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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

SAVE THE MONEY, DISBAND HARTFORD'S REPUBLICAN PARTY

Hartford has been a heavily Democratic city for many, many years. Essentially that has evolved into single party rule without any real dissenting voices. And now for those who still held to the hope that the Republican Party in Hartford would rise from the ashes once again, think again.

In recent years , the GOP in Hartford hasn't been known for making any tough choices. They remained silent throughout the Grand Jury corruption investigation into Eddie Perez. Not a word was uttered about corruption, Democrats, nothing. Part of that is probably because their own Republican Council Person, Veronica Airey-Wilson was neck deep in the scandal also.

I guess the big question for me is at what price was the deal cut to endorse the Democrats by Republican Town Chairperson Mike McGarry? McGarry who typically isn't known for his inclusiveness of minorities and gays, must now find himself in a strange position of doing exactly that. McGarry has apparently decided to endorse the openly gay Democrat and at least part of the minority representatives on the Council slate. For some reason, McGarry's endorsement does not include Shawn Wooden, Raul deJesus or David McDonald

Is it possible McGarry has seen the light and is now willing to accept all people regardless of their sexual orientation or race? Don't count on it. McGarry has apparently been bragging since primary day that he has cut a deal "with the Dem's".

And why is that? Most likely because McGarry has realized that under his leadership as Town Chair, he has allowed the Republican Party in Hartford to slide into oblivion. The GOP in Hartford probably has less than 1,700 Republican's of which maybe 500 are "prime", or regular voters who turn out to vote. McGarry knows that he doesn't even have the numbers in his own party to get a Councilperson elected.

Combine that with the "Working Families Party" operation and McGarry should rightfully be running scared. Like it or not, the "WFP" has an operation behind it, a formidable operation at that. While the GOP can just barely maintain the minimum balance in their Town Committee checking account, the WFP is well financed, much of it Union money, and they know how to run effective grassroots campaigns.

McGarry apparently cut his deal with the Democrats to try to ensure 3,000 votes for his candidates who are in real jeopardy of becoming extinct on the Council if the WFP comes on strong, as I'm sure they intend to do.

Although this last ditch effort by McGarry to save his slate raises questions, the even bigger question is to what level do these endorsements further the ideals of the Republican Party. The answer is probably none at all.

The Republican Party is typically about, or at least in places other than Hartford it is about, smaller government, reduced government spending, reducing taxes and small business support. The track record in Hartford of those McGarry is supporting and endorsing is the exact opposite. Under those he has chosen to endorse, Hartford has seen its mill rate more than double since 1999, city spending has increased over $150,000,000 annually.Numerous small businesses have been forced out of business by exorbitant taxes.

These actions have all been under the "leadership" of those very same people the Republicans are now endorsing. These are the actions of a desperate politician, Mike McGarry, and not the actions of anyone that wants to see Hartford prosper and see its residents and businesses benefit. Pure and simple it is a move by McGarry to save his own Republican "skin" by trying to undermine the potential of the WFP coming on strong in November, as well as my "independent" candidacy for Council.

I have called several members of the Hartford Republican Town Committee, and none of them know how the endorsements came about. From what several sources have told me McGarry claims to have cut the deal on primary day with Democratic Town Committee Chairperson Jean Holloway. McGarry has apparently told at least one of the "sources" that the deal was orchestrated on primary day and McGarry and Holloway committed to working together to get the Republicans elected.

I spoke with Jean Holloway, the Hartford DTC Chair, and she wouldn't deny the deal was made. She suggested that I contact McGarry to sit down and discuss the conversation that they had. She did say though "when you find those 3,000 votes, let me know and we can go look for them together".

It has to make most people wonder why the Republican's would even consider cutting such a deal, and was it one person or was the Republican Town Committee actually involved. From what I am hearing now, it seems like it was more the wheeling and dealing of McGarry. I would find it hard to believe that the Republican's can actually be supportive of the Democratic candidates when the direction of the two parties is so different.

The opportunity to rebuild the Republican Party is there, with some forward thinking leadership. It doesn't need to be a party of dinosaurs in Hartford. And no matter what party anyone belongs to, no one is well served by single party rule. It essentially ends any political debate when only one strong party has a voice and the minority party rolls over and plays dead.

It will be interesting to see if the new leadership at Connecticut Republican State Central is interested in re-gaining a voice in Connecticut's Capitol city, or is business as usual acceptable to them?

Much more to come on this subject.

ANOTHER LOSS FOR HARTFORD, JOHN O'CONNELL PASSES



Former Hartford City Councilman John O'Connell passed away this morning at Hartford Hospital. No arrangements have been made as of this time.

According to John's wife Carol, John was re-admitted to Hartford Hospital last night and passed away this morning in the Intensive Care Unit surrounded by his wife, his son Jay and Jay's wife Erica.

