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Friday, December 17, 2010

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET AN ARREST WARRANT SIGNED IN HARTFORD?

I obtained the attached police report and arrest warrant application after someone had questioned why no arrest was made. According to several police sources, the answer is pretty simple. Apparently the Hartford County States Attorney's Office refused to sign the warrant. Why is any one's guess since it seems pretty clear that Hartford Police investigators did a good job of establishing probable cause.

Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts would not comment on the matter, but other police sources did. Apparently there is an increasing level of frustration with warrant applications not being approved. Even from a lay-persons point of view, I encourage you to read the application attached and decide if there is any question in your mind that a crime was committed.

Apparently this case is only one of several recent cases that the Hartford Police investigated and took to the Hartford Court and the States Attorney for prosecution. Among them are another four cases that seem crystal clear.

In one case it involved an investigation of a recent burglary in Hartford. Forensic evidence was gathered at the scene of the burglary, including blood from broken glass in a window at the point of entry. The blood was apparently sent for DNA tracking and a positive "hit" came back identifying a suspect. Apparently HPD applied for an arrest warrant for the suspect based on the rock solid DNA evidence.

Lo and behold....the States Attorney refused to sign the warrant for Burglary but rather said maybe they would go with a criminal mischief charge.

Another case involved allegations of sexual assault lodged against a Hartford politician by at least two young men outlining their allegations in sworn written statements. Hartford Police aggressively investigated the allegations and prepared arrest warrant applications for the suspect. The Hartford County States Attorney's Office refused to sign the warrants. Although I can't get anything in writing showing the reason, one police source stated to me that the explanation they received was unbelievable. They told me that in the opinion of the Hartford States Attorney the victims "weren't forced hard enough" into the sexual acts,and that is a direct quote.

Another high profile incident is the Hector Robles investigation. That sat in the Hartford County States Attorneys Office for action and went nowhere. Finally another copy was hand delivered to the office of Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane, in Rocky Hill. An investigation was immediately opened and is ongoing at this time and may potentially result in Robles arrest.

Another case that resulted in frustration on the part of HPD brass and IAD investigators involved the "non-arrest" of one of their own. The case involved the assault of a civilian in a Hartford bar by an off-duty police officer. Apparently investigators obtained a copy of security camera footage that recorded the entire incident. According to one high ranking police official who had viewed the recording, the off-duty officer "delivered a severe beating" to the civilian and it was clear in the footage.

Hartford Police Internal Affairs investigators applied for an arrest warrant for the off-duty officer's arrest, and yes you guessed it, even with clear video evidence the warrant was denied. I have not seen the video, but several police officials who have told me that it is clear and convincing that the officer was the aggressor and if the roles were reversed, the civilian would have been arrested immediately.

Like I asked earlier, read the report below and see if you think a crime was committed.

DPW Tool Theft

DID KELVIN ROLDAN HAVE A "COME TO JESUS" MOMENT ?


The following Press Release was posted on the blog yesterday, and at I first I thought it had to be a joke. But surprisingly, it is not. I verified its authenticity with the Legislature's Press Office this afternoon.

For IMMEDIATE Release Contact: Alberto Negron

December 16, 2010 (860) 240-8518



ROLDÁN INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO STRENGTHEN MUNICIPAL ETHICS AND PREVENT PENSION PADDING BY POLITICIANS



Representative Kelvin Roldán (D-Hartford) - In response to recent scandals in communities like Hartford and Shelton, State Representative Kelvin Roldán announced today that he will introduce legislation this session to prevent municipal contractors from giving expensive gifts to town officials and prevent politicians from padding their pensions while in office.



The first piece of legislation will prevent town and board of education officials from receiving anything of value exceeding $100 in a calendar year from a municipal contractor, prospective contractor or individual with matters before a planning and zoning commission. Towns with a functioning ethics commission may set a lower gift threshold. The second piece of legislation will prevent local town councils from using taxpayer funds to enhance the pensions of elected officials during their terms in office, as has been the practice of the General Assembly.



The pension padding ban is in response to pension enhancement offered this year by the administration of Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra which will allow two elected city officials, including a city councilwoman arrested in a corruption investigation, to retire during their terms in office with pension enhancements that will cost city taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.



“It is stunning that in these difficult financial times that a city administration would make it a priority to pad the pensions of elected politicians with tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars while residents are faced with the potential for drastic cuts in city services and increased taxes. Elected officials must put the needs of the people they serve before the financial well being of their fellow politicians.” Roldán stated.



The gift ban legislation is in response to scandals in Hartford, Shelton and other communities where developers and municipal contractors have provided expensive gifts to municipal officials.



“There is no uniform rule across the state on how to deal with gifts from contractors to municipal officials that control hundreds of millions of dollars in local contracts. The fact is that expensive gifts from contractors to municipal officials can create the appearance of undue influence in awarding bids or rendering decisions. After years of debating this issue, the State of Connecticut needs to set unambiguous bright line that will provide clear guidance to local officials and the public about the acceptable standards for behavior in this area,” Rep. Roldán said.


