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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

FORGET THE PARTY, VOTE THE PERSON

Since I can't text anymore while I driving, I tend to amuse myself thinking about potential blog entries. And for those about to scream at me about texting while driving, I was only kidding, I actually surf the Internet with my laptop propped on my dash. I find the laptop is much quicker than typing with my thumbs.

Seriously though, I was thinking today what would our political system be like with actual individuals rather than party puppets?

I amused myself thinking how different the race for US Senate would be if the party affiliations were reversed. Democrat Linda McMahon would probably be a shining example of the Democratic Party where even women can excel and build a multi-million dollar business. Democrat McMahon would be held up as an example of what America should be and could be if only the voters would give her a chance.

And imagine if Richard Blumenthal were a Republican. I know, I know, the thought alone would scare the heck out of him, but for the sake of argument, just imagine Dick as a proud member of the GOP. Blumenthal, the law and order Republican, standing up for the people of Connecticut, fighting for the little guy. A formidable candidate racking up votes on the campaign trail.

Then, when everything was looking good for Republican Blumenthal, a video appeared where he claims he "misspoke". The media and public opinion turned on him overnight. How could a Republican candidate lie about his military service and claim he served in Vietnam when he didn't? Don't those Republican's remember how many young American men went to Vietnam and died for their country?

Republican Blumenthal was forced to drop out of the race due to the outrage over his lies. That's the way Republicans are handled, just ask former Senator

At last nights debate between the candidates for the 1st Congressional District, neither major party candidate was willing to speak about corruption, especially in Hartford, even when the opportunity was presented to them on a silver platter.Only one candidate, Ken Krayeske of the Green Party was willing to talk about the blind eye turned to corruption by Hartford's politicians. He spoke of the corruption of Eddie Perez and his conviction and the current allegations and investigation of Hector Robles.

It would have been a perfect opportunity for Congressman Larson to state clearly that he doesn't condone corruption, even in a "generic" type of message, but he remained silent when it came to his buddies Eddie and Hector.

I wonder how our elected officials would change if they weren't chained to a symbol of a donkey or an elephant. Imagine if they actually had to prove to us who they were and what they stood for rather than just proclaiming their allegiance to Republican or Democrat party machines.

One perfect example is in Hartford's south-end for the 1st State Senate District Race. Probably one of the best candidates running for the Connecticut Legislature has almost no chance of winning. As much as I hate saying it, Barbara Ruhe, a Republican, is running in a heavily Democratic district and she will unfortunately most likely be steamrolled by someone who has lost his "leadership" compass and has no business in the Senate. John Fonfara has lost sight of why he is there and who his constituents are.

Barbara Ruhe seems to realize exactly what the role of a Senator should be. Yesterday a southend resident and a Democrat called me complaining that she has left eleven messages (yes, you read that right, eleven) for Senator Fonfara, and not one has been returned.

With Barbara Ruhe, you really don't need to call her because the odds are good that you would see her somewhere in the community within a few days and be able to speak with her personally. And it is not only at election time you see her. She really seems to share the interests of the people in her district and beyond and it is a shame she won't get elected. Not because she isn't qualified. Not because she doesn't know how to campaign. Not because she can't be found. Simply because she has an "R" after her name she most likely won't have the title "Senator" after November 2nd.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could get rid of the tunnel vision and actually look at our candidates for who they are and what they actually do and who has the most potential. Instead we continue for the worst candidates only because they are the right party or the right nationality or the right race.

It would also be nice if we chose our candidates based on who knows how to remain civil to their opponents. In this election cycle, only a handful can say that. There is a big difference between pointing out facts and going into the gutter politics.

Denise Nappier, Jerry Farrell and Denise Merrill (I might have missed a couple others) should all be commended for their upbeat commercials and letting us know what they are about as opposed to showing us how much they can bruise their opponents.

I think most people are tired of the finger pointing. We don't care if it is the Democrats or Republicans that created the mess, we just want elected officials who care more about fixing the problem than continuing to be part of the problem.

Imagine a Senate full of Barbara Ruhe's, maybe some Republican, maybe some Democrat and maybe even a couple of Green or Working Family members to keep them all honest.

