding Councilman Alexander Aponte. Aponte has had complaints filed and sustained against him for his practice as an attorney.A panel of his peers concluded that Aponte had engaged in behavior that they called "dishonesty, fraud and deceit". Aponte shot up in his chair and urged Wooden to shut down Peterson's comments when she questioned Aponte's integrity.

Read the original Aponte vs. Statewide Grievance Committee posting by clicking here

Aponte claimed that Peterson's comments were a "personal attack" and forbidden by Council rules. The charges and resulting decisions by the Statewide Grievance Committee are well documented and a matter of public record. As an attorney, Aponte should be well aware of the difference between "personal attacks" and legitimate documented actions. I think we call that "history" and if Mr. Aponte does not want his history quoted, he may not want to create it in the first place.

I realize that this was Mr. Wooden's first time in the President's seat, but he needs to be reminded that those members of the public who take the time to go to Council meetings to speak are his constituents and it is important that the Council listen to what they have to say and that they are treated with respect.

And since Ms. Peterson was shouted down by a belligerent Aponte, below are the documents she was referring to. You can read them and make your own decisions about Aponte's character and integrity.

Aponte Grievance Panel Finding of Probable Cause

THE WATCHDOG WITHOUT ANY TEETH

2012-01-16T18:30:00.002-05:00

If every time you were caught speeding you knew that you would never get fined, would you change your behavior and slow down? Most likely not since you know there would be no repercussions to your actions.

That is pretty much the reason many municipalities, Hartford included, seem to not take the Freedom of Information Commission seriously.

Let me just state this up front to make this clear, the staff members at the FOI Commission Office are some of the most helpful people that I have ever dealt with on the State level. They are always responsive when I call to ask a question and they go out of their way to provide decisions to support one side or the other.

The actual members of the Commission are a totally different case. Their decisions many times seem to defy common sense and they seem terrified to actually impose fines even when the FOI decisions are clearly a violation of the FOI law. The first time a violation occurs by a City or town I can understand their intent to educate, but aren't they tired of seeing the City of Hartford at the table in front of them defending their defiance of the FOI laws?

The sad part is that the FOI laws are not difficult to interpret, a quick search of the FOI website will usually provide a similar case that should answer any questions as to whether documents can be denied to the public or not.

A recent case is attached below where I requested documents from the Hartford Police Department and was denied the documents. The Corporation Counsel's Office claimed that the documents were exempt under the law because they were "part of an ongoing investigation". Apparently they forgot to read the rest of the statute where it states when those documents can result in criminal charges. In the documents I had requested it was clear that they were purely an administrative matter and there was no criminal matters involved. HPD Internal Affairs Commander Lt. Rob Davis even testified to that at the FOI hearing.

In another matter when I had requested documents under an FOI request, it was stated by a City Official "make him go through FOI to get it. It will be at least a year before he gets it and then it won't be worth anything". Maybe some fines and some backbone on the part of the FOI Commission members might change that type of thinking.

FOI Final Decision Dailey

CITY OF HARTFORD CALLING IT QUITS ON NOLAN

2012-01-16T18:11:00.002-05:00

Apparently the City of Hartford is giving up on its persecution, or should that be prosecution, of the Dan Nolan wrongful termination case. Recently a Superior Court Judge denied the City of Hartford Corporation Counsels request to vacate a mediators decision. You can read that decision by clicking here.

According to Hartford Firefighters Union President Vincent Fusco, in correspondence with Nolan, wrote "I talked to the city and was informed that they are not pursuing any further appeal's regarding your case. Currently they are conducting an audit of your pay and benefits to make you whole."

In earlier conversations with Nolan before his recent deployment to Afghanistan, Dan had told me that his main objective was to clear his name of the allegations as well as clear the Nolan family name who have a long history of service to the people of Hartford through the Hartford Fire Department.

It is also ironic that the Union President who now offers a conciliatory tone to Nolan was also one of the first people to initiate the Nolan investigation through his request to former COO Lee Erdmann. It could also prove interesting how strong Nolan pushes for reinstatement as the opening for Chief of the Department will also be up for grabs soon as Chief Ed Casares will be leaving in March or April. I am sure most would agree that Dan is far more qualified to run the Department than some of the other names I hear being floated about.

It also seems ironic to me that after a long fight Dan has stayed professional and maintained his dignity as he serves our country in Afghanistan while the Mayor who orchestrated his removal is now a convicted felon, most likely headed to prison.

Stay safe Dan, I for one look forward to seeing you leading a Saint Patrick's Day Parade in your HFD uniform, back where you belong.

SOME BREAKING NEWS

2012-01-10T22:41:00.003-05:00

The details are still sketchy, but word is that insurgents dressed as Afghan military personnel were able to get onto the US Military base that Dan Nolan is currently stationed at in Afghanistan. A gun battle ensued and at least one person was killed and several were wounded. Information is that Dan and his fellow Connecticut soldiers are all safe and accounted for.

More on this as I get it

IT IS OFFICIAL....PRESIDENT WOODEN ELECTED BY COLLEAGUES

2012-01-03T21:26:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update from last nights posting, the Hartford City Council was sworn in tonight and their first act of business was to elect Councilman Shawn Wooden as Council President. The five votes for wooden were himself, fellow Democrat Kyle Anderson and working Families Party Councilpeople Deutsch, Jennings and Cotto.

Now hopefully the political differences can be set aside as the real work needs to begin under the leadership of President Wooden.

DON'T CHANGE THE STATIONERY YET

2012-01-02T19:34:00.003-05:00

All indications are that the term of "Interim" Hartford Police Chief Brian Heavren may be one of the shortest in HPD history, according to City Hall and HPD sources. Heavren was named the interim Chief last week , prior to the retirement of Chief Daryl K. Roberts.

Former Hartford Police detective and current Office of the Chief State's Attorney Chief Inspector James Rovella has apparently been the choice of Mayor Segarra to lead the department for several weeks.

The Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) raised issues regarding Rovella's certification as a police officer recently. The issue appears to be more one of semantics since several Hartford Chiefs in recent history were appointed without POST certification, including Patrick Harnett, Bruce Marquis and former Assistant Chief Rosensweig.

Those three were not certified by POST and were not active as Law Enforcement officers in Connecticut at the time of their hiring. Rovella is currently , as an Inspector for the State's Attorney's Office, a sworn Law Enforcement Officer with statewide powers of arrest and also authourized to carry a firearm. The glitch apparently arises in the fact that Inspectors do not come under the legislation that governs "police officers".

It also seems it might come down to a matter of "turf" ,as other Police Chiefs are rising up to protect their job opportunities as well. The fact of the matter is that anyone could be appointed Chief as long as they receive their POST certification and become a certified police officer within one year after their appointment. The City Charter only requires that the Department be led by a police officer with full police powers and powers of arrest.

POST has apparently required that Rovella attend less than 60 hours of Academy classroom time to be POST certified, and according to sources he has already begun that time and should complete the required hours in the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, word is that Mayor Segarra, Chief Heavren and Chief Rovella will be addressing early and late rollcalls tomorrow morning at HPD.

WILL IT BE WOODEN?

2012-01-02T19:27:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, January 3rd will be the official swearing in of Hartford's new City Council and Mayor Segarra at 7:00PM. A special Council meeting will follow at which time the Council leadership is expected to be selected.

All indications are that newly elected Council member Shawn Wooden has sewn up the votes needed to secure the Council President's position. This is a turn of events over what was expected shortly after the November electiuon when the sure bet was on Ken Kennedy to secure the votes.

If Wooden is selected as Council President he may bring some fresh ideas to the Council as someone who is not an incumbent. Wooden has also shown his close ties to Governor Malloy and a friendship that dates back almost a decade to the time when Governor Malloy served as Mayor of Stamford.

ANOTHER NOLAN WIN

2011-12-29T19:15:00.006-05:00

Dan Nolan pictured above, 2nd row far left, before his recent deployment to Afghanistan

I think it is a fair question to ask when this nonsense is going to end. All along the trail of the Nolan termination it has become pretty clear that Dan's termination as a Deputy Chief with the Hartford Fire Department was unjustified.

The City of Hartford Corporation Counsel has gone to the mat though trying to defend the actions of a felonious Mayor and an apparently less than honorable Fire Chief who has since retired. You can follow the trail by entering Dan Nolan in the search box above to read all of the archived articles.

Essentially though as a quick recap, the Arbitrator agreed upon by the City and the Hartford Firefighters Union determined that Nolan's termination was not legal or justified and ordered Nolan reinstated. Apparently the Corporation Counsel didn't agree with that and appealed the decision.

The Court has now also agreed that Nolan's termination was not justified and that the Arbitrator acted properly and was correct in his actions. In a ruling issued last week, Superior Court Judge Wood has affirmed the arbitrators decision and rejected the City's arguments to have the award rejected. Judge Wood confirmed that the award was properly decided and confirmed Nolan's right to enforce the award.

This may prove to be another expensive mis-step by the decision makers in the Corporation Counsel's office. It is time for Mayor Segarra to do the right thing and abide by the decision, settle the matter with Nolan and get him back to work when his tour in Afghanistan is done.

Mayor Segarra settled claims with a corrupt Mayor for accrued sick time and vacation time after he was convicted of his felonious acts against the City. Doesn't he owe better treatment to a military veteran who has served his City and his Country with honor?

Here is Judge Woods decision below, it pretty much shot down all of the City's arguments as baseless:

NolanDecisionMTV

HALF A MILLION AND STILL GOING

2011-12-29T19:11:00.002-05:00

The hit counter has officially rolled over 500,000. I never thought the blog would catch on, but apparently it has.

I have been relatively quiet the last couple weeks as I have been a little under the weather with a cold I can't get rid of, but I am ready to start digging an writing again.

I will be posting a "Nolan Update " later this evening and anything about Dan Nolan has proven to be very popular here.

Thanks again for reading and following "We the People"

A GOOD WEEKEND FOR A GETAWAY

2011-12-16T19:45:00.002-05:00

Word from Hartford City Hall sources is that our newly elected Council is enjoying a weekend away at the taxpayers expense. No comment was available officially from City Hall, but sources are telling me that the new Council along with Mayor Segarra and a few others would be getting on a limousine party bus this evening to be whisked away for their weekend rendezvous.

More on this as I gather more information. Preliminary estimates are that the "retreat" will run between $6,000 and #8,000 in expenses to Hartford's taxpayers

IT IS GOING TO BE A LONG FOUR YEARS

2011-12-13T17:52:00.002-05:00

If agenda item number 21 at last nights City Council meeting is any indication, it is going to be a long four years dealing with the Council.

Item number 21 was as follows "21.Via Verde Pipeline. Resolution urging the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the request of the Puerto Rico Power Electric Authority for a permit to build a 92-mile natural gas pipeline in Puerto Rico due to negative impacts on waterways, animals, plant life, and the safety of the residents of the island. (Cotto) Passed

It is not surprising that many other local issues such as joblessness and unemployment are not addressed. Neither are the City's outrageous tax rates that are killing business and preventing economic development. Issues of inefficient government and waste are never looked into or addressed, yet a resolution regarding a natural gas pipeline in Puerto Rico are immediately addressed and passed.

Does the Council have any clue what their functions are? Do they have any idea what is actually happening inside the borders of Hartford rather than addressing a pipeline thousands of miles away?

The grandstanding and constant pursuit of media attention needs to stop, it is time the focus is placed on turning Hartford around and addressing local issues first

ARREST IMMINENT

2011-12-12T16:14:00.003-05:00

This could possibly also be an entry in Hartford's dumbest criminals. Copper thefts have become a huge problem for HPD as the price of scrap copper continues to rise. Thieves have realized that stealing copper from Hartford's stock of vacant buildings produces quick results at the scrapyards.

Apparently they don't notice the video surveillance and other measures at the scrapyards that makes it pretty easy to identify vehicles and thieves turning in copper for cash.

But an even dumber move is to steal copper piping from the new Public Safety Complex and think it will go unnoticed. That was the case recently as several hundred feet of copper pipe and fittings were stolen from the building around Thanksgiving.

A suspect has been identified and an arrest warrant should be served anytime now. Hopefully the thief will realize it isn't a bright idea to steal copper from the "coppers"

CASARES CALLING IT QUITS?

2011-12-10T18:42:00.002-05:00

Several sources have confirmed that Hartford Fire Chief Ed Casares is calling it quits when his contract expires in 2012. Casares replaced Fire Chief Charles Teale in 2010 when Teale retired.

Chief Casares was unable to be reached for comment.

More on this as information becomes available

THE CLAIRVOYANT COUNCILMAN KENNEDY

2011-12-10T18:19:00.004-05:00

Jeff Cohen at WNPR had an interesting story about the battle for Council President when the new Council begins. Click here to read Jeff's story

Kenneth Kennedy, a Council incumbent, is seeking the Presidency as well as Council newcomer Shawn Wooden. The vote apparently comes down to one swing vote, also a Council newcomer, Kyle Anderson. The general consensus is that three Democrats have aligned themselves behind Kennedy and the three minority Council members, all Working Families Party members are behind Wooden. That leaves Anderson potentially as the deciding vote.

One of the points I tried to make repeatedly is that people need to think hard about who is placed in the position of Council President. We need to ask if we can imagine that person as potentially the Mayor. The Council President, as outlined in the Charter, is the successor to the Office of Mayor if the Mayor is removed from office or can not complete their term.

We saw that last year when Eddie Perez was convicted on corruption charges and left office in shame as a convicted felon. I shudder to think what would have happened if the Council President wasn't Pedro Segarra at the time and someone else might have become Mayor.

But going back to the Cohen story. Councilman Kennedy was quoted in the story as follows, "I know the rumor mill in Hartford but I want to state unequivocally that Mayor Segarra is going to finish his entire term.".

Unequivocally? Based upon what, a crystal ball? ESP? the stars? In true political fashion, it seems like a promise being made that no one can guarantee. It seems like the Councilman may be trying to allay potential fears of what kind of Mayor he would be if he is fortunate enough to gain the Council President's seat.

I'm sure many people would have said "unequivocally" that Eddie Perez would have finished his term also, but a lot of things can change in the course of four years and no one can back up a statement like that, not even Councilman Kennedy.

ANOTHER EPISODE OF HARTFORD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS

2011-12-10T17:47:00.002-05:00

I guess for some people it is true that crime doesn't pay. Actually eventually it doesn't pay for most people, but some are a lot less skilled in the trade.

One example is one of our local residents who committed a robbery on Friday. I guess he was unaware that during the robbery he somehow dropped his wallet at the scene. It didn't take too much effort for HPD to quickly identify a suspect when they took the wallet into evidence, complete with photo ID of the alleged robber.

The officer's prepared a photo array which included the suspect and several other similar pictures. The victim apparently picked the suspect out of the array without any trouble. The officer prepared an arrest warrant application for the suspect and that was submitted to GA14, Hartford Superior Court.

If losing his wallet at a robbery scene wasn't bad enough, it gets worse for this genius.

Apparently to continue his crime spree, the suspect decided to steal a ladder from an apartment building on Broad Street near Russ Street Saturday morning. He got away unnoticed with the ladder, but then once again he made a critical mistake.

The suspect was attempting to sell the ladder for some quick cash on Broad Street Saturday morning. In a City with over 120,000 residents, this genius happened to approach the one wrong person. As he approached another individual to sell the ladder for cash, the person he approached suddenly recognized the ladder as his own property.

This crook needs to try a new line of work since crime is definitely not his strong point. The owner of the ladder called HPD and officers responded promptly and the suspect was located and the ladder was recovered.

Another stroke of bad luck though, one of the responding officers was also involved with the investigation of the previous days robbery. The officer recognized the suspect in the ladder theft as the person who was identified as the robbery suspect from the previous day.

Moses Castro was arrested and charged with the ladder theft and unless he makes bail will most likely be presented in Court on Monday, putting an end to his crime spree, at least for the time being.

Another good job by HPD, but some times it just seems too easy.

MARG HOLIDAY PARTY THURSDAY NIGHT

2011-12-07T14:49:00.002-05:00

The maple Avenue Revitilazation Group (MARG) will hold it's annual Holiday "Meet and Greet" tomorrow night, December 8th at 6:00PM in the lower level of Saint Augustine Church.

The event is open to the public and attendees are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for the St. Augustine Food Pantry or hygiene items that will be donated to the South Park Inn shelter.

Light refreshments will be served.

CITY TO OCCUPY HARTFORD.....CEASE AND DESIST....TODAY

2011-12-06T10:47:00.002-05:00

Apparently today will be eviction day at "Occupy Hartford". A "cease and desist order" has been served upon the "occupiers". Police Officers have been instructed to serve the order upon organizers this morning. Officers have been advised to inform the campers that the order issued today will be enforced at 6:00PM .

Those not vacating the park will be subject to arrest after the 6:00PM deadline. The decision was apparently made after several violent incidents have occurred at the site, including a stabbing, a sexual assault and two gun calls that occurred in in the last 24 hours

A LIGHTER MOMENT....UNLESS YOU ARE SANTA

2011-12-03T21:37:00.001-05:00

I'll take a break from the serious side to share this you-tube video.

No Santa's were injured in the making of this video

KIRKLEY-BEY FORCED OUT?

2011-12-03T17:52:00.004-05:00

In the world of Hartford politics, I guess nothing really ever makes sense. It would seem that a long term State Representative would be able to exert some clout to keep their district from being dismantled from under them. Even more so if that Rep also served as Deputy Speaker.

In the case of 5th District State Representative Marie Kirkley-Bey, nothing could be further from the truth. The proposed redistricting of Legislative Districts has drastically cut the size of the 5th District and in fact has even moved Kirkley-Bey's residence (save the Old Saybrook comments) out of the 5th District all together and she will be in the 1st District if the changes go through. The 1st is currently represented by State Representative Matt Ritter.

I am not sure if a challenge to Ritter by Kirkley-Bey is in the future. I would say Kirkley-Bey would have a tough battle challenging one of the potential rising stars in the Legislature. Ritter was the driving force that capped tax increases on residential property and taxes as a result of re-val. The results would have been disastrous for single family homeowners in Hartford without Ritter's bill. Kirkley-Bey might be wise to consider "retirement" and bow out gracefully

A lot of potential changes may be on the political horizon for Hartford as the redistricting may also throw numerous Town Committee seats into play now as the lines are being redrawn. Several HDTC members from the 7th District will now be living in the 1st District. The 5th District HDTC members will be cut drastically also from 11 members to possibly only 4.

