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Thursday, December 24, 2015

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

NOW IS NOT THE TIME ADAM, PLEASE

Many of you have talked to me personally about my support for our City Treasurer Adam Cloud. Adam took a lot of heat over the O'Garro insurance payment matter. In conversations he explained to me, and I agree, it was poor decisions on his part. It was also because the entire chain of procedural errors throughout City Hall led to the mess. It wasn't just the Treasurer's Offices that slipped up .It was the whole process. The COO, the Finance Director, the Comptroller, they were all asleep at the switch , or in legal terms, co-conspirators

And as a sidenote, if there was criminal involvement by Adam Cloud in the payment, I kind of think it would have come out before O'Garro's Federal trial where incidentally he was convicted on all counts of the frauds he was charged with.

But unfortunately, poor decisions in the Treasurers Office are once again rearing their ugly head. Adam Cloud is being criticized for the reported $20,000 raise he is taking  since his re-election. This is one decision I can not support. Yes, everyone is entitled to a salary. Adam does manage a large amount of money, especially with the City Pension Funds. But it is called Public Service for a reason. If the Treasurers salary of roughly $140,000 isn't enough, then Mr. Cloud needs to make a decision if it might be time to return to the private sector where the sky is the limit.

There are far worse choices that could be at the helm in the Treasurer's Office .We should be thankful that Adam and his knowledge are managing Hartford's finances.

Giving ones self a raise of $20,000 is not conducive to trust in government. Compounding that is the fact that no one is willing to give a solid explanation how it was slid through under the budgetary radar. I doubt vey much Cloud can tell Payroll to boost his salary by 20 grand on his own. Did the COO or the HR Director help slide it through ,or maybe someone in the Budget Office thought they could bury the increase in the budget?

Yes, the Treasurer is an important position in City Finances and City government , but no more important than other Department Heads . To the best of my knowledge no other Department Head is slated for a 20 grand raise this year.

And for a city that is quite possibly close to a State takeover or bankruptcy, Clouds raise is bad policy. How do we continue to ask employees for concessions at budget time every year and also ask most Departments to do more with less.

It is time for all of  those in City leadership, including Mr. Cloud to lead by example  and get a grip on reality. Mr. Clouds raise is more than many of the household incomes in our City, and it is a bad start for his new term.

Please reconsider this move Adam.

In the meantime, the Hartford City Council may be taking action at Monday nights meeting to stop the raise.

LET PEOPLE KNOW YOU APPRECIATE THEM

On July 5th of this year after suffering my stroke, I have had plenty of time to think about things I would have done differently in my life. Did I take the time to tell people in my life how much I appreciated them?

 I want to draw attention to someone today. Someone I hardly even know, but someone I am also very impressed with. The video below is a video this person posted today on his Facebook page. This young man lost his father way too early to Cancer. But despite that loss of his father, he has grown into a young man that his father, if he was still alive today would be extremely proud of. . He is leading his life as an example that many of our youth should emulate.

From what I understand he is currently attending college and when he completes that he will be entering the United States  Marine Corps. From what I am told he is also showing public service to his home community as a firefighter with the Town of Wethersfield. Just a look at his Facebook page will tell you how well he was raised with a strong emphasis on family, community and service to his Country.

Michael Fallon Jr. is that young man, the son of the late HPD Assistant Police Chief  and Capitol Police Chief Michael Fallon.

The way Michael has grown despite the loss of his father should be the way every parent would want their children to enter adulthood. As tragic as the 9/11 video below is, I can picture Mike Fallon performing very similar acts if called upon. It is just the way he was raised.

All of our young people, especially in Hartford, could take a message from Fallon's life. Putting a 9mm handgun  in your pocket and acting like a tough guy does not make a man. A man is judged by his everyday acts and the service to his community. Michael Fallon jr. is well on the way to meet those marks and I am sure his father is proud as he watches the growth of his son,

Even though I don't know you well Michael Fallon, keep it up, we need more young men like you and Welles Crowther, the young hero portrayed in the you tube video below.. This video is very moving and thought provoking and as tragic as the ending was, you can tell Welles parents  thought, and still think the world of him. They clearly raised him right.



Monday, December 21, 2015

RESTORING PRIDE IN HFD AND SOME CHRISTMAS SPIRIT


The first in a new HFD tradition, Engine 8 /Tac 1 on Park St
The view from my bedroom window, Engine 5 on Sigourney St

The last few nights, I have noticed the view from my bedroom window has changed. My neighbor across the street, Hartford Fire Department Station, Engine 5 has been lit with bright Christmas lights. It seems as though more lights and decorations have been added for the last couple nights.

I never noticed the decorations in years past. On Saturday there was an accident by my driveway and Engine 5 was on scene providing EMS care. I noticed the engine was decorated showing holiday spirit, complete with a large wreath and tinsel.

My curiosity got the best of me and I started asking questions about the decorations. I was told that it was a social media campaign started by Hartford Fire Lieutenant Raul Ortiz on his Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/raul.ortiz.5494 After the decorations were complete on Lt. Ortiz's Engine 8 on Park Street. Lt. Ortiz threw out the challenge to the other  Hartford Firehouses  to start a friendly competition to show their Holiday Spirit and to build morale in the Department.

