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Thursday, October 20, 2011

HARTFORD DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE TO MEET TONIGHT

If you are interested in seeing first hand how Hartford politics work, the HDTC will be meeting tonight at 6:30PM in the Function Room at Hartford City Hall.

If you want to see democracy at its finest, or maybe its worse, stop by and see what goes on.

After a short time watching the process, you will probably be convinced to vote Independent on November 8th. It promises to be a lively night.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

WE NEED VISION AND FRESH IDEAS

One thing I have found while campaigning for Hartford City Council is that we have a lot of "politicians" that are good at identifying Hartford's problems. The problem with that though is that the solutions to our problems, for the most part, seem to be in short supply. At the candidates forums I keep hearing the catch phrases for Hartford's troubles... "crime and public safety", "economic development", "education" and "jobs".

This may sound self-serving, but we have plenty of "politicians" capable of identifying problems, what we need are leaders to come up with solutions to those problems.

Back in July, I posted here on the blog one of my plans to spur economic development, you can read that posting here.The idea now seems to be gaining some traction. It is only part of the puzzle to turning Hartford around, but I guess others beside just myself see the possibilities

Last Thursday, former Councilperson and now State Representative Matt Ritter called me regarding the plan. I guess Matt sees the merits in the idea and he wanted to let me know he was interested in moving the idea forward. He was meeting with the Metro Hartford Alliance and wanted to gauge their support and he apparently plans to move it forward in next years legislative session..

Ironically, that same afternoon I met with the editorial board of the Hartford Courant and laid out my thoughts to them also. Tom Condon posted an editorial on line tonight which I would imagine will be in the print edition tomorrow. Unfortunately the message of the editorial is about another Hartford business closing its doors in large part because of Hartford's tax burden on its small businesses.

In the editorial, Tom Condon mentions my plan as an idea "worth exploring". It's not the solution to everything, but it is a start.

Here's what Tom wrote; "A way must be found to entice small businesses back to the city. Blogger and city council candidate Kevin Brookman has an idea, one that state Rep. Matthew Ritter has picked up on, that is worth exploring. It is to offer the region's average tax rate to any business that will locate or expand in Hartford. So say the region's average is 35 mills. That's what the business would pay in Hartford, for some period of time."

We need the vision and the ideas for possible solutions, just identifying the problems doesn't change anything.

To read Tom Condon's editorial, click here

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

IS DKR'S INNER FIREFIGHTER COMING OUT


Yes that is Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts in the picture above wearing the fire helmet.

Chief Roberts recently addressed the graduating recruits from the Hartford Fire Department Training Academy.

According to a few people in attendance, Chief Roberts addressed the recruits stating that "inside every police officer is a firefighter waiting to come out". Could this be the beginning of a new career? Is Chief Roberts internal firefighter "coming out"?

WEST END CIVIC ASSOCIATION CANDIDATES FORUM TONIGHT





REPOSTED FROM E-MAIL MESSAGE FROM WECA


WECA Candidates' Forum


Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - 7 p.m.


The West End Civic Association will hold a Candidates' Forum on Tuesday, October 18 at the United Methodist Church in Hartford (located at the corner of Farmington Ave and South Whitney St) at 7 p.m.



Candidates for the City Council, Mayor and Treasurer will attend.


Please join us. A candidates' forum allows candidates for public office to express their views openly so audience members can understand their positions and make informed voting choices. The forum allows you an opportunity to become better informed about your choices for elected representative.






West End Civic Association

Friday, October 14, 2011

A BAD WEEK FOR BILL DiBELLA, THE WEEK IN REVIEW


When it rains it pours, but that might be a good thing for the area's water agency, the MDC. But this week "the rain" just kept coming when it related to bad news for the Chairman of the MDC, William DiBella.

It started off with the announcement that the MDC would be forced to eliminate at least 82 jobs as a result of losing the management and operations contract for the CRRA, Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority.

Then Jon Lender did an in-depth story on the potential relationship between Hartford politicians and the hiring of Democratic State Representative Hector Robles at a company that just received millions from the State of Connecticut, Ticket Network of South Windsor. Lender began to connect the "dots" of the deal with DiBella, the MDC and his son, Marc DiBella figuring prominently in the middle of the article. You can read Jon Lender's story here.

And then on top of all that, it seems that at least 12 of the employees let go this week were IT specialists for the MDC. Interestingly enough, after the jobs were cut, the MDC's computer systems went down and have been down all week, and an MDC spokesperson quoted in a Courant article today said it was a "possibility" that the computers would be back on line next week. That doesn't sound too encouraging.

You can read the Courant article about the MDC's computer troubles here

Luckily for Bill though, he can decompress and unwind on his daily commute back to his home in Old Saybrook.

MORE ON THE ROBLES EMPLOYMENT DEAL, MORE HARTFORD POLITICS AS USUAL?


After the posting of the story here earlier this week regarding former Hartford Police officer Hector Robles' new job with Ticket Network there is now more information coming out. Robles was terminated as a Hartford police officer after being arrested on Larceny charges related to his alleged theft of over $10,000 from a "double-dipping" fraud scheme at HPD.

Robles still holds his seat as a Democratic legislator and Democratic Town Committee member from the 6th Legislative District, representing the southend of Hartford

Jon Lender of the Courant apparently did some more digging on the matter and found more interesting information. You can read Jon Lender's article here

Will this ever end? Maybe it is time for the Office of the Chief State's Attorney to set up a satellite office in Hartford for the Public Integrity Unit. Eddie Perez may have just been the tip of the iceberg.