
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
HARTFORD'S TWO TAX COLLECTORS

HARTFORD'S DOUBLE STANDARD

Deputy Chief Dan Nolan, seated, center
"More than two months after Hartford Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Nolan was placed on paid administrative leave amid accusations that he offered leniency to Hartford Fire Department recruits in exchange for charitable contributions, his status remains in limbo." Hartford Courant Article, 7/2/08 http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-hfdfire0702.artjul02,0,4971831.story
This is the height of hypocrisy, the City suspends an employee for trying to teach future city employees a sense of community by getting them involved in charitable events and public service. No accusations of Nolan benefiting from the actions, no accusations of pay-offs, just maybe using a tactic that others didn't approve of.
Where is the same standard being applied? Shouldn't we also be calling for Perez to be placed on suspension until his investigation is conducted.If the facts are truly as they are laid out here, Dan Nolan should be commended for his actions. In a society where it is all about "me first" Nolan's actions should be encouraged to teach young persons what leadership is about and a sense of community pride.
Friday, June 20, 2008
IS THE COURANT PROMOTING RACISM?

This afternoon, our beloved Mayor conducted a "press conference" accusing the Courant of promoting hate speech by allowing readers to post on courant.com. Like most of us who slow to look at accidents on the highway, I couldn't avoid the chance to view this trainwreck first hand. I wasn't supposed to know about the event, as Sarah Barr has still refused to add me to media notifications. Fortunately, over the years I have built relationships with other media people who are more than willing to forward me the notifications.
Anyway, let me get back to my point. What I saw at the "rally" was something I totally did not expect. I saw a man who was able to see the best in people at a time of crisis, a man that exhibited true leadership at a time that it is sorely needed, a man that refused to use a terrible string of events for his own personal gain, a man that spoke from the heart and not a prepared script. Before anyone thinks that I have lost my mind, no that man was not Eddie Perez. As I was videoing the event for my program, I looked behind me and saw a man standing down the street by himself under the shade of a tree. The man was Angel Arce, who's father was struck and left for dead in the street almost 2 weeks earlier. I approached Angel, who I have known and respected for several years, and asked how his dad was doing. In an emotional voice he said both he and his family were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, and the comments being made by Perez were way off base. Angel stated that they have been inundated by cards and showings of support from across the country wishing his father well. Black, white, hispanic, every ethnicity you could think of, nothing racist about it at all. And when you would expect him to agree with Perez and be bitter after all that his family has been put through, a promising ray of leadership shines through. Angel stated that he's not about embarrassing people, or name-calling, but rather this is a time for the city and its people to come together. Instead of blaming the Courant, blame the individuals who ran his Dad down. Angel said that rather than grandstanding, people should be working to identify the persons who have shown the worst of what Hartford can be if we don't unite and move our city forward. I'm not sure that I could show the same forgiveness and civility that Angel showed if that was a family member of mine lying in a bed paralyzed. In a time when everyone wants to focus on what is wrong with Hartford, Angel Arce, without saying a word, shows what is great about Hartford.
Angel, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Keep being an inspiration to me and others.
And to answer the question, is the Courant promting racism?
my vote is no, they are promoting free speech. No one is forcing any of us to log on, and it seems as though there are more pressing issues for us to focus on.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
HONESTY, INTEGRITY, AND THEN THERE IS EDDIE

