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Thursday, December 31, 2015

THE FLOOD GATES ARE OPENING, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

 I guess I am not the only one optimistic and hopeful about the future of Hartford.

The last couple of days have seen my volume of phone calls greatly increase with information. Most of those calls have been from people involved or knowledgeable of City operations . They all know I protect my sources, but it still takes guts to make the call.

Whether it is about pay raises going under the radar for the HR Director or last minute spending by the acting Assistant Fire Chief. ( For some reason that Acting Assistant Fire Chief may soon be named Acting Chief until the replacement for Huertas arrives. Again , why I am not sure  because sources have told me actively campaigned for Segarra with the rank and file) Burt back to my point, apparently the Acting Assistant Chief has been spending money the last couple weeks like a drunken sailor ( sorry to any sailors) in an effort to circumvent any belt tightening that is expected by a new Administration.

I am also being told that Fire Chief Huertas's last day with HFD will be January 13th, 2016. His replacement  will take office January 25th reportedly. That only leaves HFD with two weeks under direct Union control and the acting Chief..

Many of the tips received recently are still in the process of being researched and obtaining documents. So if you haven't seen your info posted here yet, rest assured I am working on them. I appreciate all of your help. None of this would be possible without your help. In closing, a new Administration does not mean your diligence is no longer need. We heard the word "accountability"
quite often during the campaign, and even though things appear to be  going in the right direction, proper accountability will keep that progress moving.

Thank you all again, readers and contributors and commenter's alike, A  healthy and Happy New Year to you all. And special best wishes to our New Mayor Luke Bronin and especially his family who will have to put up with his call to service once again.

And to our new Council Members, never forget the great trust the people of Hartford have placed in you. Never let them down but more importantly, never forget why you are there

HARTFORD'S CRIME PROBLEMS: DID ANYONE SEE IT COMING?

The short and quick answer is yes.

Through an FOI request to HPD I had asked for documentation on any requests related to Police Staffing and the need to hire police officers in Hartford.

The responsive documents went back as far as 2013, when Chief James Rovella and his staff began raising the red flags for City Hall. The e-mails and documents from the request are rather voluminous, but they portray the scene of a Council and Mayor that should have been fully aware of the ramifications that drops in staffing would cause.

I guess it came down to priorities, and apparently shootings and homicides were not a priority.  If only some of the money that was disbursed through apparent fraud for the Dillon Stadium project and the debt that has been and will continue to be incurred by the Yard Goats project had actually been put into priorities, imagine how different things might be. How many families would still be celebrating holidays and the lives of loved ones taken by crime?

 It makes me wonder why we spend the money on a Police Chief and his Command Staff if the Council and Mayor choose to disregard his professional advice.


How many homicides could have been prevented if only Chief Rovella's proposal had been properly considered by Council President Wooden and Councilman Kennedy. If the money wasn't there for hiring, that is one thing. But if the money was there and instead  funneled to sweetheart deals like Dillon Stadium, that is shameful, and may actually prove criminal as the Grand Jury results move forward.

The documents are voluminous, but they interesting reading and show the number of attempts by HPD to get City Hall to see the light and avoid the impending disaster of an understaffed Police Department. Its where we are today and we are now paying the price for inaction by our so called "leaders"

I can only hope the next City Council and Mayor pay attention to Chief Rovella's recommendations.

All that we are asking  is give Peace a chance

For more on Police staffing, you can read the consultants report below



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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

COLLATERAL DAMAGE ?

I fully understand the severe housecleaning that is going on at Hartford City Hall. It is long overdue and I commend Luke Bronin for hitting the ground running. We need it.

Word this afternoon is that Darryl, COO is out. That makes sense since Hill was supposedly in charge of the oversight of many of Hartford's bad deals. He also serves on the Stadium Authority, supervising a project that is at least $10 million over budget and most likely much more by opening day. Hill was a signatory on most of the Dillon Stadium payments now being investigated by a Federal Grand Jury.

Word is that Hill cleaned out his City Hall Office this past weekend.

Kejuan Dillard is another City Hall staffer shown the door, long overdue. Dillard began his career with the City after great success in putting up lawn signs during the first Eddie Perez campaign. His reward was a high paying job in the former Mayor's Office.Dillard then went on to prove his benefit to the taxpayers of Hartford by neglecting to bill contractors for more than $3 million dollars in invoices for City services provided by HPD and other agencies for special events.

 Nelky Maldonado , the daughter of State Representative Millie Gonzalez has also been shown the door. Nelky landed in the Segarra Office just in time for campaign season. She has been bouncing around City Hall for years but could never find her niche, but having Minnie as your mother apparently equals job security... until now.

Several other separations from City service I can fully understand and appreciate.

One I can't understand is the reported termination of Licenses and Inspections Director Dan Loos. I don't know if it is fallout from the Deller fiasco. But I know Dan Loos as the ultimate professional in his department. My relationship with Loos could have been a very difficult.

As an outspoken critic of City Hall, it could have potentially put me in a difficult  position as a licensed contractor that needs to obtain electrical permits from L&I to get my "real" job done. It had been a problem in the past, but never under Dan Loos. He always seemed to be very professional and never political.