Monday, October 25, 2010

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER HOMICIDE

This past Friday night, numerous calls were received by Hartford's 911 Center regarding gunshots being fired in the area of Capitol Avenue and Orange Street. The victim was found in the street and was eventually pronounced dead. The "victim", who hasn't been "officially" named by Hartford Police, has a fairly extensive arrest record for drug, weapon and assault charges. The 32 year old has spent several years in and out of prison.

Saturday nights homicide was a sharp contrast. Even though several shots were fired, some of them recorded on nearby video recordings, not one call was received by the 911 Dispatch Center. No one called regarding the body laying in the street in the area of 1830 Broad Street. This is near a fairly busy intersection of Broad Street and New Britain Avenue.

Eventually a police officer on patrol noticed the man laying at the curb about a half hour after the murder. According to police sources, the officer first thought was that the man might be intoxicated, but after approaching the body he realized that was not the case.

This victim has not been "officially" named yet either, but he did have a passport on him from another country.

I'm just wondering how several gunshots can be fired in close proximity to residential neighborhoods and not one call is made to the Police. Are we that immune to Hartford's violence?

Friday, October 22, 2010

MORE POLITICAL PARTISAN NONSENSE



The Hartford Courant is reporting that outgoing Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz is urging a "ban" on WWE clothing at polling places on November 2nd. Due to Republican Linda McMahon's involvement with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) this may prove to be an unfair advantage for McMahon. You can read the Courant story here.



In a surprising move this afternoon, sources are telling me that a ban on any USMC or military clothing will also be put into effect. Apparently the thinking is that any Marine Corp insignia or military clothing may actually remind voters of those who went to war and fought and of Attorney General Blumenthal's "mis-spoke" comments when he lied about serving in Vietnam.

It seems fair, doesn't it?

MORE BREAKING NEWS.....

Hartford, CT.- In a further move today, Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz has moved to place a ban on anyone entering a polling place wearing sneakers. The reasoning is that campaign commercials being aired by Republican candidate for Secretary of the State Jerry Farrell prominently show him lacing up sneakers. The Secretary said this about Farrell's sneakers "Even though it doesn't say his name directly...the sneaker is so ubiquitously associated with Farrell's campaign".

A spokesman for the Secretary, who announced the sneaker ban, acknowledged that any discussion about voter's apparel is a "very, very delicate issue."

"We have a candidate who is very very well known, who is a celebrity to millions of fans throughout the country," he said. "This has been a very contentious, hard-fought campaign but the sanctity of the polling place is sacrosanct."

IN SOME CIRCLES THIS MIGHT BE CALLED "PATRONIZING A PROSTITUTE"

A couple weeks ago we found out that Former Hartford Mayor, and now convicted felon,Eddie A. Perez had landed a job at the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition (CARC). During Perez's tenure as Mayor CARC has received millions of dollars in City funding. Last year alone the City provided funding to CARC of over half a million dollars.




This week, WNPR's Jeff Cohen reported that Perez's former Chief of Staff Matthew Hennessy has just received a $58,000 lobbying contract as a result of an agreement with the Hartford Public Schools and Connecticut Public Broadcasting to find federal funding for the Hartford Journalism and Media Academy.

I thought the icing on the cake would be Perez's former Corporation Counsel John Rose landing a job with the Crumbie Law Group. Rose had used the Crumbie Law Group as "outside counsel" while he was in office. WNPR's Jeff Cohen got the actual numbers, and today reported on Crumbie's billing to the taxpayers of Hartford.



In Fiscal year 2009, Crumbie’s firm made $155,599.44; in FY 2010, the firm made $252,580.24; and so far in 2011, the firm has made $22,564.80, according to Cohen.

In Cohen's report he quotes a statement from the Crumbie Law Group touting Rose's expertise. Too bad he didn't have that same expertise before he hired the Crumbie Law Group as outside counsel, he could have saved the taxpayers of Hartford almost a half a million dollars. I guess that is what they call job security on Rose's part though.

Like I said, I thought that would be the icing on the cake. Nope, not in Hartford.

I received several calls today regarding last nights Hartford 2000 meeting. For those not aware, Hartford 2000 is the parent organization that oversees Hartford's neighborhood groups, or "NRZ's". Apparently, the position of Executive Director is open. The position had tentatively been filled by a person from West Hartford. That's a discussion for another day as to why a Hartford resident couldn't be found, but I digress.