At least 3 members of the current 5th District HDTC have now been "redistricted" so their residences have become part of the 4th District. This could prove to be a very interesting battle for control of the 4th District as the current 4ht District HDTC includes former Town Chair Sean Arena. One of the 5th District current HDTC members that will be shifted to the 4th District is the current "shadow Chair" Marc Dibella. This could prove to be a very interesting match up come HDTC election time.

The 7th District also has seen some interesting borders cut for the area represented by Doug McCrory, Several longtime HDTC members have seen their district moved out from under them. Prenzina and Shawn Holloway, Shirley Surgeon, Paul Basch and others now reside outside the proposed boundaried for their current district.

The current 4th District State Representative, Kelvin Roldan survived a close election last go-round and just barely retained his seat from a challenge from a less than stellar candidate. Follow the dots here, Roldan's fiancee is the daughter of Bart Halloran. Halloran is the Attorney for the MDC (Metropolitan District Commission). Marc Dibella's father , William diBella is Chairman of the MDC.

Bart Halloran is also currently representing our convicted felon former Mayor Eddie A. Perez against action by the State Attorney to revoke Perez's pension, as well as 6th District State Representative and former Hartford Police Officer Hector Robles who was arrested on Larceny charges and fired from his job as a police officer.

I think it is probably pretty safe to assume that power in the 4th will not just be handed to Sean Arena without a fight.

Town Committee seats, both Republican and Democrat, are determined by the number or registered voters in a district. With the 5th District being carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey, it includes numerous unpopulated areas including most of Keney Park and a large part of the North Meadows which is primarily commercial area as well as the former landfill.

The 1st District HDTC will also most likely see some change as much of the District had encompassed the West End of Hartford prior to redistricting. The 1st now also has shifted to include much of the Northend/Albany Avenue area and has shifted the demographics to a larger minority representation. This could prove interesting to see if the HDTC from the 1st District shifts to include more minority members to actually represent the makeup of the District.

The 3rd District hasn't changed much except that it now looks to encompass the old Charter Oak Housing project area, where HDTC Secretary, the honorable Angel Morales lives with his mother on Margarita Drive. Since Morales does not have to be an actual member of the HDTC to serve on the Executive Committee, his position seems to be safe. Besides, with all the time he spends at the Hartford Public Library downtown, he has plenty of time to research the legalities.

The 6th District also remains pretty much intact.

It could all play out very interesting come HDTC election time in 2012. Most of the HDTC districts are not cohesive and are potentially ripe for change. In the mean time, maybe Marie Kirkley-Bey can land a job with the MDC and she and Bill can commute together.

MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TREASURER'S RAISE

2011-12-02T17:41:00.003-05:00

The recent action trying to approve a raise for Hartford's Treasurer Adam Cloud just stinks, pure and simple. Did Cloud not understand the dollar sign and the zero's that listed his salary before he ran?

I have to wonder how this action was on the agenda and moved forward so quickly when our previous Treasurer, Kathleen Palm-Divine, had to fight for years to get her raise put forward. But then again, Kathleen wasn't a political operative pushing the ethical limits.

And it confuses me why the Council President would introduce the resolution authorizing the raise. Does rJo Winch not realize that Cloud and a couple of her Council counterparts were instrumental in her political demise? Cloud was right there, front and center at the Democratic nominating convention cutting the deals that forced Winch as well as Sean Arena off the slate.

In true Hartford political style, I would not have been surprised to see Winch landing a job in the Treasurer's Office when the new term starts if the Treasurer got his raise, but that wouldn't happen in Hartford, would it? Maybe she could get the job the Treasurer's wife had, now that he was forced to realize having his wife work with him was a conflict.

Maybe rJo could handle Clouds "community giving and outreach" plan so that he wouldn't have to strong arm City vendors to benefit his campaign worker's non-profits.

But the larger question is why the public had to be the first to identify the Council's actions as illegal. Does the Mayor have a staff to review things first. Do we not have a Corporation Counsel that should have enough legal experience by this time in her career to question improper actions by the Council.

Even more importantly, the Corporation Counsel sat on the dais as the pay raise was raised and very little debate took place. Would it have been that difficult for the Corporation Counsel to raise a point of order? "Madame President, I have concerns regarding the legality of this matter and recommend it be tabled for further research"

I'm not sure that anyone cared about the legality. If the illegal nature had not been pointed out here by a commenter more than 24 hours prior to the Mayor's veto, would it have just gone through unquestioned? How could four attorneys sit there, 3 Council members and the Corporation Counsel, and not realize the actions they were voting on might be illegal?

How is it that the "dangerous" lefto Councilman Luis Cotto, as GOP Town Chair Mike McGarry describes him, and the other WFP Councilman Larry Deutsch, were the only ones to question the actions. Forget the legality, what about the moral and ethical issues of the raise? Hartford has the highest unemployment in the state and many residents would love a $10,000 salary, never mind a $10,000 raise.

Who is the "dangerous" lefto now Mike? Cotto and Deutsch said no, but your own Republican fully supported it. One of those things that makes you go "hmmmm" and shake your head in disbelief.

And Cloud was already elected and knew the salary. It is not like we are saying we need the raise to a salary to be competitive and attract the best possible Police Chief or Tax Collector or any hired position. Cloud was elected, and if the salary wasn't enough, then don't run.

I miss Kathleen Palm-Devine.

PEREZ FLEECES US AGAIN....NO GRANITE THIS TIME THOUGH

2011-12-02T17:23:00.003-05:00

It's old news by now that an arbitrator awarded our disgraced and corrupt convicted felon former Mayor Eddie Perez almost $71,000 in vacation time and sick pay. Jeff Cohen from WNPR has more here

I guess it is a small price to pay to get Perez to just go away, but what about everything he has cost us? How much has been spent repairing Park Street which is falling apart after Perez's deal and now stands as Hartford's tribute to corruption and payoffs.

What was the total the City of Hartford spent on attorney fees representing city employees that were called to testify before the Grand Jury? The answer is several hundred thousand dollars, who is going to reimburse us for that?

And who makes the decision when litigation is done and what is the criteria? In this case it seems as though it is Mayor Segarra, the beneficiary of Perez's dirty deeds that paved the way for Segarra to move into the Mayor's Office.

Why is Perez given the luxury of benefiting from an arbitrators decision when just about anyone else has had to fight for compliance with a decision? Secore, Nolan, Murtha and others come to mind.

Why are some decisions fought to the death yet Eddie gets a check cut, no questions asked? Hopefully the Department of Corrections will attach the payment to pay for his prison stay.

THIS WEEK ON FACE THE STATE... BE SURE TO EAT BREAKFAST EARLY

2011-12-02T16:05:00.003-05:00

photo from http://www.wfsb.com/story/14969552/the-hartfordite

I know that usually I watch Dennis House's "Face the State" program (Sundays, 11:00am, Ch. 3) while getting started for the day and eating breakfast. This Sunday I will have to be sure to eat early to avoid being nauseous while watching one of his segments. Sorry Dennis, it's not you but your guest.

I'm sure most people have noticed that the Republicans in Hartford were thoroughly beat into the ground the last few years, and especially this past November when they lost their remaining seats on the Council. You may have also noticed that the local GOP "leadership", and I use that term lightly, have had plenty of blame for everyone else except themselves.

Even before the loss, you could see the venom spewing from Hartford's Republican Town Chair Michael McGarry anytime he spoke about the Working Families Party (WFP) and in particular WFP Councilperson Luis Cotto. I am not a fan of Cotto's, but McGarry chose to make it personal between himself and Cotto.

McGarry also concocted the deal, or was at least one of the "masterminds" behind the misguided deal to endorse Democrats in the last election. This stripped the Republican's of any ideology or any means of differentiating the GOP from the Dem's. In the end, McGarry should realize that his deal cost him and his party votes.

According to Dennis House's blog "the Hartfordite", McGarry said the election of Working Families candidates to the council instead of Republican candidates, is bad for business and sends a message to investors to stay away from the city. He called the WF party “dangerous.”

I would counter that the attitude of the Republican Party in Hartford for the last several years under McGarry's "leadership", or lack thereof, has been dangerous. Throughout the entire Perez corruption scandal, McGarry and his party remained silent. No press releases, no comments, not a word.

Since 1999 as Hartford's mill rate steadily increased from about 29 mills to the current rate of over 71 mills, not a word was said by McGarry and his party. The only Republican elected to the Council Veronica Airey-Wilson voted for just about every item that increased spending as well as every bloated budget. Although she had to align herself with Perez and his operation since a Grand Jury investigation eventually proved that she was also benefiting from Perez's criminal acts.

Not surprisingly though, not a word from the Republican "leaders" before or after Airey-Wilson's arrest. In fact, they appointed her nephew to replace her on the Council when she left after her arrest on criminal corruption charges. And in the total opposite of Republican beliefs of smaller government and reduced spending, Airey-Wislons nephew, Corey Brinson voted for the illegal raise for the City Treasurer Monday night. Hopefully one of his last official acts as a Councilperson since he was not re-elected.

McGarry himself probably has a hard time as Republican Town Chair criticizing City Hall since he benefits directly from the City and Board of Education's advertising in his periodicals.

Rather than calling WFP dangerous, it mike make more sense to educate potential voters as to what the GOP is about and why it would make sense to vote Republican. I think people are fed up with the negative politics and if you put a message forward that makes sense, people just might listen.

There is no outreach to the community, there is no education and there definitely is no Republican presence in Hartford, other than Mike McGarry spouting his nonsense blaming everyone else.

Buy a mirror Mike and line up your Republican Town Committee members behind you, that's where you should be looking to place blame for the decay of the Hartford Republican Party.

I agree that the WFP most likely will not be good for Hartford for the next four years on the Council. It will most likely mean more fiscal recklessness, more liberalism and attempts to tie the hands of our Police even more and less accountability to the voters.

But McGarry is the one that has to accept the blame. The WFP ran campaigns and got their message out, the Republicans did not.

The Hartfordite also stated that "McGarry predicts the increased power of the Working Families party, will be so detrimental to the city it will actually help rebuild the Republican party in the city.". If only it were that easy what the Democratic controlled Council has done to Hartford for the last 10 years would have voters flocking to the GOP in record numbers.

The Republicans have to grow a back bone and be willing to make some noise and let people know what is happening in City Hall every day, 24/7. In McGarry's case, silence has not proven golden and he has missed many opportunities to gain a voice for the GOP, no one knows what they stand for or what they believe in.

The only thing that will rebuild the Republican Party in Hartford is hard work, and a lot of it. And that hard work will have to come from fresh blood with new ideas and a message the voters can connect with, shouting out the WFP is bad just won't cut it.

IS THE END NEAR?

2011-12-01T14:25:00.002-05:00

The end for the Eddie A. Perez corruption case that is.

Legal briefs are due to the Appellate Court by December 21, 2011 and a decision should be rendered shortly thereafter. Perez had appealed his conviction on corruption charges and his subsequent prison sentence. The corrupt former Mayor has remained free on an appeal bond pending the decision.

SEGARRA VETOES TREASURER'S RAISE

2011-12-01T10:26:00.003-05:00

In an interesting move, Mayor Pedro Segarra has vetoed the raise for the City Treasurer that was approved by the Hartford City Council Monday night. Segarra makes the claim that the raise was a violation of Connecticut's Constitution and cites his reasons in the letter below.

The same reason used for the veto was also posted here on the blog as a comment at least one day prior to the veto being submitted to Town Clerk John Bazzano.The "anonymous" commenter had posted "One problem, the state Constitution prohibits a raise until 2015

"The compensation of an elected official of a political subdivision of the state whose term of office is four years or more may be increased once after such official has completed two years of his term by the legislative body of such political subdivision"

I guess my readers know what they are talking about.

Here is the veto letter below:

Segarra Cloud Veto

SEGARRA ABOUT TO HIT A GRANDSLAM HOMERUN...INTERIM POLICE CHIEF TO BE NAMED

2011-11-28T20:48:00.002-05:00

Several sources in the Hartford Police Department and at Hartford City Hall are confirming that Mayor Segarra has picked, and made a job offer to, who he hopes will be the next leader of the Hartford Police Department. The choice will have many of you asking James "WHO?".

Segarra has apparently made an offer for the "interim" Chief of Police position to veteran Hartford Police Officer and current Chief Inspector of the Chief State's Attorney's Office James Rovella. Talks have been in the works and according to sources, the offer was made to Rovella after a lengthy meeting this morning at City Hall. The "interim" title is apparently a matter of semantics as the final details and contract are worked out.

Rovella was chosen to run the Hartford Shooting Task Force earlier this year after it was created at the direction of Governor Malloy under the guidance of Connecticut's Chief States Attorney's Kevin Kane. Rovella and his task force have produced some very noticeable results and has impressed many with the ongoing efforts of his team.

Rovella retired from the Hartford Police Department after building a reputation as an outstanding investigator and then moved on to eventually the Chief Inspector in the State's Attorneys Office.

Rovella also has a very strong working knowledge of the Hartford Police Department and its "players", which should prove interesting as the transition from the Roberts administration begins. Rovella apparently is known as a no nonsense supervisor with a strong work ethic and commitment to professionalism. One source told me that it is common to see Rovella in his office at 7:00am when others are arriving and still be there at 7:00 or 8:00PM at night after others have left.

Rovella also was raised in Hartford from what I am told and has a keen interest in the City.

This wasn't the Segarra choice I would have predicted, but it seems like it could be a win-win situation for the HPD as well as the people of Hartford with the right support for Rovella. This potentially could also be a huge morale booster for HPD, a department that has been racked lately by labor battles and lawsuits and what has been perceived by many as vindictive management by HPD Command Staff.

A GOOD TIME TO CUT THE POLICE BUDGET, HOMICIDE 25 IS ON THE BOOKS

2011-11-20T09:32:00.002-05:00

Homicide number 25 for the year was recorded last night after a 19 year old man was shot and killed on the 2000 block of Main Street. That is the third homicide this week after what had been a quiet period.

A perfect time for the Mayor and Council to continue those HPD budget cuts, we still have time to catch up with New Haven, they are at 30 for the year.

HOMICIDE 24 IS ON THE BOOKS

2011-11-18T11:27:00.004-05:00

After a quiet period, the second homicide of the week occurred last night at 1995 Park Street in Hartford.

The shooting victim died this morning after under going surgery for his wounds.

OCCUPY HARTFORD: DON'T THEY WATCH FLASH MOB VIDEOS?

2011-11-17T16:41:00.003-05:00

Today's "Occupy Hartford" actions turned out to be more of a union media stunt than a protest to effect social change from what I saw. That was more evident than ever when the press releases began rolling out from Union organizers. Signs and banners were front and center from the Teamsters and SEIU.

And for anyone that has ever watched a flash mob video, the element of surprise and spontanaiety happens because the people just show up and get started. No telegraphing your intentions to the media, the property owners and more importantly the police or security agencies. That is why they have an impact.

Today's event was probably the biggest "non-event" Hartford has seen in a while. Do they not understand that HPD has people that live just to develop "Op-plans" to minimize the impact of such events. I think in all honesty many commuters would welcome this as a daily event. It seems that traffic ran smoother nthan just about any day I have seen.

The bottleneck at the intersection of Farmington, Broad and Asylum Streets was non-existent. Traffic was flowing smoothly both east and westbound on Farmington Avenue which is usually bumper to bumper at this time of day. Fortunately the gridlock and disruption of traffic never happened. That's probably a good thing since I think many of the "99%" (translated as us commoners) would have a hard time supporting something that was disrupting our daily lives.

The HPD "Ops plan" diluted the impact so much that unless you were on Broad Street near the Courant and I-84 you would be hard pressed to even know anything was going on. No tasers were unholstered, no pepperspray cloud over the area, no riot helmets,just a street full of cops who politely announced to the 12 human speed bumps that each one was about to be arrested and were they sure they wanted that.

A sergeant and two officers approached each of the 12 people on the entrance ramp and advised them they were about to be arrested. And probably even more politely than a hostess at a restaurant, they were led to the prisoner transport by two police officers.

I'm still not sure what the message is and what "Occupy Hartford" is trying to accomplish, but letting the union's hijack their message and ride their coat tails isn't a good direction to take.

The officer's present from HPD did a great job handling the event, but it is another unnecessary burden being placed on a Department which should be focusing on keeping our City safe, not being used as extra's in a stage production orchestrated by Union organizers.

A QUICK THOUGHT ON "OCCUPY HARTFORD"

2011-11-17T14:12:00.002-05:00

Apparently the "occupiers" are planning a protest today to send a message to those nasty Corporate neighbors of ours. From what I understand, they plan to lay down at the entrance ramps to I-84 at Broad Street.

Who is that going to hurt or inconvenience other than hard working people trying to get home after a day at work?

Why not lay down at the driveways at the Corporate locations where the limousines leave at the end of the day returning Corporate executives to their homes? That might have more impact than disrupting everyone. But I'm not sure what the message the "Occupiers" have been trying to get out anyway, other than one of chaos and confusion.

So make today's rush hour a little easier and stay in Hartford at one of our restaurants and relax until the mess clears.

IS IT REALLY THAT HARD FOR CITY HALL TO TELL THE TRUTH?

2011-11-17T13:59:00.003-05:00

After the previous post and the "Press Release" from City Hall claiming that the dispatch Center was moved due to a "mock exercise" I have received numerous calls from people inside the building

Apparently, as I have previously posted, the evacuation is due to an infestation of fleas. Once again, I stand by my information, no matter how the City tries to spin the information.

I received one internal memo through "alternative means" and another one detailing the infestation should be available shortly.

Why can't they just tell the truth, how difficult would it be to say " we have experienced an infestation of fleas and for the health and safety of our employees, we will be moving the dispatch Center for 24 hours as we exterminate the area."

What else should we expect them to lie to us about? Once again, so much for that "Segarra Transparency". Do you see the words "mock exercise" anywhere in the Chief's memo?

Dispatch Center Relocation

HARTFORD DISPATCH CENTER EVACUATED

2011-11-17T11:49:00.004-05:00

I could say so many things about this and go in so many different directions.

The Emergency Dispatch Center at Jennings Road has been evacuated and moved to the Emergency Operations Center at City Hall because of "bugs". Yes, the actual living type...insects, not the "electronic" type.

Apparently the Dispatch Center was overrun with crawling critters and needed to be fumigated, although no one would say exactly what the "insects" are.

