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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

DEJA VU

It looks like City Hall workers should get used to the familiar faces of Siate Inspectors at City Hall once again. After the Perez Grand Jury, many at 550 Main were on a first name basis with the friendly guys from Rocky Hill.(Hopefully the questions they are asking don't relate to you )

But what has been referred to as a "distraction" by the Mayor's Office, may actually be referred to soon as a criminal investigation if the Hartford City Council has their way.

Councilman David McDonald has introduced a resolution which has been placed on Monday's Agenda for consideration calling for the recent Audit report into City Credit Card use to be referred to the Office of the Chief State's Attorney for investigation.

Here is the resolution below:

GOING DOWNHILL FAST

This has been building to become a bad situation for the Segarra Administration. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone how poor choices seem to define the "legacy" for many politicians. In this case though the poor choices seem to continue everyday.

It wasn't just the choice to whip out the old city credit card to pay for the caviar on the City dime. It goes much beyond that to a pattern of bad choices. Most people wondered how Segarra's Chief of Staff was issued a City vehicle after his personal vehicle sat behind City hall for weeks on a couple flat tires , until it was finally towed away.

Once he was issued a City car by Segarra, his behavior with it became an issue. The vehicle, former Chief Daryl K. Roberts SUV that he turned in when he retired, was spotted by police officers zipping around the City "Code 3", lights and siren blaring, reportedly to get to Happy Hour on time. Segarra actually stepped up that time and the car was taken away, only to be replaced a short time later by a new SUV.

Kupiec is the first Chief of Staff that I can recall that has been issued a City Vehicle. I know John Bazzano and it pains me to say, Matt Hennessey never had one either

The fact that the Connecticut State Capitol almost goes to Defcon 4 when Kupiec enters the building should have been another red flag for Segarra. Nonetheless, he still appointed Kupiec as his Chief of Staff. It's never a good thing when your hand picked Chief of Staff had previously jumped ship as a trusted worker on Governor Malloy's campaign to go to his opponent Ned Lamonts camp. Not everyone has a short memory in the political game. Relationships matter.

The culmination of the road to disaster was the New Years Eve Dinner charges,.It was hardly the first indicator that poor judgement was an issue. The decision to accept a $20,000 raise when the City was , and is, heading for financial meltdown should have raised red flags. It wasn't going to go unnoticed and that raise alone is more than what many Hartford residents take home in a year.

The sense of entitlement by all of those close to Segarra is clearly evident. It is ironic that a short time ago at election time Segarra made a huge point that he was leaving his Mercedes at home and driving a Prius since Hartford was moving toward being a green city in everything from its cleaning supplies to the vehicle its Mayor was driving. Surprise, surprise, shortly after the election the Mayor went back to a brand new SUV and his entire "Cabinet" are now driving new SUV's. So much for election year examples.

Although much has been made about the New Years Eve Dinner, it is most likely the tip of the iceberg. Numerous charges for food and beverages on Kupiec's card are still undocumented as far as whether they were legit City business or frat boy wannabe social favors. The latter appears more likely due to the lack of documentation.

Also not a lot is being said about the $30,000 dollars that is unallocated or unsubstantiated from last years close of business according to the audit report. The fact that virtually all of the City travel was essentially unverified is a problem also. And sadly, if Segarra's chief of Staff and COO were minding the store, accountability would have been an every day thing, not a rush to provide documentation when the auditors came knocking.

The "slippery nipple" COO should have known better after her 2000 hit from the Courant for the exact same behavior. I guess we can give the Chief of Staff a little pass because he has never had a real job and this can be chalked up to on the job training. But maybe it is time that they look elsewhere besides Hartford City Hall for their OJT.Read more on the "slippery nipple" COO here

Pedro, how much more are you going to allow? Really, I think we all would like to know what your plan is to stop the bleeding. Did it really need to come to this?

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

THE HARTFORD COURANT WEIGHS IN ON CAVALIER CAVIAR



READ THE COURANT'S EDITORIAL HERE


NEXT GUN BUYBACK MAY, 18, 2013


A BAD WEEK FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF

Mayoral Chief of Staff Jared Kupiec, left
 
(sorry Dave, I know you hate this picture, but I don't know how many more opportunities I will get to use it)
 
First his sterling silver caviar spoon was yanked away and now his key fob for the HPD Gym is being taken back. It is turning out to be a bad week for Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra's Chief of Staff Jared Kupiec. Hartford's Internal Audit Commission today requested HPD's Chief James Rovella to recover Kupiec's key fob which allows him unrestricted access to the Public Safety Building as well as end his access privileges for the Hartford Police Gym and Exercise facility stating that "it raises the issue of fairness" granting access to Kupiec while excluding other employees.

Several Police Officers have contacted me regarding this stating that the workout area is where they go to "blow off steam" after their shifts and they felt uncomfortable talking freely with the Mayor's Chief of Staff listening to their conversations. I can't say I disagree. I might direct Mr. Kupiec to the downtown YMCA, they sell memberships there and with his salary he can well afford it.

The added benefit is that it is a half block from Max Downtown. There is nothing like a filet and a belly full of caviar after a good workout, except now he will have to pay for it himself

Below is the Auditors e-mail to Chief Rovella requesting his action:.

Subj: Access to the Public Safety Complex and Gymnasium


Chief Rovella:
This is to follow-up on our previous correspondence regarding the matter of Jared Kupiec’s access to the Public Safety Complex (PSC
1. Providing Mr. Kupiec access to the PSC gymnasium raises the issue of fairness in that it is granting this privilege to one, albeit high level City of Hartford employee, while excluding others. It was also brought to our attention, through the tip, that certain officers are concerned about discussing potentially sensitive case information and other Police matters in Mr. Kupiec’s presence.
2. There is also a question as to the need for Mr. Kupiec to have a separate key card to access the PSC. We understand that the front desk of the PSC is manned on a 24 hour, seven day a week, 365 day a year, basis. As a result, Mr. Kupiec could reasonably be granted access to the PSC on an as needed basis by the officers at the front desk.
In light of the above, we recommend that you discontinue granting gymnasium privileges to Mr. Kupiec. In addition, unless there are reasons that we are unaware of for Mr. Kupiec needing his own access card to the PSC, we recommend that you deactivate his access capabilities and recover his card.
Please let us know your plans and timeframe for addressing this matter. If you have any questions regarding this request or the above please let me know. Thank you.
Patrick Campbell

PRICELESS



You knew it was inevitavble, "Mayor Caviar the Cartoon" and yes. it is priceless. Click on the picture above to get the full view if the right column cuts it off

 Read Bob Englehart from the Courant's take on this here