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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

INFORMATION IS KNOWLEDGE

I decided to start posting the recaps of Council Meetings as well as the Council Agendas when I have them.

You might find it interesting to see what the Council actually does and might notice some trends as to their personal agendas. Feel free to comment

CEILING REPAIRS AT MCDONOUGH SCHOOL TO COST $80,000

According to a report in the Hartford Courant, ceiling repairs At Hartford's McDonough School are  estimated to cost  $80,000. To make it easier in Budget terms that those at City hall can understand, that is 320 ounces of Beluga Caviar at $250 an ounce or 1000 gas tank fillups in a stolen SUV.

A quote in the article from Board of Education member Rich Wareing needs to be etched into the stone walls of the atrium of Hartford City Hall for every City employee to see daily as they enter the building "We need to be less reactive and more proactive,"

Here is the Courant's article

DAN NOLAN SUING HARTFORD FIREFIGHTERS UNION

Dan Nolan serving in Afghanistan
 
 
I had thought that once Dan Nolan won his job back through a Judges order , that would be the end of  this nonsense. Apparently not. 

Nolan is now being forced to sue the same Union that is supposed to represent his employee rights.The lawsuit has been filed and is posted below, it is pretty much self explanatory. It should have every Hartford firefighter questioning why they are paying Union dues. If they would treat Nolan like this after his court decision, do the members really feel confident they would be represented fully?

Might be time to put those dues into an escrow account until their brother firefighter receives his just representation.

A Labor Relations Complaint has also been filed with the State of Connecticut, that can also be viewed below




IT MIGHT WORK FOR ELLIOTT BUT APPARENTLY NOT FOR RAMON

Former New York Governor Elliott Spitzer is attempting a political comeback after he was forced out of office after his dalliances with prostitutes was revealed publicly. Spitzer is currently a candidate for Comptroller of New York City.

Hartford politico Ramon Arroyo, husband of 3rd District State Representative Minnie Gonzalez, apparently isn't as lucky. Arroyo had been arrested years ago for soliciting a prostitute, who was actually an undercover cop, while he was working as an employee of the City of Hartford in his City vehicle.

Although Spitzer must hope that the voters of New York have short memories and don't place much weight on character or integrity, Democratic Town Committee members from the southern part of Hartford and the northern portion of Wethersfield apparently do.

Last night ,Arroyo was soundly defeated by political newcomer Albi Sako in his run for a coveted Democratic State Central seat. Sako defeated Arroyo 33-10 in a very decisive vote.

Sako in his short time on Hartford's Democratic Town Committee has brought a breath of fresh air to Hartford politics and is hopefully beginning to usher in a new era of leadership for our City.

Arroyo is also apparently a Commissioner with the Connecticut Puerto Rican and Latino Affairs Commission

To read more about Arroyo and his political ventures, click here  or here

PIGS AT THE TROUGH

I know the title of this posting is harsh, but I think it needs to be. Like the saying goes, "it is what it is". Earlier today when I posted about the Segarra makeover I mentioned that I am tired of the people at City hall that see public service as a means to a large salary and a great pension without much regard for the people they serve.

Here is a perfect example of what I mean. I think the floodgates have started opening of people more than willing to expose what is going on in this City. Mayor Segarra can not continue to run around the city playing the role of humanitarian and saying he cares about the people of Hartford if he allows this behavior to continue.

Last week a sale was held by Taxserve, a vendor contracted by the City to sell liens on delinquent tax properties. Seven properties were sold. Two of those properties were purchased by Terry Waller, the husband/fiancée/partner, significant other, whatever the title is this week  of Hartford's acting Chief Operating Officer Saundra Kee-Borges.

In case you don't recall, Waller is the same Terry Waller that had an unbudgeted position specially created for him by his wife /fiancée/partner, significant other,  or whatever the title is this week  , Hartford's Acting Chief Operating Officer Saundra Kee-Borges. More on that here

The attached document shows the properties and Waller's bid.

This raises quite a few red flags for me. Was Waller given any special information or treatment related to his bidding on the properties. Might he have been given any inside information as to potential development projects or land deals on the table that the City may be working on.

And the biggest question is why? Between the two of them and their salaries and pensions they are coming in at close to a half a million dollars a year. Do they really need to make more off the backs of Hartford shareholders that are struggling to pay their taxes. Are the potential profits to Waller or Kee-Borges worth knowing that they may be forcing property owners out of their homes or businesses?

This is just another betrayal to Segarra by his close allies and it is not helping him at all if he really does want to rebuild his administration.

A request for comment was made to the Office of the Mayor, no response yet, but I will post it when  it is available

Perception is reality and the reality is that this deal stinks.

