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Thursday, August 9, 2018

WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH IN STATE TREASURER'S RACE ?

The heat is being turned up on the Connecticut State Treasurer's race and it has nothing to do with our current heatwave.

Shawn Wooden, the endorsed Democratic candidate, recently released a television add claiming his indignation over investments in the gun industry apparently made  by our current Treasurer, Denise Nappier. Wooden claimed further indignation by claims that he lost a family member to gun violence. Now let me say that any life lost to gun violence is tragic, but I think Wooden needs to be a little more transparent regarding the death of his family member.

Every action we take everyday has potential consequences, and any involvement with the drug trade increases the odds of being a victim of those consequences. Intruding on another drug dealers "turf" is not usually taken lightly and many times ends up with fatal consequences.


Last night I received an e-mail from someone affiliated with the campaign of Wooden's opponent , Dita Bhargrava, who seemed to show that Wooden\s history of indignation  with investments in the gun industry is only a recent development. The e-mail claims that Wooden has invested funds he handled through his current employer for the New Jersey State Public Pension Fund with  Black Rock Credit Investors. Black Rock apparently invested heavily with gun manufacturers, despite Wooden's indignation.

Here is the body of Dita Bhargrava\s e-mail:

I’m sending this email because I want to make sure you have all the facts. My opponent Shawn Wooden does not have the right experience to be Connecticut’s next State Treasurer.


During his tenure as Hartford’s City Council President, Shawn showed poor judgment and disregard for the people of his own city.

Shawn let Hartford slide toward financial bankruptcy, which is costing Connecticut taxpayers over half a billion dollars to bail out .

He pushed through the over-budget, disastrous Dunkin Donuts Stadium deal, and he even allowed a loophole in the living wage law preventing Connecticut residents from earning a living wage.

What’s worse even, is that Shawn touts his skill representing the NJ State Public Pension Fund with a $400 million investment in BlackRock Credit Investors. But what he doesn’t mention is that he engineered an additional investment into BlackRock — $144 million — to bail it out. The NJ Pension fund sustained $800 million in losses as a result of his risky investment. Nearly a billion dollars lost by Shawn Wooden. But Shawn’s firm collected millions of dollars in fees.

What’s equally disturbing about Shawn’s investment, is that BlackRock is among the biggest shareholders of gun manufacturers.



It’s completely misleading when you push an investment of half a billion dollars in gun manufacturing one year, then turn around and tell us you’re going to divest in guns now that you’re running

for office. It’s this kind of hypocrisy that people have come to expect from career politicians and what they’re voting against this year.
If Shawn is willing to mislead people in his campaign ads, how could we possible trust him with $32.5 billion in Connecticut’s funds?
- Dita



I know who I would trust to be telling the truth, and it most likely wouldn't be Shawn Wooden

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

HARTFORD CITY COUNCIL AGENDA PACKAGE FOR AUGUST 13, 2018 MEETING

STOP PLAYING WITH FIRE, LUKE



It boggled my mind when Luke Bronin tapped Hartford's Fire Chief Reginald Freeman to also fill in as Hartford's DPW Director to fill a vacancy almost two years ago.

Freeman came in to restore order to a troubled Hartford Fire Department that had been rocked by scandals, bad behavior and negative publicity. By most accounts I think he has held up his end of the bargain.

It made no sense to me that Mayor Bronin would then dilute Freeman's efforts by asking him to run a Department that probably had more than enough of its own problems at DPW. And even though Freeman was doing double the work to bail out his boss, Reggie\s paycheck apparently didn't  reflect his  double duty.

It is also confusing as to why we pay high priced salaries for "Deputy Directors" if those Deputies can't be called upon to run the Department short term when needed. Or are the Deputy slots just a way of hiding away friends  you want to reward with a City paycheck and great benefits?

There is no way a position such as the Director of Public Works should be left open for two years.

There is also no reason that the Hartford Fire Chief should be expected to fill in for both slots for two years or longer.

Reggie Freeman has shown that he is more than capable  to manage multiple, demanding tasks, and he has been a shining star  for the people of Hartford. Maybe shining a little too bright for an Administration that seems to have been  having trouble getting any light out from under its own self imposed bushel basket.

Reggie Freeman needs to return to his FULL TIME role as Hartford's Fire Chief and continue to do what he is best at and Luke Bronin  needs to concentrate on an finally building Administration that is not constantly  losing people. Our current Mayor seems to be unable to find and keep qualified people.

Bronin's turnover at Hartford City Hall would probably rival that of the Trump White House.

SHORT MEMORIES IN HARTFORD

It would be nice to have Hartford people representing us in Constitutional Offices at the State level.

But we can't just elect people because of where they live or who they know. Shawn Wooden's run for Treasurer is the perfect example.

Wooden may be able to pull off a con job with slick television ads, but all any voter has to do is look back on the "fine" job he did of nearly bankrupting the City of Hartford during his tenure as Council President. Will Shawn  Wooden use the same "due diligence" that he used when approving the Dillon Stadium deal and the Dunkin Donuts Park financing deal? If he does, get the Grand Jury room ready because it will be a revolving door.

Wooden couldn't even recognize a phony Barclay's letter of credit from a poorly drafted fax and now voters are expected to give him control of the State of Connecticut's finances? City resident's did a better job of digging into and exposing the con job than Wooden did.

Se what people are saying in the ad below from his challenger.

Friday, August 3, 2018

HARTFORD POLICE OFFICER ARRESTED AFTER DOMESTIC INCIDENT

53a-182 DISORDERLY CONDUCT CMisdemeanor 1 8/1/2018



Hartford Police Officer James Guzie was arrested Wednesday by East Windsor Police and charged with Disorderly Conduct after a Domestic disagreement in East Windsor..

Guzie was processed and released from Police Custody on a $1500.00 Non Surety Bond according to Judicial records.

Officer Guzie's next court date is Scheduled for August 22, 2018. Guzie is being represented by Hartford  Attorney Patrick   Tomasiewicz.

Guzie has been suspended as a Hartford Police Officer pending the disposition of this case.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FOR HARTFORD SCHOOLS TERMINATED AMID FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

Former Hartford Schools Executive  Director of Financial Management Joanna Laiscell ,left, and Hartford Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, right.


The Hartford Schools  Executive Director of Financial Management, Joanna Laiscell  was suspended for "unspecified" reasons on  March 21, 2018. Now, according to a termination letter obtained through an FOI request by "We the People", Laiscell has been terminated amid allegations of financial and insurance fraud.

The allegations of fraud are detailed in the letter below from Hartford Superintendent of Schools Leslie Torres-Rodriguez sent to Laiscell on July 12th informing Laiscell of her termination.

The letter also claims that Laiscell altered an e-mail regarding an audit of the Board's Health care plan that detailed that "an estimated 320 dependents may be removed from the plan as a result of the audit". According to the Superintendent's letter, Laiscell removed that sentence before forwarding the e-mail on to the Superintendent.

It is unclear why Laiscell would have removed that sentence from the e-mail. It is also unclear if those "320 dependents" were on the insurance plan as a result of poor record keeping and lack of over sight or as a result of fraud. Either way, it is a substantial amount of money to potentially cover 320 people for Health Insurance they were not entitled to.

Laiscell did not return calls for comment.

 It is also unclear at this time if this matter is being investigated by the Hartford Police for any criminal prosecution  It also unclear what efforts the Hartford Schools intend to make to recover the dollar amount of the alleged fraud.

 fraud.Termination Letter - Joanna Laiscell HPS 7-12-2018 by Kevin Brookman on Scribd