Search This Blog

Saturday, August 7, 2010

ANOTHER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION WIN AGAINST CITY OF HARTFORD



I didn't think I would get to use that picture again after Rosie was terminated by Mayor Segarra on July 9, 2010.It's too bad Hartford Corporation Counsel John Rose won't be around any longer to spar with at FOI hearings.

Today I received another proposed Final Decision from the FOI Commission regarding a complaint I had filed against Councilman Calixto Torres and Rosie. The complaint was filed in September of 2009, heard on January 29, 2010 and finally decided on August 4, 2010 and will go before the full commission on August 23, 2010.

FOI complaints definitely aren't a speedy process, but it is what it is. With a very small staff at FOI, it is a cumbersome process that was made even worse by John Rose and the Perez Administration. I guess when you are running a criminal operation, it makes sense to stall any information you give out that might be damaging.

Rather than recap the entire complaint, you can read the hearing officers report and proposed decision below. Essentially it was over financial reports that I had requested and the City's policy that all FOI requests be funneled through Rosie to make sure they controlled the information being given out.

The hearing officer determined that the policy violated the FOI law and ruled that the policy be "declared null and void".

Although I am hopeful that with Rosie gone the City will now begin to obey the FOI laws, but after trying to obtain the Robles' IAD report, I'm not sure.

The Hearing Officers report is below:

Foi Decision Rose-Torres 1-29-10

Friday, August 6, 2010

MATT RITTER TAKES A HIT...BUT IS HE THE ONLY ONE DESERVING?

I guess all is fair when you decide to enter the dirty, in the gutter game of politics.

An article posted on Courant.com tonight detailed allegations that Hartford Councilperson Matt Ritter received an endorsement from a group called "Voices of Women of Color". click here to read the full story It seems that the same group received payments directly from Ritter's campaign for "consultant" work.

Although I agree that there should be some sort of disclosure to keep everything in the open, but why is Ritter being singled out? Maybe as the perceived front runner it might be an easy shot to take by an opponent trying to regain some ground three days before a primary. Maybe it was a shot taken by another group that wasn't given a "consultant" fee and wants their piece of the CEP pie.

Whether Ritter is right or wrong is up to voters to decide on Tuesday. The problem seems to even more widespread amongst others on the Democratic endorsed Row A. It seems that Ritter might not be the only one wheeling and dealing for endorsements.

Although most people have never heard of the "Voices of Women of Color" (sorry Janice)they do have influence door to door in Ritter's campaign area.

One group that most people have heard of though is Connecticut's "Working Families Party". Their strength is based more in Hartford with the election of Urania Petit as the WFP Registrar of Voters in Hartford, and two Council seats went to the WFP in the last council election. Potentially they may become more of a force to be reckoned with statewide in elections.

If Ritter is being criticized for his lack of candor in his endorsements, it pales in comparison to his fellow Row A Democrats.

According to August 3, 2010 financial campaign filings, three Democratic candidates have paid amounts much larger than Ritters payment to people endorsing them. According to the filings, the largest payment was made by FONFARA 2010 to "Working Families Grassroots Strategies, INC." in the amount of $7,800. Fonfara is listed on the Working Families website as one of their endorsed candidates.

Another individual running for the legislature in the district that abuts Ritter's is Windsor's Leo Canty. Canty is also listed on the Working Families website as one of their endorsed candidates. Canty's campaign made a payment of $5,850 to the Working Families "Grassroots Strategies, Inc" on July 15,2010.

Democratic Row A endorsed candidate for Secretary of State, Denise Merrill apparently also realizes the value of the WFP endorsement. Merrill's campaign paid $3714.69 to the Working Families "Grassroots Strategies, Inc." on August 2, 2010.

That's enough digging for tonight, but it seems pretty clear that Matt Ritter hasn't reinvented the wheel when it comes to "obtaining" endorsements.

And in the interest of full disclosure, it's important to say I have not received any "consultant" fees from the Ritter campaign, we could talk though Matt, you have the number

All of these filings can be viewed on-line at ct.gov/seec and then use "e-cris search" to find a candidate by name

Thursday, August 5, 2010

CHIEF ROBERTS' DEAL DONE


It became official yesterday, Mayor Segarra wants Chief Daryl Roberts to stick around, and the Chief has agreed. Although the Chief had apparently hoped for a longer term, Mayor Segarra could only assure Roberts tenure until the end of his current Mayoral term, December 31, 2011.

By Hartford's Charter, the Chief as well as other Department heads serve at the will of the current Mayor, and a new Mayor taking office January 1, 2012 would be free to retain Roberts or appoint a new Chief. Thanks to Steve Goode for the actual copy, I still don't think Sarah likes me.

The formal agreement is below:
Chief Roberts Contract

MORE GOOD OL' HARTFORD POLITICS

Another one from Hartford's bizarre political operations.

According to Jeff Cohen's blog,click here for Jeff's blog, and Councilwoman rJo Winch's facebook page, if you should happen to receive any nude videos of the Councilwoman, they are untrue.



I don't even know what to say at this point, no witty punchline could do this revelation justice.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I REALLY WANT TO USE A BAD WORD HERE BUT I WON'T...THE US NAVY IS BUYING RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS, BYPASSING SIKORSKY?

My first inclination was to say "what the .....?". I read the attached story on the Courant's website and just had to re-read it, click here to read it for yourself. Apparently the US Navy is bypassing Sikorsky Aircraft, a Connecticut based company. The helicopters for use in Afghanistan, will be purchased from a Russian company.

The explanation from the Navy is that pilots in Afghanistan are familiar with the Russian helicopters, used there in the 1980's. The Navy spokesperson claims that it could take "2 to 5 years" to train new pilots. Here goes another "what the ......?"

What about the machinists at Sikorsky and the small businesses that rely on Sikorsky to survive by building these aircraft? How long will it take to retrain them when they lose their jobs and the small businesses shut down?

Maybe it is time to start worrying about American workers and their jobs, rather than the difficulty of retraining Afghan pilots. So much for that "economic recovery", unless of course you are based in Russia.

THE COMMERCIALS MUST BE WORKING, EVERYONE HAS THEIR MINDS MADE UP ALREADY

Dennis House posted on his blog, "the Hartfordite", the ratings for yesterday's Lamont/Malloy debate.

I'm hoping the numbers were so low because everyone already has their minds made up as to who they are voting for in Tuesday's primary. As much as I want to believe that though, it probably is just a simple reason. People care more about "General Hospital" than taking the time to listen to politicians in what is probably the most important election in recent history.

According to Dennis House's numbers, the 3PM airing of the debate was handily beat by General Hospital with a 3.3 rating as opposed to the 2.1 rating for the debate. Add into the ratings the 8PM re-run of the debate on CPTV and the numbers jump to an astonishing 2.7. So if I'm reading the numbers correctly, even after combining the 3PM airing and the 8PM re-run,the long awaited debate still didn't beat General Hospital.

What does it take to awake Connecticut voters from their deep political apathetic slumber? Are people willing to accept corruption, mismanagement, higher taxes, cronyism, businesses fleeing to other states and on and on just as long as they get their "General Hospital".

Our government and the political activity that goes on at the Capitol should rival any soap opera or reality show on television today. Maybe we just aren't marketing it right.

And as a side note, I know I'm a Democrat now, but I love those Linda McMahon/Quinnipiac numbers. We might just end up with a real race for the Senate.