Search This Blog

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

CHARTER REVISION: SHOULD THE MAYOR HAVE A VOTE ON THE BOARD OF EDUCATION?

 If you look at the report below, the first question would be why? Segarra, along with several others don't seem to be exercising their right to vote on the current Board.

According to the report, prepared by Achieve Hartford, Lori Hudson has missed at least 60 votes, Segarra appointee Cherita McIntyre has missed 34 votes while Segarra himself had the third worst record , missing 39 votes. Board member Luis Rodriguez-Davila is not only missing votes,43 to be exact, but he has been missing in action for several months.

Word is that Davila has moved to Puerto Rico, in which case he should be asked to do the right thing and resign if he is longer residing in Hartford.

Board President Matthew Poland appears to have the best voting record, missing only 4 votes, followed by Elizabeth Brad-Noel at 6 votes and Republican Richard Wareing with only 8 missed votes

CAN USING THE "N" WORD EVER BE EXPLAINED?

Paula Deane is finding out that the answer to that question is no. Now we may have a dispatcher in the Public Safety Dispatch Center learning the same lesson

Sources are telling me that a dispatcher used the "N" word over the Police South Dispatch channel last night, after immediately realizing what he said he turned to others near him and asked" did I just say that?"

What would someone have to be thinking to just let that word roll off your lips? Is there no filter between his brain and his mouth. Does the "F" word come as easily in conversation.

If there was ever a time to have a heightened awareness over words being used it is probably now, not that the word is ever acceptable.

Although I did not hear the conversation, several people that did hear it have contacted me and at least one Police Sergeant already has a copy of the recording.  I am being told  All City of Hartford radio conversations are recorded, and this should be an easy one to track down

A request for comment on the matter from Mayor Segarra's office has not been responded to as of this posting

WHERE ARE THE DOCUMENTS?

One of the most difficult portions of maintaining this blog is actually obtaining public documents from agencies that love to claim they are "transparent".

Whether the City of Hartford or the MDC, they are bound by Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act.

The reports for the property at 3311 Main Street are most likely readily available. I am pretty sure the mad rush has started to decide how to keep them private and exempt from disclosure. That most likely will not stand up to the legal challenge and eventually they will get out.

I am also pretty confident that the reports are maintained in a file that was pulled immediately after my FOI request was made. The statute speaks to unnecessary delays , and I am pretty sure, referring the request to an outside law firm for review of what are clearly public documents, might just constitute and unnecessary delay in the eyes of the FOI Commission.


The bottom line is that the documents, according to sources, clearly show the contamination exists on the property. They will also most likely prove that the MDC broke the law by not notifying the DEEP of the contamination. The question to be answered now is why the notification never took place. Was it a political favor? Was it just incompetence? We need to know what happened when the lives and health of Hartford residents are put in jeopardy .

Another question is where are Hartford's Commissioners appointed to the MDC? Are they there to protect the MDC in a potential cover up or are they there to protect the people of Hartford? I guess only time will tell as this continues to play out.


IS 3311 MAIN STREET HARTFORD'S "NEWHALLVILLE"

I have received quite a few calls and inquiries today asking what the soil contamination I posted about yesterday actually means for residents in the area.

The honest answer is "I don't know" . I am not sure anyone can answer that question and at this point, since neither the MDC or the City of Hartford  are sharing the information they have.

This is clearly an incident where Mayor Segarra and members of the City Council need to step up and demand answers , immediately. If mayor Segarra is serious about turning his administration around, is there any better way than taking potential environmental contamination seriously and addressing it head on, no matter where it leads.

One source compared the potential contamination scope to that of Newhallville in Hamden. That contamination covered a large area and required huge amounts of contaminated soil to be removed.
Again, since no one is talking or revealing the test boring reports, it is hard to tell what the potential is.

Any soil contamination is clearly a  potential hazard, even as far as people that may have vegetable gardens or fruit trees growing in the area.

To read more about Newhallville and their cleanup efforts, click here

In the meantime, several others have begun looking into this matter, including the Coalition for Environmental Justice, the DEEP, and several new organizations, so answers will hopefully be coming soon

Monday, July 22, 2013

IS IT TIME FOR ANOTHER GRAND JURY, MOST DEFINITELY



 
3311 Main Street, Hartford, Toxic Waste Dump?
 
 
A few weeks ago, I asked "is it time for another Grand Jury?" to look into Hartford City Hall. After information received and the ensuing investigation, I think I can say most definitely yes.

This is in regards to a property at 3311 Main Street in Hartford. The property is owned by a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC. LLC's are typically used by small businesses who don't want to incorporate as a full blown corporation. LLC"s are also used when someone doesn't necessarily want  a property or business showing up in their own name. Luckily, the Connecticut Secretary of the State has most records available on-line through "Concord", so ownership of LLC's are relatively easy to track.

The information regarding 3311 was that there were 3 10,000 gallon underground storage tanks still buried on the property. The tanks were allegedly leaking gasoline into the ground. Apparently as part of the MDC Clean Waters Project the contamination was found through test boring's and soil tests.

Sources familiar with the tests have confirmed that large quantities of "volatile organic compounds", in layman's terms, gasoline, had leeched into the soil and may possibly extend under the intersection of Main Street and Tower Avenue. The property owner was notified and no action was taken to remediate the chemicals or the environmental hazard.

The reason for a Grand Jury might be what happened next. Although both Federal and State law mandates the reporting of  toxic spills and hazardous environmental conditions, the Connecticut DEEP has no record of ever being notified of the contamination by MDC or the City of Hartford.
The City of Hartford Fire Department as well as the planning Department were apparently notified of the spills and may have actually received the MDC's documentation and reports.

Sources have also confirmed that the two MDC employees responsible for the test borings and the contamination reports have now "lawyered up". The MDC apparently stopped further excavation on or near 3311 Main when the contamination was found

Sources have confirmed the existence of the report in the Hartford Fire Marshall's Office as well as the Hartford Planning Department. Hartford's Department  License and Inspections has no records of any permits or any knowledge of the tanks or the leakage.

An FOI request to the City of Hartford for the documents is pending. A request to the MDC for their test borings and reports has apparently been farmed out to an outside law firm immediately after I made my request. That should raise some red flags that a routine request for documents had to go to an outside law firm, even though the MDC has its own internal legal department. May they be hiding something?

Another red flag that should go up when you ask why neither the MDC or the City of Hartford notified the DEEP as apparently required by law. As you can see from the CONCORD document below, 3311 Main LLC is no other than the fiancee' of Hartford's acting Chief Operating Officer Saundra Kee-Borges, Hartford Deputy Fire Chief Terry Waller. Waller, as a Deputy Chief knows that even at an accident scene any  spill, even a gallon of antifreeze is to be reported to the DEEP.

A spill from the contents of 3 10,000 gallon gas tanks is not something to be overlooked, the big question now is why and who ordered the cone of silence over Waller's Toxic Dump. A grand Jury could probably answer that better than I ever could, but I have some ideas. An investigation by the State of Connecticut DEEP Is apparently moving forward, can the State's Attorney be far behind?

We need to know why the rules weren't followed and who orchestrated what appears to be a cover up of a serious hazardous condition. Is this toxic condition in any way endangering the residents of North Main Street. The taxpayers should not be put on the hook for this cleanup. And why hasn't the MDC stepped forward on this? We expect them to be responsible stewards of our  environment by following the law, not being co-conspirators  allowing toxic chemicals to flow under our streets after they find them.

Much more to come on this I am sure.




Saturday, July 20, 2013