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Thursday, July 29, 2010

CONNECTICUT HISPANIC DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS ENDORSES ANGEL MORALES FOR 4TH DISTRICT SEAT


Yes, I am Angel Morales campaign manager, but I think this is worthy of posting here.

Pursuant to our conversation of Tuesday, July 27th. I am sending you this message to confirm CHDC`s unanimous endorsement of Mr. Angel Morales` candidacy to the Fourth State Representative District in Hartford. On Saturday, July 10th. the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus held interviews with candidates campaigning for various offices with the general assembly. Mr. Angel Morales of Hartford was one of these candidates. The following Tuesday, July 13th., CHDC met, deliberated, and unanimously endorsed Mr. Angel Morales to be the next state representative from the Fourth District. Based on the interview and information provided by the Hartford members of the CHDC, it was decided that Mr. Morales is an excellent and proven community leader and will make a fine legislator.
We are proud to formally endorse Angel Morales and look forward to working with him both in his campaign and once he becomes the next Fourth District State Representative.

Tomas Reyes Jr. Chair,
Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus



Congratulations Angel. This endorsement speaks highly of Angel's capabilities over the incumbent legislator Angel intends to replace.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEPUTY CHIEF NOLAN


Deputy Chief Dan Nolan at Ground Zero

If Facebook is correct, today is Dan Nolan's birthday.

Happy Birthday Dan, thanks for your service to our City and our Country

MORE FROM THE MOUTHPIECE



Just a quick thought. When was the last time you can recall a Hartford Mayor proudly standing with the latest graduates from the Hartford Police Academy? I can't recall anytime in the last few years.

Mayor Segarra, Councilman Torres, Chief Roberts and members of his command staff with the latest 32 Hartford police officers hitting the streets after their graduation July 2, 2010.

Congratulations to the latest to join the ranks of Hartford's finest. Say hello if you see them on the streets (they will be the nervous looking officers actually wearing their hats)

I HOPE YOU ARE SITTING DOWN FOR THIS ONE


As much as I like uncovering things, it is also important to give credit when something is done right. If you read the earlier post regarding John Fonfara's fundraising efforts, my opinion is that it shows the flaws in the Citizen's Election Program. Fonfara received a large portion of his donations from energy company employees, companies that fall under the purview of his Energy and Technology Committee which he co-chairs in the legislature.

Many of those donations came from outside his district and most were even from outside the State of Connecticut. Is it legal? The answer is yes. Is it acceptable to me? No.

And okay, here's the part to make sure you are sitting down for. One of the candidates who did it right was rJo Winch. Yes, you read that right. She's not the only one, but in looking at her CEP (Citizen's Election Program) reports, almost all of her money came from Hartford, $5, $10, and $20 donations.

Winch did have some larger donations, up to $100.00 per person is allowed, but the few hundred contributions , for the most part, were on the smaller side.

Since the program was designed by politicians, it is no wonder that loopholes were built into it. Fonfara seems to skirt the actual intent of the program while Winch, keep sitting down, seems to embrace it. The intent of the program was to gauge a candidates support in the community and level the playing field for all candidates.

To avoid only candidates with money or big fundraising abilities to be able to wage a campaign, the program was established to allow anyone to run and wage a decent campaign. If you can meet the thresh hold by raising the $5 and $10 dollar donations, the State will kick in the rest to give those candidates a fair shot.

Winch (and others) did that and actually proved their support in their own neighborhoods. Unlike Fonfara , who proved that he has support in Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts and everywhere else, except in his own district.

The CEP program is controversial and needs tweaking, but the way Winch worked it is the way I would think it was intended. The way Fonfara worked it is a joke.

To search for any candidates filings, click here for the SEEC search page

NOT A BAD RETURN ON A $100.00 INVESTMENT



Earlier this week I posted regarding the large amount of money solicited for Senator John Fonfara's campaign from energy company executives and employees of energy companies. Click here to read the earlier post

One of the contributors seemed to stand out, contribution #369. It was from a Fred Shaffer of 2412 Marathon Avenue in Neanah, Wisconsin. Shaffer is listed as the Senior Director of Government Affairs for Kimberly-Clark. I wondered why a toilet paper and tissue manufacturer was donating to Senator Fonfara's campaign? (I'll leave the jokes to you commenter's)

Kimberly-Clark didn't seem to be in line with the rest of Fonfara's donors aligned with energy companies and Fonfara's chairmanship of the legislatures Energy and Technology Committee.

While I was watching Channel 3's 5:30pm news tonight, it all became clear. Heather Hedgedus reported on the ribbon cutting for Kimberly-Clark's new power plant for their facility in Milford, CT. The power plant was partially funded by a $19 million dollar grant from the State of Connecticut. And the most interesting part was the actual ribbon cutting.

Guess who was pictured with the big ceremonial scissors in his hands slicing through the yellow ribbon. Congratulations if you guessed correctly, Hartford's own Senator John Fonfara.

Alternative energy is important, but then again so is integrity and the public's perception of our politicians. Was a $100.00 contribution that important to Fonfara's campaign, or would it have sent a better message if he politely said "thanks, but no thanks".

I guess only the voters can decide if integrity and ethics matter.