John was, in my opinion, the last strong Councilperson on the Hartford City Council in recent years. John was known as the City budget "guru" and even after he left the council he was often called on for budget advice. John was always willing to help or answer questions from anyone, no matter what their political affiliation.

John was on the Council during a period when coalitions were built to get things done and he loved to tell the stories of the various alliances combining all parties to gain the majority vote. In true Irish form, John could tell stories like no one else.

John and Carol came to my home Memorial Day weekend for a cookout and John had everyone enthralled with his stories of being on Council during the Peter's years and the way they accomplished tax cuts> He even had some great stories from behind the scenes that probably aren't suitable for posting here about the actions of some other Council people and politicians.

Although John was a die-hard Republican, he lived for the "democratic" process. He lived his Republican ideals everyday, but he was at his best when it came to using democracy to get things. Whether that was a robust debate, some might have stronger terms for it, John was never one to back down from a challenge when it came to a question of right or wrong. "Robert's Rules of Order" were his best friend, although he willingly admitted at times he would stretch them to move his point along.

John takes a piece of Hartford's history with him in his passing, but he also added an awful lot to Hartford's history through his service to our community. John's presence in a room sometimes was overwhelming, especially if that room was the Hartford City Council Chambers. Whether he was sitting on the dais or in the audience after his term expired, John had no problem letting people know what he thought.

Although John's health had been failing in recent years, mentally he remained strong and was always willing to offer advice to anyone willing to ask for it or listen. In recent months John and his wife were blessed with their firstborn grandchild, Bridgette born to Jay and Erica and John couldn't have been a more proud grandfather.

No arrangements have been made yet, but I will try to post them here when available. In the mean time feel free to post any memories of John or comments here.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

LET'S SEE HOW THAT SEGARRA TRANSPARENCY WORKS

The Rudewicz Report was apparently delivered to the City of Hartford today according to several sources. Now the real test of transparency will begin, will the public be allowed to see the report?

Only time will tell, but since the report was funded with taxpayers money, it seems like we should be able to review the report in its entirety, good, bad or ugly.

What do you think?

FINALLY SOMETHING FROM HPD THAT MAKES SENSE

Word is that the shooting task force started by Governor Malloy and Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane has been continued through the fall of 2012.

The numbers alone for the results being achieved by the taskforce are impressive. For the last 28 day period there have been 6 people struck by gunfire, compared to 27 victims for the same period last year. Several agencies and suburban towns are part of the taskforce in addition to HPD

The homicide numbers seem to have leveled off since the task force started, as opposed to the drastic rise we saw for the first half of the year.

Two more Hartford Police Officers will be assigned to the task force as of Sunday, a Lieutenant and a Sergeant will be re-assigned. They are being assigned to a specific portion of the task force, but I have been asked not to provide details for a few weeks. Suffice it to say, these latest additions will most likely add some more teeth to the taskforce and add even more to the operation and success of the group.

Now, if the Courts will add some serious jail time for the arrests made by the taskforce, it should continue to affect the Hartford region's gun violence as well as seeming to put a dent in the drug trade also.

Monday, September 19, 2011

RELUCTANTLY , I THINK NOW I CAN SAY "I TOLD YOU SO"

I think now I can say my predictions are right, the Hartford Courant is reporting that the Market at Hartford 21 has closed....temporarily supposedly. The Courant's story can be found here

Here is my post from last week about the potential closing.
It was interesting to note in the Courant's article that apparently the City of Hartford gave the Market at Hartford 21 an additional $100,000 dollars after they opened and began to struggle. That is in addition to the $300,000 they were originally given.

I would imagine many of Hartford's struggling businesses that have been here for years would like to know where the line forms for them to get their $100,000 checks.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

ANOTHER HARTFORD POLITICIAN POSSIBLY FACING ARREST?


The old saying that the wheels of justice turns slowly seem to be definitely true in this case.

In a State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC)complaint that began in 2006 against Hartford's 3rd District State Representative Minnie Gonzalez, it is now one step closer to potential criminal charges.

The case and the complaint itself are pretty well spelled out in the decision below, but the bottom line is that Gonzalez appealed the SEEC findings and the process used to reach those findings. Superior Court Judge Schuman decided against her and denied her appeal on June 23, 2011. Although he did deny the appeal and referred it back to the SEEC for further action, he did reduce the number of potential charges from 4 counts to 2.

Gonzalez has now appealed the decision in the appeal, but I am told that is a matter of procedure to potentially delay any criminal charges. Apparently the process would have been, most likely, that once the appeal was denied and sent back to the SEEC, the SEEC would then potentially refer the matter to the Office of the State's Attorney Kevin Kane for investigation and action on criminal charges.

Another one to follow, but I think we have come to expect this in Hartford. Gonzalez is no stranger to the halls of the SEEC.

Minnie Gonzalez Appeal Denial