MORE MUGSHOT UPDATES

Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson, Republican, will be making her next appearance at Hartford Superior Court to answer her corruption arrest on September 24, 2010 at 10:00am. It is expected that she will accept or reject a plea deal offered by the State at that time.



Abe Giles, also arrested as a result of the Perez Corruption Investigation is scheduled to appear next in court on October 20, 2010 at 10:00am

PEREZ SENTENCING DATE MOVED

The September 10, 2010 date that had been set for the sentencing of former Mayor Eddie A. Perez after his felony convictions, has apparently been moved back a few days to September 14, 2010 at 10:00am.The updated information appears on the State of Connecticut's Judicial branch website.

Please adjust your calendars accordingly.

HPD WEBSITE IMPROVEMENTS BEING MADE

A couple weeks ago I posted about the Hartford Police Departments outdated information on its website. Last Friday I received a call from Nancy Mulroy the "webmaster" for the site. She had explained that they were transitioning from older design software to newer software and the process had lagged.

After the posting and dealing with MHIS, Mulroy told me that she insisted that the new website go "live" immediately to correct the problem and start providing current information.

After checking today, the Crime statistics are current and up to date. The stats also paint an interesting picture overall that in almost every category, except for aggravated assault, crime is down in the City compared to last year.

It is also important to note that according to the stats the Northeast section of the City is showing some good reductions in what traditionally is Hartford's "high-crime" areas. Almost every category of serious crime is showing large decreases in the Northeast section.

Southeast is also showing some large decreases in overall crime with sizable reductions over last years numbers. One area that Southeast isn't showing decreases is in the number of Motor Vehicle stops taking place. I am a strong believer that active motor vehicle enforcement reduces overall crime. First off is the visible police presence as they conduct traffic stops. Second is the number of contacts that result in the discovery of guns and weapons in the vehicles, persons wanted for more serious crimes and even drugs.

As most criminal activity doesn't like to be detected by the persons committing them, knowing that there chances of being stopped and detected makes a difference.

To view the HPD website and the current crime stats, click here

On the last page of the report is "police activity by area". The last column, "10-34's" is the column for traffic stop activity and is shown by neighborhood. As you can see, Barry Square leads the city for the current weeks report. More traffic stops were made in the Barry Square neighborhood than were made in other total districts.

It seems like a relatively small matter, but the Southeast's traffic enforcement could be one reason for it's impressive crime reduction numbers.

HUMAN RELATIONS DIRECTOR'S POSITION TERMINATED

In the continuing effort to clean out City Hall, another resignation has been accepted by Mayor Pedro Segarra. Lillian Ruiz, Hartford's Director of Human Relations was shown the door yesterday and escorted out of Hartford City Hall.

Ruiz's department played a large part in the Perez corruption scandal according to testimony at former Mayor Perez's trial. Contractor Carlos Costa had testified that he was not in compliance with contract requirements and had reached out to at least one employee in Ruiz's office as well as Mayor Perez and Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson to intervene on his behalf.

Ruiz is another one of the "Perez Allies" who is being purged from City Hall. In more changes announced today by Mayor Segarra it seems that several programs that drew criticism are being jettisoned. Aside from Dora, I mean Lillian Ruiz, her entire Department of Human Relations will now be under the Office of Corporation Counsel. Another sensible choice since the majority of what Human Relations does is deal with compliance in City Contracts and federal equal opportunity requirements.

Another change that definitely makes sense is the re-assignment of the Office of Capital Assets, also known as James Keaney and Charles Crocini, to be under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. That is where it should have been all along, not in the Mayor's Office. The only difficulty here is that James Keaney is most likely making close to $50,000 more than the Director of Public Works.

This could be an interesting match up since the DPW Director Kevin Burnham took away Keaney's SUV with the heated leather seats and assigned him a smaller vehicle shortly after Burnham became Director. I noticed last week that Keaney's city vehicle is now also adorned with the City of Hartford seal on it's doors now. So much for the stealth missions in the City's car. Maybe he has them on with Velcro.

The "311 Center" is also being moved to come under the Office of Policy and Management rather than directly under the Mayor's Office. This could be a problem at election time since "311" was also believed to be the unofficial polling operation for Perez.

City Hall sources are telling me that more changes may be coming in the near future, but my "hit" list for City Hall removals I posted earlier this year is getting smaller by the day. These changes are not only removing problems from the Perez administration but they are also removing a lot of the "fat" from a top heavy City Hall that we can not afford.

The official version :

MAYOR SEGARRA OUTLINES STRATEGY OF RESPONSIBILITY

FOR CITY OF HARTFORD GOVERNMENT

ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL STAFFING CHANGES/REORGANIZATION



---NEWS RELEASE---



(August 31, 2010)--- Today, Mayor Pedro E. Segarra made a 45 minute presentation to Department Heads to demonstrate how his administration is focused on four key goals that will move the City of Hartford forward during his tenure. He outlined the role of his Cabinet and announced that staffing changes and structural reorganizations are underway in order to reduce the cost of government and to achieve an increase in efficiency and effectiveness.



“Changes need to be made for the betterment of the organization. By clearly stating goals and objectives and the means of achieving these results, Hartford will be able to be proactive and progress towards common goals. The City Charter does allow for experimentation by the CEO of the City during the fiscal year in order to meet new demands and goals,” said Mayor Segarra.



By strategically working with all levels of governments, businesses, and community entities, the City of Hartford will address long-standing issues and opportunities to create sustainable changes that improve the City.

1. Ensure that each City office and department is held accountable for operating in a fiscally accountable manner and for getting results that advance the City’s interest.

2. Safeguard the health, cleanliness and safety of the community in ways that reflect the wants and needs of the people who live, work and visit Hartford

3. Create jobs and improve the quality of education and for Hartford’s children and adults

4. Pursue opportunities to accelerate and expand the economic vitality of Hartford’s business community and neighborhoods.



Internally, the size of the Mayor’s Office will be reduced, returning operations to departments where possible while holding them accountable for results.

1. The Office of Capital Assets will be merged with the Department of Public Works.

2. The Office of Human Relations will be merged into Corporation Counsel, eliminating the position of Director of Human Relations

3. Workforce and Minority and Women Business Enterprises certification moves to Procurement, to be overseen by the Chief Operating Officer.

4. The Office of Management and Budget will oversee 311.



“Change for the better is already underway and the Segarra administration intends to expand and accelerate it. A new standard for effectiveness and success is being established,” said COO David Panagore.