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Sunday, April 10, 2016

OUT OF CONTROL

Illegal ATV's on Albany Avenue at Sigourney Street Sunday afternoon. Note the reckless Quad on the left going against traffic head-on

More quads and ATV's up on I-84 near Flatbush  Avenue on ramp Sunday Afternoon. Do you think we have a problem. Who will be the first to die in a  crash? An innocent motorist going out of control on 84 or a quad operator doing a wheelie on Albany Avenue?

This one of those things that I am not sure what the solution is, but there has to be a solution.

Hartford's ATV problem. The warm weather is here so the ATV's are back out. Sunday was a near constant rumbling of the obnoxious operators and their illegal vehicles on Hartford's streets. It  is not only a quality of life issue, but also a safety issue for both the illegal reckless operators as well as the legal vehicles using Hartford's streets competing with the ATV's.

Most of these operators have no regard for their own safety as well as those on the streets. The wheelies and weaving in and out of traffic  with no regard for anyone else is unacceptable. Do we need to wait for some fools death or them causing someone elses death before we make a serious attempt  to curtail their use?

The police  are pretty much rendered helpless under their current orders to stop this nonsense. The vehicles aren't registered so there is no plate to trace back to an address Police are forbidden from chasing the vehicle, but in the mean time they are allowed to tear up our parks and jeopardize our streets.  The ATV's were even up on I-84 this afternoon.  This is a recipe for disaster when one of them goes head to head with a tractor trailer or cartwheels out of control at 50 MPH .

Are we the only City facing this , or how is this problem dealt with in  other locations?

UPDATE: 7:25PM: Here is a news article I found from this past Thursday. This is how Washington D.C. is dealing with the problem. It sounds like it would work here also http://dailycaller.com/2016/04/07/dc-police-crack-down-on-illegal-atvs-on-city-streets-and-sidewalks/

HPD PARTNERING WITH MAKE-A-WISH



On Saturday April 9, 2016, the Hartford Police Department Traffic Division under the Supervision of Lieutenant Rob Allan and Sergeant John Bremser  partnered with the Make A Wish Foundation to fulfill a dream for an amazing young girl.

The young girl, Carly from Granby had her Make-A-Wish granted with a vacation in London and France. The Hartford Police Traffic Division was honored to provide her with a dignitary escort on her way to the airport.

Thanks to the Make-A Wish Foundation, Connecticut, and NBC Connecticut and the Hartford Police Traffic Division for giving Carly a sendoff fit for a princess.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

SOMETHING POSITIVE FOR THE WEEKEND: HPD "STUFF A CRUISER WITH FOOTWEAR FOR THE HOMELESS"




A great effort by Officer Barrett and Officer Otero and all of those involved.


WEST HARTFORD, April 9-The goal Saturday is to stuff a Hartford Police cruiser with urgently needed shoes for homeless children and adults in Hartford. Taking place from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Fleet Feet, the event kicks off a new  program to bring  footwear and foot care to Hartford's homeless .

Called "Footwear with Care," it partners Fleet Feet of West Hartford http://www.fleetfeethartford.com/,  the nonprofit Community Partners in Action http://www.cpa-ct.org/, the Connecticut Podiatric Medical Association http://www.cpma.org/, and Hartford Police Department. Though decent clothing is often available through charitable organizations,
footwear is not.  And when it is, it's often in poor condition. Foot care, too is in short supply.  "Footwear with Care" is aiming to change all
that.

On Saturday, Fleet Feet is offering to donate a new pair of shoes for every $25 donated to the program. "Like new" donations of children and
adult shoes also will be accepted.

"Footwear with Care" was inspired by Hartford police officer, Jim Barrett, an Iraqi War veteran and advocate for the city's homeless. Moved by a homeless vet, whose only shoes were a pair of disintegrating flips-flops, Officer Barrett bought him some new sneakers. He will be at Saturday's event.


Homeless children and adults are referred by Hartford police officers, directors of homeless shelters, and Community Partners in Action through its work with individuals recently reintegrated into the community and the
Community Service Program that it operates at Hartford Community Court.
Community Partners in Action administers the program, getting and fitting donated shoes to children and adults. Though Saturday is the program's formal launch, it has been operating since February, putting 80 pairs of shoes and boots onto the feet of our most vulnerable population.

