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Thursday, September 27, 2012

IS PARTY LOYALTY FOREIGN TO HARTFORD'S DEMOCRATS

I fully understand that we live in a democracy and individuals are free to support the candidates of their choice, but what is the price .

Several of Hartford's supposedly loyal Democrats seem to have no problem being auctioned off to the highest bidder, even though they have made very good livings off of the Democratic Party. Several disturbing stories have come to me lately regarding Hartford's Politicos who are capable of following the money to apparently  benefit themselves.

One supposedly loyal Democrat who also was a former member of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee, although the voters defeated him in his last attempt for re-election ,has apparently accepted a 13 passenger Ford van for his nonprofit from Linda McMahon. Andrew Wood, who has made a very good living capitalizing on Hartford's poverty problems has apparently accepted the van for "Hartford Communities That Care" from a charitable arm of Linda McMahon's wrestling empire.McMahon was also offered the opportunity to be the guest speaker at the Commencement of the summer program for "Hartford Communities that Care" an event attended by a large number of Hartford parents that also are voters presumably.

On its face value the deal seems shady, but apparently it all is legal. Most people I have spoke with come to the conclusion that it appears that McMahon is attempting to buy votes through the back doors of Hartford's nonprofits. But that has been the McMahon campaign effort , the best money can buy.

The more troubling calls came this week and informed me that 3rd District State Representative Minnie Gonzalez was organizing a walking tour of the Park Street area on behalf of Republican Linda McMahon. One business owner I spoke with confirmed that Gonzalez had scheduled a visit for Tuesday but that McMahon was a "no show". I have a strange feeling that Hartford would have a lot of "no shows" if McMahon were ever elected.

Requests for comment or clarification from Gonzalez were met with a voice message that her phone was not accepting incoming calls. Calls to Andrew Wood for comment were not returned. Calls to the McMahon campaign requesting comment were also not returned.

I can understand part of Minnie working for McMahon after the stunning defeat of her husband in his effort to become Hartford's Registrar of Voters. I didn't vote to endorse him and neither did the voters of Hartford. I guess "cavorting with whores" is not a value that Hartford voter's choose to embrace.
Arroyo was arrested in an undercover police sting for attempting to solicit a prostitute while he was a city of Hartford employee.

Arroyo has been very vocal lately on his face book page on what he perceives as his betrayal by the Hartford Democratic Town Committee and Hartford's voters in not electing him. In one posting Arroyo urged his followers to only vote for his wife Minnie and President Obama in November  and ignore the other Democratic Candidate's. Arroyo is also a member of the Executive Board of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee.

 Minnie Gonzalez and Ramon Arroyo , both longtime Hartford Democrats also apparently attended the recent Republican National Convention in Tampa

ARE WE REALLY PAYING FOR THIS? SUPERINTENDENT KISHIMOTO'S ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW

The annual performance review for Hartford's Superintendent of Schools is out and it is not a pretty picture. Issues of poor management, lack of planning and the large number of principals that have walked away from Hartford all appear to be major concerns related to Kishimoto's performance as the Board of Education sees it. As you read the report, ask yourself what other profession would be proud of their results if they were failing two-thirds of their clients.

 In Hartford's Schools, roughly one- third of the high school students actually make it to graduation. Those numbers have increased in recent years but primarily because Magnet Schools have been thrown into the average. It would be interesting to know the percentage of students from Weaver, Bulkeley and Hartford High that actually make it to graduation. Here is the report:
Superintendent Kishimoto evaluation In reponse to her review, Kishimoto fired off the following letter to Board Chair Matt Poland:
Ltr+to+BOE+Chair Kishimotos letter was met with the following e-mail response by Board Chair Poland.

Dear Dr. Kishimoto: Thank you for your response to your performance evaluation. I want to point out that the Board is not interested in engaging in a “political debate” that does not exist. However, we are interested in engaging you in the work that we must do together to ensure academic and career success for all of our students. Thank you for the initial steps that you and your administration will take to begin the journey to build a confident and trusting relationship with the Board. While frameworks for communicating with the Board are important, alone or unilaterally, they will not solve the problems we face. The Leadership Committee of the Board will work with you to build a more substantive approach that is sustainable. And finally, since we are all student-centered, fortunately we have a foundation upon which we can move forward. Best regards, Matthew K. Poland Board Chairman Hartford Board of Education

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

A GREAT DAY FOR HARTFORD

The sign above says it all. but today was a proud day for the City of Hartford as James C. Rovella was officially sworn in as Hartford's permanent Police Chief. With Rovellas energy and vison for the Hartford Police Department, great things seem to be on the horizon to benefit the City and its residents. It has been a long day and I will post more on this, especially regarding the Faith based initiative that is one of Chief Rovella's priorities in the near future.

