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Thursday, July 26, 2012

FINALLY...PROGRESS

Hartford City Council President Shawn T. Wooden announced that, today, Mayor Segarra has submitted a resolution to the Council for the appointment of James C. Rovella as Chief of the Hartford Police Department. Accordingly, in an effort to expedite the process, the Council will convene a special meeting on Monday, July 30th at 5:30 P.M. to receive the resolution and have a confirmation hearing immediately thereafter at 6:00 P.M.


“The appointment of a police chief is extraordinarily important to the future of the City of Hartford. Because Chief Rovella was not subject to the process that other candidates faced, a thorough vetting by the Council is crucial. Hartford residents want to feel safer in our city. And, given the length of time that we have been without a permanent police chief, the Council should act with urgency in considering this appointment. I look forward to hearing Chief Rovella’s vision for public safety in our city. I also look forward to giving the community an opportunity to ask questions of Chief Rovella,” said Wooden.


The confirmation hearing will consist of four components: opening remarks from Mayor Segarra, remarks from Chief Rovella, questions from the public, and questions from the Council. Members of the public may also participate in the confirmation process by submitting questions or comments to HartfordChiefQuestions@gmail.com or calling 860-757-9570.


Councilman Kyle K. Anderson, Chairman of the Quality of Life, Public Safety, and Housing Committee, added, “Public engagement is incredibly important in all aspects of public safety and this is no exception. Our city has a crime epidemic, and it is imperative that the next police chief understands the concerns of Hartford residents. That is why it is so important that we give both the public and Chief Rovella the opportunity to have that discussion.”


The City Charter gives the Council 60 days from July 30, 2012 to take action on the appointment of Chief Rovella.

ANOTHER REASON TO VISIT A HARTFORD GEM

Hopefully the weather will hold out for today;s ice cream social at the Mark Twain House on Farmington Avenue, the details are below:

Our Annual Ice Cream Social

Thursday, July 26, 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
Come to The Mark Twain House & Museum to enjoy lawn games, live music, hot dogs, discounted tours -- and, of course, a refreshing cup of ice cream donated by the UConn Dairy Bar, Shady Glenn, and Royal Ice Cream.
This is the fourth year for the Social, which always draws a good crowd. (After the social, at 7:00 p.m., there will be a preview screening of the documentary "Linotype: The Film." See above.)
The Ice Cream Social this year benefits from a special grant for free programs from The First Niagara Bank Foundation.
The event includes:
-- Discounted tours of the first floor of the historic Mark Twain House, available for $5.00 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:15 p.m. All the exhibits in the Museum Center, including the featured exhibit "Race, Rage, and Redemption," will also be free.
-- The renowned Phil Rosenthal Duo will present its lively program of traditional and original folk, bluegrass and country music on the patio, featuring two-part harmony vocals and toe-tapping instrumental work.
-- Woody's Hot Dog Cart will have its famed hot dogs available for purchase.
-- Croquet and other lawn games will be tearing up the Great Lawn for the enjoyment of all ages.
--- Workshops on lantern making with Anne Cubberly. Lanterns made from plastic bottles will be featured in Night Fall, a celebration in Elizabeth Park on Oct. 13.


Free event; special $5.00 tours of the main floor of the Mark Twain House

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

THIS IS SAD

When it rains it pours, many of you have asked why blog posts have slowed down so I hope you are getting your fill today.

But anyways, an e-mail was sent out to all of the members of the Hartford Redevelopment Authority today advising them that "Please be advised that the August HRA meeting has been cancelled due to the lack of actionable items. "The e-mail was sent by Mayra Ghaffar, the
Administrative Assistantin the Economic Development Division of the Department of Development Services

A lack of actionable items,? We just hired a new economic development Director and we have an office full of staff in the redevelopment Department and several of them have recently been given bonuses.  How can there be nothing actionable if people are actually doing their jobs?

What about the project at Albany Avenue and Woodland Street that was supposed to be voted on months ago , after the neighborhood made it clear what they wanted there. Word is that there may be a behind the scenes deal in the offing to benefit another Hartford politico. That property was already part of a Grand Jury corruption investigation, should we try for twice?

Someone, ,hopefully, someone on the Council needs to start asking questions as to why there is nothing "actionable" in a City that is starving for Economic Development. Maybe the paychecks for staff that aren't able create anything "actionable" should be looked at.

And on the topic of development, I am being told that the COO"s Anti Blight Initiative is on life support as the staff continue to jump from the sinking ship. Anyone that could provide more insight on this feel free to call me with info.

ARE THEY CRAZY?

This is just one of those things that makes me shake my head in disbelief and wonder if we need to start testing the air and water for hallucinogenics at Hartford City Hall.

During the Perez years, a new Public Safety Complex for Hartford was planned and construction began. The Hartford Police Federal Ctredit Union currently occupies space in the Police building at Jennings Road in Hartford.  The normal progression would seem to be that accommodations would be made to move the Credit Union to the new Public Safety Complex. In a corrupt administration things don't  always go as expected and many times deals are cut behind the scenes.

