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Saturday, December 10, 2011

THE CLAIRVOYANT COUNCILMAN KENNEDY


Jeff Cohen at WNPR had an interesting story about the battle for Council President when the new Council begins. Click here to read Jeff's story

Kenneth Kennedy, a Council incumbent, is seeking the Presidency as well as Council newcomer Shawn Wooden. The vote apparently comes down to one swing vote, also a Council newcomer, Kyle Anderson. The general consensus is that three Democrats have aligned themselves behind Kennedy and the three minority Council members, all Working Families Party members are behind Wooden. That leaves Anderson potentially as the deciding vote.

One of the points I tried to make repeatedly is that people need to think hard about who is placed in the position of Council President. We need to ask if we can imagine that person as potentially the Mayor. The Council President, as outlined in the Charter, is the successor to the Office of Mayor if the Mayor is removed from office or can not complete their term.

We saw that last year when Eddie Perez was convicted on corruption charges and left office in shame as a convicted felon. I shudder to think what would have happened if the Council President wasn't Pedro Segarra at the time and someone else might have become Mayor.

But going back to the Cohen story. Councilman Kennedy was quoted in the story as follows, "I know the rumor mill in Hartford but I want to state unequivocally that Mayor Segarra is going to finish his entire term.".

Unequivocally? Based upon what, a crystal ball? ESP? the stars? In true political fashion, it seems like a promise being made that no one can guarantee. It seems like the Councilman may be trying to allay potential fears of what kind of Mayor he would be if he is fortunate enough to gain the Council President's seat.

I'm sure many people would have said "unequivocally" that Eddie Perez would have finished his term also, but a lot of things can change in the course of four years and no one can back up a statement like that, not even Councilman Kennedy.

ANOTHER EPISODE OF HARTFORD'S DUMBEST CRIMINALS

I guess for some people it is true that crime doesn't pay. Actually eventually it doesn't pay for most people, but some are a lot less skilled in the trade.

One example is one of our local residents who committed a robbery on Friday. I guess he was unaware that during the robbery he somehow dropped his wallet at the scene. It didn't take too much effort for HPD to quickly identify a suspect when they took the wallet into evidence, complete with photo ID of the alleged robber.

The officer's prepared a photo array which included the suspect and several other similar pictures. The victim apparently picked the suspect out of the array without any trouble. The officer prepared an arrest warrant application for the suspect and that was submitted to GA14, Hartford Superior Court.

If losing his wallet at a robbery scene wasn't bad enough, it gets worse for this genius.

Apparently to continue his crime spree, the suspect decided to steal a ladder from an apartment building on Broad Street near Russ Street Saturday morning. He got away unnoticed with the ladder, but then once again he made a critical mistake.

The suspect was attempting to sell the ladder for some quick cash on Broad Street Saturday morning. In a City with over 120,000 residents, this genius happened to approach the one wrong person. As he approached another individual to sell the ladder for cash, the person he approached suddenly recognized the ladder as his own property.

This crook needs to try a new line of work since crime is definitely not his strong point. The owner of the ladder called HPD and officers responded promptly and the suspect was located and the ladder was recovered.

Another stroke of bad luck though, one of the responding officers was also involved with the investigation of the previous days robbery. The officer recognized the suspect in the ladder theft as the person who was identified as the robbery suspect from the previous day.

Moses Castro was arrested and charged with the ladder theft and unless he makes bail will most likely be presented in Court on Monday, putting an end to his crime spree, at least for the time being.

Another good job by HPD, but some times it just seems too easy.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

MARG HOLIDAY PARTY THURSDAY NIGHT

The maple Avenue Revitilazation Group (MARG) will hold it's annual Holiday "Meet and Greet" tomorrow night, December 8th at 6:00PM in the lower level of Saint Augustine Church.

The event is open to the public and attendees are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for the St. Augustine Food Pantry or hygiene items that will be donated to the South Park Inn shelter.

Light refreshments will be served.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

CITY TO OCCUPY HARTFORD.....CEASE AND DESIST....TODAY

Apparently today will be eviction day at "Occupy Hartford". A "cease and desist order" has been served upon the "occupiers". Police Officers have been instructed to serve the order upon organizers this morning. Officers have been advised to inform the campers that the order issued today will be enforced at 6:00PM .