I can suggest other areas that might be worthy of a fumigation, and even maybe an exorcism. Maybe the Chief's complex should be swept for "bugs" also

UPDATE 12:00pm

In typical City of Hartford "spin machine" the move is being called a "Mock Exercise" not a word was mentioned that the Center is overrun with bugs.

Here is the release below:

PUBLIC SAFETY NEWS

From the City of Hartford Office of Communications and New Media

For Immediate Release: Thursday, November 17, 2011

DISASTER RELOCATION OF HARTFORD DISPATCH CENTER;

MOCK EXERCISE SCHEDULED TODAY

(Hartford) - The City of Hartford's Emergency Services and Telecommunications Division will be conducting a mock exercise today wherein the entire City of Hartford Dispatch Center will be abandoned and moved to the City's Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Room 304 on the third floor of Hartford City Hall, 550 Main Street, Hartford.

The media is invited to a press availability with City of Hartford Emergency Planning officials at the EOC today at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the emergency planning exercise. Emergency Services and Telecommunications Director Andrew Jaffee and Jared Kupiec, Chief of Staff to Mayor Pedro E. Segarra, will be available for interviews.

For further information contact Nancy Mulroy, Public Information Officer, City of Hartford Office of Communications and New Media at 860-757-4021/office or 860-930-8945/cell.

A MESSAGE FROM AFGHANISTAN

2011-11-11T15:50:00.003-05:00

I don't usually post other's writings, but occasionally I make an exception. I posted the "Batman" piece a couple weeks ago. Today on Veteran's Day I received an e-mail from Dan Nolan, currently serving our country in Afghanistan. He asked me to post the following and I think it is the least I can do for him.

WRITTEN BY DAN NOLAN FROM AFGHANISTAN:

Dan Nolan
Pay It Forward
In Memory Of Matt Dirrane

Today is Veterans Day and I am very proud of my fellow Veterans who have served this country honorably. This is in no way meant to take away from the appreciation they all so very much deserve on this day. In addition to honoring our many veterans today I would also like to direct your thoughts and attention to a very close friend of mine, Matt Dirrane, who tragically lost his life 11 months ago today while vacationing in Costa Rica. For those of you who did not have the pleasure of knowing him, Matt had a gift of making everyone feel great, he was extremely loyal and loving to his friends and family. He was a protector and a guardian to all. He would do anything for someone in need without hesitating to provide help, even to a complete stranger. I am sure those of you who knew him as well as I did have been devastated by his loss and have suffered through trying times without him. As you can imagine, it has been even more difficult on his immediate loving family, in particular his sister Pauline. One month from today marks the one-year anniversary of his passing. Instead of making December 11th a day of sadness, I would like to request that instead we celebrate Matt’s contributions to our lives and his generosity that has defined him. I would like everyone to honor him by performing a random act or acts of kindness throughout the next 30 days in Matt’s memory. Pay It Forward. For example, pay for the person's coffee behind you at the drive-thru, clear snow off of a neighbor's car, donate to a worthy cause, adopt a pet from a shelter. The possibilities are endless. Additionally, please take a moment to post your good deed(s) on the “In Loving Memory of Matt Dirrane” Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Loving-Memory-of-Matt-Dirrane/146785158705639?ref=ts) in order to help ease some of the burden Matt’s family may be feeling as the date of his loss approaches. I know Matt would not want us to mourn his death when we could be doing something positive to celebrate his life. So please from now until December 11th I ask of you to pay it forward in honor of my dear friend Matt Dirrane. Some of us may have reasons to complain, but most of us in general have pretty easy lives. Sure, there will be rough times along the way. It happens to all of us. Why not reach out and help someone who’s going through one of these rough times? It could be a loved one, a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker or a complete stranger. Please try and reach out to someone and perform an act of kindness. You’ll find the benefit far outweighs the effort. If everyone did this, imagine the effect it could have on the entire world. It’s amazing to think about, the possibilities are endless. I hope I have inspired all who read this to do at least one good deed to help someone who could use a helping hand.

Remember…
“We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own” ~ Ben Sweetland.

Stay safe Dan, we appreciate your service both to our Country and our City

ANOTHER ELECTION, ANOTHER ANGEL MORALES POLICE REPORT

2011-11-11T09:47:00.005-05:00

Hartford Democratic Town Committee Secretary Angel Morales, 2nd from right

It looks like we may have a new political tradition in the making, an election season won't be complete without a police complaint against Hartford Democratic Town Committee Secretary Angel Morales.

For regular readers of the blog, you will remember the incident last year where he was accused of bringing a young man back to his campaign headquarters and disrobing and dancing in front of the young man wearing only his navy blue boxers. The young victim of Morales's "performance" fled from the office and reported the incident to police.

Morales had picked the young man up in a vehicle he had rented through his campaign funds, a Lincoln Continental Mark IV. Although Morales was operating under suspension, the entire matter was "squashed" and no charges were brought.

The original posting can be read by clicking here

Here is the police report for that incident:
Morales Case Report-redacted

Now it seems that Morales is being accused of breach of peace after he created a disturbance at a polling place on Tuesday. The complaint was made by the moderator for the polls at the Learning Corridor.Although the moderator didn't know that the individual was Angel Morales, several sources I spoke with identified the suspect as Morales.

According to the sources, Morales entered the polling location and for some reason began yelling at the moderator, claiming that he was from the Mayor's Office and was going to teach the moderator a lesson. According to the sources who witnessed the incident, at one point Morales became very agitated and approached the moderator in a physically threatening manner. At that point security officials for the Learning Corridor were just arriving and they physically removed Morales from the building.

The matter is currently under investigation according to the HPD incident report. We will have to see if this one gets "squashed" also, only time will tell.

Here is the incident report for the 2nd Annual Angel Morales Election Incident:
***As I mentioned above, the moderator wasn't familiar with Angel Morales, other sources at the polling place identified the subject as Angel Morales, Hartford Democratic Town Committee Secretary . Morales has also interned at the Capitol for State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez and he claimed to be a paid campaign staffer for Mayor Segarra. I COULDN'T GET THE DOCUMENT TO SAVE AS "LANDSCAPE", SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE
MORALES INCIDENT REPORT 11 8 2011

A NEW ONE FOR THE "BLOGLIST"

2011-11-10T15:39:00.003-05:00

It will be big shoes to fill, but I removed Helen Ubinas from the bloglist in the right column. Helen has left the Courant recently and along with that her column is gone.

During the campaign, I was fortunate to listen to one of Hartford's last Republican's, at least one who actually made sense, Michael Fryar. Michael also has a blog and it is worth checking out, http://itsenoughto.blogspot.com

Click the link above or you can follow his writing in the column to the right

THE ELECTION IS OVER, THE HELL WITH PUBLIC SAFETY

2011-11-10T14:57:00.002-05:00

The big issue for anyone who attended candidates forums seemed to be public safety. Mayor Segarra constantly reiterated his commitment to Public Safety and making the City safe.

Well, now the election is done and apparently campaign promises mean nothing after the votes are cast.

In Wednesday's COMPSTAT meeting at the Hartford Police Department, department supervisors were told to be prepared for staff cuts and that their walk beats would all be pulled to back fill openings in the Patrol Division. According to sources, supervisors were told by outgoing Chief Daryl K. Roberts that this was only the "first wave" of cuts and was due to budget cuts by Mayor Segarra.

The timing seems quite interesting. In typical political form, we can now see that campaign promises mean nothing. Although "Public Safety" was the political catch phrase during the campaign, it seems that after the polls closed, 12 hours later, public safety can be put on the back burner for another 3 and a half years until the next election cycle.

Although patrol is the backbone of any Police Department, Community Service Officers and walkbeats play a huge role in crime control across the city. Those relationships are invaluable when it comes to controlling or reducing crime. In Hartford, walkbeats, CSO's and SRO's are a huge preventative measure. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the department and under staffing, the Patrol Division has been relegated to be almost exclusively reactionary.

Patrol Officers very rarely are given the time to be proactive or preventative in Hartford, they are too busy answering calls for service after incidents occur. That is not a knock on the patrol officers, it is just the reality that there aren't enough officers on the streets in Hartford.

Maybe rather than stripping walk beats and CSO's from neighborhoods, we should be looking at emptying out some of the 2nd floor at Jennings Road. Really, a detective to handle Freedom of Information requests? A Sergeant to handle backrubs and foot massages for Assistant Chief's? (and if you think I am kidding on that one, just wait until you see what is coming out soon).

Let's see how the voters that fell for empty promises made about Public Safety feel about their neighborhoods being stripped of their walk beat officers and Community Service Officers, while at the same time City Hall is about to be filled with more political appointments and cronies whose claim to fame is that they know how to drive the Mayor around or stick lawn signs in the ground for campaigns.

And I wonder if the Hartford Police Union is rethinking the promises made to them before the election for their endorsements as they head into almost two years without a contract. I would venture to say that is an issue that doesn't build morale or increase productivity and is only costing the City more as officers continue to leave for greener pastures in other Departments.

Will the voters remember in 2015? Probably not.

MAKING COUNCIL HISTORY

2011-11-10T12:27:00.004-05:00

Now that the voters have spoken, Councilman Corey Brinson's rallying call at the polls "I never took my salary" seems to be somewhat historic. Brinson is the only Councilperson in recent history to refuse the salary,and due to Hartford's voters, he will not be collecting a salary from the taxpayers anytime soon.

The one question he never did answer is whether or not he also rejected the City's Health benefits. The benefits alone are potentially more costly to taxpayers than the salary. Council people are eligible to receive full health care at the taxpayers expense. After five years on the Council they are also eligible to receive their health care for life at the City's taxpayers expense.

Aside from rejecting the salary increase, the voters need to be looking at repealing the health care and the pensions given to Councilpeople after 5 years on the council also. Name one other spot where you are vested for a pension after five years.

Brinson was appointed to the Council to fill the unexpired term of his aunt, Veronica Airey-Wilson, who "retired" amidst her arrest during the Perez Grand Jury corruption scandal.

FUNDRAISER FOR ANDREW

2011-11-09T19:59:00.007-05:00

If you are a regular reader you have probably read about my nephew Andrew and his adventures to gain a spot on the US Ski Team for the 2014 Paralympics being held in Russia. Several fundraisers are being held to help make this happen.

The next one scheduled is being held this Saturday at the Outback Steakhouse in Enfield. The flyer above has the details and tickets are still available. The menu sounds pretty good and all included for a price pf $20.00 per person.

To find out more about Andrew and his efforts, check out his website, andrewraces.com

SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FROM AN OLD-TIME POLITICIAN

2011-11-09T19:07:00.003-05:00

I honestly thought that I could make a difference in returning Hartford to some of the prominence of earlier years, but I guess the voters of Hartford had different ideas of what Hartford needs. Apparently they haven't had enough of spending Hartford into oblivion yet with no regard to how it is being paid for.

I guess the pressure we put on our small businesses and commercial property owners to pack up and leave Hartford isn't a big issue. Besides, it might just be a status thing to have the highest mill rate in the state as well as some of the highest commercial space vacancies in the region.

As much as I thought I could make a difference on the Council, at least one person who led Hartford during some of its better days put it all into perspective for me. Former Mayor James Kinsella, who served as Hartford's Mayor from 1957-1960, spoke to me outside his polling place after he cast his vote.

Mayor Kinsella told me that he was a regular reader of the blog and he like it. He liked my writing style and liked the issues I addressed. He said he had reservations about me being elected because he thought that I was most likely doing more on the outside through the blog than I could do on the inside as a Councilperson.

Bottom line is he knows the system a lot better than I ever will and his words make sense. As the Courant pointed out when they endorsed me, the blog and the position of Councilperson might not be the easiest mix. I thought about that a lot and eventually realized that my hands might be tied on many issues and how I could approach them.

Well, the voters made it an easy decision for me. I do not intend to go away or have my hands tied and as much as I think I could be a positive force on the Council, everything works out for a reason. Chances are pretty good that by 2015 when Council elections roll around again, I can say I made more positive change from the outside than some of those elected yesterday will have made from the inside.

With your help and support I feel confident that we can continue to expose issues that affect our City and hold our elected officials accountable. Keep the e-mails and information coming as you have been and it should make for an interesting four years

For those of you who supported my campaign, contributed, or even showed your support by voting for me, I sincerely thank you. And to Mayor Kinsella, thanks for putting it into perspective (and my apologies for calling you "an old time politician", that's not a bad thing when you see how the system is run today)

IN THE HOME STRETCH

2011-11-06T11:52:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is election day in Hartford. I have enjoyed the forums, the meetings, answering questions and generally trying to shed some light on what we need to do to move Hartford forward.

Hopefully I will have an opportunity to put those ideas and changes into effect as a Councilperson if enough people agree.

If you have the opportunity, please remind someone to go vote tomorrow , and if you are so inclined, ask them to vote for me on row D-3. Any support is greatly appreciated .

Rest assured though, no matter how this turns out, I fully intend to keep doing what I have been doing for the last few years to make Hartford a better place.

"VARGAS VS. SEGARRA" HEADED TO COURT

2011-11-06T11:39:00.003-05:00

On October 27, 2011, a hearing was held by the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee regarding a complaint filed by mayoral candidate Edwin Vargas against a cross nomination by the Hartford Republican Town Committee which was accepted by Pedro Segarra.To read the previous posting about Vargas's complaint, click here

Last Thursday the hearing committee ruled against Vargas. The next step is for Vargas to head to Superior to see if a Judge will take the politics out of the matter and look at the complaint differently. That hearing will be held tomorrow, Monday, at 11:00am at Superior Court on Washington Street.

The full motion for a hearing by Vargas's attorney is below:

Complaint - Vargas v. Segarra

LAST WEEKENDS HOOKER DAY PARADE, 2011

2011-10-30T20:55:00.003-04:00

Although this weekend we were preparing for a snow storm, the Saturday before brought thousands of people downtown to enjoy the Hooker Day Parade. The video below is just some raw video I shot and I thought I would post it here, maybe you will see yourself if you attended or someone else you recognize .

Enjoy .

CHRISTMAS IN OCTOBER....SNOW AND EVERYTHING

2011-10-29T18:13:00.003-04:00

It just keeps getting better and better this weekend.

First, I love snow and winter, most of you may not agree with that but it is just one more thing that makes living in New England interesting. The forecasts beginning Thursday that we might have a major snowstorm had my attention and I looked forward to the first snowflakes.

Then to make the weekend even better, I learned that I was going to get the Hartford Courant's endorsement for my run for Hartford City Council. I haven't been able to verify it 100%, but I am being told that this may be the first time in the history of the Courant that they endorsed a petitioning independent candidate.

Then I get the e-mail with a pretty moving piece comparing me to Batman. I was definitely humbled by that, but it made my day.

This was all capped off by the announcement that Sarah Barr will no longer be living off the taxpayers of Hartford. It is a year late in coming, but welcome news none the less. Barr was convicted felon Eddie Perez's spokesperson and was more about the propaganda and the "Gospel of Perez" than she was about information and any truth or honesty coming out of City Hall.

Barr will be leaving for a position with Webster Bank. Like I mentioned in a post a week or so ago, those Credit Unions are looking better all the time.

Maybe with the right person we can actually start trusting the information that comes out of the Mayor's Office now.

Here is the City's press release:

PEDRO E. SEGARRA

MAYOR

STAFFING CHANGES

NEWS AND COMMUNITY RELEASE

(October 28, 2011)--- After almost seven years serving the residents of the City of Hartford, Sarah Barr, the Director of Communications and New Media, will be leaving her position to become Vice President of External Communications at Webster Bank.

“I can’t imagine City Hall without Sarah,” praised Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra. “She is the consummate communicator and a true professional. While I am very sad that she will be leaving our team, I am very happy for her and her family. Sarah is a dynamic leader and she assures me she will continue to be very involved in Hartford’s communities. I look forward to her continued passion and participation.”

“My experience serving the residents of Connecticut’s Capital City has been very rewarding. I have established many strong relationships and will continue to find ways to serve the community. However, I have always put my family first regarding future career decisions and this new opportunity is no different. It is the right move at the right time and I am looking forward to this new and exciting professional challenge at Webster Bank,” said Ms. Barr.

In addition to her duties as Director, Ms. Barr served as Chairperson of Hartford’s 375th Anniversary celebration. She is currently a member of the Carousel’s Countdown to 100 Committee.

Her last official day with the City of Hartford will be Friday, November 11th.

HARTFORD'S BATMAN ?

2011-10-29T17:57:00.003-04:00

It continues to amaze me the recognition I am getting as I am out meeting people during my campaign for Hartford City Council. One young person who I met recently is someone that has grown up in Hartford and continues to call Hartford home after graduating from college. These are the people that we have an obligation to mentor and bring along as the future leaders of our City. I think that is where we have failed miserably, and the main reason our "leadership" is the mess it is.

We have adults who continue to maintain their strangle hold on power into their 70's and 80's without bringing along any young people to fill our leadership vacuum. To be successful we need young people with new and fresh ideas and a better understanding of an ever changing world to be encouraged to get involved in our city governance.

The person I mentioned above sent me this message below in an e-mail today and I have to admit I am extremely flattered by his opinion as well as his writing style, I think he is boosting my ego, but a lot of his comments are true, even though I was never a big batman fan, maybe I should watch the movie on this snowy night.

And as far as I can remember, this is the first time I am posting someone else's writings on the blog, but then again, how often do I get compared to a "super-hero"

Brookman: Hartford’s Dark Knight

Most people who have seen the movie, Batman: Dark Knight, vividly remember the final scene. As Batman is running away from the police, Detective Gordon’s son, a symbolic character representing innocence and honesty, asks why Batman is running away from the police. Gordon responds, “Because we have to chase him.” The son says, “But he didn’t do anything wrong.” Gordon responds with the final words of the movie, “Because he's the hero Gotham deserves. But not the one it needs right now. And so we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A dark knight.”

Like Gotham, Hartford is broken and like Gotham, Hartford also has a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight. Kevin Brookman is not always liked but he is overwhelmingly respected by the political class that governs us and the citizens that bond our communities together. Over the past few years, Brookman’s ability to make an honest effort to hold our city leaders accountable for their actions has enabled the residents of the city of Hartford to become more aware of the problems we face and, more importantly, the consequences we will reap if the city does not change course and head in a direction that promotes a healthy and sustainable environment to live in, work hard, produce capital, and attract investors to our state’s capitol.

Is he Perfect? No.Is he a hero? No.Does he claim to be? No. Does he have a plan? Yes and its simple: Raise the awareness of our past and present problems and return our city back to fiscal sanity, moral responsibility, and a multitude of opportunities for every citizen of Hartford.