Since Perez's Administration was clearly corrupt, common sense doesn't apply and the HPD Credit Union was cut out of the new complex and the location was given to the Hartford Municipal Employees Credit Union instead.

Sources have told me that the HPD Credit Union  "was done dirty" and the City wanted to make it  up to them and began the process of selling them an abandoned property directly across the street from the new complex.  Although the property has not been officially closed on yet, one source told me that the City had accepted their bid of approximately $170.000  for the City owned property months ago. Apparently the closing has been postponed on at least three different occasions.  The first time , according to sources the City provided an inaccurate plot plan which needed to be corrected with accurate dimensions.

Ok, so now here comes the crazy part. Another closing has been scheduled for this week and on the eve of the closing the City is trying to put it off again apparently. The reason is that COO David Panagore has , according to sources,  notified the HPD Credit Union that Federal money has been found to actually move the building from its current location to the corner of Main Street and Albany Avenue.

This is a property that would return to the Grand List and begin producing much needed tax revenue once the sale is completed. One person familiar with the sale asked is this was the way the city handles Economic Development and why would anyone consider moving a business here if the process is so cumbersome

That corner was slated to be the location of a new McDonald's Restaurant recently until the project was killed by the city. More craziness that City Hall would kill any development project at this time, but again, it has to be the air quality clogging the brains at City Hall.

Hopefully if the building is moved, since it is a historic property, the vendor will be different than the one used to preserve the historic facade of the new Complex. That was done wrong and the entire facade eventually collapsed. The HPD Credit Union might just end up as a pile of bricks on High Street.

A call to the Mayor's Chief of Staff for comment has not been returned as of this time.

ADAM CLOUD APPOINTS DEPUTY TREASURER

In accordance with Hartford's Charter, Hartford's City Treasurer has appointed his Deputy Treasurer.
Clouds pick is raising some eyebrows in political circles. His choice is Carmen Sirerra who was terminated from her job in the Office of the State Comptroller after she accused former Comptroller, now Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman of "making Puerto Rican jokes" according to media reports from 1999.

This brush up occurred after Sierra was not endorsed in her run for City Treasurer at the time, the office was eventually won by Kathleen Palm who served as Hartford's Treasurer until her retirement last year. At the time media accounts reported that "Wyman may be separating herself from someone she considers disloyal"

At least one politico was not happy with that decision at the time, current endorsed Democratic Registrar of Voters candidate Ramon Arroyo had promised Wyman that he would "remember the issue when she came up for re-election. A promise that apparently never came true since Wyman was successfully re-elected and went on to run as Lieutenant Governor with Connecticut's current Governor Dannel Malloy.

Arroyo's own candidacy for Registrar of  Voters is not without controversy as he continues to refuse to answer questions posed from residents  about his 1991 arrest for soliciting a prostitute.

Sierra's comments about Wyman were made during her appearance on a local public access program when a caller to the show made an anti-Semitic remark and referred to "blood sucking Jew's". Sierra apparently did not challenge the remark, but she was challenged by the late John O'Connell when he called in and questioned her lack of a response to the anti-Semitic remarks, Candidate Sierra did not address the issue but instead of denouncing the slur, Sierra described it as a ``joke'' and added that Wyman, who is Jewish, makes Puerto Rican jokes..

Cloud himself , during an interview for his endorsement for Treasurer had been asked  by a 6th District Democratic Town Committee member Alex Rodriguez if he (Cloud)had any plans of naming Sierra as his Deputy and Cloud apparently answered "Absolutely not". When I spoke to Treasurer Cloud this morning, he contends that Sierra was the most qualified candidate he had available.

THE GEMS IN OUR MIDST

Monday night I was invited to a "Meet and Greet" for the Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House at 77 Forest Street. I am almost embarrassed to admit I had never visited this Hartford landmark before. The main house was already closed for the day, but the Visitor Center was open and was impressive with the displays and the information that was displayed there.

One display claims that Abraham Lincoln at one point told Harriet Beecher Stowe that her book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" may have been responsible for the start of the Civil War. One program that is running through September 3, 2012 is called "Images of Separation" and uses objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote social justice.

Click here to read more about the Harriet Beecher-Stowe homestead

We sometimes focus on the negative but don't realize all the positives also. A trip to the Harriet Beecher Stowe house might just be the best $3.00 you spend this summer. Over 30,000 people visited the Center last year with roughly 10% being "international" visitors.

While you are at it don't forget many of our other Hartford gems like the Mark Twain Home just next door, the gardens at Elizabeth Park, the Connecticut State Capitol, The Connecticut Science  Center, Bushnell Park or even one of the many events happening at Hartford's Riverfront throughout the summer. Feel free to post any other of Hartford's gems that are open to explore this summer