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Friday, February 14, 2014

HOLLYWOOD PEDRO: MAYBE A KEY TO A SNOWPLOW IS MORE APPROPRIATE

SATURDAY: MAYOR SEGARRA TO PRESENT JOHN LEGUIZAMO WITH KEY TO CITY
Comedian Comes to Burns Latino Academy to Raise Funds for Auditorium Renovation
--- NEWS AND COMMUNITY STATEMENT---
(February 14, 2014) Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra will present comedian and actor John Leguizamo with the Key to the City at a comedy event to benefit the Burns Latino Studies Academy. The show,  “A Night of Comedy With John Leguizamo will be held at the Burns School’s auditorium, and proceeds from the performance will help pay for improvements at the school. Tickets are $60 per person and are only available for purchase . Seating is limited to 450, and tickets will not be available at the door.

“It’s great that John Leguizamo has chosen to invest his time in support of Hartford’s youth,” said Mayor Segarra.

The event is being presented in partnership with the COMPASS Youth Collaborative Inc., a not-for-profit child and youth service organization that provides after-school enrichment, academic and recreational programs to Hartford school children.

ARE ANY OF THE MANAGERS AT CITY HALL CAPABLE OF MANAGING?

I would really like to see an internal audit occasionally that says things are going well and people are doing their jobs. Unfortunately , I don't anticipate that until there is a full clean sweep of City Hall, from the Mayor right on down.

Today another Internal Audit report was released detailing the deficiencies of collecting the funds due the City from special events. If the invoices are ever even billed, the collection rate seems to be very poor, yet we continue to allow the same groups to hold events without their previous bills ever being paid.

The report below speaks for itself. How many vehicle repairs could be completed if the money was collected or how many years could we fund the mounted patrol on $100,000.00.

This is the height of incompetence by the Mayor, his COO and others at City Hall.

What will be next for the Auditors to uncover?


Thursday, February 13, 2014

WORD OF THE DAY AT HARTFORD DPW...CURB TO CURB

React, React, React.

That is one of the big problems with the Segarra Administration. Everything is a reaction rather than any proactive approach or any vision

Today the catch phrase at DPW, and even with Segarra at his press conference , is "curb to curb"

My posting last night and the attached picture showed that it was apparently was a foreign concept to those entrusted to plowing our streets curb to curd. Here is last night's posting

Asked how the city was responding to complaints of roads still covered in snow from previous storms, Segarra said: "We are doing the best we can with what are successive snow storms. ... We're getting better at doing curb-to-curb [plowing]."

I sure hope we are getting better at it. If not we will all be driving down the double yellow line if we get much more snow.

PENNY WISE POUND FOOLISH



I understand that Hartford has tough budget issues, many are self imposed by the current Administration. The latest one may be the results of DPW Budget cuts. For years there as an attendant at "City Yard" the name for the DPW Facility on Jennings Road. That is where DPW vehicles are garaged as well as City vehicles repaired and maintained.

For many years the attendant fueled the police vehicles and checked fluid levels such as oil and engine coolant. Police Vehicles were regularly scheduled for service and oil changes. Now the e-mail above details that there is apparently no money available for repair of certain police vehicles, including one who "blew" the engine for lack of oil.

Before you start screaming that is the cops fault who drove it, engines don't lose that much oil in a day or two, if these vehicles were checked regularly, it would have been noticed long before it went dry. In many cases ,officers are immediately dispatched to calls when they begin their shift and may not even have time to go to service for fuel.

The prisoner van was a vehicle that was purchased with a 6 cylinder engine , over the opposition of those knowledgeable of the manner of use of the vehicle. The van is immediately outfitted with metal caging with almost jail cell type accessories to be able to securely carry persons arrested and then transported to jail. Add to the 2000 or so pounds of additional equipment the weight of 5 or 6 male prisoners and the van is well over it's recommended weight usage.

These are the type of crazy decisions that are made by City Hall everyday by people that are strictly bureaucrats and know nothing about what they are doing.

In the meantime, maybe some of the snow tow money from today could be allocated  to the "Cars that City Yard has no Money to Repair" Account.. Or maybe a few layoff notices to unnecessary staff members in the Mayor's Office could rectify the problem.

HARTFORD CITY COUNCIL PICKS NEW DEPUTY CHIEFS

Well, at least one of them. Three new Deputy Chiefs for HPD were picked today by Chief Rovella. According to sources, the Council approval and funding for the three slots were contingent upon strings placed on the approval by at least one Councilperson. Again, according to sources, the Councilperson provided HPD with three names that had to be promoted if the money was going to be approved without a fight..

Two of the names on the Councilpersons list though were ineligible for promotion based upon their current rank. Apparently to be promoted to Deputy Chief, you must be at least a lieutenant or higher. The one name on the list that was eligible  to be promoted  was actually promoted.

The announcement that was released today by Chief Rovella. He apparently stated that "after discussions with Assistant Chief Heavren" he was appointing Lieutenant's Brian Foley, Dustin Rendock and Rob Ford to the position of Deputy Chief.. Don't ask who Heavren is, it is a long story.

Foley will continue in the Detective Division as Deputy Chief of the Investigative Services Bureau (ISB). Foley also serves as the Department spokesperson and is expected to continue in that position. Ford will apparently assume responsibility for the North District. That area is currently supervised by Deputy Chief Neville Brooks. Brooks has recently been doing double duty supervising the Central and North Districts. Lt.Rendock will assume the Professional Standards Division  which is currently working on accreditation standards for HPD.

All three promotions are expected to take effect as of Sunday.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

IGNORANCE IS BLISS...EXCEPT DURING A SNOW PARKING BAN

Can anyone in the City of Hartford say they are not aware that as soon as any snow accumulation is predicted, Mayor Segarra calls for a Parking Ban on City Streets? Tonight the ban is beginning probably 12 hours before the first flakes will begin piling up.

Better safe than sorry. Segarra doesn't want to risk any City hall employees or their boyfriend's, partner's, significant others  crashing anymore City Vehicles in snowy weather. Even though the Council issued their decree on use of City Vehicles, I am not sure that is being followed.

But anyway, I think we jumped the gun on the timing of this parking ban, but if it makes the Mayor feel as though he has some power, so be it. And this gives his Director of Misinformation something to do, she sure isn't replying to e-mails requesting information from the Mayor's Office.

The Director of Misinformation may want to google flag etiquette though. Yesterday she sent out a press release that Segarra had ordered all flags flown at half staff. The Mayor has no authority to do that, only the President, the Governor of any State and the Mayor of Washington DC can order flags flown at half staff. But when do the rules matter in Hartford.

Back to my topic, people really need to pay attention to the parking bans. The almost $200.00 cost to retrieve your vehicle is crazy. If street parkers haven't realized yet, HPD is taking the parking bans seriously and sending a message. Clear the streets of your vehicles or pay the cost.

There is no excuse... the message is out and last snowstorm, almost 1,000 parking tickets were issued by HPD. That is almost $100,000 in revenue  for the City, if collected. That is a big if ,since many of the vehicles are unregistered , misused plates or in some cases stolen and dumped on the street.(NOTE TO COUNCIL- It might make sense to put some of that ticket revenue back into the PD Budget, since the entire cost for writing those tickets is borne through the HPD Budget. How many months could the Mounted Unit be supported by $50,000 in ticket revenue and tomorrow should be another ticket frenzy that could add another $50,000 . Just a thought)

Bottom line is to pay attention to the ban or pay the price. In the meantime, don't bother patronizing any  Hartford businesses with on street parking tonight because chances are good your car won't be there when you come out, and if it is it will probably have a $100.00 ticket on it