Those not vacating the park will be subject to arrest after the 6:00PM deadline. The decision was apparently made after several violent incidents have occurred at the site, including a stabbing, a sexual assault and two gun calls that occurred in in the last 24 hours

Saturday, December 3, 2011

A LIGHTER MOMENT....UNLESS YOU ARE SANTA

I'll take a break from the serious side to share this you-tube video.

No Santa's were injured in the making of this video

KIRKLEY-BEY FORCED OUT?



In the world of Hartford politics, I guess nothing really ever makes sense. It would seem that a long term State Representative would be able to exert some clout to keep their district from being dismantled from under them. Even more so if that Rep also served as Deputy Speaker.

In the case of 5th District State Representative Marie Kirkley-Bey, nothing could be further from the truth. The proposed redistricting of Legislative Districts has drastically cut the size of the 5th District and in fact has even moved Kirkley-Bey's residence (save the Old Saybrook comments) out of the 5th District all together and she will be in the 1st District if the changes go through. The 1st is currently represented by State Representative Matt Ritter.

I am not sure if a challenge to Ritter by Kirkley-Bey is in the future. I would say Kirkley-Bey would have a tough battle challenging one of the potential rising stars in the Legislature. Ritter was the driving force that capped tax increases on residential property and taxes as a result of re-val. The results would have been disastrous for single family homeowners in Hartford without Ritter's bill. Kirkley-Bey might be wise to consider "retirement" and bow out gracefully

A lot of potential changes may be on the political horizon for Hartford as the redistricting may also throw numerous Town Committee seats into play now as the lines are being redrawn. Several HDTC members from the 7th District will now be living in the 1st District. The 5th District HDTC members will be cut drastically also from 11 members to possibly only 4.

At least 3 members of the current 5th District HDTC have now been "redistricted" so their residences have become part of the 4th District. This could prove to be a very interesting battle for control of the 4th District as the current 4ht District HDTC includes former Town Chair Sean Arena. One of the 5th District current HDTC members that will be shifted to the 4th District is the current "shadow Chair" Marc Dibella. This could prove to be a very interesting match up come HDTC election time.

The 7th District also has seen some interesting borders cut for the area represented by Doug McCrory, Several longtime HDTC members have seen their district moved out from under them. Prenzina and Shawn Holloway, Shirley Surgeon, Paul Basch and others now reside outside the proposed boundaried for their current district.

The current 4th District State Representative, Kelvin Roldan survived a close election last go-round and just barely retained his seat from a challenge from a less than stellar candidate. Follow the dots here, Roldan's fiancee is the daughter of Bart Halloran. Halloran is the Attorney for the MDC (Metropolitan District Commission). Marc Dibella's father , William diBella is Chairman of the MDC.

Bart Halloran is also currently representing our convicted felon former Mayor Eddie A. Perez against action by the State Attorney to revoke Perez's pension, as well as 6th District State Representative and former Hartford Police Officer Hector Robles who was arrested on Larceny charges and fired from his job as a police officer.

I think it is probably pretty safe to assume that power in the 4th will not just be handed to Sean Arena without a fight.

Town Committee seats, both Republican and Democrat, are determined by the number or registered voters in a district. With the 5th District being carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey, it includes numerous unpopulated areas including most of Keney Park and a large part of the North Meadows which is primarily commercial area as well as the former landfill.

The 1st District HDTC will also most likely see some change as much of the District had encompassed the West End of Hartford prior to redistricting. The 1st now also has shifted to include much of the Northend/Albany Avenue area and has shifted the demographics to a larger minority representation. This could prove interesting to see if the HDTC from the 1st District shifts to include more minority members to actually represent the makeup of the District.

The 3rd District hasn't changed much except that it now looks to encompass the old Charter Oak Housing project area, where HDTC Secretary, the honorable Angel Morales lives with his mother on Margarita Drive. Since Morales does not have to be an actual member of the HDTC to serve on the Executive Committee, his position seems to be safe. Besides, with all the time he spends at the Hartford Public Library downtown, he has plenty of time to research the legalities.

The 6th District also remains pretty much intact.

It could all play out very interesting come HDTC election time in 2012. Most of the HDTC districts are not cohesive and are potentially ripe for change. In the mean time, maybe Marie Kirkley-Bey can land a job with the MDC and she and Bill can commute together.