***NOTE- as soon as the link is posted at WFSB.com I'll post it here so you can view the story for yourself.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

TOO MANY CHIEFS, NOT ENOUGH INDIANS, CLEANING UP HARTFORD'S PARKS


Pulaski Circle planter, it has since been weeded

Helen Ubinas posted on her blog this evening about Hartford's efforts to clean up our parks. To read her posting click here

It reminded me of the first time Helen and I met. It was several years ago and it was in regards to a court case regarding illegal dumping by a West Hartford repair shop owner who chose Wellington Street to dump his junk parts. Long story short, the HPD Officer who investigated the complaint, Officer Allen, now Lieutenant Allen, did a great job, followed through and the owner was arrested and the tow-truck he used to dump his junk was seized as part of the crime.

Helen and I took a tour of Hartford and I showed her some of the notorious dumping areas across the city. Wellington Street, Keney Park many side streets with stripped cars sitting on blocks or resting on the ground. It was a problem, litter and garbage on many streets.

The problem was compounded by a Prosecutor in the Hartford Court who was upset that "his" courtroom was being used on a Friday afternoon for such nonsense as illegal dumping in Hartford. His comment that he made sure we heard was "who cares about dumping in Hartford, Hartford is a dump".

Unfortunately I think that this is the mindset of many people, living in Hartford who see Hartford's parks and streets as one big trashcan. I think that is a society thing that needs to be changed, but the condition of Hartford's parks is a shared embarrassment between those who trash them and those who are entrusted to maintain them.

I think two major problems exist. Over the years, Public Works has been the first place to look for budget cuts and has been decimated from the bottom up, while it seems to continue to grow at the top. Simply put, too many Chief's and not enough Indians.

It might help if some of the "chief's" or Director's and Deputy Directors as we prefer to call them, actually lived in Hartford. Maybe if they had to worry about their family having a picnic under the dead oak tree in Colt's Park with branches falling off, or sitting by the overflowing trash containers in Sigourney Park or stepping over the used syringes and broken bottles in South Green Park, maybe things would change.

The problem is the laborers that actually do the work are gone. But I was amazed by the "punch list" of items in Helen's column to be completed during "Parks Week".

Monday, August 23rd: Keney Park (Woodland Street entrance):
• Cut and remove fallen trees
• Clean and remove leaves along hiking roads and trails
• Remove old fence at tennis courts, clean area
• Repair broken benches
• Repair broken basketball rims
• Clean, patch and paint handball courts
• Remove old baseball backstop

Tuesday, August 24th: Colt Park
• Cut, remove and prune trees
• Repair park benches
• clean area under old stage/pavilion
• Clean and remove boards at old ice rink
• Repair Massek parking lot
• Repair basketball courts

Wednesday, August 25th: Goodwin Park
• Remove branches and wood along Maple Avenue
• Repair fit trail and equipment
• Repair basketball courts
• Trim and cut trees on Maple Avenue

Thursday, August 26th: Bushnell Park
• Remove perimeter shrubs near Pump House
• Repair park benches
• Prune Pump House shrubs
• Refurbish mulch beds where needed
• Trim and prune trees
• Remove old fencing around playground area

Friday, August 27th: Keney Park (Barbour Street entrance)
• Cut up and remove fallen trees
• Remove old fence and nets at northern tennis courts
• Replace or repair rims and nets at basketball courts
• Paint basketball courts

Is this what we are paying supervisors in DPW for. I would hope for someone making over a hundred grand a year in salary, these would be things that would be targeted everyday. Do we really need a special week to "remove branches and wood along Maple Avenue"? Or "repair park benches" in Colt's Park. Wouldn't that be a perfect project for the winter when there is no snow to be plowed? We know they aren't all tied up repairing potholes, that's for sure.

It seems we could do with a few less "Deputy Directors" and maybe a few more laborers to actually get the work done. It almost seems like the higher ups at DPW drive around Hartford all agreeing "yup, that looks bad, yup, that tree is definitely dead, yup, that trash is overflowing, but come on, lets go, I need to get to the bank and cash my paycheck".

Don't get me wrong, it's good to see the list and know that some of the eyesores are being addressed, but shouldn't it be an everyday routine, not just a week long media event?

Ok, and now the lightning rod. I said there were two major problems, first being a top heavy, bloated salary DPW management team. The second is the DPW unions. Yes, I said that.

I recently asked someone at the Community Court why they weren't doing community service work in Hartford's parks? I figured picking up trash, maybe pulling weeds, the typical type of work the Community Court does. The answer was short and sweet...Unions. They explained that they had tried and that the DPW laborers union had complained.

I fully understand the union position if the City was eliminating jobs figuring they could get volunteers to replace the employees. The fact of the matter is that the DPW doesn't even come close to meeting the needs it has with the current number of workers and no one would be laid off by people doing Community service in the parks. It would only enhance the need for improving the image of Hartford which most likely would in turn potentially increase revenue to the City and eventually lead to re-hiring laid off DPW employees. I know, in a perfect world, but we need to start somewhere.

The sad part though is that many of the laid off DPW workers and the current DPW laborers are actually the same people using Hartford's parks. It's not the Director and Deputy Directors who leave Hartford and its horrendous, yet potentially beautiful parks, to head to their homes in East Haddam, Wethersfield or New Britain or wherever people making six figure salaries head to at night.

I commend the effort and making it an issue for one week, but it should be an every day effort.