Hartford's Fire Chiefs new $70,000 plus Tahoe, his new City Car.
I know I sometimes focus on the "little things" but maybe if our Mayor and others at City Hall began focusingn the little things, they just might not turn into the bigger things.
As one honest candidate for Mayor has consistently stated, the City of Hartford is broke. The honesty is refreshing but I am not sure Segarra or any of his associates are ready to recognize that fact.Moody's and the financial rating groups all seem to get it, but our current Mayor doesn't,
The picture's above are a perfect example.. Apparently our Fire Chief has a brand new luxury SUV as his City vehicle. WHY? Maybe if Chief Huertas wants more money to hire his much needed Assistant Chief to cover his deficiencies, just maybe laying out $70,000 plus for his loaded Tahoe isn't the best way to manage a budget. Wouldn't the $19,000 Chevy Impala like Chief Rovella drives make more sense?And why the "undercover " need for a Fire Chief? I know his predecessor removed the HFD-1 license Plate when he started making his regular rendezvous's to the Gold Club. He also removed the Hartford Fire Department decals from the doors.
I would think that the HFD-1 (Hartford Fire Department car 1, the Chiefs designation) would be a sign of pride for Hartford's Fire Chief. And why no visible markings? I think every City vehicle, including all Police and Fire vehicles, should be fully marked to display their presence on the streets. Unless it is a vehicle that has a clearly defined use for undercover work.
Fully marking the vehicle's would serve a twofold purpose First, it would greatly cut down on abuse. People issued City Cars would be a lot less likely to jump in the take- home cars to conduct personal business if taxpayers could see them pulling up to the dry cleaners on a Saturday or piling the family in for a trip to a restaurant for dinner. It would definitely cut down on weekend trips to Newport or Manhattan if people could visibly see their tax dollars being abused.
And yes, that really happens. Retired Assistant Police Chief McCoy's trips into Manhattan ,on weekends in his City car were well documented by the tickets mailed to the City when he would run the tolls in his City car and they would photograph his plate.And lets not forget Segarra puppet master Saundra Kee-Borges wrecking her City car, not even being driven by her, after her outing to Jay's Crab Shack on Park Street for dinner.
Secondly why shouldn't the people be able to see their Fire Chief out in public. For the outrageous taxes we pay in Hartford, it might actually be nice to see the Fire Chief is attending a community meeting or visiting a school or event. They can't now because Chief Huertas apparently is running in stealth mode
If Chief Huertas wants to build morale in his department, the HFD-1 plate should go back on the Chief's car and he should proudly be identified as the chief of the Hartford Fire Department with proper markings on his vehicle.
Little things mean a lot.