Without our Dark Knight, we, like Gotham, will continue to breed corruption, and sacrifice our liberties for short-term security that places band-aids on gashes and screen doors on a floating submarine unaware of and not seeing the dreadful consequences of what will happen when the body runs out of blood and the submarine, like our economy, takes a dive and falls beneath the sea.

Brookman is and will continue to be chased. He will be hunted and he will be persecuted but Brookman knows that truth and justice are never to be sacrificed for power and privilege and the potentiality that our city has is a cause that he will continue to fight for, protect, and honor even if that means the light he sheds must live in a shadow, a dark shadow, a dark shadow protected by a dark knight.

And before the comments begin, no, I will not be wearing the outfit any time soon

VARGAS HEARING HELD AT DEMOCRATIC STATE CENTRAL

2011-10-29T17:11:00.002-04:00

Thursday night was another example of Hartford's "Theater of the Bizarre".

The complaint filed by Mayoral candidate Edwin Vargas against the acceptance by Pedro Segarra of the Republican endorsement was at issue. The complaint and previous posting can be read here.

The complaint seems to hinge on whether Segarra violated the Hartford Democratic Town Committee's own bylaws when he cut the deal with the Republicans and accepted the cross endorsement.

The argument by Vargas's attorney, Robert Ludgin, seemed pretty clear cut, the bylaws say it can't be done.

The defense by the attorney for the HDTC, Thom Page, as well as Mayor Segarra's attorney, John Kennelly, were somewhat interesting. Although they seemed to agree that the rule was part of the by-laws, they were essentially rendered irrelevant because they really don't follow their by-laws. I'm paraphrasing there, but that was pretty much the argument.

Page also made the point that the bylaws were "old" and hadn't been updated since the 1970's. He also stated that every year someone talks about updating the by-laws but for one reason or another it never gets done. (I think that could be blamed on leadership, or more accurately the lack of leadership on the part of the HDTC)

An interesting moment occurred after Page made his comment that the bylaws were old so they weren't really followed. Vargas's attorney replied that we have a lot of "old" laws that are followed every day, one of them is a couple hundred years old and we call it "The Constitution".

It will be interesting how the panel will rule, most likely it will be business as usual and the whole matter will be swept away. But the repercussions from that decision should be wide ranging. Essentially if the panel validates Segarra's actions, any Town Committee has no need to have bylaws or even follow them since they mean nothing.

I think the big question though on the minds of many in the room is why Segarra is fighting so hard to keep this nomination. The reality is the endorsement will probably deliver a couple hundred Republican votes to Segarra at the maximum. The other side of the coin is that if Segarra was really in touch with community sentiment, the actions might actually be costing him votes from upset voters.

In the spirit of leadership and party unity why wouldn't Segarra and Holloway step up and say the endorsement just isn't worth it and they reject it? Is there more to this than we know and what could possibly be in play that the Mayor won't reject it? Segarra is most likely a "shoe-in" for the election and it is not like the margin of victory is going to be that close. Besides, if they can find him on the Republican line, they can definitely find him on the Democratic line.

I seriously doubt that there are many Republicans that will be confused, or even tricked, into believing that Segarra is actually a Republican because he appears on the "R" line.

The decision should be issued within three days.

Interestingly absent from the hearing was HDTC Chair Jean Holloway as well as Vice Chair Lou Watkins. Surrogate Chair Marc DiBella was in attendance with his clipboard, taking notes.

Here is Attorney Kennelly's brief outlining his defense for Segarra.

KENNELLY SEGARRA BRIEF0001

SNOW STORM HITTING HARTFORD HARD

2011-10-29T17:08:00.002-04:00

Numerous trees and wires are down across the City and continue to fall as the snow does also.

The City has officially opened its "Emergency Operations Center" (EOC) at Hartford City Hall to monitor the storm.

The Blue Hills area and Vine Street seem to be hit exceptionally hard, but damage is widespread across the City.

HARTFORD COURANT ENDORSEMENT'S ARE OUT

2011-10-29T16:50:00.002-04:00

The Hartford Courant has released their editorial endorsements for the November 8, 2011 City Council elections, and apparently they agree..."BROOKMAN FOR COUNCIL".

The full editorial can be read by clicking here, but needless to say, I am extremely humbled by their support and confidence. There is still a lot of work to be done, but it is very gratifying that the editorial board of the Courant sees what the Hartford Democratic Town Committee ignored.

In a nutshell, here is what the Editorial Board said:

•Kevin R. Brookman, 52, petitioning candidate. Mr. Brookman, a small business owner, may be the city's first cyber-candidate. He started a blog a few years ago called We The People, which attacked many of the excesses of the Perez administration. Via the blog, Mr. Brookman established himself as a tough, honest commentator, with common sense and some innovative ideas.

But Mr. Brookman must realize that if he is elected, he can no longer immerse himself in personnel or labor disputes, as he sometimes does. That's the price of going from the shop floor to the board of directors.

HEY DAVE...WHERE'S THE PRESS RELEASE?

2011-10-27T14:16:00.004-04:00

On Monday, David Medina, the Minister of Propaganda for the Hartford Schools took the time to issue a press release of "high importance" to condemn me and this blog for information I posted regarding an art exhibit at Hartford High School.

This is the first time I can remember Medina taking issue with anything, but none the less, it was good to see Medina at least doing something to earn his salary of $120,000 plus. Medina's press release drew traffic to the blog so I want to show my appreciation to him

Unfortunately though, it seems that Medina "misses" much of what goes on in the schools. Whether that is intentional is not known. In an effort to assist Medina in his job, I will try to post information I learn about the inner goings on at our schools. Much of this I am sure the administration would like parents to know what their children are being subjected to in their schools.

FIRE REPORTED AT BELLIZZI MIDDLE SCHOOL

The Hartford Fire Department was called this afternoon to extinguish a fire that had been set in a trashcan in a girl's bathroom at the Bellizzi Middle School. The fire was extinguished by a security guard at the school. Initially, the administration of the school chose not to notify the Fire Department, but the School Resource Officer requested the Fire Department due to the smoke condition in the school.

The incident has been turned over to the Hartford Police Department Arson investigators.

See how easy that was Dave. As a public service I will try to post any incidents of guns, weapons, drugs or arson's occurring in Hartford Schools so the public can get a true picture of what goes on in our schools.

WHERE IS IT? OR ....HOW GULLIBLE ARE HARTFORD'S VOTERS

2011-10-26T20:03:00.004-04:00

Word around City Hall is that the position of Chief Operating Officer may not be the most stable path for career development these day's, but in light of that, maybe we should try getting some answers to questions before any changes take place. It seems like our elected officials either don't know the answers or just don't want to answer the questions.

Let's start with an easy one. Where is the theater at Front Street? It was announced with fanfare and press releases the first time it was presented. Then I guess that developer backed out and the project was picked up by another developer to fanfare and press releases all over again. Those press releases heralded the opening in "Fall2011". Unless I am mistaken, fall is here and not one piece of drywall has been hung yet.

Next question... when is the Market @ Hartford 21 reopening. We were told they were "regrouping" when they abruptly closed, well...maybe not so abruptly, I think most of us saw it coming. And while we are at it, what was the approval process for the $400,000 "loan" given to keep them afloat? Members of the Council are claiming ignorance to any knowledge of approving the funds, but then again, ignorance is very plausible when looking at many of this Council's actions.

Question number 3...what oversight is in place to make sure the "Festival of Lights" or "Winterfest" ,or whatever we are calling it this year, is being organized properly to avoid another embarrassing public relations nightmare similar to last years "squirrel and bird protection" event. To read more about that, click here or here

Question number 4... Several years ago, our wonderful corporate neighbor, Northland cut a deal to develop the former YMCA on Jewel Street into luxury condos. All of the male occupants who rented rooms there were forced out, most likely increasing the numbers of Hartford's homeless population. The building still sits empty to this day as the ugly twin to Capitol West, a sign of a city that just doesn't get it when they are being played for fools. Why isn't the "Y" at least re-opened to serve a need for housing a segment of Hartford's population that is really needed as we head into winter.

Question number 5... After the previous corrupt administration forced a Hartford landmark, WFSB 3, out of the city to Rocky Hill more press releases and fanfare heralded a "green" multi story office building on the former Channel 3 site. Where is it? I still pass a vacant lot every time I exit Route 2, not a good welcome mat for those entering the city for the Science Center or the Convention Center

I'll stop with those questions, I know editing resumes and job searches take time, so I don't want to tie you up too much, but the voters might enjoy a hit of the truth when making their voting decisions on what direction Hartford is headed in.

VARGAS COMPLAINT TO BE HEARD THURSDAY

2011-10-26T19:24:00.002-04:00

The complaint filed by Mayoral candidate Edwin Vargas to Connecticut Democratic State Central is scheduled to be heard tomorrow night, Thursday, at 6:30 PM at Democratic State Central Headquarters at 330 Main Street.

The meeting is apparently open to the public and promises to provide more entertainment than a good night at the Bushnell Theater. Arrive early before the best seats are taken.

To read the Vargas complaint filed by Attorney Robert Ludgin, click here

NEW ELECTION COMPLAINTS FILED AGAINST SEGARRA, APONTE, DeJESUS AND OTHERS

2011-10-26T18:52:00.004-04:00

A wide ranging complaint against individuals involved in the upcoming municipal election was filed today by Hartford resident Alyssa Peterson. The complaint, accompanied by numerous supporting exhibits and documents, seems to raise questions about the process used for selecting candidates. The accompanying documents also seem to raise questions about the integrity of some of the candidates running.

The documents compiled by Peterson were obtained mostly from police reports and documents as well as court documents and are included in the PDF file below.

The complaint and the exhibits pretty much speak for themselves and are well worth the reading time. Exhibits "E" and "F" are very interesting.

And in the interest of full disclosure, as if anyone doesn't already know, I am also running for City Council as an independent candidate.

Peterson Complaint Exhibits

Official Complaint Dinardo

DEMOCRAT VARGAS FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST" REPUBLICAN " SEGARRA

2011-10-24T16:50:00.002-04:00

Democratic petitioning candidate for Mayor, Edwin Vargas has made it official. On Friday, through his attorney Robert Ludgin, Vargas began the official complaint process against Segarra's endorsement by Hartford's Republican Town Committee.

Vargas's complaint is attached below and pretty much speaks for itself

VARGAS HDTC Complaint2011

DAVID MEDINA....A WASTE OF A SALARY

2011-10-24T15:39:00.002-04:00

For those not familiar with the name David Medina, he is the media mouthpiece for the Hartford Public Schools. He came from the Hartford Courant where he was employed before leaving to take the job with the Board of Ed. He was also instrumental in the Courant's endorsement of former Mayor and now convicted felon Eddie Perez. Many considered his new position his reward from Perez.

From what many media people have told me, just getting Medina to comment or issue a statement is a huge chore. But Medina apparently showed his thin skin today when he issued a press release essentially condemning me and the blog for an entry I posted Saturday. You can read that post here

The posting speaks for itself, but I haven't found anyone yet that doesn't have serious questions about this as "art" that is acceptable for display in our schools.The interesting part though is that Medina tried to defend the picture as a "lesson in Free Speech vs Responsibility". Ok Mr. Medina, I guess I have to ask what was the lesson? That at Hartford High there is no responsibility when you exercise your Free Speech rights>

And isn't it interesting that Mr. Medina chooses to essentially condemn my "Free speech" rights at the same time he is claiming the rights to his and those of his "students". Where do the Hartford Schools draw the line? Would an image drawn by a student depicting child pornography or a sexual molestation be found acceptable as "Freedom of Speech"?

Maybe if our schools were actually "teaching" students something about history and civics rather than just how to pass mastery tests, a child's mind might go to thoughts of the Revolution, the Bill of Rights or the Constitution rather than "blood gushing" from some "home boy's dome" and assault weapons.

It is interesting that we have guns and weapons in schools and Mr. Medina has no response to that. A 10 year old and an 11 year old student were caught with drugs on them today at Batchelder School, the ten year old apparently sold drugs that he had found to the 11 year old girl for five dollars on Friday, I bet you won't see a press release from Mr. Medina about that. But he can find the time to fire back at me, it's all very interesting.

But then again, the Hartford Schools aren't really known for truthful messages. Mr. Medina is doing a fine job in that aspect as Director of Propaganda for the Hartford Schools.

Here is Medina's e-mail from earlier today and the attached press release of "HIGH" importance:

Subject: Hartford Public Schools
Importance: High

Attached please find a very important statement from Hartford Public Schools.

David Medina

Director of External Communications

Hartford Public Schools

960 Main Street

Hartford, CT 06103

Tel: 860-695-8862

Fax: 860-722-8502

Cell: 860-558-9640

medid001@hartfordschools.org

Statement+From+Hartford+Public+Schools+10!24!11

THIS IS TROUBLING

2011-10-22T19:27:00.002-04:00

The drawing above is currently on display at Hartford Public High School as part of an "art exhibit".

Just the fact this is what a student is drawing along with its written message , I would hope is raising red flags all over the place, but apparently it isn't. Is anyone requesting any type of counseling for this obviously troubled student?

"I'll have blood gushing out your dome boy on your homeboy" doesn't seem like a normal thought for a high school student, yet the drawing is on display showing an assault rifle and the troubling message.

Is anyone paying attention in our schools or is this threatening behavior acceptable?

HARTFORD DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE TO MEET TONIGHT

2011-10-20T13:53:00.002-04:00

If you are interested in seeing first hand how Hartford politics work, the HDTC will be meeting tonight at 6:30PM in the Function Room at Hartford City Hall.

If you want to see democracy at its finest, or maybe its worse, stop by and see what goes on.

After a short time watching the process, you will probably be convinced to vote Independent on November 8th. It promises to be a lively night.

WE NEED VISION AND FRESH IDEAS

2011-10-19T19:17:00.003-04:00

One thing I have found while campaigning for Hartford City Council is that we have a lot of "politicians" that are good at identifying Hartford's problems. The problem with that though is that the solutions to our problems, for the most part, seem to be in short supply. At the candidates forums I keep hearing the catch phrases for Hartford's troubles... "crime and public safety", "economic development", "education" and "jobs".

This may sound self-serving, but we have plenty of "politicians" capable of identifying problems, what we need are leaders to come up with solutions to those problems.

Back in July, I posted here on the blog one of my plans to spur economic development, you can read that posting here.The idea now seems to be gaining some traction. It is only part of the puzzle to turning Hartford around, but I guess others beside just myself see the possibilities

Last Thursday, former Councilperson and now State Representative Matt Ritter called me regarding the plan. I guess Matt sees the merits in the idea and he wanted to let me know he was interested in moving the idea forward. He was meeting with the Metro Hartford Alliance and wanted to gauge their support and he apparently plans to move it forward in next years legislative session..

Ironically, that same afternoon I met with the editorial board of the Hartford Courant and laid out my thoughts to them also. Tom Condon posted an editorial on line tonight which I would imagine will be in the print edition tomorrow. Unfortunately the message of the editorial is about another Hartford business closing its doors in large part because of Hartford's tax burden on its small businesses.

In the editorial, Tom Condon mentions my plan as an idea "worth exploring". It's not the solution to everything, but it is a start.

Here's what Tom wrote; "A way must be found to entice small businesses back to the city. Blogger and city council candidate Kevin Brookman has an idea, one that state Rep. Matthew Ritter has picked up on, that is worth exploring. It is to offer the region's average tax rate to any business that will locate or expand in Hartford. So say the region's average is 35 mills. That's what the business would pay in Hartford, for some period of time."

We need the vision and the ideas for possible solutions, just identifying the problems doesn't change anything.

To read Tom Condon's editorial, click here

IS DKR'S INNER FIREFIGHTER COMING OUT

2011-10-18T17:31:00.005-04:00

Yes that is Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts in the picture above wearing the fire helmet.

Chief Roberts recently addressed the graduating recruits from the Hartford Fire Department Training Academy.

According to a few people in attendance, Chief Roberts addressed the recruits stating that "inside every police officer is a firefighter waiting to come out". Could this be the beginning of a new career? Is Chief Roberts internal firefighter "coming out"?

WEST END CIVIC ASSOCIATION CANDIDATES FORUM TONIGHT

2011-10-18T13:30:00.004-04:00

REPOSTED FROM E-MAIL MESSAGE FROM WECA

WECA Candidates' Forum

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - 7 p.m.

The West End Civic Association will hold a Candidates' Forum on Tuesday, October 18 at the United Methodist Church in Hartford (located at the corner of Farmington Ave and South Whitney St) at 7 p.m.

Candidates for the City Council, Mayor and Treasurer will attend.

Please join us. A candidates' forum allows candidates for public office to express their views openly so audience members can understand their positions and make informed voting choices. The forum allows you an opportunity to become better informed about your choices for elected representative.

West End Civic Association

A BAD WEEK FOR BILL DiBELLA, THE WEEK IN REVIEW

2011-10-14T19:15:00.005-04:00

When it rains it pours, but that might be a good thing for the area's water agency, the MDC. But this week "the rain" just kept coming when it related to bad news for the Chairman of the MDC, William DiBella.

It started off with the announcement that the MDC would be forced to eliminate at least 82 jobs as a result of losing the management and operations contract for the CRRA, Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

Then Jon Lender did an in-depth story on the potential relationship between Hartford politicians and the hiring of Democratic State Representative Hector Robles at a company that just received millions from the State of Connecticut, Ticket Network of South Windsor. Lender began to connect the "dots" of the deal with DiBella, the MDC and his son, Marc DiBella figuring prominently in the middle of the article. You can read Jon Lender's story here.

And then on top of all that, it seems that at least 12 of the employees let go this week were IT specialists for the MDC. Interestingly enough, after the jobs were cut, the MDC's computer systems went down and have been down all week, and an MDC spokesperson quoted in a Courant article today said it was a "possibility" that the computers would be back on line next week. That doesn't sound too encouraging.

You can read the Courant article about the MDC's computer troubles here

Luckily for Bill though, he can decompress and unwind on his daily commute back to his home in Old Saybrook.

MORE ON THE ROBLES EMPLOYMENT DEAL, MORE HARTFORD POLITICS AS USUAL?

2011-10-14T17:02:00.003-04:00

After the posting of the story here earlier this week regarding former Hartford Police officer Hector Robles' new job with Ticket Network there is now more information coming out. Robles was terminated as a Hartford police officer after being arrested on Larceny charges related to his alleged theft of over $10,000 from a "double-dipping" fraud scheme at HPD.