As part of the program, the Connecticut podiatry association is also holding foot screening clinics; its first is April 23 at Holy Trinity Church in Hartford. Participants also will receive new shoes, socks and personal  care items.

Others supporting the effort are  Footprints of Newington, Mickey Finn's, REI, RisCassi & Davis, PC, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Asics, the North Face, Saucony, and New Balance.

Friday, April 8, 2016

A PATTERN OF ABUSE, DECEPTION AND COVERUP AT HARTFORD SCHOOLS

My phone and e-mail has been very active the last day and a half. I have probably received over twenty calls from people giving me information, names , and documents depicting the pattern of behavior of Eduardo Genao. Most troubling though is the pattern of deception and cover-up depicted by the documents and the callers themselves.

Genao's predatory behavior was apparently well known to those in power at the Board of Education as well as his co-workers. Many of those co-workers were uncomfortable with Genao's behavior and were shut down whenever they tried to report his activity.

The activity was apparently evident as far back as 2006 at Sports Sciences Academy  when it was located on Asylum Street in Downtown Academy. Several female employees have told me they were uncomfortable with Genao's behavior and at least two of them left the Hartford Schools to seek other employment to get away from Genao.

Internal documents received today promise to only be the tip of the iceberg into Genao's predatory behavior. As you look at the documents below, it is not about transparency, it is more about continuing the cover up and deception to protect a predator. The extensive redactions serve no purpose under the law, and with the exception of information identifying a student, most of the redactions appear to be illegal with no basis in statutory exemptions outlined in the Freedom of Information Act.

As you read through , you will see that most of the redactions are blacked out to remove any identifiers that would allow for follow up for additional information  with those complaining.

I am not sure why the Hartford Board of Education would go out of their way to protect a sexual predator preying on a child. Isn't the Superintendent a parent also?

Pedro Zayas, the spokesperson for the Board of Education has not returned any of my calls to his office, cell phone or even text messages on this matter.  I guess maybe he was trained by Dr. Ngoudou on how not to return calls. I also find it hard to believe that there has been no strong response from either the Superintendents or the Mayor's Office  expressing their disgust with this matter and promising to get to the bottom of it.It is also interesting that Mr. Zayas and Kelvin Roldan apparently don't consider me legit, over 5,000 people have read my postings regarding Eduardo Genao in the last 36 hours.

In stark comparison, I have nothing but praise for the Hartford Police who launched an investigation immediately after learning of the matter Monday. HPD actually sent to detectives to New York in a snowstorm  Monday to interview the victim and her mother. Luckily HPD wasn't having a busy day and too hectic to get involved ,as was Dr. Ngoudou from the Superintendent's Office.

And to all of those people who have contacted me in the last day or so, my sincere heartfelt thanks. I understand your fears of potential harassment and retaliation that you have described, but sometimes you have to stand up and do the right thing Predators like Eduardo Genao can not be allowed to prey upon children in our schools. And for anyone wishing to provide additional information in confidence, I can be reached at 860-883-2297 or krbrookman@earthlink.net. This is far from over .


Eduardo Genao HBOE

The only good thing to come out of this mess , so far, is Eduardo Genao's resignation letter below. Even his resignation letter shows his high level of professionalism. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt, the Police may have had already seized his computer for evidence, resulting in the handwritten scrawled note. It is also interesting someone took the time to stamp the letter "CONFIDENTIAL". I guess that is all part of their cover up mentality. The document is a public document and available to anyone who asks to see it.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

THE PERSISTENCE OF CALLOUS LEADERSHIP

Even though Kelvin Roldan and Pedro Zayas from the Hartford Board of Education apparently don't consider me a real Journalist. Doctor Aaron Lewis does. Dr. Lewis runs the Scribe Institute in Hartford and was instrumental in working with me to bring forward the story of an alleged  pedophile and  sexual predator Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Hartford.

Doctor Lewis saw the power and potential of my blog, and last night he sat down and started his own blog posting to help get his message out.

Here is a link to his first posting on the Scribe Institute's website. In this posting he lays out the details that  led to the allegations against the predator Super, Eddie Genao.

http://thescribesinstitute.org/the-persistence-of-callous-leadership/

Take a few minutes to check out the website and learn more about the Scribe Institute when you check out Doctor Lewis's blog

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE PREDATOR SUPERINTENDENT

I tried to keep yesterdays posting regarding Eduardo Genao to the facts that were available. Now I am going to post some of my thoughts that I hope will display my strong sense of disgust with the Hartford Board of Education and their handling of this matter.

