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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

MORE SMOKE AND MIRRORS FROM CITY HALL

Why the residents and business people of Hartford are not up in arms over Hartford's fictitious budget is beyond me. At least one local reporter though is doing more of the digging to expose this work of fiction. The claims of the $45 million the State of Connecticut owes us, the $1 million dollars in union concessions were both being used to prop up the claim to balance Hartford's budget gap, but it seems those dollars may potentially be nonexistent.

Jeff Cohen at WNPR now is looking into the claims that mayor Segarra made that he has cut $1 million dollars from the Mayor's Office budget. "Cut" might have been the wrong term, shuffling and hiding is probably a more accurate description.

Read Jeff's story here to see how creative budgeting and accounting actually works at Hartford City Hall.

I think I need to put a disclaimer here though..."DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, THESE ARE TRAINED PROFESSIONALS. USING THE SAME TECHNIQUES  IMPLEMENTED BY THE SEGARRA ADMINISTRATION FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL FINANCES MAY RESULT IN FORCED BANKRUPTCY, LOSS OF PERSONAL PROPERTY AND REAL ESTATE  AND MAY ACTUALLY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH AND WELL BEING"

Click here to read Jeff Cohen's report

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

TAKE THE POLL

In the top of the right column is a blogpoll related to Hartford's search for a permanent Police Chief. It is far from scientific, but I would like to know what you think. You can not post a comment on the poll, but feel free to post your thoughts here

THINGS THAT CONFUSE ME

I was searching the City of Hartford's website this afternoon , hartford.gov , looking for the job posting for the position of Police Chief. No, I am not applying, I just wanted to see what we paid $50,000 for, but that is for another posting .

On the same page that the job posting for the Chief was listed  a posting for summer lifeguards for Hartford's public pools was also listed. And no, I am not applying for that position either. What interested me though was the "City of Hartford Residency Affidavit". It seems like the requirements we place for residency are more restrictive for the position of a part-time lifeguard than they are for some of our more important positions.

The affidavit is below, but wouldn't it be nice if we applied those same requirements to MDC Chairpersons, State Representatives and even Emergency Telecommunications Directors and not just part-time lifeguards?
Residency Affadavit0001

NOW THIS IS TRANSPARENCY

Myself and my fellow members of the 7th District Hartford Democratic Town Committee campaigned recently promising transparency, openness and a desire to help educate voters to encourage greater voter involvement.

As they say, actions speak louder than words, so here goes.

On Friday evening, May 4, 2012 the members of "Team 7" will be hosting public interviews for the positions of Registrar of Voters and United States Senator as we decide our endorsements as delegates to both conventions. As I said, the interviews are open to the public, we encourage the public to attend and even submit questions you would like the candidates to answer.

This will not be a debate format but individual "job" style interviews to see where the candidates stand on issues facing our community.

The timetable for the event is outlined below:

Please note that the timetable may change slightly if any additional candidates register before Friday. Time slots were assigned alphabetically. Spread the word to anyone interested, we hope to see you there.

15 minutes per candidate in alphabetical order
5 minutes - Candidate Opening Remarks
5 minutes - Questions From Moderators
5 minutes - Questions From Audience


SCHEDULE: REGISTRAR OF VOTERS - Candidates will be interviewed in alphabetical order


6:00 to 6:15 p.m. Arroyo, Ramon
6:15 to 6:30 p.m. Kirkley-Bey, Kellie
6:30 to 6:45 p.m. Vazquez, Olga
6:45 to 7:00 p.m. Waul, Charmaine

15 MINUTE BREAK


SCHEDULE: U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE


7:15 to 7:30 p.m. Bysiewicz, Susan
7:30 to 7:45 p.m. Murphy, Chris
7:45 to 8:00 p.m. Oakes, Matthew
8:00 to 8:15 p.m. Whitnum, Lee


The event will be held at the Annie Fisher School at 280 Plainfield Street in Hartford. Please feel free to attend and hear what the candidates have to say.

Candidate+Interviews+Flyer+5.4.2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

HARTFORD'S NEWEST DRIVE THRU

An elderly driver was instrumental in trying to add a new drive-thru window to Damon;s Tavern on Prospect Avenue Saturday evening.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

A BREAK IN THE SILENCE, HOMICIDE NUMBER 6

The statistics for shootings and homicides on the HPD website are a month behind, but we are close to 50 percent less homicides this year than we were last year at this time. Much of that can be attributed to efforts of the Shooting Task Force efforts combined with HPD's overall efforts. Unfortunately another homicide victim was added to this years numbers when a 38 year old man was shot at least 7 times in broad daylight on Brook Street near the intersection with Mather Street. The man was shot by a suspect riding a bicycle who let loose with at least 11 rounds in a very busy neighborhood. The neighborhood has a notorious reputation for its violence, but it is a striking contrast when you actually view the neighborhood in the daylight.

 I visited the scene shortly after the crime scene tape went up and I had to park about a half block away due to streets blocked by police cruisers with their lights flashing. What really struck me though were two things as I walked to the taped off intersection. The first were the voices of probably a couple hundred children celebrating an event on the playground area of the Albany Avenue Branch of the YMCA, complete with music and a DJ. It was a sharp contrast to the crime scene playing out its deadly results a couple hundred feet away. The other were the modest, well kept single family homes on the block of Mather Street where I parked. Several of the homes had mothers on the porches with very young children either on the porches or playing in the front yards.

 Before the crime scene taped area was actually expanded, the pedestrian traffic was heavy with people walking, including women with young children in strollers. I have never really been able to figure out what would be going through someones mind as they commit a homicide. What kind of rage would cause someone on a bicycle to ride up to another human being and unload a 9mm slug into their forehead and continue shooting, hitting them at least another six more times as they drop to the ground. The other four slugs went somewhere, just not into the victim.

 What kind of person could fire deadly rounds without any regard for children on a playground, mothers pushing strollers or even a young child playing innocently in the safety and security of their fenced in yard? The biggest problem though the more I think about it is that there probably isn't any rage that goes into these shootings. It is more about the "business" of the streets and a life is taken over a couple hundred dollars lost in a drug transaction or giving someone the wrong "look". No regard is given to the innocent potential victims or the psychological damage done to the residents, young and old who may be on the streets and see someone shot point blank between the eyes.

 How do we break this cycle where human lives seem to be worthless to these young shooters. They are far from being marksmen and today was by luck that there was only one victim, although I am sure his family feels less than lucky tonight as they plan to bury him. There will also be another "victim" in this shooting most likely as the shooter will most likely be caught and realizes too late that his life and what he could have been will be spent inside a prison. By a great combined effort between the Shooting Task Force and HPD's Major Crimes Unit, 4 of this years 5 previous homicides have already been solved. I am told that #5 is close to being cleared by an arrest and today's most likely will be cleared pretty fast also.

 That average seems to be much more in favor of HPD than the shooters. Do the shooters think they will escape discovery or does that even figure into the decision making? I don't want to seem like I am condoning violence, but what ever happened to fistfights? At least then you had to calculate your odds ahead of time and make a decision who would prevail. It just seems cowardly to me to settle a difference with a handgun, it seems like any coward can do that. And even worse is some coward who thinks nothing of his missed rounds going into a child in a stroller.