As recently as last Friday, the Segarra Administration through its acting Chief Operating Officer Saundra Kee-Borges and acting Corporation Counsel, L John van Norden were trying to block the release of the Audit report below. ( A lot of acting going on at City Hall, but no Emmy's)
Apparently Van Norden was advising the Audit Commission that they were opening the City up to liability and accusing the auditors of acting like lawyers and using legal terms in the report. The Corporation Counsel probably figures it is odd for the auditors to make conclusions in their report based on Connecticut Statutes , following the law is apparently a novel ides for those sitting inside City Hall.
This report is just another example of the incompetence and lack of accountability that has been the hallmark of Segarra's Administration. The lack of transparency by Segarra and those around him always seems to backfire on him and they just don't get it. I obtained the report through an FOI request to Hartford's Chief Auditor. Once the report was completed it became a public document and subject to public view, whether the COO or Corporation Counsel get that or not.
The City has begun labeling any document they don't want released as a "draft". Unfortunately, according to FOI, once a "draft starts getting e-mailed and circulated it is no longer legally a draft but rather a public document that can eventually be edited as needed.
The report outlines a strong disregard for the environment, and specifically Keney Park, as it notes that several hundred large oak trees had been documented as being cut down and removed . Approximately 25 of those were required as the result of the October 2011 Halloween Storm.
Much of the tree removal appears to be illegal and in violation of Connecticut General; Statutes as neither the Hartford or the Windsor Tree Wardens gave permission for the work as required. Many of the trees cut were actually on the Windsor side of the Park, which straddles the town line
. The report speaks for itself, but I have to ask, when is an outside agency going to begin looking at what is going on in this Administration
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