If anyone advising our beloved Mayor, King Eddie the 1st, were employed in the private sector as public relations consultants, they would surely be looking for employment elsewhere.
Maybe it is time that we as residents of the City of Hartford start demanding apologies from our beloved Mayor for his actions that embarrass and divide us as a City. Let's start with an apology for his actions that have resulted in a grand jury investigation.Let's DEMAND an apology for his "mistakes" that resulted in a search warrant being issued for his home and the resulting investigation by the Office of the Chief State's Attorney. Let's DEMAND an apology for the use of almost $100,000 for private lawyers to represent city staffers before the Grand Jury. The question arises why would they need lawyers to represent them at the city's expense, unless they are concerned about potential criminal charges themselves. In which case, I would think they should be on their own. I'm not aware of any city official being required to commit criminal acts as part of their official job performance. Let's DEMAND an apology for his misuse of funds and the lack of integrity he showed when he used city funds for his own political and personal gain and published the "Hartford Educator" and was eventually fined by the Elections Enforcement Commission. Let's DEMAND an apology for the way he has treated our Governor and soured the relationship between the people of Hartford and the Capitol. The same Governor who always comes through when we need her and help from the state level, most recently through the deployment of state troopers to our city. A deployment that was made necessary because our beloved Mayor continues to keep his head buried in the sand and deny crime problems exist in Hartford. Let's DEMAND an apology for the almost $4 million spent when King Eddie THE 1st decided to forge ahead with his inappropriate plan to build a school at the corner of Farmington and Broad Street. Spending money for site work, steel for the building and other expenses, despite warnings from the State that a school was not an allowed use for that piece of land. Let's DEMAND an apology from the Mayor for providing dumpsters and parking lot privileges to political ally Abe Giles, all at the taxpayers expense for his own political gain. Let's DEMAND an apology from the Mayor for his treatment of the Waterford Group and the Wohlman brothers, developers who were willing to invest in Hartford when others wouldn't. They built the Marriott, renovated the Hilton invested in Hartford, only to be sued by the Mayor to force a union down their (and their employees ) throats. Unions that even the employees didn't want, unions that should be fighting their own legal battles and not at the City's expense.
Friday, June 13, 2008
SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES OR POVERTY PIMPS?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
CPR FOR THE GOP IN HARTFORD
For over thirty years the Republican Party in Hartford has been in a steady decline. The same leadership that has been controlling the destiny of the GOP and the membership of the Republican Town Committee for decades, continues to try to maintain it's stranglehold on it's less than 1900 registered Republican voters left in Hartford,down from a high of almost 30,000, resisting change every step of the way.
Last year's Mayoral run by J. Stan McCauley marked the first time in recent history that a Republican running for mayor was taken seriously in Hartford. Unfortunately, McCauley didn't seem to receive the support and encouragement from the Hartford RTC that one would expect from such an articulate, thoughtful candidate. McCauley was not afraid to raise issues that others , including local Republicans, dare not speak about such as corruption charges against Mayor Perez, fiscally irresponsible spending, Hartford's underground economy, better known as the drug trade, underachieving school system a tax structure that is killing small businesses across the City.
Luckily, the leadership of Connecticut Republican State Central Committee as well as the House Republican's see a quality of leadership in McCauley that the Hartford Town Committee (Jurassic Park Republicans stuck in their dinosaur ways) have failed to embrace. Through the encouragement of State Central and the House Republicans, Mr. McCauley is running for State Representative in the 4th District against Perez puppet Kelvin Roldan. For the Republican Party to survive and begin growing again in Hartford, we need to realize that our new base of voters lies in the minority communities and neighborhoods which make up the City of Hartford. Demographics change, times change and people change. If we as Republicans in Hartford are not willing to change, we will quickly come to the end of the road at which lies our irrelevance as a viable party in Hartford.
A key area to effect change in the voting numbers is through the Registrar of Voters position. Although essentially a non-partisan position, the Republican Registrar of Voters should be playing an instrumental role in motivating and educating potential voters to get them to vote, and hopefully educate voters as to what the Republican party stands for. For far too long, the Republican Registrar of Voters office has been the epitomy of patronage and cronyism and represents everything that is wrong with politics.The "good old boy network" at its best, or worst depending how you look at it. An office that has steadily and strongly resisted any change, and only got rid of its typewriters four years ago when a new Democratic Registrar insisted on computers. A Republican Registrar that told me to "get the f*** out of his office" when I suggested it might be a good idea to attend a candidates forum and try to register voters. His response before he told me to get out was why bother trying, no one registers Republican anyway. The same Republican Registrars office that couldn't even seal voting machines on time for a recent Primary, even though the Secretary of State's Ofiice provided a detailed calendar. The same Republican Registrar of Voters who just lost the funding for the Assistant Registrars position because he failed to fill a position for almost 6 months while it was empty and has now filled it, only to find the funding was cut by a hiring freeze and the new political crony will only have a job until July 1st. Also a political hiring without any job posting, advertisement of the position to find the most qualified candidate, interviews, nothing. More business as usual in the Republican Registrars Office. After watching this for the last few years, watching the incompetence, and watching the party that I enrolled in the first day I was eligible to vote, continue its downward spiral toward irrelevance, I decided to run for Republican Registrar of voters in Hartford. As myself, McCauley and others who believe that the Republican Party in Hartford can grow and be influential again, we are meeting and talking to many voters who have no idea what the GOP stands for, and as we talk about the party, people are actually willing to register and be part of the Republican Party.
No, you don't need to be a Democrat just because it's Hartford. Change isn't always easy, but in this case it is long overdue. Some of Hartford's greatest moments came under Republican leadership, and myself and J. Stan McCauley and the other "Independent Republicans" of Hartford look forward to your support to build the GOP in Hartford once again and be a part of the team working to bring about change. For more information, please feel free to watch the "Independent Republican" program Sunday's at 10:00PM on Hartford Public Access Channel 5.