Where do I begin? In the words of one Hartford Board of Education official, they "dropped the ball" on this one. That is putting it lightly to say the least.

I can not think of any greater trust than that placed in those responsible for the care of children and the children they care for..

Hartford Assistant Superintendent of Schools Eduardo Genoa is innocent until proven guilty, but if our system  really works,  that Justice will come swiftly and be severe. My phone and e-mail have been swamped today with people that are claiming to be victims of Genao as well as others that have outlined a pattern of deception by those in power at the Board of Education that have been complicit in the cover-up of Genao's behavior.

At least two callers depicted a pattern of abuse that had allegedly begun when Genao was in the New York City Schools and apparently some in Hartford were aware of this when he departed NYC and landed in his new hunting ground of Hartford, Connecticut. According to sources that behavior continued in the Hartford Schools. and first manifested itself at the Sports Sciences Academy when it was on Asylum Street in downtown Hartford.  Genao's activities there  apparently continued and after a complaint by a student's parent he was taken away from Children and moved into the Adult Education program on Washington Street.

Similar to a heroin addict craving their next fix, Genao continued his behavior there and was accused of improper behavior with a staff person. He was then shuffled off to the Superintendents Office. Unfortunately, even being buried away in  the Super's Office did not curtail his activities. He still found a  way to continue his predatory behavior until that behavior was revealed publicly yesterday. Does any of this sound like another organization that had a history of shuffling their pedophiles around to avoid detection?

Why? Why is it so difficult to hold pedophiles accountable and bring them to justice. Is it because they are in positions of authority? Is it because they wear clerical garb and collars or hold the title of Superintendent of Schools ? Is it because we want to believe that they could never prey on the same children they are entrusted to protect and nurture?

I don't need to pat myself on the back here, but when I received the call last Monday about Genao's behavior, I dropped everything.  The sense of urgency to stop the potential abuse of a child was my first priority. My phone call to Deputy Chief Foley was made within minutes, if not seconds. Chief Foley's response was very similar I am sure. The wheels of Justice were set in motion immediately

I guess as I found out more facts my discomfort with the situation increased, as well as my disgust with the hierarchy of the Hartford Board of Education, specifically  the Superintendents Office.. I have said for a very long time that the Hartford Schools are not about educating children, it is clearly more about making very good salaries for the people at the top. This incident proves that.

Doctor Aaron Lewis , who first attempted to bring this situation to light, probably could have been more aggressive in his reporting attempts. Without making excuses for his actions, it is an are none of us have much experience in and hopefully never will have. How do you report and stop a predator.

My real disgust begins with Doctor Gislaine Ngounou a Hartford Assistant Superintendent of Schools who proves my earlier theory about the Hartford Schools being more about high salaries than about children and education. From a webpage on the University of Hartford website describing Dr .Ngounou, she is quoted as saying "Through her work with the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools, she discovered her true calling: to dedicate her life’s work to improving opportunities and outcomes for young people and communities, especially those that have been marginalized and under served. Ngounou believes in the power of education, organizing, teamwork, narrative and self-empowerment—to help individuals and communities transform themselves, and to bring about a more socially just world.

This is the same person who was having a "hectic" day and was too busy to act when confronted by the allegations of improper contact with a student that Dr. Lewis tried to inform her of on March 22, 2016. To see more of Dr. Ngounou's profile, click here

Even more troubling is the fact that Ngounou also functions as the Chief of Staff for Hartford's Superintendent of Schools Dr. Beth Schiavino-Narvaez Apparently Ngounou never notified Narvaez of the allegations against Genao. That seems to be the height of irresponsible behavior and makes me wonder why Ngounou is even there. Clearly it is not to protect the children and definitely not to assist the Superintendent. There is a $180,000 budget cut I could recommend immediately and Ngounou should do the right thing and resign today and join Eddie Genao in the unemployment line and quite possibly in court as a defendant for their behavior.

There needs to be a wholesale investigation as to what happened and who swept what under the rug and a complete housecleaning of the people at 960 Main Street that need to understand that they are there for the children, not the salaries.

And it appears that the arrest of Eddie is imminent. Justice for the child victims.