Does anyone else see the irony in this?

Roldan owes both his political career and his professional career to corruption,courtesy of Hartford's former Mayor, now convicted felon, Eddie Perez.

Roldan would have never been elected to the State Legislature without Perez and definitely would not have had a $120,000 a year plus position created for him in the Hartford Schools without Perez.

And for those not familiar with Roldan, I don't believe he has ever once made a statement regarding his personal puppet master, Eddie A. Perez, or his corrupt administration, his arrests, his trial or even his conviction. Yet Roldan is able to now come out swinging against corrupt officials, singling out Perez's successor Mayor Pedro Segarra.

I don't disagree with Roldan that public money should not be used to pad the pensions of elected officials "including a city councilwoman arrested in a corruption investigation". But isn't it interesting that someone who never spoke out the entire time of Perez's reign now is able to take shots at Mayor Segarra. I guess it is safe to assume Roldan is not working on the Segarra campaign.

It's also interesting to me that Roldan must be well aware that he is not on solid ground when it comes to the stability of his seat in the General Assembly. Roldan came within a handful of votes of losing his last election. Not a good sign of strength for someone running against a convicted felon.

Roldan's actions would seem more legitimate if there was some consistency to his moves. To now take a stand against corruption, the same corruption he has benefited from, seems to just be another example of Hartford's spineless "leaders" who never miss an opportunity to grandstand.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS FOR HARTFORD RESIDENTS...AT LEAST IT SOUNDS GOOD

I guess it should come as no surprise to any of us that have weathered Hartford's ups and downs, what our City elected officials say and do are two completely different things.

Everywhere I go I keep hearing them say "Hartford needs jobs for its residents" yet surprisingly, or should I say not surprisingly, that doesn't seem to be the case. It seems like the people that have hung in here and weathered the storm and actually believe in Hartford are shown the back seat when it comes to jobs.

A perfect example is Mayor Segarra's office, sadly. I had questioned the Mayor when his first appointment of a Chief of Staff was not even someone that lived in Hartford. I was told that was short term and he was going to move into Hartford, apparently that never happened. Now a new Chief of Staff who hails from Woodstock, Connecticut has been appointed. I doubt that many Hartford residents could even tell you where Woodstock is on a map, never mind associate the problems Hartford faces with any similar issues in Woodstock.

And just for FYI, Woodstock is in the Northeast corner of the state, near I-395 and the Rhode Island border, population 7,909. Their claim to fame is that Woodstock is a rural, historic community with an agricultural background. Maybe if we decide to start exporting Hartford's dairy products or trees from Hartford's Christmas tree farms, we can emulate Woodstock.

Segarra's new Chief of Staff apparently has extensive management experience that qualifies him to move Hartford's urban agenda forward. Apparently he was a para-legal and office manager at Seligman and Katz for a period of time. Seligman and Katz is the same firm that represented Hartford's corrupt Councilwoman Veronica Airey-Wilson in her criminal matters. That experience could possibly prove helpful in identifying additional criminal behavior remaining at City Hall.

It has been reported that he was also a clerk for a Legislative Committee. He also has been involved in several campaigns and reportedly was the Deputy Campaign Manager for the Lamont Campaign. I would feel better if he was associated with the Malloy campaign, Hartford could use a winner, but oh well. Luckily for us he does work cheap though if the candidates filings are accurate. After Matt Hennessy and his Harvard trip and six figure salary,ESI bonus and lobbying contracts, hopefully the 27 year old Chief will be starting at the low end of the budget ladder. This is Hartford though, so that is doubtful.

To view reported payments to Segarra's new Chief of Staff Jared Kupiec, click here. Under recipient name, enter Kupiec and hit search.
I know Kupiec is young, but he also seems to work cheap, which will be a good thing at budget time. He apparently was paid a little over $5,000 by the Lamont Campaign for his reported role of Deputy Campaign Manager. Those numbers pale in comparison to Hartford's other "political consultants" like the Feltman's, Mantilla's, Arroyo's and McDonald's who have learned to work the system for every political penny available. But like I said before, he is young and I'm sure if he hangs around City Hall enough, he'll learn.

Kupiec also shows payments from Fonfara campaigns, but even those were small.

Hopefully Mr. Kupiec will be relocating to Hartford soon. It only seems right that someone who is going to be responsible for Hartford's urban agenda should be living that urban agenda like the rest of us have been, for better or worse.

I think if we had required that more department heads live in Hartford, as required, we would be seeing much different results. I called our Public Works Director Kevin Burnham almost two weeks ago and still haven't had the courtesy of a return call yet. Unfortunately it isn't an isolated incident, I have yet to receive a return call from Burnham anytime I have left a message for him. Maybe the new Chief of Staff can remind Burnham what customer service is and who he actually works for.