Robles still holds his seat as a Democratic legislator and Democratic Town Committee member from the 6th Legislative District, representing the southend of Hartford

Jon Lender of the Courant apparently did some more digging on the matter and found more interesting information. You can read Jon Lender's article here

Will this ever end? Maybe it is time for the Office of the Chief State's Attorney to set up a satellite office in Hartford for the Public Integrity Unit. Eddie Perez may have just been the tip of the iceberg.

ANOTHER NOLAN UPDATE, CITY GRASPING AT STRAWS?

2011-10-12T13:00:00.002-04:00

Even though Dan Nolan is currently serving our country in Afghanistan, his wrongful termination case is still winding through the courts, and at the very least I think we owe it to him to keep it in the public eye while he is away.

At a hearing on the wrongful termination matter, the parties met in a hearing at Hartford Superior Court. The complete transcripts of that hearing are below. The reason I ask if the City is grasping at straws to sustain their reasons for Nolan's termination should be clear after you read the transcripts.

The interesting argument is over the whole issue of the "quid-pro-quo" and the allegations that Nolan used his position for personal gain by encouraging Fire Department recruits to raise items and participate in charity events. Although the City seems to agree that there was no financial gain for Nolan, they apparently claim that the boost he received to his reputation in the community was enough reason to terminate him.

That is an interesting argument since City Treasurer Adam Cloud has apparently just done the same thing. Will Cloud now face the same fate as Nolan? To read more about Clouds actions, click here

The other interesting argument that seemed to pique the Judge's interest was the City's comparison of Nolan to criminals and felons.Read the transcripts and feel free to comment

Nolan Transcript 9 7 11

HECTOR LANDS A JOB

2011-10-12T12:03:00.004-04:00

After being arrested and terminated from the Hartford Police Department on Larceny charges, former Hartford Police Officer and current 6th District State Representative Hector Robles has apparently landed a new job. According to sources, Robles is the new Security Director for Ticket Network of South Windsor. Calls to Ticket Network for comment were met with a "no comment". The only response was that Hector Robles was "unavailable".

Ticket Network was the second company to receive millions in State of Connecticut dollars as part of Governor Malloy's "First Five" business development plan. Robles was a member of the Legislature while the loans to Ticket Network were being approved.

Ticket Network also lists Hartford Democratic Town Committee Treasurer Jay Mullarkey as its "Vice President-Community Relations". A request for a comment from Mullarkey was rebuffed by his staff at Ticket Network, Mullarkey, like Robles was "unavailable".

Robles's larceny charges are still pending in Hartford Superior Court, he recently entered a plea of "not guilty".

DON'T "OCCUPY HARTFORD", DUMP BANK OF AMERICA INSTEAD

2011-10-07T19:50:00.004-04:00

Just a suggestion, but all of this talk about "Occupy Hartford" doesn't really seem to be bringing any of our "horrible" corporations to their knees. In fact, I doubt they even notice.

Some of the points are somewhat valid, even though I will be the first to admit I am really not following the whole non-event. I think there was probably more coverage when Bank of America announced last week that it was going to begin charging a $5.00 monthly fee for using their debit card to spend your money.

If the "Occupy Hartford" people really want to make a difference, pack up the camping equipment and do something that will send a real message. Stop by your local Bank of America branch and close your accounts. Then go to your local Credit Union and open an account. Credit Unions are almost entirely run locally, are much more customer service oriented and don't charge the outrageous fees that the mega banks charge.

In fact, use of ATM cards in most credit union networks is free.

In a city like Hartford, as well as most urban areas, Bank of America has definitely taken their toll through foreclosures, lending practices and what some might call predatory mortgages. I think hitting them where it counts would say much more than any protest or camp outs could ever accomplish.

I wonder how many of the "occupiers" actually have a Bank of America or Citicorp card in their pockets,or how many gladly accept their Aetna or Traveler's benefits when they need them. Dissension is important, but is definitely more effective when it has a real impact

ARE ETHICS OVERRATED IN HARTFORD POLITICS?

2011-10-06T18:46:00.002-04:00

Actually, the better question is "are there any ethics in Hartford politics?". Is any one's word worth anything in Hartford's political arena? Just ask Shawn Wooden his opinion on that, he might have some interesting thoughts, as someone who has experienced that first hand the last couple of months.

You would think that after just coming through a Grand Jury investigation, the arrest and conviction of Eddie Perez, the arrest of Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson and others, that people in Hartford city government and politics would be walking on eggshells and paying attention to ethical and legal behavior.

Apparently that is not the case. One person that seems to be pushing the limit is Hartford City Treasurer Adam Cloud. Jeff Cohen from WNPR had an interesting story today regarding Cloud's shakedown of City of Hartford vendors to raise money for one of Cloud's political operatives, Andrew Wood. You can read Jeff's story here.

This was another story about Cloud written by Cohen in the last week. Although it has been common knowledge since he took office as Treasurer, Cloud's wife works directly under his supervision in the Treasurer's Office. That is something Cloud should have had the common sense to end immediately after taking office.

The fact that Cloud and his wife, from what I have been told, are the only two people in the Treasurer's Office able to transfer money electronically is troubling. His wife is also apparently responsible for cash reconciliations in the office. I have to ask why anyone would put themselves in a position where this would immediately be called into question at any time a potential problem arose.

It is poor judgement and definitely a poor business practice.

The actions of the Treasurer that Cohen reported on today raise even more questions about the Treasurer's judgement, or more appropriately his lack of judgement. It seems that the Treasurer has been putting the squeeze on various Hartford vendors, including financial institutions, to donate money to a buddy of the Treasurer. Depending on the terms and the content of the conversations, that could cross the threshold and rise to the level of extortion.

Andrew Wood, the Treasurer's buddy and a political operative, was on the dole most of the Perez Administration for years, being paid millions of dollars to operate various "non-profits". The track record of those "non-profits" seem to be a well kept secret though.

According to Cohen's article "Cloud said he decided to raise money for the program because he was inspired by its good work -- not because he was in the middle of a political primary and the organization's executive director, Andrew Woods, is a political supporter."

Mr. Cloud, name something Mr. Wood's has accomplished for the City of Hartford, and it better be good , really good, to account for all the taxpayers dollars he has received over the last ten years.

We really need to demand more from our elected officials he seem to gain some sort of "sense of entitlement" once they cross the threshold into City Hall. They seem to forget what is lawful and ethical and are willing to repay political debts at the taxpayers expense.

The last Treasurer we had seemed to stay so far under the political radar and to the best of my knowledge never had the slightest suggestion of scandal related to her job performance during her years in office. Treasurer Cloud seems to have a much different work ethic, opening himself up to questions of impropriety in less than 9 months on the job.

JUST IMAGINE.....

2011-10-05T12:49:00.003-04:00

If the Hartford Insurance, Traveler's, Bank of America and all of our other major employers announced tomorrow that they were leaving Hartford. Is that the goal of Councilman Cotto and the "Occupy Hartford" organizers? Are they trying to send a message that their "greedy" excess types aren't welcome in Hartford?

In a City like Hartford where Councilman Cotto and his cohorts on the Council have placed an unfair burden on every person and company doing business in Hartford, what is the message they are trying to send? And what is the message being taken away by those same businesses? That they are not welcome here, leave and take your jobs with you?

Hartford and its "leaders" should be working together to strengthen the business climate and encourage job growth and development, not throwing rocks at the employers that employ a large part of the regions stakeholders. How about a business considering a move to Hartford? What kind of message does this send? We'll take your money through taxes, but other than that you aren't welcome?

I really wish the new Council, of which I am a candidate, will start focusing on making Hartford a better place and not use the people of Hartford as a means to grandstand. I use the word "leaders" lightly when I speak of leadership in relation to Hartford. It is something that is sadly lacking and we need to start using some common sense to once again build Hartford and actually create lasting sustainable jobs.

Spitting in the face of our corporate partners, whether you agree with their "profits" or not, does not make for a climate of commitment or future growth. There are plenty of other cities that would welcome some of our corporate neighbors with open arms, not protests.

SEGARRA TO REGISTRARS: GROW UP

2011-10-05T11:31:00.002-04:00

With a little over a month to go until the municipal election, it seems like hostilities in the Registrar of Voter's Office may be close to the boiling point.

It is no secret that the three Registrars, a Democrat, a Republican and a Working Family Party member seem to have a problem working together. It apparently started when WFP Registrar of Voters Urania Petit successfully won election as the first third party registrar in the state.

The Republican and Democrat registrars had enjoyed the sole control of the Registrars Office for years, and the WFP upset the balance of power.Not just in Hartford, but in most towns the Registrar of Voters Office is considered the last bastion of political patronage.

Since being elected, Petit has considered herself an outsider in the office, and she testified to that at last years budget hearings before the Council. Although technically all three share equal responsibility in power, that is not the case in Hartford.

On several occasions lately the Democratic Registrar, Olga Vazquez, has resorted to calling the Hartford Police to complain about the actions of others in the office, and in most instances her complaints were against Petit. No criminal actions have been found though, and other than political babysitting, no other action has been taken by police in regards to the Democratic registrars complaints.

The Mayor's letter is below:

Mayor's Registrar Letter 0001

ARREST WARRANTS OBTAINED IN HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION

2011-09-30T18:24:00.003-04:00

PRESS RELEASE FROM HPD

(Hartford) - Hartford Police Detectives have obtained arrest warrants for two suspects involved in the July 1, 2011 murder of Angel Luis Gomez, which took place at 226 Martin Street Hartford, Connecticut. This investigation was conducted in a cooperative effort between the Hartford Police Major Crimes Division and the Shooting Task Force. The suspects have been identified as Jose A. Rivera, and Kahari Martin, both of Hartford. Rivera’s arrest warrant charges him with Murder and Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Martin’s arrest warrant charges him with Accessory to Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Murder. Both are currently incarcerated for an unrelated shooting incident and firearm charges.
Rivera and Martin will be arrested on the outstanding warrants at their respective court appearances during the month of October.
The Hartford Police Department Major Crimes Division is asking anyone with information about this incident to contact HPD Major Crimes Division Sergeant Brandon O’Brien at (860) 757-4089.

OK MAYOR SEGARRA, NOW WHAT ?

2011-09-29T15:51:00.003-04:00

It looks like Mayor Segarra has possibly opened Pandora's box with the Rudewicz Report, so the next question is, what now?

Can the fact that former Assistant Chief Neil Dryfe removed IAD files from the Department just "go away"? Does Mayor Segarra intend to pursue this for the integrity of the Department or will it just be swept under the political carpet with all of the other dirt? How can the public possibly have confidence in IAD knowing that all you have to do is get an Assistant Chief to remove your case file and the investigation goes away?

Will the State's Attorney begin an investigation into why and how this happened, or is it more of the good old boy network taking care of their own? Who was the subject of the investigations Dryfe removed and what were the allegations?

And Mayor, now that the end goal has been achieved of Chief Roberts retirement, where do you go from here. Are you going to reward any members of the current Command staff for essentially undermining the Department and Chief Roberts and being part of the overall implosion of the Chief's Office? Or will you look at those who have actually consistently stepped up and done the right things?

Mayor, just read a couple of Lt. Tedeschi's memo's while he was the Department Advocate. That should tell you all you need to know about his integrity. That should also tell you why he is no longer the Advocate. He spoke out on what was ethical and right, even when it wasn't popular.

Mayor, look at Lt. Sigersmith. If the Command Staff had listened to him when he suggested some shooting initiatives last winter, it wouldn't have taken the Governor to start the Shooting Task Force. And as you are well aware, the Shooting Task Force is making you look pretty good right now to just about everyone. Lt. Sigersmith is overseeing that operation and is more than competent.I was impressed one night when I was talking to Lt Sigersmith and we were standing in the North Meadows, he looked at the downtown skyline and stated what a beautiful City Hartford was and it had so much potential. Not a bad mindset for someone to run the Department.

The list can go on, Lt. Rodriguez seems to have been able to stay under the radar, but he is also more than capable to be part of the Command staff. Just read the comments here and you should be well aware that the rank and file have great respect for Captain Buyak. Put Captain Buyak on the Command staff overseeing the Patrol Division and I am pretty sure you would see that part of HPD excel and produce even more results than they already do.

And not surprisingly, I don't think you have seen any of their names mentioned as part of the Rudewicz Report or attached to any scandals or improper behavior.

Unfortunately, none of the names I mentioned above are a** kissers, so if that's the direction you want to go, ignore the above three paragraphs. I could offer you the names of others that would more than fit that bill, but I think it might be time to take your (and our) Police Department seriously. If you want to turn around the environment at Jennings Road, these might be the people to do it.

I'll believe the Rudewicz Report was worthwhile and not just a political sham for you when I see you step up and make the tough decisions and do what you know you have an obligation to do as Mayor, and let's see if the Jello Council steps up also.

NO MORE POT BROWNIES FROM HELL'S KITCHEN

2011-09-28T20:58:00.006-04:00

What is being called a "drug factory", run by Lincoln Culinary Institute students was uncovered today at the school and broken up today by Hartford Police. According to sources, Hartford Police Northwest Area Commander Captain Joseph Buyak and Farmington Ave beat Officer John Zweibelson uncovered what is being called a "drug factory" run by students at the LCI.

At least three students, make that former students, were arrested on various charges related to the operation of a "drug factory". The former students were arrested and held on $300,000 bond, but in true Judical fashion their bonds were reduced to "written promises to appear" according to sources.

Keep up the good work HPD.

OHHHH FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS

2011-09-28T19:51:00.004-04:00

It seems like just a couple short months ago Hartford Democrats were standing on the steps of City Hall about to break into a flash mob version of "KUMBAYA". Oh for the good old days when Governor Malloy was able to pull together "Team Segarra", to bring about unity for the good of Hartford, calling on Democrats to put their differences aside and join behind Mayor Segarra and Council candidate Shawn Wooden.

All for the good of Hartford, all to make Hartford a better City, it was the right thing to do.

Then on to the Convention and more "Kumbaya". Pedro Segarra pulled off the nomination for Mayor. Shawn Wooden who went into the Convention with a handful of support came out at the end of the night with the majority of the votes of the nominee's. Thank goodness for behind the scenes arm twisting, it worked out well for Wooden.

Sean Arena and rJo Winch were blindsided and Kate Kowalshyn was left spinning wondering what the 1st District politicos had done to her. No female candidates were selected for the endorsed slate, and Kate was left out in the cold to gather signatures. The hope was she would be able to do it, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Even though she would have probably been one of the most sensible Council members to sit on the Council dais in recent history, she was led down the wrong path by the HDTC brain trust from the 1st District.

If only there was a GPS unit available to give Kate correct political directions, she might not have run into the brick wall that ended her chances.

Luckily for the HDTC, Governor Malloy was able to get everyone to see the light and unify behind "Team Segarra". Except for one problem apparently. Governor Malloy came from a town that apparently had political integrity and people that realized "your word is your bond".

Welcome to Hartford politics Governor.

Apparently the Governor's help wasn't enough to ensure Segarra's election. The support of a handful of Republicans apparently was needed to put Team Segarra over the top and the negotiations began to solidify the last living Republicans in Hartford to support the Democrats. Well at least some of the Democrats.

It seems that the Republicans only wanted part of team Segarra and left half of the Council slate on the edge of the playground, not picked for the big game. Sorry Governor, only the best get to be chosen for the Republican Team. Well, not really the best but they already had three "R's" running so they could only allow three more to fill out the Republican row. And since GOP Chair Mike McGrayy ended his sham run for Mayor to open the line for that loyal Republican Pedro Segarra, I mean Democrat Segarra, oh I'm confused, who stands for what anymore.

So anyway, only three "D's" could be on the "R's" line with the Segarra "D" as the Republican "R" ,a choice had to be made. The Mayoral candidate "D" who dropped out of the Mayor's race at the request of the "D" Governor for "D" party unity also was the high vote getter in the "D" primary. So that kind of sealed his fate. Since he was a threat to Mayor Segarra in the Mayoral race (which he dropped out of for party unity) he now was threat to the "D's" operation if he actually could eventually gain the top position as Council President.

Luckily Hartford's version of Jurassic Park, I mean the Hartford Republican Town Committee, was willing to wheel and deal for their survival. The conversation probably went something like this.

Republicans: "Let's cut a deal here. No countertops though, we both already got in trouble for that. We will cross endorse you and fill our line with Democrat's, even though you have doubled Hartford's taxes, increased the budget over $150 million dollars in the last decade, are financially reckless and go against just about everything the GOP stands for, but as you know we are desperate".

Democrats:" We have over 30,000 voters, not to mention 10,000 unaffiliated voters citywide, why would we need your endorsement?"

Republicans: " Because we need to stop the Working Family Party, they are a threat. Look at what they have done already, they knocked out two Republican council seats, they got their own Registrar of Voters who makes both of our Registrars look bad by actually doing her job and earning her salary. We need to stop them, not to mention Brookman, who knows what he is capable of if he ever got inside City Hall, it's bad enough with him working from the outside"

Democrats: "OK, makes sense, but we don't want to include Wooden, we already have it worked out for Council President and he is not part of our plan. Minnie can cut her own deals to get deJesus on and the other guy, what's his name, is on his own. Besides, look at what they are doing in Waterbury with altered test scores, we don't need anyone looking at that here"

Republicans : "Yeah. that's the last thing we want is anyone finding out about this sweet deal until it is too late, by that time we can change all the ordinances we want and no one can do anything, especially since the Mayor is solidly behind this"

And finally the whole scene ends with a 3 Musketeer cheer, "All for one and one for all, off to the polls"

For the actual version of what was supposed to be Democratic Party unity in Hartford, take a look at the video below:

DEMS TO GOP : WE REJECT YOUR SUPPORT

2011-09-28T13:06:00.002-04:00

According to an e-mail sent today by Hartford City Clerk John Bazzano, the three Democratic Council candidates being endorsed by the Hartford Republican's have rejected the endorsement. Democratic Treasure candidate Adam Cloud, also rejected the endorsement.

Mayor Pedro Segarra has not rejected the endorsement. According to sources, it may be difficult for Segarra to back out now since he was apparently the "architect" behind the deal with McGarry.

Also word is that Segarra fired all of his campaign staff last week and that most of the campaign's funds have been depleted. The next campaign filings are not due until shortly before the election November 8, 2011. Apparently John Kennelly was nominated to do the "dirty deed" and took the ax to all of Segarra's staff. Maybe extra security should be implemented at the Hartford Public Library now that at least one of Segarra's campaign confidants is back on the street.