Under Loos, building permits that used to take months to get now just took days .Inspections for completed jobs now took a matter of hours to get scheduled and have an inspector show up, not weeks.

Several advancements took place under Loos's direction that helped to make Hartford appear as a business friendly City. One project currently under way between Loss , L&I and MHIS is the on-line permitting process. This was supposed to be "live" sometime in February. Who knows now.

Loos could frequently be seen around the City on nights and weekends checking on permitted projects like block parties and other events to make sure they were in compliance with their permits.

There may be reasons I am not aware of, but Dan Loos always appeared to me to be the type of City employee we would want.

WILL HR DIRECTOR BURGOS NOW FOLLOW ADAM CLOUDS LEAD?

After a public(and political outcry) Hartford Treasurer Adam Cloud today announced that he will be giving up and repaying any payment already received of his $20,000.00 pay increase. The increase raised many questions about the process, but now at least one more raise issued to a department head should be raising some red flags and even more questions about the process.

It now appears that Hartford's Human Resources Director is not immune to the pay raise bug. It appears that HR Director Henry  Burgos has received several raises in his short tenure with the City of almost  $20,000.00. Actually close to the amount received by Cloud. Burgos was a vocal critic of the Cloud raise, but apparently has no trouble keeping his own pay bumps quiet.

In documents uncovered today by 'We the People" , Burgos received a pay increase shortly after being hired.

Burgos was apparently given a pay raise of  $4,000 shortly after being hired , 4 months later was given another $10,000 raise , 6 months later he was given anther $3,000 raise for a total of $17,000 in less than 2 years

Burgos's pay raises have totaled $17,000 in the short time he has been with the city, only a couple thousand less than the $20, 000 raise Cloud proposed for himself. Burgos's raises also don't have any air of transparency around them either.

Burgos was originally hired at a salary of $140,000. but in a very short time increased his annual salary to  almost $160,000 according to the City's documents. That would put Burgos on par with the City Treasurer's salary if the Treasurer hadn't done the right thing and given up his increase.

The HR Department has approximately 16 employees. That is far less than the Police Department at over 400 sworn and Civilian employees and the Fire Department with similar numbers, yet Burgos is being paid substantially more than either the Fire Chief or Police Chief.

It is unclear at this time what process was followed for Burgos's raises. Did he do it himself or did someone higher up sign off on the raises and why? The City's "form B" which will show who initiated the raises and who signed off on them have been requested but haven't been provided as of yet.

And why should Adam Cloud be any different than Henry Burgos .

And if that isn't enough, I'll be looking at Henry Burgos's travel records , his recent trip to Las Vegas ,with him and his secretary on the City's dime, another interesting travel companion, also paid for by the City and the potential connection to the Dillon Stadium Grand Jury and James Duckett.

Stay tuned.


HARTFORD TREASURER ADAM CLOUD'S STATEMENT ON RESCINDING HIS RAISE

Hartford City Treasurer Adam Cloud today issued a statement that he will not be taking a raise after much discussion amongst City Hall politicos and media. Cloud's statement is below followed by the statement of Mayor elect Bronin and a request for the Internal Audit Commission to investigate the circumstances of the raise from outgoing Councilperson Ken Kennedy.

Thank you Adam for doing the right thing.






Mayor-elect Luke Bronin today released the following statement: 

"I'm glad that Treasurer Cloud has made the decision to reject the raise and reimburse the taxpayers.  It’s clearly the right decision.  I’ve had conversations with Treasurer Cloud, and he recognizes that whether or not the raise was legal and whether or not a raise was justifiable, the process was simply not transparent or proper.  Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability, and while the Treasurer is fully entitled to ask the City Council to review his compensation in the future, there needs to be an open, thorough process before the public eye.  As I prepare to take office, I plan to lead by example.  Under the City Charter, the Mayor’s salary is set at the level of a Superior Court Judge, which would be $167,634 at the beginning of a new term.  As we prepare make hard choices to address a substantial budget deficit, I will work as many days unpaid as are necessary throughout the year to return $20,000 of my salary to the taxpayers, so that my salary will remain at the level of $147,600."



Tuesday, December 29, 2015

JUST A THOUGHT

 In this morning's Courant there was an article by Steve Goode about last nights Council resolution to rescind Adam Clouds raise. The author of that resolution, Councilman Ken Kennedy was quoted in the article.

"Kennedy said that if the raise is not challenged, the city's credibility with voters and staff members will be called into question and a precedent will be set for department heads to award themselves raises that are buried in their department budgets or have them approved clandestinely."

Does the Councilman not think that dirty deals like Dillon Stadium and the Yard Goats Stadium have  not eroded trust and confidence in Hartford City Hall. The Dillon Stadium deal has actually led to an investigation by a Federal Grand Jury and may actually ensnare more in Hartford City Government and damage "credibility with voters".  And not just voters, all Hartford residents as well as our suburban neighbors  as well .

And as I recall, weren't the Yard Goats approved "clandestinely".

Just a thought,