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Sunday, January 30, 2011
UH-OH, THIS DOESN'T LOOK GOOD
Recent renovations of the Mayor's Suite at Hartford City Hall have been completed and the Corporation Counsel staff is just steps away from the Segarra complex now. One of the people displaced during the renovations was Perez spokesperson, I mean Segarra spokesperson Sarah Barr.
I don't know if her office move is symbolic, but Sara Barr has been "relocated" to the basement of City Hall, right by the rear exit doors, about as far away from the Mayor's Office as one can get without actually being in the parking lot. Could that be the next move?
Barr is now occupying office space previously used by Lillian Ruiz. Lillian Ruiz was the Human Relations Director terminated by Segarra when he assumed the Mayor's Office.
I wonder if there is a hidden meaning in there somewhere.
Best of Luck Sarah.
WHERE DID THEY GO ?
For the second Sunday in a row, the Fox61 political shows are missing. The Stan Simpson Show and the Real Story, originally started by Shelly Sindland and inherited by Laurie Perez seem to be gone and replaced by a couple of syndicated programs. They normally air at 10:00 and 10:30am
Does anyone know what happened or if they will be back.
I guess that does make it official now, Dennis House's "Face the State" is the most watched local political program. Dennis airs on WFSB 3 Sundays at 11:00am
Saturday, January 29, 2011
WHAT BUDGET DEFICIT? SUPT. ADAMOWSKI ISSUES $2.7 MILLION IN BONUSES TO HARTFORD SCHOOL EMPLOYEES
I don't think anyone knows the real numbers but some estimates for Hartford's budget hole aren't pretty. I have been given estimates on the City budget deficit anywhere from a few million up to a number I was given Friday of $40 million or more and the Board of Education's is possibly even worse than that.
With a huge budget deficit looming. Superintendent of Schools Stephen Adamowski has just compiled his most recent list of "bonuses". Some of them are contractual, some defy any reasoning , but which ever way you look at it one question looms large. Should we be paying out huge bonuses at a time when we are cutting back on the core staff in schools; teachers, para-professionals and even custodial workers.
I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but would an educator or even the "non-educators" who constantly say that "it is all about the kids" consider a giveback of the bonus to actually benefit the kids?
I know in some cases it is a tough job, especially for a Principal or teachers, but can some one explain to me why the spokesperson for the Hartford Schools David Medina received a bonus of $ 1250.00. Is his excessive salary not enough to cover the job he was hired to do?
Former Perez staffer and 4th District State Representative Kelvin Roldan received a bonus of $7961.00. How much time has Roldan spent in a classroom raising test scores? If anything, his and Adamowski's bonuses should be given back as a gesture of good will to cover the catering costs for the lunches in their offices that they rack up on the City credit cards.
Below are the bonus recipients in alphabetical order:
BONUS LIST- ABATE, ROBERT TO FAIR, LAURA
BONUS LIST -FALCONER -CRAWFORD, JANET TO MARSELL, FRED
BONUS LIST - MARTINEZ, JOSE TO ZUBRETSKY, CANDICE A.
With a huge budget deficit looming. Superintendent of Schools Stephen Adamowski has just compiled his most recent list of "bonuses". Some of them are contractual, some defy any reasoning , but which ever way you look at it one question looms large. Should we be paying out huge bonuses at a time when we are cutting back on the core staff in schools; teachers, para-professionals and even custodial workers.
I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but would an educator or even the "non-educators" who constantly say that "it is all about the kids" consider a giveback of the bonus to actually benefit the kids?
I know in some cases it is a tough job, especially for a Principal or teachers, but can some one explain to me why the spokesperson for the Hartford Schools David Medina received a bonus of $ 1250.00. Is his excessive salary not enough to cover the job he was hired to do?
Former Perez staffer and 4th District State Representative Kelvin Roldan received a bonus of $7961.00. How much time has Roldan spent in a classroom raising test scores? If anything, his and Adamowski's bonuses should be given back as a gesture of good will to cover the catering costs for the lunches in their offices that they rack up on the City credit cards.
Below are the bonus recipients in alphabetical order:
BONUS LIST- ABATE, ROBERT TO FAIR, LAURA
BONUS LIST -FALCONER -CRAWFORD, JANET TO MARSELL, FRED
BONUS LIST - MARTINEZ, JOSE TO ZUBRETSKY, CANDICE A.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE FUNDRAISER TOMORROW
On Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m, a fundraiser to benefit the 40th Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade will be held at Damon's Tavern at 310 Prospect Ave., Hartford. Matt Fleury of the Connecticut Science Center will be honored as Hartford's Parade Marshal, and Catherine Blinder as Hartford's person of the year.
