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Thursday, November 10, 2011

MAKING COUNCIL HISTORY


Now that the voters have spoken, Councilman Corey Brinson's rallying call at the polls "I never took my salary" seems to be somewhat historic. Brinson is the only Councilperson in recent history to refuse the salary,and due to Hartford's voters, he will not be collecting a salary from the taxpayers anytime soon.

The one question he never did answer is whether or not he also rejected the City's Health benefits. The benefits alone are potentially more costly to taxpayers than the salary. Council people are eligible to receive full health care at the taxpayers expense. After five years on the Council they are also eligible to receive their health care for life at the City's taxpayers expense.

Aside from rejecting the salary increase, the voters need to be looking at repealing the health care and the pensions given to Councilpeople after 5 years on the council also. Name one other spot where you are vested for a pension after five years.

Brinson was appointed to the Council to fill the unexpired term of his aunt, Veronica Airey-Wilson, who "retired" amidst her arrest during the Perez Grand Jury corruption scandal.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

FUNDRAISER FOR ANDREW





If you are a regular reader you have probably read about my nephew Andrew and his adventures to gain a spot on the US Ski Team for the 2014 Paralympics being held in Russia. Several fundraisers are being held to help make this happen.

The next one scheduled is being held this Saturday at the Outback Steakhouse in Enfield. The flyer above has the details and tickets are still available. The menu sounds pretty good and all included for a price pf $20.00 per person.

To find out more about Andrew and his efforts, check out his website, andrewraces.com

SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FROM AN OLD-TIME POLITICIAN

I honestly thought that I could make a difference in returning Hartford to some of the prominence of earlier years, but I guess the voters of Hartford had different ideas of what Hartford needs. Apparently they haven't had enough of spending Hartford into oblivion yet with no regard to how it is being paid for.

I guess the pressure we put on our small businesses and commercial property owners to pack up and leave Hartford isn't a big issue. Besides, it might just be a status thing to have the highest mill rate in the state as well as some of the highest commercial space vacancies in the region.

As much as I thought I could make a difference on the Council, at least one person who led Hartford during some of its better days put it all into perspective for me. Former Mayor James Kinsella, who served as Hartford's Mayor from 1957-1960, spoke to me outside his polling place after he cast his vote.

Mayor Kinsella told me that he was a regular reader of the blog and he like it. He liked my writing style and liked the issues I addressed. He said he had reservations about me being elected because he thought that I was most likely doing more on the outside through the blog than I could do on the inside as a Councilperson.

Bottom line is he knows the system a lot better than I ever will and his words make sense. As the Courant pointed out when they endorsed me, the blog and the position of Councilperson might not be the easiest mix. I thought about that a lot and eventually realized that my hands might be tied on many issues and how I could approach them.

Well, the voters made it an easy decision for me. I do not intend to go away or have my hands tied and as much as I think I could be a positive force on the Council, everything works out for a reason. Chances are pretty good that by 2015 when Council elections roll around again, I can say I made more positive change from the outside than some of those elected yesterday will have made from the inside.

With your help and support I feel confident that we can continue to expose issues that affect our City and hold our elected officials accountable. Keep the e-mails and information coming as you have been and it should make for an interesting four years

For those of you who supported my campaign, contributed, or even showed your support by voting for me, I sincerely thank you. And to Mayor Kinsella, thanks for putting it into perspective (and my apologies for calling you "an old time politician", that's not a bad thing when you see how the system is run today)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

IN THE HOME STRETCH

Tomorrow is election day in Hartford. I have enjoyed the forums, the meetings, answering questions and generally trying to shed some light on what we need to do to move Hartford forward.

Hopefully I will have an opportunity to put those ideas and changes into effect as a Councilperson if enough people agree.

If you have the opportunity, please remind someone to go vote tomorrow , and if you are so inclined, ask them to vote for me on row D-3. Any support is greatly appreciated .

Rest assured though, no matter how this turns out, I fully intend to keep doing what I have been doing for the last few years to make Hartford a better place.

"VARGAS VS. SEGARRA" HEADED TO COURT

On October 27, 2011, a hearing was held by the Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee regarding a complaint filed by mayoral candidate Edwin Vargas against a cross nomination by the Hartford Republican Town Committee which was accepted by Pedro Segarra.To read the previous posting about Vargas's complaint, click here

Last Thursday the hearing committee ruled against Vargas. The next step is for Vargas to head to Superior to see if a Judge will take the politics out of the matter and look at the complaint differently. That hearing will be held tomorrow, Monday, at 11:00am at Superior Court on Washington Street.

The full motion for a hearing by Vargas's attorney is below:

Complaint - Vargas v. Segarra

Sunday, October 30, 2011

LAST WEEKENDS HOOKER DAY PARADE, 2011

Although this weekend we were preparing for a snow storm, the Saturday before brought thousands of people downtown to enjoy the Hooker Day Parade. The video below is just some raw video I shot and I thought I would post it here, maybe you will see yourself if you attended or someone else you recognize .

Enjoy .