Here is Bazzano's e-mail below:

From: Bazzano, John V.
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 9:02 AM
To: Bramante, Salvatore A.; Petit, Urania; Vazquez, Olga I.
Subject:

FYI,

Kyle Anderson, Councilman Alex Aponte and Councilman Kenneth Kennedy have declined the endorsement from the Republican Party. Copies of their letter/emails have been hand delivered to your respective offices.

John V. Bazzano
Town and City Clerk
550 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 757-9755

THE RUDEWICZ REPORT, WE PAID FOR THIS?

2011-09-28T11:04:00.008-04:00

Early on the question was asked of me if I thought Frank Rudewicz was being "set up for failure" when he was contracted to investigate HPD. I'm not sure if he was "set up", but the answer seems clear that the report was pretty much a failure no matter how you look at it. I responded to that question that I guessed the report would be the only answer to that , one way or the other. The answer to that now seems pretty clear, the scope of the report was so limited that it really won't change much, other than maybe the Chief of HPD.

The questions that drew the report into question for me, and the agenda behind the report, are more in what it didn't say and maybe the way that it seemed to present one sided facts.

I had hoped from the beginning that the report would be legitimate and a hunt for the facts. Once I heard that the report was sent back to Rudewicz a couple weeks ago for "changes and clarifications" I began to lose hope. The report should have been submitted as completed without any interpretations or "corrections" submitted by the City or Mayor Segarra. That was not the case.

Rudewicz took the report back to make the changes requested by the City. What those changes were we will probably never know. Shouldn't it have been up to the City and Mayor Segarra to present their side if they thought the report was inaccurate or if they wanted to make clarifications?

And it also seems odd to me that depending who was being discussed, they almost went out of their way to "bury" certain individuals, while giving others a free pass.

Why is it that out of over 45 people interviewed the only one that seems to be clearly identified and actually quoted through documents he submitted was Sergeant Gabe Laureano? Was there a need to identify Laureano as the "IAD snitch" to add emphasis to how bad IAD supposedly was? Where is the record of the other 45 interviews? If IAD was so bad, was Laureano the only one who felt it?

I know I mentioned this in my original posts, but where was the mention, other than here on the blog, that Lt Brooks was battling cancer during the period that they called his attendance into question? Without all of the facts it paints a negative picture of Brooks. It also seems quite ironic that Lt Brooks was just given an "Exemplary Service Award" for the period 2000 to 2010, in part for his excellent work attendance record.

Why were the Dryfe's, both former Assistant Chief Neil Dryfe and his wife, retired Sergeant Cindy Dryfe, just brushed over as "former officer" who removed reports from HPD. Might it have been noteworthy that Chief Drye was a previous Commander of IAD and should have known better. If Dryfe was so concerned about the operations of IAD in his memo to Chief Roberts, shouldn't he have returned the missing files first?

And just out of curiosity, the files that the Dryfe's removed from HPD pertained to what? Whose cases were they and what were the allegations? Were they friends of the Dryfe's that were being protected from investigation? And from what sources are telling me, the reports still have not been returned. Is there another investigation into that matter now or is it just water over the dam?

The mention of these missing reports in the Rudewicz report was so brief it seemed like a "non-incident" . To me though, files removed by a former IAD commander, who would later become an Assistant Chief and eventually the Police Chief in Cheshire is more troublesome to me than any personality conflicts Sgt. Laureano may have had or how many times Lt. Brooks scanned his keytag to get into the office.

The issue of access to the IAD complex is also a red herring. It is pretty much wide open, but that is not the doing of Lt. Brooks or anyone else in IAD. I have gone to look at FOI requests and they took me into IAD each time at the conference table in there. Security at HPD has never been a priority and until something drastic happens, it most likely never will be, IAD is no exception.

Back in 2006 the City contracted another report on HPD by a buddy of then Chief Patrick Harnett.m Gordon Wasserman was hired for a study entitled "POLICE DO MATTER" which was submitted in July of 2006 to former Mayor Eddie Perez. It was a more wide ranging scope of HPD, but it touch briefly on IAD.

One of the objectives mentioned was the "IAD Steering Committee" and stated "in keeping with the Department's new emphasis on accountability, the entire complaints investigation process, including the various time limits, is now monitored by a new IAD Steering Committee, which meets twice a month. Chaired by the Chief of Police personally, the committee includes the Chief of Detectives, the Chief of Patrol and the Lieutenant in charge of IAD and his investigators. The meeting reviews all open cases and monitors progress in much the same way as COMPSTAT meetings monitor progress relating to crime in the streets. The IAD investigators are held personally accountable for the status of their investigations and for ensuring that these are handled expeditiously, fairly and professionally.".

If that was the case, the blame seems to be much more wide ranging than just dumping on LT. Brooks. Where was the Chief of Police, the Chief of Patrol and the Chief of Detectives during the time period that IAD, according to the Rudewicz report, became such a mess. When was the last time the "IAD Steering Committe" met. And if they were meeting regularly as the Wasserman report states, shouldn't any management issues have been identified in weeks, rather than months?

Also, according to the Wasserman report, on January 1, 2006, "IAD upgraded its computer systems significantly by implementing a new software package, IAPRO, which both the New York City and Philadelphia Police Departments use to handle their inernal affairs cases." The Rudewicz report does mention IAPro and its "red flag" component. To the best of my knowledge, Lt Brooks was not the IAD Commander in 2006, and it might have been interesting to note if thjose "red flag" components were ever enabled at the time. If not why and who was the Commander at the time, and if they were enabled, who disabled them, or were the "red flags" just being ignored when they popped up?

If nothing else, maybe it is time to start listening to people who have suggestions inside the HPD, rather than shutting them down as "malcontents". If all of these things just happened to slide by all of those on the Command staff, do we really need all o those positions on the second floor. The Wasserman report, if I remember correctly, was well over $200,000. The Rudewicz report probably will be in excess of $100,000. It might be cheaper for the City to just commission an "outside independent investigation" every couple years and eliminate a few Chief's positions. It looks like the reports keep identifying the same issues and nothing changes, so why the top heavy command staff.

Add into that amount the money being spent by the City defending poor management decisions as well as the likely six-figure settlements that come out of these complaints and lawsuits, and you have to definitely question the management decisions, or more likely their inability to make decisions.

Maybe it is time for a position of Public Safety Commissioner who has management experience and can run the Department as a manger , not as a cop. Daryl Roberts is someone I consider a friend, but you have to look at the facts. He went from the rank of Lieutenant to Assistant Chief and then Chief. The size of the organization does not allow for little or no management experience, other than maybe a squad of 10, 15, or even 20 officers. It requires knowledge of budgets, labor laws, community issues, purchasing requirements, FOI laws and the list goes on and on. Quite frankly, there aren't a lot of people that have that wealth of knowledge, Daryl Roberts included.

The only saving grace would be someone that was smart enough to surround themselves with the best and the brightest they could find, and even Daryl Roberts has admitted to me he hasn't done that.

The report was a disappointment, but in the end, I think it accomplished the original goal. Mayor Segarra won't have to terminate or refuse to renew the Chief's contract. Daryl Roberts will be gone as of December 31, 2010 as he retires.

The next big test will be the choice for "acting" Chief and the new permanent Chief. I have some ideas for the Mayor, but since I encouraged him to give Chief Roberts a chance last year, I'm not sure how well my suggestions will be taken this time around. I still stand by giving Chief Roberts a chance to run with the leadership of HPD, unfortunately he didn't come out like I thought he would and make a difference.

SEIU TO PROTEST AT HARTFORD COURANT

2011-09-27T15:02:00.001-04:00

The following press release was received today :

SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR:

12 P.M. on Wednesday, September 28, 2011

BUILDING CLEANERS AT HARTFORD COURANT WILL RALLY TO SAVE THEIR JOBS

-- Protest Aims to Keep Courant’s Unionized Cleaning Company, Protect Good Jobs --

‪‬

Building cleaners at Connecticut’s largest newspaper will rally Wednesday to protest their expected job loss if the paper terminates its long-time contract with a unionized cleaning company. The workers learned recently that the Hartford Courant could end its contract with Capitol Cleaning as early as October 1, which would throw the building’s eight cleaners out of work. Some of these men and women have been at the building more than 20 years. The workers have reached out to the Courant to apply to continue working under any new contractor. The company has not responded to their requests.

Kurt Westby, Connecticut State Director for SEIU 32BJ, said it is significant that all of the workers are full-time and have health benefits as well as a retirement plan. “These are good jobs that have given these workers and their families a toehold in the middle-class,” Westby said. “Hartford needs its employers to help in creating more good jobs, not destroying them. We call on the Courant to retain Capitol Cleaning, and not throw hard-working members of our community out on the street.”

‪

WHAT: Rally to save good jobs

WHO: Building cleaners at the Courant, their supporters, other members of 32BJ SEIU, and area labor leaders

WHEN: 12 P.M. on Wednesday, September 28, 2011

WHERE: On Flower Street, across from the parking lot of the Hartford Courant at 285 Broad Street, Hartford

SATURDAY'S UPS AND DOWNS

2011-09-26T21:12:00.003-04:00

Isn't this the way Hartford should be every weekend?

Saturday started as a cloudy, overcast rainy day. The day began as we prepared to bury a good friend to us and to Hartford, former Councilman John O'Connell. The funeral mass was a time to recall anecdotes about John, some shared by the priest who apparently knew John well. His son Jay's euology drew on many pleasant memories and even a few comical stories, similar to those John used to love to tell. Many of them brought smiles and nods from the people in attendance as we recalled the John O'Connell we knew.

I was honored to be asked to be one of the pall bearers and thought about the many things I have learned from John over the few years we have been friends. I used to always laugh it off when people referred to me as the "young John O'Connell" when they would see me stirring things up at City Hall, especially the last couple years when John's health didn't always allow him to be as involved as he loved to be.

If I could make the change and contribute to Hartford as well as John did, I would be honored to be compared to him any day. As anyone who knew John can attest, Robert's Rules of Order was sometimes the strongest weapon he had in his artillery. Well, that combined with his intelligence and his strong presence. I was grateful when John's wife Carol gave me permission to put my personal copy of Robert's Rules of Order in the casket with John to be buried with him (along with a piece of my campaign literature folded inside for good luck). It's the Irish thing I guess.

I won't go into detail at this point, but the police escort became a big deal Friday evening for all the wrong reasons.Thank you to Chief Roberts, Mayor Segarra and Captain William Long for getting it done The police escort provided for the funeral procession was impressive and I'm sure made John's family very proud of the respect that was shown to him on the way to his final resting place. I especially want to thank Sergeant John Bremser from the Traffic Division for pulling it all together and making the escort happen. Sgt. Bremser, Lt. Kevin Ahlquist and Officer Kevin Nesta were all very impressive as they escorted the procession along I-84 and I-91 on the way to the cemetery.

John would have been very proud knowing both 84 and 91 were shut down temporarily for his procession, although he probably would have also been questioning the cost and were the cops being paid overtime and where was the money allocated in the budget.

It was also ironic that downtown Hartford and the Riverfront were bustling with Irish spirit Saturday for "Pipes in the Valley" , held at Riverfront Plaza. John was always extremely proud of his Irish heritage and to see the large crowds celebrating the Irish spirit would have had John beaming with pride in both his Irish culture and the hospitality of the City he loved.

You couldn't help but realize the potential that John always saw in Hartford and realize why he fought so hard to make our City a better place when you stood on the plaza and look at the Marriott, the Convention Center and the great lines of the Connecticut Science Center.

For some reason , I think John was right there with us enjoying the sounds of the bagpipes spilling out over Hartford, the Connecticut River and beyond.

THE RUDEWICZ REPORT, SOME THOUGHTS

2011-09-26T17:27:00.002-04:00

The awaited report is in , and I'm not really sure how many questions it has answered. What it does seem to depict though is an almost "junior-high school" type of mentality that seems to permeate the department driven by personality conflicts and gossip.

The report did seem to accomplish one of ,what I believe, was its main goals. Chief Roberts has submitted his resignation/retirement as of December 31, 2011. It also seems to point out what most likely is a need for a complete housecleaning at the top. Highly paid administrators are paid those salaries to avoid, or at least deal with, the issues outlined in the report before they rise to the level of attorney battles.

As I have mentioned here before, Neville Brooks and myself have been friends since grammar school. Although much of the blame in the report seems to be placed on him in the narrow scope that was addressed, there is a much greater problem that needs to be addressed. A couple details were left out of the report that may have clarified a few things.

First off was the issue of the "5 month absence" and his sporadic attendance during that period. I am not defending Neville Brooks here, but what's fair is fair, just don't cast a cloud of doubt and then not explain it. During that period, Lt. Brooks suffered a bout with cancer and underwent surgery, chemo therapy and a difficult recovery process. It wasn't that he was hanging out at the casino or just didn't feel like coming to work.

This was common knowledge among the Command Staff and the responsibility to fill Brooks' void during that period was squarely with Chief Roberts, the direct supervisor of the IAD Commander. That wasn't done, and the responsibility for a division running without any direction, or very little, belongs with the Chief.

It was also interesting to note the issue of the missing reports. Although the report did not mention "the former officer", sources have told me that two individuals had IAD reports in their possession after they left HPD. Former Assistant Chief Neil Dryfe and his wife, former IAD Sergeant Cindy Dryfe both had taken reports with them.

It seems interesting that Dryfe expresses his concern over Brooks' leadership in the memo listed as an exhibit to Chief Roberts, but he may have also contributed to the problem by removing reports, for whatever reason.

The issue of the security and access into the IAD complex was actually addressed in the early 1990's when a security system was installed in the IAD Complex. This was done after the IAD office area was allegedly broken into by a police officer climbing over a wall from an adjoining bathroom. The system was eventually cancelled because under Mayor Perez the City didn't want to pay for its maintenance and monitoring.

Another interesting part is how the complaints apparently were started. The complaint from Sergeant Laureano to Assistant Chief Horvath details claims of a hostile work environment and allegations that Brooks was seeking retaliation against the Chief's. Even though no one else seemed to have issues, Horvath moved forward.

As a side note, Sergeant Laureano claims he was unable to sleep because of the stress Brooks' behavior put him under. That might explain a lot since many wonder when Laureano does sleep. He is one of HPD's highest money earners as of this time because of his private job and overtime schedule, working in excess of 18 or 20 hours many days.

Sergeant Laureano has recently landed a position as Commander of the Northeast Condition's Unit.

The report does seem to point out many management issues, but this report only hits the tip of the iceberg. It claims morale is poor because of inconsistent discipline and the potential intimidation of officers fearing underhanded or uneven handling of discipline.

It is up to Mayor Segarra now as to whether this report will sit on a shelf like so many others, or will it actually be implemented. It reminds me of words Mayor Segarra spoke this past Saturday at the funeral of John O'Connell. "To remain silent is cowardly" Segarra said. So far the silence has been deafening from City Hall, much of this was known before any report was ever commissioned

THE RUDEWICZ REPORT

2011-09-26T15:53:00.003-04:00

The Rudewicz Report is in and here it is below. I haven't read the entire report yet, but I will comment more as I read it.

Rudewicz Report

KENNEDY REJECTS McGARRY ENDORSEMENT

2011-09-25T11:20:00.003-04:00

Hartford City Council candidate Ken Kennedy has become the first to reject the "cross" endorsement supposedly struck between the Hartford Republicans and the Hartford Democrats. The deal has struck up controversy on both sides and has left many voters unhappy, from those I have spoke with.

Even among Republicans most have questioned McGarry's choice to endorse the Democrats. It raises some interesting issues for Republicans who typically believe in smaller government, reduced spending , lower taxes and small business support. The endorsements were given to individuals that have shown the extreme opposite in the way Hartford has been run for the last decade. Hartford's mill rate has doubled, city spending has increased over $150 million dollars and Hartford's small businesses are being taxed out of existence.

To read more about my thoughts on the McGarry endorsements, read this previous posting.

Here is Kennedy's e-mail rejecting the McGarry endorsement:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: FW: Republican Endorsement
From: "Kenneth Kennedy, Jr." >
To: Ramon Arroyo >,Adam Cloud >,"
Hon. Pedro E. Segarra" >," Hon. Alexander Aponte"
>, Kyle Anderson >
CC:

I have informed the republican party that I will not accept their endorsement in
the interest of Democratic Party unity. I hope this settles the issue as the
Council seems to be the real problem as we have 6 candidates and are not running
by ourseleves as the other offices.

MORE PIECES TO THE LIEUTENANT DAILEY PUZZLE

2011-09-23T23:09:00.003-04:00

I know many of you are loving the use of the "alternative means" to bring you documents here.

The document below is another such case. It involves the Lt. Ed Dailey investigation by Captain James Bernier. The whole matter has the potential to be another legal mess costing the City substantial amounts to settle.

Last week I posted some of the documents I obtained through "alternative means" and many of you were surprised by the "one-sidedness" of Bernier's report. Dailey's rebuttal to IAD Commander Lt. Rob Davis seemed to raise more questions than provide answers as to how Bernier chose to leave much of the information that would have helped Dailey out of his "investigation".

Dailey's rebuttal memo was submitted to Davis after the previous IAD Commander Lt. Neville Brooks was removed under another questionable decision that also has the potential to cost city taxpayers substantially to settle.

Now another document has been given to me by "alternative means". In April, I made an FOI request to the city for "any and all documents" related to the Lt. Dailey investigation to an incident that happened on Rockville Street. No document, not even one piece of paper was given to me responsive to my request.

Hearing's were finished today before the FOI Commission, and the more documents I receive through "alternative means" that are relative to my request, it becomes much clearer how wrong this whole matter is and it seems to make the Rudewicz report pale in comparison. It also seems to make it clear why the City and HPD did not want the documents anywhere near my hands to be able to read.

I doesn't take a lawyer or a Judge to read Lt. Tedeschi's memo and realize that the Dailey investigation conducted by Captain Bernier was the furthest thing from fair and unbiased. It could be characterized as a witch hunt. I think the big question for me is that if Bernier was willing to leave out much of the information that would have cleared Dailey, a fellow police officer, to what length would he go if he wanted to slant a case against an average citizen..

The major fact in Tedeschi's memo is that even though Bernier kept referring to the crime scene and the assault, witness statements led to a different conclusion. There was no assault according to two witnesses, Tillie and John Pittman. A report by Officer Caron stated that the Pittman's witnessed the alleged "assault" victim fall down their rear stairs after he was pounding on their rear door.