Monday, September 10, 2012

THE WHOLE TRUTH, THE UNSCRUBBED REPORT

Here is the unredacted, unscrubbed original report on the LSNI Program, I'm not sure why the second report had to be created, but maybe it should have a disclaimer that names mentioned in the report are innocent until proven guilty. Both reports are public documents and should be available to the public regardless. If you actually want to read the report with the names of the obstructions to forward momentum, this is the report to read. Maybe Mayor Segarra should be using this report to compile the layoff list he mentioned last week. Why would we continue to employ those who clearly don't believe in what Mayor Segarra is trying to accomplish? LSNI- ORIGINAL REPORT

LSNI- THE SCRUBBED REPORT

The final report of the Livable  Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative (LSNI) Was released today and this is the scrubbed version, many details that were in the original report have been removed. The original report, referred to as "the draft", actually named several City employees who were referred to in the original report as being problems and contributing to the failure of the Mayor's program..

Here is the scrubbed version, I will post the "draft" version with the names tomorrow.
LSNI Report

IT IS ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE WITH ANDREW.

My regular readers are familiar with my nephew Andrew. I have written about him here before and his efforts to compete in the 2014 Paralympics in Russia. Andrew has taken to skiing and is proving to be quite the competitor, even though he is afflicted with Cerebral palsy. You can read more about Andrew at his website, andrewraces.com or just click here.

Andrew skiing at Camelback Mountain in New York last winter
 
 
Last Friday, a friend of mine gave me three tickets to Sunday's Red Sox game at Fenway Park. I decided to take my nephew Andrew, who has become a big Red Sox fan  and his younger brother, Ryan. Although Andrew has become a master on skis, everyday activities like walking are still a challenge for him and he seems as though he wants to face his challenges head on.

 A wheelchair is something you very rarely see Andrew break out unless he has a long journey, like an airport or some other distance he has to travel.Andrew is also a member of his school band at Fermi High School in Enfield. His younger brother Ryan, who sometimes doesn't get the attention for being the great kid he is with Andrew in the media limelight, once pushed his brother in his wheelchair the entire distance of a Parade route in Enfield so Andrew could play with the band.


If the tears aren;t coming to your eyes yet, hold on.So often the great things people do aren't mentioned, and sometimes a small effort by someone can have a huge impact.

All I know is that his name is Kenny and he is a security guard at Fenway Park at the main gate at Yawkey Way by the souvenir shop.I left Hartford early Sunday to pick up my nephews and make sure we got to Fenway early enough so I could get a handicap parking space close to the park. The Boston Police were great and directed us to Overland Street, which I guess they shut down during the games, specifically to accommodate handicap parking needs.

Since we had left Hartford early, by the time we got there and Andrew walked to the Ticket gate, we saw the sign that the gates opened 90 minutes before game time. That left Andrew at least an hour to stand before we could get to our seats.

That is where Kenny the security guard came in. I approached him and explained that I had a person with me with a disability and was there a place he could sit while we waited for the gates to open. I think Andrew doesn't see it as a disability but that's another story. Anyway, Kenny asked if he could walk down stairs. I told him it wasn't pretty, but yes he could do it.

He then pulled a couple of Red Sox wrist bands out of his pocket, put one on me, one on Andrew and the 3rd on Ryan and he told us to follow him he was taking us out on the field for the teams warming up before the game. Andrew's face lit up with a smile like a kid on Christmas morning and I think Ryan was pretty impressed also as we were walked onto the Field.

It was a deed that put some joy on Andrew's face and hopefully helps him forget some of the pain he has experienced throughout his young life with treatments and surgeries to break bones and then pin them back together  to help him walk. I'm not sure if Kenny the security guard will appreciate what he did for Andrew and how it made him feel special, but I am pretty sure Andrew and Ryan will both be telling the story of their special day with the Red Sox for a while, I know I will.

A fundraiser will be held next Sunday to support Andrew's efforts to make it to the paralympics, more on that below.
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