The parade is set for Saturday,March 12, 2011 an is sponsored by the Central Connecticut Celtic Cultural Committee.
ROBLES ENDORSEMENT FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN HPD UNION ELECTION
Many Hartford voters and residents as well as many Hartford Police officers were surprised, and in most cases upset, when they saw a campaign flyer claiming that the Hartford Police Union "endorses Hector Robles". The mailer was sent out by the Robles campaign for the August Democratic primary. The headline proclaimed Robles's "honesty, integrity and making our neighborhoods safe".
Most were upset that these claims were being made at the same time that Robles was the subject of an Internal Investigation into claims of larceny and fraud against him for his scheme to double bill the City for hours worked.
One resident who was also challenging Robles for his legislative seat, Alyssa Peterson, questioned the Unions decision and whether it was proper. Many HPD union members also questioned the action and felt embarrassed by the timing of the endorsement as the allegations against Robles were becoming public.
Peterson explained that she questioned HPD Union President Richard Rodriguez and union Vice President Richard Holton. According to Peterson, during a meeting they claimed that it was a decision of the Union's four member executive committee. Subsequent to that meeting, at least one member of the executive committee claimed there was never a discussion or meeting regarding the endorsement and it was something the union president did on his own.
That decision proved to be a major issue in the recent HPD Union election held last week. Both Holton and Rodriguez exchanged barbs back and forth regarding the Robles endorsement. Several police officers that I spoke with claimed that normally the endorsement wouldn't have been an issue, but that the timing was very poor. They felt that endorsing Robles while he was under potential criminal investigation reflected poorly on the rank and file members of the Union and put them all under a cloud of suspicion for approving of Robles's potential illegal behavior.
In the end, Rodriguez was voted out and Holton prevailed by close to 3 to 1 vote margin. Unofficially, sources have told me the vote was approximately 300 votes for Holton to Rodriguez's 80 votes.
MAYOR SEGARRA, HOW IS THAT ENERGY "CZAR" WORKING OUT?
During the Perez Administration, and during a hiring freeze none the less, many of us were surprised to hear that former Mayor Perez had hired an "Energy Czar" to cut energy costs and usage by the City. The "Czar" was hired at a salary of close to $100,000 annually.
At the time many of the Council members seemed surprised by the hiring while other employees were being laid off. One of the members of the Council at the time who seemed helpless to prevent Perez's hiring of the "Czar" is actually now the Mayor himself. Yet, the "Czar" still remains. The only thing that remains is that his office has been moved out of the Mayor's Office.
Hopefully that move was done so that Mayor Segarra doesn't have to be reminded daily of the wasteful position of the "Energy Czar".
At the time of the original hiring, I had suggested that it might make more sense to hold a contest for all City employees and offer rewards to them for identifying waste in their Departments and buildings. A $50.00 gift card to a Hartford Restaurant or something along those lines would encourage their involvement.
The other side of the coin is who knows their buildings better than the people working in them everyday. They definitely know how to cut back better than someone in the Mayor's Office sitting looking at printouts and utility bills and waiting for the direct deposit of his paycheck.
This past week someone from the Department of Public Works called me and expressed their frustration that no one listens to their suggestions.Initially I wasn't sure where the call was going but I listened anyway since that is how this blog exists, by the info I receive from people on the inside of the system.
Once they started to explain their point, I was about ready to run out and get them a gift card for dinner at the Chowder Pot because it made so much sense.
This seems to be a no brainer, but when I explained it to someone at City Hall yesterday they once again accused me of applying logic to the situation, and that is apparently not the Hartford way.
Ok, here goes, let me know what you think. Apparently the City of Hartford has numerous buildings that are heated year round, even though no one uses them all winter. One example is the buildings above. The concession stand and the field house and locker rooms at Dillon Stadium are used Thankgiving Day for a high-school football game. The buildings are then closed up and not used again until April.
The buildings are heated the entire time. There are garages in Northwood/ Soldiers Field Cemetery, the North Main Street Cemetery and a DPW storage garage as well as several others that are heated year round, even though a couple of DPW employees have told me there is no need for it.
Probably one of the biggest energy wastes though is the heating process for the North End Senior Center. The Center is heated by the boiler from the old Burgdorf Health Center. Rather than install a separate heating system for the Senior's, the empty Health Center is kept heated to be able to heat the Senior Center. I know that reasoning is hard to follow, but it doesn't make any sense to me either.
With the cost of energy escalating, the DPW employee suggested it would make a lot more sense to "winterize" the buildings, the same as thousands of people with summer homes in Connesticut do.
I know, applying logic to City operations, but I think they still deserve the gift card for a common sense suggestion.
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