I also find it interesting that when it comes to the issue of jobs for Hartford residents, we continue to turn a blind eye to the leadership of the MDC. The MDC could be pumping billions of dollars into Hartford's economy and eventually into Hartford households. Yet, Hartford's leaders seem to have given a free pass to the leadership at the MDC when it comes to demanding jobs for Hartford's residents.

That free pass in combination with the MDC Chairman's "get out of jail free" card continues to overlook the people who actually live in Hartford. If the Mayor was serious about reform, he would have called for MDC Chairman William DiBella's resignation. When it comes to jobs for Hartford's residents on the MDC's Clean Waters project, we need an advocate that actually lives in Hartford and truly serves the people of Hartford. I doubt that the Mayor or anyone on the Council can honestly look at a Hartford resident and say that they believe William DiBella is a Hartford resident and even lives in the MDC's service area as required by law.

Hartford's Mayor appoints the MDC Chair and the City Council ratifies it.

The requirement of residency is a conversation I have had personally with the Mayor. when he appointed Burnham as the Public Works Director I questioned it. When Hartford Police Sergeant Andrew Jaffe retired from HPD and was then appointed as the Emergency Communications Director, I questioned it. Mayor Segarra assured me that a condition of Jaffe's appointment was that he would take up residency in Hartford within 30 days. Does anyone want to bet on whether that has happened?

As Hartford's unemployment climbs toward 20%, if it hasn't already exceeded that, we need to focus on real jobs for Hartford's residents. No more lip service, no more political rhetoric. It's all about the JOBS Mayor and about rewarding those residents that truly believe in Hartford and are willing to fight the good fight to change things. Too many people see Hartford as a paycheck and a means to a great retirement, and the higher up the ladder, the richer the gravy train is.

And Mayor, when you told me last week I would be excited about the changes you were going to make.....I'm still waiting.

Monday, December 13, 2010

MATT DIRRANE FUND ESTABLISHED



Yesterday I had posted that a fund was being established to help cover some of the costs being incurred by the unexpected death of Hartford Firefighter Matt Dirrane.

Dan Nolan has asked me to post the information above. Please remember Matt and his family as they proceed through this difficult time.

Thanks.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

HARTFORD FIREFIGHTER DIES IN COSTA RICA, EMERGENCY FUND TO BE ESTABLISHED

Matt Dirrane, a 16 year veteran of the Hartford Fire Department, was killed in Costa Rica after being hit by a car. Some may also remember Matt as a partner in the sports bar "Westwings" which used to be on Prospect Avenue (now Damon's)

An emergency fund is expected to be established tomorrow at the Hartford Firefighter's Credit Union. Before Matt can be turned over to his family to return to the United States, all hospital fees and associated services required must be paid. Estimated costs for the hospital fees, embalming and other costs are estimated to be between $10,000 and $20,000.

Once the information is available as to the account set up and how to donate, I will post it here

Friday, December 10, 2010

THE EXCITEMENT METER IS RISING


The "Festival-of-non-Lights" took a step forward tonight in the positive side. After the bashing that opening night took for the non-event, tonight was a little bit better. Unfortunately there weren't many people there to take part in the opening of the skating rink, but those that were there seemed to enjoy it. The crowd probably numbered around 100 people, and those there didn't seem to mind braving the bitter cold.

Mayor Segarra skating and Deputy Corporation Counsel Carl Nasto in his spandex skating outfit was well worth the price of admission. Oh wait, it was free,

A bon fire might have livened the event a little bit, but at least this time Santa was there as scheduled and was greeting those at the rink. Additional lights had been strung on trees near the carousel and more trees were illuminated on the edge of the park.

It would have been nice to have seen it all pulled together on the opening night. Even Mayor Segarra shared his disappointment with me last night as to the event he had envisioned and what actually happened. Apparently his original thoughts were more of a "Winter Festival" type theme with snow-making and sledding, skating combined with lights and other winter events.

Now the challenge will be to lure back those who felt disappointed with the original event and be willing to give Hartford a second chance. I would hope some leadership will evolve at City Hall and with others involved and challenge the planners for next year to "think outside the box".

This could be a great event for next year combined with expansion to the Riverfront and revitalize the festival on Constitution Plaza. The announcement this week that Channel 3 and the Channel 3 "Kid'sCamp" will be resurrecting the former "Holiday Fantasia" in Goodwin Park could be the glue that brings the whole plan together. Hartford could potentially be known as the place to head to for Christmas holiday displays .

Throw in some horse drawn carriages for a few weeks and maybe some hayrides from downtown, running a route past restaurants and businesses and the plaza and the riverfront. And don't wait until a week before next Thanksgiving to start planning it, and maybe it would be a good idea to keep an arms length from some of the planners from this years event who thought the first opening was sufficient.

And while we are at it, lets set a date to shut down Main Street and bring the Taste of Hartford back to the streets of Hartford for a weekend and start showing off all we have to offer. Jamaican patties, barbecue, seafood, italian food, the best grinders you will find anywhere, spanish food, I'd keep going but I am getting hungry now. And top the weekend off with a street concert and a block party.