The document is below, ignore the highlighted line

MAYOR SEGARRA'S MAKEOVER

 
 
Last week Jenna Carlesso from the Courant wrote an article about Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra's attempt to restructure his administration. Here is the article in case you didn't read it.

For anyone who follows Hartford politics and the Mayor, it is pretty clear that a cosmetic makeover won't work. It is time for life saving emergency surgery if Segarra is going to have any chance of redeeming his leadership role as Hartford's Mayor.

Segarra's administration , it might be said, has its share of "nice people", Segarra being one of them. But nice doesn't cut it when you are entrusted to run a corporation with over a half a billion dollar annual budget. Nice doesn't come into play when you need to approach Department heads  and other highly paid employees and tell them "thanks for your service, but you just aren't cutting it". That is what leaders and managers do. You decide when to cut your losses, make the difficult decisions and move on.

Hartford needs to implement some sound business management practices and have people implementing them that actually know and understand what sound business practices are.
The Kupiec debacle is a perfect example. Who was responsible for exit interviews and making sure that all property and keys were accounted for on the day he left? This should have been done before his final paycheck was cut, but we now know it wasn't.

That is a basic management process, turn in your keys, turn in your ID card, return all company property, etc, etc. Even though the official line is that his cell phone was turned in and re-issued, that is untrue. I know for a fact that a City Hall staffer  called him on it Monday morning and woke him up and told him to look out his window, the cops were out front questioning why the car was there.

There has been more than enough information out there to show that City Hall is in a state of chaos , and Segarra continues to accept the betrayals by people that he has placed his trust in. If I rehashed everything here I could be typing for days but let me highlight a few.

Quality of life is not just clean parks and public safety, it also means that we get proper customer service for the things we expect from City hall. One of the biggest complaints I hear is the quality of the response residents get when they call the 911 Dispatch Center. It is clearly time for a change in the leadership there.

First off , Segarra is probably still stinging from the sense of betrayal  from his former Chief of Staff and the breech of trust Segarra placed in him. That same breech of trust exists with the Director of Emergency Telecommunications. He can pretend to be a Hartford resident as is required and essentially perpetrate the fraud every time he walks into Segarra's Office. It is time for the Mayor to stand up and say "I trusted you and you let me down, it is time to move on". That is what managers worth their weight do, it is about protecting the Corporation and your shareholders.

 And for anyone that doesn't get the concept of shareholders, that is everyone of us, City residents that hang in here everyday hoping that eventually we will see our City rise to its full potential once again. Hoping that someone will see City Government as more than just a paycheck and a pension  and realize the obligation they have to us, to actually affect or Quality of Life..

And going back to the 911 Center mismanagement. Why are we paying $120,000 a year for the Shotspotter System. A system that was sold to us as some high tech crime prevention tool. It is currently turned off because the fireworks being lit all over Hartford traumatized HPD with false activations and tied up huge amounts of police resources chasing every bottle rocket lit off on Vine Street.

Managers step up and say it is a waste of precious dollars , take it out. But not in Hartford. Someone probably gets a free shotspotter t-shirt or coffee mug and the annual Vegas Convention, so it must be a great system. This isn't monopoly money. This is hard earned money coming out of the pockets of some of the hardest working people in the state, Hartford residents. Many of them working 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet and to be able to pay their taxes to fund this nonsense.

With all of Segarra's difficulties and missteps, there is no greater or more critical position to be filled right now than that of Chief Operating Officer. There is a huge vacuum in that office right now and every day without a permanent replacement drives us closer to the brink of doom. For Segarra it is time to step up and realize friendships are nice, loyalties are admirable, but you have to be able to confront a situation and say " this isn't your strong suit, thanks for your service but I need to make a change"

Everything that is happening right now in Segarra's Administration can't be discounted. The p-card audits and misuse, the audit detailing poor or nonexistent financial controls in the Finance Department. the lack of adherence to travel policies and reimbursement, these all have a common denominator. The Finance Director and the person he answers to, the Chief Operating Officer.

Clearly no one is paying attention, no one is managing anything other than the press conferences and the ribbon cuttings and the bloom is fading on that rose real quick. Mayor Segarra's office needs some real substance and management, the window dressing is wearing thin.

The proof should be obvious if Segarra is sincere about fixing his administration or if it is just more political posturing that we have become accustomed to. A quick indication will be how long the Chief operating officer position remains in the vacuum state. How long the Ford Explorer SUV continues to head north to Suffield every night driven by his 911 Director also will be telling.

Pedro, it is up to you, are you sincere or just another City hall insider taking us for a ride on fancy words. Time will tell, your choice.

In the meantime, work on those exit strategies, they might come in helpful