It seems to be catching on and it is amazing how little things can show leadership. The Hartford Fire Department has been through a couple of tough years. Maybe ideas by leaders like Lt Ortiz can jump start the rebuilding efforts (well, that and a new Chief)

Congratulations to Lieutenant Ortiz for your efforts and also for showing that Hartford does have pride.

The sad part is that the way this Department has been run recently and the poor decision making at  the top, Ortiz will probably get a 90 suspension for unauthorized  use of electricity.

If any other house would like to send me decoration pictures, e-mail them to me and I will post them.

COUNTDOWN TO A NEW BEGINNING

  A reader earlier this evening posted a question for me on the blog. "Kevin- I know this is slightly off topic. Do you have any opinion on mayor-elect Bronin's first round of appointments that were announced today? "

I have to say ,quite honestly, I have no opinion on those announced so far. I am encouraged that there are names that I am not familiar with.  What we really need at City hall is a new way of doing business , and that is only going to come with new ideas and fresh people at the helm.

I have to say that one of the first things I find very encouraging is that Luke appears to be ready to hit the ground running. Unlike our current Mayor who many times seemed as though he couldn't make a decision if his life depended on it. Think about how many "acting" Directors we had in key management positions. Maybe that is why there never seemed to be a lot of managing going on.

Name one position in the Corporate world that would allow a position like that of our embattled Fire Chief to go unchanged after the history of mismanagement and poor decision making that we have seen the last couple years.

From the Finance Director  who apparently kept receipts in a shoebox on a shelf  to the COO who had no problem signing off on numerous apparently fraudulent invoices for duplicate work or work that was never done in the first place. The next Administration needs consistency. Key positions can not be left vacant for extended periods like Segarra was always ready to do.

Many of our problems under Pedro Segarra could have been averted with basic management principles and adherence to policy and procedures, many of which were already in place, just never followed.

People throughout City Government should be mentored ,trained and groomed for advancement. That is a basic business management concept. If any one of us drops dead tomorrow, it is nice to know that work continues on, that is called proper management. And most City Departments are staffed by good people who just want to be properly managed. We haven't seen that in recent years, whether it is the Fire Department  DPW or the Public Safety Dispatch Center, supervision and management is key.

We also need to bring sound customer service concepts back to City Government. Phones need to be answered, calls need to be returned and most importantly, constituents need to feel as though they are being listened to and respected by their government. When a resident is promised a response, they deserve that appropriate response on a timely basis. Not everyone can be kept happy. Being in business myself I realize that, but I wouldn't have remained in the same business for over 25 years if I treated my customers like City Hall treats many of its customers.

With the number of cell phones, laptops, I-pads and communication devices paid for each month by the City, there should never be an excuse that "no one ever got back to me"

Although 311 seems to be managed better now that it has been placed under the umbrella of MHIS, I am sure there is still room for improvement. When people call 311, the results need to be tracked and followed up on. With technology today, there is no excuse for residents saying "no one got back to them" when they have called. ( as a sidenote, MHIS is probably one of the best run departments in City Government with progressive ideas and a real interest to be part of the solution with their "out of the box" thinking)

 Unfortunately those unhappy customers, especially on the the business and corporate side , and to some degree our residents, voice their disgust by leaving the City. We can no longer afford that. We need to send a clear message that we are open for business and we want you to grow and rebuild with us.

That growth is going to rest on the shoulders of our new Mayor and to a large part on the Council and the support they give him to complete his rebuilding tasks. We also need to all play a  role in that effort and make others realize the foundation that we have here to build on.

It is not going to be an easy job, we all have a lot of work to do. Now lets give it a chance. Keep an open mind but also don't be afraid to hold those at the top accountable. This needs to be a true partnership if we are going to make it work. At this stage, failure is not an option.


Sunday, December 20, 2015

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO....


Hartford's outgoing Mayor, Pedro Segarra "I am ready for my close up"

And the Oscar goes to Pedro Segarra for playing the best supporting role of a caring Mayor during a Campaign.

Everyday I realize that the voters in Hartford made the right chose in ushering in a change in the Mayor's Office and showing Pedro Segarra the door.

Segarra did do a good acting job during a tough fought campaign, but fortunately the majority of Hartford voters showing up at the polls on election day realized that, and voted for change.

Can you remember before the election? Pedro Segarra was at every fire, every shooting, every homicide. His incessant tweets about his love for the City and its people would have been annoying  if you didn't see the comedy aspect of his act.

It became almost a nightly occurrence on the news, Segarra parading in front of the television cameras playing the caring shepherd comforting his flock of wayward sheep as he travelled around a troubled City.

But , alas, all good things must come to an end. ( I guess the phony bad things also) Since 8:00PM on election day, no more tweets, nor more 11:00PM comforting news shots, nothing.  Did Segarra flick the switch off on his love for the City or did his twitter account get shut down after the election? Hartford has had plenty of shootings and homicides since election day, sot it is not for a lack of grandstanding opportunities.

I think poor Pedro was aware that his "acting" career as well as his political career was over. Time to call it a day and move on. The old saying "may the best man win" came true and we now realize we made the right choice.