The callers were upset that the City of Hartford's COO David Panagore was in attendance at the meeting and was advocating for a potential new Executive Director. Low and behold, "drumroll please", ta daaaaa, Panagore's choice for Executive Director is no other than former Perez Chief of Staff Susan McMullen.



Ok, hopefully by now you have picked yourself up off the floor and are coming out of that fit of laughter or fit of anger. Both of those would be appropriate reactions depending on how much you know about Susan McMullen.

If you aren't familiar with some of McMullen's better efforts on the part of the people of Hartford, one of her best that comes to mind was Eddie Perez's "dyslexia defense". McMullen might have been one of the number one reasons for the conviction of Perez as a crook and a fraud when she tried to convince the jury that Perez suffered from being unable to read properly and that is why committed illegal acts.

I think that helped the jury see him and his staff for what they actually were (and by the actions detailed above, what they still are), a group of ethically and morally challenged people.

Requests for comment from Panagore have not been returned.

I have received numerous calls from people asking "Where is the Mayor on these things?" and "Why aren't we hearing anything from the Council on this?". The simple answer is, quite frankly, that I can't figure it out. The underlying acceptance of corruption in Hartford City government has to change. With our so called "leaders" turning a blind eye to these activities it sends a message that business as usual, business as conducted during the Perez years, is OK.

I am sure that is not the message Mayor Segarra wants to send. He has done too many positive things since taking office to be tainted by the stench of these actions. But by remaining silent, he is condoning these actions. A strong statement needs to be made that these fine examples of more cronyism are not acceptable to the Mayor or the people of Hartford.

Do we really think that we need Hennessy to lobby Washington politicians for money? We have the number three or four Congressman in the country representing Hartford. I would hope that a phone call from Congressman Larson would do more than any $58,000 contract given to Hennessy. Not to mention the question, what honest self respecting politician would go anywhere near a "lobbyist" that just came from a stint in what is most likely the most corrupt administration that the City of Hartford has ever seen?

And an open message to Mayor Segarra and even Council President Winch: you have an opportunity to show us and everyone else that Hartford does have a conscience and we are getting back on track. End this nonsense now with prompt and decisive actions. The people of Hartford I'm sure will thank you for cracking down on the political prostitutes leeching off our city.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

WILL IT EVER END?




How long will the stench of the Perez Administration continue to linger over our City? I know that is a strongly worded statement, but I think it is a fair question.

Eddie Perez leaves office in disgrace after being convicted of 5 felony counts related to his corruption investigation. He promptly lands a job with a non-profit, the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition. The City of Hartford was ,and still is, a major funder of CARC.

Former Corporation Counsel John Rose was terminated by Perez's successor, Mayor Pedro Segarra. Rose promptly lands a job with a law firm, the Crumbie Law Group. Rose paid tens of thousands of City dollars to the Crumbie Law Group during his time as Corporation Counsel for outside legal advice.

And now, Jeff Cohen from WNPR is reporting that Perez's former Chief of Staff Matt Hennessy has landed a deal for a new Hartford Public Schools project that will pay him at least $58,000.00. Hennessy will be working as a lobbyist for a new Journalism and Media Academy project trying to obtain Federal funding for the project.

I'm just wondering what Washington politician would go near any of the players from the Perez Administration? And when is the City Council and the Mayor going to refuse funding to anything or anyone even remotely connected to Perez and his other corrupt players?

You can read Jeff Cohen's report here.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

ROBLES HEARINGS COMPLETED


According to sources, the third day of hearings for Hartford Police Officer Hector Robles has been completed. Today was apparently the third and final day of testimony.

The hearing Officer assigned to the process, Captain Achilles Rethis, will now prepare his synopsis of the hearing and forward that to the departments advocate, Lieutenant James Bernier and Chief Daryl Roberts.

The process may take a week or so depending on the report, at which time Chief Roberts will decide on the action to take. Corrective action can be anywhere from no action up to termination. Lt. Bernier had originally recommended termination if the allegations are upheld.

In the meantime, Inspectors from the Office of the Chief States Attorney's Office are working to prepare a potenttial criminal case against Robles that could result in his arrest.

Robles, who also serves as a State Representative in the Connecticut Legislature for the 6th District is running for re-election on November 2nd.