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Monday, January 16, 2012

THE WATCHDOG WITHOUT ANY TEETH


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


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.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

SOME BREAKING NEWS

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

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

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

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.

Monday, January 2, 2012

DON'T CHANGE THE STATIONERY YET

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?

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.