Tedeschi also interviewed John Pittman and was told the same version, yet the Caron report was not included in Captain Berniers report, which would have seemed to show that no crime had even taken place to start with. Tedeschi, as Department Advocate, further states in his memo that Dailey's actions do no rise to the level of the charges lodged against Dailey.

It really makes me question the integrity of some at HPD and to the extent that some will go to carry out personality conflicts and vendettas. It also raises the issue of how a document such as Tedeschi's memo can be in existence, with apparently no action being taken against the original author of what now seem, most likely, to be false allegations against Lt. Dailey.

A call to Captain Bernier earlier this evening for comment was not returned.

Tedeschi Advocate Memo Dailey

"IT'S NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL IT IS ON THE BLOG"

2011-09-23T22:20:00.005-04:00

Apparently that was the word on Facebook today regarding the sudden retirement of Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts. And now for all of my blog readers, it is official , Chief Roberts is retiring effective December 31st 2011.

I think we all knew it was coming, one way or another. The Rudewicz Report was apparently submitted to the City on Monday and word is that Tuesday was not a pleasant day for the Chief at City Hall. Thursday was a little bit better, Chief Roberts won a set of golf clubs at the HPD Union Golf outing. That may have been an omen that it was time for retirement for DKR.

And now today Chief Roberts submitted his letter of retirement. We won't know what was in the Rudewicz Report until Mayor Segarra releases it under that policy of transparency we keep hearing about. I think it is safe to say though that the report had a lot to do with this retirement.

It really is unfortunate that we are at this point now. DKR came in at a time when we needed a strong Chief(not that there ever is a time you don't need a strong Chief). He was well accepted by just about every corner of the City. He had a personality that people could relate to, myself included. Even when we weren't on the best of terms, the Chief still took my calls and responded when needed.

He had a lot of potential, but that old management saying that "you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with" should have been painted on his office wall in 2 foot high letters to remind him everyday. Daryl surrounded himself with some that were clearly incompetent, some that were set on undermining him to get his job and some that just had no business being anywhere near the second floor.

The really sad part is that Chief Roberts knew it. We had a discussion a few months ago he readily acknowledged that he knew that some of those around him were undermining him regularly, yet he still kept them there.

There probably isn't enough space to list all of the poor decisions made by those around him, yet the Chief condoned them and allowed them to snowball. The Secore case, the Murtha case, the Brooks case, the Condon case, the Dailey case, the Foley case, the Pawtucket Street shooting matter and the list goes on. Several of these matters have already cost the City huge amounts and the potential is there for a lot more liability.

I recently had a somewhat heated, although respectable, discussion about things that were happening at HPD and I asked him to look at the facts in several of them. At one point Mayor Segarra looked at me and asked me "do you know why Chief Roberts still has a job?" , I said "no" and his response was "because of you". That was a shot, but he was right.

Shortly after Mayor Segarra took office last year, there was talk that he was going in a different direction for the leadership at HPD. I asked to meet with the Mayor and we set up a time to meet in his office. One of the things we discussed was the tenure of Chief Roberts. I asked the Mayor to give Chief Roberts a chance to prove himself without being under the control of our former felon Mayor Eddie Perez.

Eddie Perez kept Chief Roberts on a very short leash and in my opinion that kept DKR from being able to function and have a real impact on crime. Mayor Segarra made the decision to keep Chief Roberts on and I want to thank him for that, but I will admit now that it probably wasn't the best choice.

Myself, like many others, had high hopes for the Chief. Unfortunately we saw the opportunities squandered over the last year. Just the fact that the Governor and our Chief State's Attorney had to step in to create what will probably go down as one of the most effective crime fighting initiative in HPD history, the Shooting Task force, is troubling.

If Chief Roberts had surrounded himself with the right people, he would have had that initiative presented to him months ago. Instead vindictiveness and petty differences kept gun fighting ideas from moving forward when they were suggested, and I( know for a fact that they were suggested and funding was denied by the second floor brain trust

It is just sad to see an organization implode as we watch. I spoke with someone earlier today who expected the media to ask for a comment regarding the Chief's retirement. They didn't want to use that "canned" response we saw from the Mayor's press person with the usual accolades which any casual observer knows weren't true.

My advice was to say that in any organization there comes a time for change, new leadership and new direction. For HPD that time is now to begin building a once proud and admired organization.

Best of luck in your retirement Chief, I am still proud to say you are a friend. For the good of the organization the time is right, but if HPD is going to move forward, DKR's retirement is not the only one that needs to be submitted, And if they aren't submitted, I think Mayor Segarra knows what needs to be done.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS SET FOR JOHN O'CONNELL

2011-09-22T11:28:00.003-04:00

John and his grandaughter Brigid on August 12, 2011

The funeral arrangements for John O'Connell have been set. The wake will be Friday from 4:00PM to 8:00PM at Sheehan Hillborn Breen Funeral Home located at 1084 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford. The funeral will be Saturday at 10 am from Saint Bridgett Church, directly across from the funeral home on New Britain Ave in the Elmwood section of West Hartford

ANOTHER MISTAKE FOR CHIEF TEALE

2011-09-21T19:31:00.004-04:00

Sorry Charlie, not this time.

Chief Teale was apparently in the audience today at the "Regis and Kelly Show". At the end of the opening "chat host" segment they pick the number of a winning audience member for a prize. Teale mistakenly jumped up when the number was called, thinking he had heard his number. Sorry Charlie.

Chief Teale has a tendency to take "gifts" as the transcripts in the Nolan hearings proved, but alas Chief, this time it was not meant to be. I guess some people verify what they are doing before they hand over the bag of cash, and in this case Teale was not the lucky recipient. But look at the bright side Charlie, at least you didn't have to donate this "gift" to charity after you got caught.

Sorry Charlie, maybe next time. You really can't make this stuff up.

MAYBE THE TAXES ARE TOO HIGH ?

2011-09-21T18:40:00.002-04:00

Jeff Cohen over at WNPR is still following the life and times of Eddie Perez. It seems that the house that will potentially land Perez in jail isn't moving any time fast. Cohen is reporting that the price has dropped from $350,000 to $325,000 to now $300,000. Maybe Hartfords mill rate which was raised consistently by Perez every year of his administration could be keeping buyers away.

Click here to check out the listing for Casa Perez You can see a few photo's of the Dark Emperor granite counter tops and the steam shower that have Perez headed for his new home, courtesy of a Superior Court jury and the State of Connecticut

AN INVITE TO ALL RUNNERS AND WALKERS

2011-09-21T18:23:00.004-04:00

The Farmington Police Department, in co-operation with Winding Trails in Farmington is sponsoring a 5 mile trail race and a 5K Walk/run event on Sunday, October 16, 2011. Details for the event and registration forms are in the PDF file below.

The event will benefit the "Wounded Warriors Project" and "Save Walton Pond". It sounds like something that can meet everyone's ability level whether you are a runner or looking for a picturesque walk on the 3.1 mile course, all to benefit two good causes

5krace

SAVE THE MONEY, DISBAND HARTFORD'S REPUBLICAN PARTY

2011-09-21T14:47:00.003-04:00

Hartford has been a heavily Democratic city for many, many years. Essentially that has evolved into single party rule without any real dissenting voices. And now for those who still held to the hope that the Republican Party in Hartford would rise from the ashes once again, think again.

In recent years , the GOP in Hartford hasn't been known for making any tough choices. They remained silent throughout the Grand Jury corruption investigation into Eddie Perez. Not a word was uttered about corruption, Democrats, nothing. Part of that is probably because their own Republican Council Person, Veronica Airey-Wilson was neck deep in the scandal also.

I guess the big question for me is at what price was the deal cut to endorse the Democrats by Republican Town Chairperson Mike McGarry? McGarry who typically isn't known for his inclusiveness of minorities and gays, must now find himself in a strange position of doing exactly that. McGarry has apparently decided to endorse the openly gay Democrat and at least part of the minority representatives on the Council slate. For some reason, McGarry's endorsement does not include Shawn Wooden, Raul deJesus or David McDonald

Is it possible McGarry has seen the light and is now willing to accept all people regardless of their sexual orientation or race? Don't count on it. McGarry has apparently been bragging since primary day that he has cut a deal "with the Dem's".

And why is that? Most likely because McGarry has realized that under his leadership as Town Chair, he has allowed the Republican Party in Hartford to slide into oblivion. The GOP in Hartford probably has less than 1,700 Republican's of which maybe 500 are "prime", or regular voters who turn out to vote. McGarry knows that he doesn't even have the numbers in his own party to get a Councilperson elected.

Combine that with the "Working Families Party" operation and McGarry should rightfully be running scared. Like it or not, the "WFP" has an operation behind it, a formidable operation at that. While the GOP can just barely maintain the minimum balance in their Town Committee checking account, the WFP is well financed, much of it Union money, and they know how to run effective grassroots campaigns.

McGarry apparently cut his deal with the Democrats to try to ensure 3,000 votes for his candidates who are in real jeopardy of becoming extinct on the Council if the WFP comes on strong, as I'm sure they intend to do.

Although this last ditch effort by McGarry to save his slate raises questions, the even bigger question is to what level do these endorsements further the ideals of the Republican Party. The answer is probably none at all.

The Republican Party is typically about, or at least in places other than Hartford it is about, smaller government, reduced government spending, reducing taxes and small business support. The track record in Hartford of those McGarry is supporting and endorsing is the exact opposite. Under those he has chosen to endorse, Hartford has seen its mill rate more than double since 1999, city spending has increased over $150,000,000 annually.Numerous small businesses have been forced out of business by exorbitant taxes.

These actions have all been under the "leadership" of those very same people the Republicans are now endorsing. These are the actions of a desperate politician, Mike McGarry, and not the actions of anyone that wants to see Hartford prosper and see its residents and businesses benefit. Pure and simple it is a move by McGarry to save his own Republican "skin" by trying to undermine the potential of the WFP coming on strong in November, as well as my "independent" candidacy for Council.

I have called several members of the Hartford Republican Town Committee, and none of them know how the endorsements came about. From what several sources have told me McGarry claims to have cut the deal on primary day with Democratic Town Committee Chairperson Jean Holloway. McGarry has apparently told at least one of the "sources" that the deal was orchestrated on primary day and McGarry and Holloway committed to working together to get the Republicans elected.

I spoke with Jean Holloway, the Hartford DTC Chair, and she wouldn't deny the deal was made. She suggested that I contact McGarry to sit down and discuss the conversation that they had. She did say though "when you find those 3,000 votes, let me know and we can go look for them together".

It has to make most people wonder why the Republican's would even consider cutting such a deal, and was it one person or was the Republican Town Committee actually involved. From what I am hearing now, it seems like it was more the wheeling and dealing of McGarry. I would find it hard to believe that the Republican's can actually be supportive of the Democratic candidates when the direction of the two parties is so different.

The opportunity to rebuild the Republican Party is there, with some forward thinking leadership. It doesn't need to be a party of dinosaurs in Hartford. And no matter what party anyone belongs to, no one is well served by single party rule. It essentially ends any political debate when only one strong party has a voice and the minority party rolls over and plays dead.

It will be interesting to see if the new leadership at Connecticut Republican State Central is interested in re-gaining a voice in Connecticut's Capitol city, or is business as usual acceptable to them?

Much more to come on this subject.

ANOTHER LOSS FOR HARTFORD, JOHN O'CONNELL PASSES

2011-09-21T13:44:00.003-04:00

Former Hartford City Councilman John O'Connell passed away this morning at Hartford Hospital. No arrangements have been made as of this time.

According to John's wife Carol, John was re-admitted to Hartford Hospital last night and passed away this morning in the Intensive Care Unit surrounded by his wife, his son Jay and Jay's wife Erica.

John was, in my opinion, the last strong Councilperson on the Hartford City Council in recent years. John was known as the City budget "guru" and even after he left the council he was often called on for budget advice. John was always willing to help or answer questions from anyone, no matter what their political affiliation.

John was on the Council during a period when coalitions were built to get things done and he loved to tell the stories of the various alliances combining all parties to gain the majority vote. In true Irish form, John could tell stories like no one else.

John and Carol came to my home Memorial Day weekend for a cookout and John had everyone enthralled with his stories of being on Council during the Peter's years and the way they accomplished tax cuts> He even had some great stories from behind the scenes that probably aren't suitable for posting here about the actions of some other Council people and politicians.

Although John was a die-hard Republican, he lived for the "democratic" process. He lived his Republican ideals everyday, but he was at his best when it came to using democracy to get things. Whether that was a robust debate, some might have stronger terms for it, John was never one to back down from a challenge when it came to a question of right or wrong. "Robert's Rules of Order" were his best friend, although he willingly admitted at times he would stretch them to move his point along.

John takes a piece of Hartford's history with him in his passing, but he also added an awful lot to Hartford's history through his service to our community. John's presence in a room sometimes was overwhelming, especially if that room was the Hartford City Council Chambers. Whether he was sitting on the dais or in the audience after his term expired, John had no problem letting people know what he thought.

Although John's health had been failing in recent years, mentally he remained strong and was always willing to offer advice to anyone willing to ask for it or listen. In recent months John and his wife were blessed with their firstborn grandchild, Bridgette born to Jay and Erica and John couldn't have been a more proud grandfather.

No arrangements have been made yet, but I will try to post them here when available. In the mean time feel free to post any memories of John or comments here.

LET'S SEE HOW THAT SEGARRA TRANSPARENCY WORKS

2011-09-20T19:52:00.003-04:00

The Rudewicz Report was apparently delivered to the City of Hartford today according to several sources. Now the real test of transparency will begin, will the public be allowed to see the report?

Only time will tell, but since the report was funded with taxpayers money, it seems like we should be able to review the report in its entirety, good, bad or ugly.

What do you think?

FINALLY SOMETHING FROM HPD THAT MAKES SENSE

2011-09-20T14:46:00.003-04:00

Word is that the shooting task force started by Governor Malloy and Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane has been continued through the fall of 2012.

The numbers alone for the results being achieved by the taskforce are impressive. For the last 28 day period there have been 6 people struck by gunfire, compared to 27 victims for the same period last year. Several agencies and suburban towns are part of the taskforce in addition to HPD

The homicide numbers seem to have leveled off since the task force started, as opposed to the drastic rise we saw for the first half of the year.

Two more Hartford Police Officers will be assigned to the task force as of Sunday, a Lieutenant and a Sergeant will be re-assigned. They are being assigned to a specific portion of the task force, but I have been asked not to provide details for a few weeks. Suffice it to say, these latest additions will most likely add some more teeth to the taskforce and add even more to the operation and success of the group.

Now, if the Courts will add some serious jail time for the arrests made by the taskforce, it should continue to affect the Hartford region's gun violence as well as seeming to put a dent in the drug trade also.

RELUCTANTLY , I THINK NOW I CAN SAY "I TOLD YOU SO"

2011-09-19T20:57:00.003-04:00

I think now I can say my predictions are right, the Hartford Courant is reporting that the Market at Hartford 21 has closed....temporarily supposedly. The Courant's story can be found here

Here is my post from last week about the potential closing.
It was interesting to note in the Courant's article that apparently the City of Hartford gave the Market at Hartford 21 an additional $100,000 dollars after they opened and began to struggle. That is in addition to the $300,000 they were originally given.

I would imagine many of Hartford's struggling businesses that have been here for years would like to know where the line forms for them to get their $100,000 checks.

ANOTHER HARTFORD POLITICIAN POSSIBLY FACING ARREST?

2011-09-17T12:15:00.003-04:00

The old saying that the wheels of justice turns slowly seem to be definitely true in this case.

In a State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC)complaint that began in 2006 against Hartford's 3rd District State Representative Minnie Gonzalez, it is now one step closer to potential criminal charges.

The case and the complaint itself are pretty well spelled out in the decision below, but the bottom line is that Gonzalez appealed the SEEC findings and the process used to reach those findings. Superior Court Judge Schuman decided against her and denied her appeal on June 23, 2011. Although he did deny the appeal and referred it back to the SEEC for further action, he did reduce the number of potential charges from 4 counts to 2.

Gonzalez has now appealed the decision in the appeal, but I am told that is a matter of procedure to potentially delay any criminal charges. Apparently the process would have been, most likely, that once the appeal was denied and sent back to the SEEC, the SEEC would then potentially refer the matter to the Office of the State's Attorney Kevin Kane for investigation and action on criminal charges.

Another one to follow, but I think we have come to expect this in Hartford. Gonzalez is no stranger to the halls of the SEEC.

Minnie Gonzalez Appeal Denial

GOING "HOLLYWOD"

2011-09-16T23:10:00.002-04:00

The story that I never really thought was going to be a story has really become a story, and it just won't go away. This Sunday at 11:00am I will be on WFSB's "Face the State" with Dennis House.

Here is what Dennis posted on his blog "We are joined this Sunday by Channel 3′s Len Besthoff, our chief reporter on the Nappier case; Kevin Brookman, the city blogger who first broke the story, and Kevin Rennie, the Hartford Courant columnist, and former state senator, who provides a political perspective to the story."

And if you don't get your fill there, I will be a guest on WNPR radio with Colin McEnroe Monday at 1:00PM.

Imagine what will happen when I break a real story.

MORE OF THE SEGARRA TRANSPARENCY, ANOTHER DAY AT FOI, THE LT. EDWIN DAILEY REPORT

2011-09-16T19:44:00.005-04:00

Forgive me for sounding skeptical, but it is easy to say you are transparent, but that old saying "actions speak louder than words" seems to ring true. Here is one such incident, and unfortunately just one of many that Mayor Segarra continues to allow to happen in his "transparent" administration.

The latest is the story of Lt. Ed Dailey and the investigation into his actions the morning of February 24, 2011 related to an incident at 16 Rockville Street in Hartford. LT. Dailey was the Lieutenant in charge of the midnight shift on February 24, 2011when officers were dispatched to the are of 16 Rockville Street on the report of an "apparent assault".

As of this date it has not been determined if there was ever an assault or was it just an individual extremely high on drugs who slipped and fell down his front porch. The so called "victim" refused to cooperate with police and no witnesses or evidence of an assault was ever found.

Sometime in early April, I had received a call that charges were being brought against Lt Dailey for a department policy violation of "Failure to supervise". I know everyone has an agenda, but the caller advised that I needed to get a copy of the investigation conducted into Dailey's actions by Captain James Bernier. They further went on to say that the report was obviously a witchhunt to try to demote Dailey and it would be clear when I read the report.

