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Monday, March 3, 2014

HARTFORD DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE PRIMARY TUESDAY

I am a candidate for the Hartford Democratic Town committee  and running in a primary election tomorrow It is very frustrating for several reasons, many of them discussed in the video below of today's "We the People" program.

It is a campaign where the opposition slate will be a return to the past and Town Committee "leadership" if you could even call it that. that had led to political corruption that eventually resulted in a Grand Jury Investigation and the arrests of several Hartford politicians. Instead of retyping all of it, the video says it all.

If you are a Hartford resident and live in the 7th District ( Doug McCrory is your State Rep. if you do) take a few minutes tomorrow to vote for Row C

Thank you.


COUNCIL PRESIDENT WOODEN'S ASSISTANT FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY OF HARTFORD FOR FALSE ARREST

The City of Hartford was served with a summons for a Civil Lawsuit  by a State Marshall last Thursday. The suit was brought by Council President Shawn Wooden's Administrative Assistant Janice Flemming.The suit stems from Flemming's arrest after an alleged altercation in Blue Hills.

An interesting twist is that Donna Thompson-Daniels is also named as a defendant in the suit. Flemming claims that Daniels made false statements that led to her arrest and lied to the Prosecuting Attorney at the Hartford Court.

Daniels is a candidate for the Hartford Democratic Town Committee in the primary being held tomorrow

The suit is below.

 This suit will most likely present several  interesting issues that Councilman Wooden will have to address. First is Flemming's position as his administrative assistant. Since all settlements over a certain dollar amount must be passed by the Council,  would  Flemming now be in a position to review correspondence from the Corporation Counsel that might be sent to Wooden related to any settlement or legal strategy. Could that information then be used by Flemming to benefit her position on her lawsuit?

Also, I know you go for the person with the deep pockets. In this case it would appear to be the City of Harrtford and HPD. If the plaintiff, Flemming, in this case knows that Daniels allegedly lied to the police. It would appear that the police officer acted in good faith based on the circumstances of the case.

 If Daniels did in fact lie, and in the absence of other witnesses, the officer arrested Flemming based on the facts laid out to him, what else is supposed to happen. No video no witnesses, just Daniels claims to the officer. It happens every day when arrests are made. Police Officers are human and make similar decisions everyday, very few arrests are absolute.

I guess we will see as the suit moves forward. Never a dull moment in Hartford.

ROBO CALL FAIL

I, like most people,, hate Robo Calls. They are even more annoying though during dinner time.

Tonight i got one that was actually quite gratifying, and yes, during dinner time.

It was actually one of my opponents from another Hartford Democratic Town Committee slate challenging us in tomorrow's Democratic Town Committee Primary. Now for a group that has said they represent their neighbor's, I am not quite sure why Robo Calls are necessary. Shouldn't you be able to go out and interact with your neighbors rather than annoying them with computer generated phone calls?

But anyway, the gratifying part is when the ROBO CAll from Donna Daniels had a meltdown. I think they call that Karma, listen below

Saturday, March 1, 2014

TIME FOR SOME CHANGES

I realize the blog is a sounding board for many people both through the comments and the information that is passed on to me for me to look into.

I also realize the blog is a mechanism for transparency and exposing issues that would probably never see the light of day through the mainstream media..

I hope to continue doing that, but some of the comments , I think,  need to be regulated more. I will no longer post comments using names that are mocking or ridiculing other people.  The allegations of racism and other issues, attributed to someone else's name, will not be posted . Names depicting a racist principal or Police Sergeant  will no longer be allowed.

It is unfortunate that commenter's will use someone else's name, but probably have never gone to the person named and said to their face what they are willing to post here.It is time to act like adults and confront issues like adults do.

You may ask why the change? I was bothered by the comments recently depicting the Principal of Burns School as racist. Since she wouldn't talk to me the night of the incident, after I did more checking I found out several things that seemed far from racist.Apparently the Principal regularly sends students home with backpacks full of food for the weekends,  students that otherwise may not be getting fed at home. I'm not sure what the commenter's definition of a racist is, but that seems far from it.

If you have an issue, feel free to e-mail me  and I will attempt to look into your accusations, but they will not be posted here until I feel comfortable that there is proper substantiation.

Also, please try to keep your comments  to the topic being posted, or at least something somewhat relevant.The comments can still be interesting , but try to keep them dignified

Thanks

Friday, February 28, 2014

DING DONG....SHE IS GONE



It is official, the Executive Director of Hartford Public Access Television , Billie Scruse, was terminated today .

After several years of running the station into the ground, one Board member described her termination as an opportunity for a new beginning.

I couldn't agree more

IF ONLY THEY HAD MADE HIM A DEPUTY CHIEF

It appears that HPD's problem child may be at it again. According to HPD sources, Sergeant Eric Smith, who found himself  being investigated recently after firing a bullet through his neighbors home, is once again the subject of an Internal Affairs Investigation.

You can read more about the bullet through the neighbors house  incident here

According to sources, Hartford Police Officer Stackowitz had just finished putting fuel in his cruiser at the DPW Yard on Jennings Road. As he got back on I-91 South from Jennings Road to head back to his area, he observed a black pickup truck pass him at speeds he apparently estimated in excess of 100MPH.

According to HPD sources, the officer in a fully marked cruiser , attempted to catch up to the pickup truck and was able to "close the gap" once he got close to the speeding truck, he activated his overhead lights in an attempt to stop the truck. In the area of the Capitol Area exit, the truck quickly merged to the right, crossing four lanes of traffic and took the exit leading to Pulaski Circle.

  The vehicle quickly took the Prospect Street exit and made a left onto Prospect Street, heading south. Running the red light at the top of the exit. Shortly after turning onto Prospect Street the driver of the black truck apparently  hit a patch of ice, lost control of the vehicle and hit a light pole snapping it off at the base. The light pole then apparently fell across Prospect Street.

The officer positioned his cruiser to protect the scene as the driver stepped out of the black truck. The officer, who according to sources reported that the driver of the truck was staggering and was bleeding, began to approach his cruiser. The officer then recognized the driver as Sergeant Eric Smith of the Hartford Police Department. Smith handed the officer his documents  and the officer began the process of documenting the accident.

The officer also then apparently notified a street supervisor, Sergeant Dennis O'Conner of the incident. Once Smith heard that O'Connor was responding, according to sources, Smith asked another officer at the scene, Officer Small, to help him carry the light post to the curb so he could leave. I'm not sure who would willingly touch a live aluminum electrical pole and move it but, Smith is a Sergeant and the new officer was most likely intimidated.

Smith , after leaving the scene, proceeded to his home in Windsor. The shift supervisor for the night, LT. Pleasant, paid Smith a visit  at his home in Windsor. Again , according to sources, Smith would only talk to Pleasent through the glass storm door and wouldn't open the door or talk to Pleasent face to face.

It would be interesting to know where Smith was before his attempt to allude the Police and his crash. Most people injured in accidents and bleeding , willingly  go to the hospital for treatment, unless you are worried about the police getting their hands on your blood samples through a search warrant and charging you with DUI.

 I have FOI'd the incident report, the radio recordings and the dash cam video which is reported to show the entire incident. I will post that as soon as I receive it.

I have to ask the question though, is this guy really the right person to be supervising anyone., especially his recent examples of his decision making?

And as far as the title of this posting, this is one of the 3 officers that a Council member was pushing to be promoted to Deputy Chief recently