SO, I decided to submit an FOI request to the Hartford Police Department for the Dailey investigation report as well as "any and all related documents". Once again, HPD is too predictable. My FOI request was promptly met with a denial. The City claimed that it was "part of an ongoing investigation" and therefore exempt from disclosure. They forgot to read the next few words in the exemption that states "ongoing investigations" in which the "records were compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of a crime".

After the HPD denial, apparently orchestrated by Detective Ursula Wiebusch and Corporation Counsel attorney Nathalie Feola- Guerreiri, I asked Chief Daryl Roberts if there was any potential of criminal charges against Lt Dailey. He stated "absolutely not" it was "purely administrative charges". That seemed to be in direct contradiction to the denial, so on April 28, 2011 I filed an FOI complaint with the State of Connecticut.

And yes, you read that correct, the complaint was filed on April 28, 2011 and finally on September 15, 2001, it came to a hearing before FOI. That is one of the big problems with FOI complaints. As an agency that has a large caseload, combined with cuts to a staff that was already too small to handle its caseload and now being combined with two other agencies, Hartford has learned how to play the game.

The City of Hartford knows that even if the law is in my favor, or that of anyone requesting documents, a denial is no big deal. They can just deny the release of anything they don't want the public to see or that they may feel will be embarrassing. The consequences are almost non-existent. Deny the release, go to a hearing that may take 6 or 8 months to be scheduled, then wait for a hearing officers report which could be another three or four months, and then finally the hearing officers report would go before the full FOI Commission for adoption and they could be another two or three months before it gets on the FOI Commission agenda.

So all in all, the documents could take up to a year to obtain, at which point the City knows they will most likely be useless and worse case scenario, the FOI Commission might assess a fine, typically under $200.00, which in the end the City will pay anyway and there is no accountability or penalty to the individual making the unlawful decision.

The largest fine I ever obtained at FOI was the maximum fine of $1,000.00 against former Corporation Counsel John Rose, and the full FOI Commission eventually reduced that to $200.00, which the City of Hartford paid for Rose.

So anyway, back to the Dailey report. An FOI hearing was scheduled and held on Thursday September 15, 2011. The City tried a few different ploys to defend their actions, the first was by apparently forgetting to tell Chief Roberts that there was a hearing he needed to attend, or at least they felt he didn't need to be there to answer any questions.

Although the City's defense before FOI seems to hinge entirely on the Bernier investigation report , it was clear that in my FOI request, I stated "any and all documents" related to the incident and the City did not provide one page of documentation related to the request, no memo's, no incident reports, no dispatch logs...NOTHING, not one sheet of paper.

The first tactic the City's lawyers used to defend their actions was that the report was not yet finished. That seemed odd since the Corporation Counsel's Office was already involved and had scheduled disciplinary hearings against Dailey. I'm not sure how you hold a hearing for discipline without having all the facts, but I guess that is how it goes when a real estate attorney like Feola-Guerrieri decides to practice municipal or employment law.

But, interestingly enough, I had already obtained most of the documents through "alternative means" after the City refused to provide them in accordance with the FOI laws. After the claim by corporation Counsel attorney Alexandra Deeb to the hearing officer that the report was not yet complete, I think she was caught off guard when I began producing copies of the City's own documents that I had obtained through "alternative means". ( I love that term ).

The claim that the investigation was not yet complete was met with my document, below as "claimant's exhibit C". (That's me claimant). It is the Command Review form that accompanies the investigation as it is forwarded up the ladder for discipline. As you can see in the document below, Deputy Chief Scott Sansom signed off on March 4, 2011 "INVESTIGATION COMPLETE, I CONCUR WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND INFRACTION".

INVESTIGATION COMPLETE, it would seem pretty hard to then claim the report was not released because it was "incomplete" or ongoing. That Command review sheet was also signed off on the same day by Assistant Chief Brian Heavren and Chief Daryl K. Roberts.
Dailey Command Review Form

When I introduced the Command Review form, it seemed to create a problem for the City's claim that the report was not complete, Deputy Chief Sansom's words seemed to pretty clear, and also very legible "Investigation complete".The City's attorney regrouped quickly though and tried a new approach.

It was the City's contention that in their view the investigation was not complete until the disciplinary process had completely run its course and Dailey was either found liable or cleared. Their point is that it wouldn't be fair to Dailey for information to get out about the charges before he was disciplined. If you read the report, and Dailey's rebuttal, it should become pretty clear to you that the last thing Captain Bernier or the City cared about was fairness for Lt. Dailey.

It also seemed less than genuine on the part of the City's attorney to grasp at that small thread, if the hearing officer bought their claim that the report was "technically" not complete, they would also have to meet those couple little words for the exemption to apply..."records were compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of a crime". They then stated on the record that criminal charges against Dailey were a possibility, though that seems to surprise everyone involved that I have spoke with.

But to point out the ridiculousness of that argument, I said that we go against that everyday in the Courts. If we went by the City's standard , no arrest report or arrest warrant would be made public until after a persons arrest was completely adjudicated through the courts with either a conviction or a dismissal, and we know that is not the case.

The City introduced a copy of a department policy, but I'm no lawyer, but I seem to recall that State Statute takes priority over any City Policy and because HPD may or may not have "a policy" that does not release them from complying with lawful state statutes.

Attorney Deeb from the Corporation Counsels office also did not seem thrilled that I had the full report and the documents I had and she tried to insinuate that Lt. Dailey had provided them to me. That was not the case, and I'm not sure what bearing that had on anything, other than the fact that it proved that the City was being less than truthful in their actions.

The FOI hearing officer also seemed to question why Chief Roberts was not there to defend his actions and those of his department. Eventually she ended the hearing, continuing it to another date and explained to the Corporation Counsel Attorney's that she expected Chief Roberts to appear or the FOI Commission would issue a subpoena to Roberts compelling him to appear. She stated that she would prefer to have Chief Robert's appear voluntarily rather than have to issue the subpoena.

The FOI Hearing Officer, Attorney Tracie Brown, explained that she would prefer the voluntay route rather than the subpoena because it might appear that the Commission was coming down on Hartford "like a hammer". Maybe it is about time that they do though, coming down on Hartford "like a hammer" might just send the message that the game playing with public documents is not going to be tolerated by FOI.

Below is the investigation report submitted by Captain Bernier, dated February 24, 2011, almost two months before I requested it through FOI, even though the City claims through its convoluted claims, that the report is incomplete.

And I know that sometimes these HPD postings may tend to become a means for bashing some through the comments, but I would ask for those reading, compare the Bernier report with Dailey's response and let me know if you think Bernier's report was fair or if Daileys response has validity. Is it proper in an investigation to leave out documents that show all of the facts or is it acceptable to only present the facts that would lead to a finding that Dailey was wrong?

A lot more to come on this, but enough typing and scanning documents for one night.

The charges against Dailey, please note there is no mention of any "criminal charges" as the City's attorneys claim there "may" be as an outcome for the investigation:
Dailey Disciplne Review Form

The Department Advocates letter to Dailey detailing depertmental charges, again no mention of potential criminal charges
Dailey Advocate Memo of Charges

And this is one of the reports omitted from Captain Berniers report, an interview conducted by Detective Fowler
Dailey Fowler Supplement Report

And Lieutenant Dailey's response to the allegations:

Dailey Respone Memo

And finally the Bernier "report",note the date on the cover page, even though the City contends the report is not complete:
Dailey Bernier Report

NAPPIER/KIDIK "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT"

2011-09-16T19:23:00.002-04:00

The "Special Investigative Report" (SIR) into the actions of Hartford Police Officer Jill Kidik and her traffic stop of State Treasurer Denise Nappier has been completed. Although I had requested the "SIR" through an FOI request to the Hartford Police Department, they have not complied. Voice messages left for HPD spokesperson Nancy Mulroy were not returned today. Surprise Surprise. So much for that "transparency" we keep hearing about from the Segarra Administration.

But as anyone who reads this blog knows, I have a tendency to obtain documents through "alternative means", when will the City ever learn that there are good people who want to do the right thing and are able to understand the FOI statutes.

Not much new information is revealed in the report. Although I still stand by what I said earlier, Officer Kidik seemed to exercise poor common sense the way she proceeded, especially when she realized that she was dealing with the State Treasurer.

It appears that Kidik is still being made out to be the scapegoat in the matter, but the admission by a DMV spokesperson seems to show who was really at fault. Apparently the DMV didn't enter the correct motor vehicle registration into the statewide computer system until September 2, 2011, the day AFTER the incident. If DMV had properly done their job, this incident would most likely never have occurred.

Another interesting point in the report is that when the investigator, LT. Emory Hightower, interviewed Nappier she apparently never mention ed any racial aspect or made any claims that she felt the incident was racially motivated as she originally did to the media.

The finding of the report recommends retraining for Officer Kidik, but it seems like several others should be spending time in a classroom, starting with DAS and DMV personnel who are the ones who seem to be the most responsible for this mess.

And now, for your weekend reading pleasure, here is the Nappier S.I.R:

Nappier Kidik SIR

ANY DAY NOW....THE "RUDEWICZ REPORT"

2011-09-15T14:21:00.002-04:00

Many of you, myself included, have been awaiting the release of the outside investigation of the Hartford Police Department which has become known as the "Rudewicz Report". The lead investigator is retired HPD officer Frank Rudewicz, now an attorney with Marcum Associates.

From what sources are telling me, a draft of the report was submitted to the City of Hartford Corporation Counsel this week and the city requested a few clarifications/changes to be made in the final report. The changes were supposed to be completed quickly and from one source I am told the report is expected to be submitted most likely by Monday at the latest.

It is interesting how the timing worked out for its release after the primary. Hmmmm.

JUST A THOUGHT

2011-09-14T22:30:00.004-04:00

This quote just seems so appropriate after yesterday's primary and as we head toward the November election

IS IT TOO EARLY FOR "I TOLD YOU SO" ?

2011-09-14T16:39:00.003-04:00

The Hartford Courant is reporting that the Market at Hartford 21 is having problems and once again cutting back their hours. Here is a link to their story

I don't think anyone will argue with the need for a downtown market if we are going to provide basic conveniences to attract downtown residents. The problem arises though in how it is operated.

I don't think it made sense for the city to throw $300,000 at a couple that was familiar with the restaurant business, but not the grocery business. The key to that operation is to attract the people through the door and then have them buy something, not walk away because the prices are too high.

I recall the first time I went in the Market, I was surprised by their extremely high prices. I usually shop at Stew Leonard's in Newington so I am used to paying a little more for quality. At least at Stew Leonard's though when you pay a little more, the freshness and quality is there.

My first trip into the Market at Hartford 21 I looked at the produce and was turned off by the moldy strawberries in the produce case and although the cuts of meat probably were great when they were fresh, they were beginning to get a tint to them that wasn't calling out for a steak on the grill.

Like I said, the secret to an operation like that is volume. If you don't have customers coming through the door, the inventory isn't moving as quickly as it should, and the proprietor's don't make any money on products they throw out when they pass their shelf life.

The other problem is quantity purchases. One of the first things I noticed was the "RAO's Pasta Sauce" at the Market. Like I said, I'm used to paying more at Stew Leonard's and I'm willing to pay the $4.99 a jar they charge. The same item at the Market was $9.99 a jar. Stew Leonard's probably buys pallets, if not a truckload of the sauce, where as the Market may buy a case or two.

The market at Hartford 21, as a single location store, charges what they have to charge to make a profit, and probably a very small profit per unit at that.

I wish that the Market can make it, but empty shelves and constant cut backs of hours doesn't paint an optimistic picture. Maybe a store like Stew Leonard's might be interested in a location in downtown Hartford for a "Stew Leonard's Express". Although the sandwiches and baked goods at the Market were good, Stew Leonard's has a reputation that is part good food and groceries and part entertainment.

Although nothing is 100%, I would think Stew Leonard's could create a snowball effect in economic development for downtown. I think the message that Stew Leonard's is willing to take a chance on Hartford would draw others in as well. And before you think I'm crazy that Stew Leonard's would want anything in Hartford, I have been told by the Redevelopment Commission Chairperson Sean Arena that the discussions, although informal, had taken place previously before the Market was given the lease and the City's loan of $300,000 to start up.

Maybe this time, if the Market doesn't make it, Stew Leonard's should be approached with the goal on the part of the City of making it happen.

LUCKILY HARTFORD IS A SAFE CITY

2011-09-14T13:15:00.003-04:00

Or at least that is what we are told. At least two of Hartford's politicians might have a different take on that today though.

Apparently, according to police sources, State Senator John Fonfara and former Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson both had their homes burglarized yesterday.

Burglars stole several items from Fonfara's southend home including a laptop computer and a bottle of vodka. Hopefully the Senator's laptop was password protected, who knows what might be on there if the burglars are able to access it.

No listing of the items taken from Airey-Wilson's home were available, but one police source did confirm that the granite counter tops installed for her in her Ridgefield Street home as part of the Perez corruption scandal were not touched and were safe.

DNA and fingerprint evidence were collected and awaiting analysis by the Hartford Police.

IT IS TIME FOR SOME CLARIFICATION

2011-09-13T20:14:00.003-04:00

On Labor Day weekend, I had a couple of stories given to me by sources. One, I thought, was going to be a huge story, it involved arrest warrants that were filed for the arrests of four men who were apparently neighbors of a woman found dead in her Goodrich Street home. The arrest were going to be for burglary charges that the men cleaned out the dead woman's home as she lay dead and decomposing in her house.

I was wrong.

The big story has turned out to be a crazy incident between a Hartford Police Officer and Connecticut's State Treasurer Denise Nappier. It should also be a textbook case of how not to respond to a public relations issue on the part of those involved.

There is more than enough blame and finger pointing to go around, and it is time for all involved to provide some honest answers.

Let's start with HPD. I think if anyone looked at the officer's actions strictly from a clinical, sterile, textbook view, Officer Kidik was operating within the bounds of the state motor vehicle laws. The plates did not come back registered, the paperwork was not in order, the insurance card was either expired or non existent. The big question I have to ask is where was the supervision? This will eventually all play out as the "SIR", special investigation, is completed.

No Sergeant, no Lieutenant and not even a dispatch supervisor perked up when they might have heard the name Denise Nappier or the issue with a State of Connecticut plate? Officer Kidik was well aware of whose vehicle she was towing, I know that for a fact. At what point should common sense have kicked in and just for her own sake, why didn't she notify her supervisor of what was happening? They notify their bosses of far less at times.

And even above the level of her Sergeant, no one noticed this at Jennings Road? Did it really take Hartford State's Attorney Gail Hardy storming into the Chief's Complex to make HPD aware of what had happened. And it makes you wonder how I knew about the incident within minutes after it happened, yet none of the top heavy Command staff had a clue?

And what about Gail Hardy's involvement? When was the last time Ms. Hardy was involved in dismissing a minor traffic stop? Was it just another jab by Hardy at Chief Roberts in their contentious relationship?

And who made the decision not to release the incident report. A report that FOI stated was clearly a public document and the decision not to release it just stinks of a cover up. Eventually when an FOI complaint goes to a hearing the truth may come out. Was it just a ploy on the part of HPD to stall, knowing that FOI is a cumbersome process that doesn't move quickly and when it does, the report would be a dead issue in a year or so?

Who made that call, one of the members of the DKR brain trust sitting on the second floor ? Another one of his loyal Deputy or Assistant Chief's who work daily to undermine him, hoping to be next in line for the third star on their collar? Was it Nancy Mulroy, who should know better, but keeps with the program to keep her job?

And now enter Connecticut's State Treasurer, the honorable Denise Nappier. We are ready for the truth Madame Treasurer, and you might find that people will be supportive if you come clean with the facts. Enough said, but the nonsense being put forth at this point only is raising more suspicion. To blame your treatment on race is an insult to everyone. Put the blame where it really belongs. Like I said before, there is enough finger pointing to go around.

Put some blame on those State agencies that let you down, DMV and DAS seemed to play large roles in this getting to the level it did. If DMV had done their job, it most likely would have ended when Officer Kidik ran your plate and it came back to that vehicle. And what about DAS? If you were able to hand her a valid registration, at the very least, I'm not sure the insurance would have even been an issue.

The other part of your explanation which is very lame, was the reason for the passenger plate. You are given a vehicle as State Treasurer with the "4" plate because you are the State Treasurer. If you want to drive around and not be identified as our State Treasurer, buy a car and drive wherever you want.

I do have to say though, the most disheartening part of your explanation was your claim as to why you used the passenger plate. Because you parked in a handicap spot and got caught, you didn't want people to recognize your vehicle in the future? How about abiding by the same laws the rest of us have to when we park, whether people can identify your car or not?

How about holding a joint press conference and everyone owning up to their part of this mess, put the facts out there, and put this thing to bed once and for all. And to put al of the blame on the police officer is wrong, there were plenty of people well above her pay grade that should be held accountable first.

MORE NONSENSE AND UNTRUTH'S FROM rJo WINCH AND MORE NOLAN TRANSCRIPTS

2011-09-13T17:37:00.010-04:00

Hartford City Council President rJo Winch posted the following comment on her face book page last week:"For the fbers who also read the WE THE PEOPLE Blog be ware of false statements. The latest is that I fired a Fireman. No, his boss fired him. My involvement was the mistreatment and maltreament of a female recruit. I fought for her to remain in the training program. I will take what ever fall out comes my way and given the same situation I will do it again."

I'm not sure where she gets her information or if she even checks the facts before she opens her mouth, but if her past history is any indication, we know she doesn't. In the post she is referring to, no where do I mention her. What was in the post were transcripts of sworn testimony by former Hartford Fire Chief Charles Teale. In the transcripts, Teale refers to Winch's involvement trying to prevent a female recruit from being terminated. In the transcripts below, on page 60 Assistant Chief Michael Parker testifies to the fact that he believed Nolan was correct in terminating recruit Felicia Graves because they felt she was incompetent and unfit to be a Hartford firefighter.

Here is the posting Winch refers to, I will give a $50.00 gift certificate to the Hook & Ladder Restaurant to the first person that can find anywhere in the posting where I even mentioned her or claimed she fired anyone. In a comment, someone asked if she was involved in the Nolan matter, and if you read Teales testimony, he stated under oath that she was.

More tedious reading, but the facts are there to make your decision as to whether Nolan's termination was politically motivated. After political pressure, Graves was returned to the next academy class after Nolan was fired and the way was cleared, even after Parker and others claimed she was unfit for the job
Nolan31