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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

HARTFORD TREASURER ADAM CLOUD'S STATEMENT ON RESCINDING HIS RAISE

Hartford City Treasurer Adam Cloud today issued a statement that he will not be taking a raise after much discussion amongst City Hall politicos and media. Cloud's statement is below followed by the statement of Mayor elect Bronin and a request for the Internal Audit Commission to investigate the circumstances of the raise from outgoing Councilperson Ken Kennedy.

Thank you Adam for doing the right thing.






Mayor-elect Luke Bronin today released the following statement: 

"I'm glad that Treasurer Cloud has made the decision to reject the raise and reimburse the taxpayers.  It’s clearly the right decision.  I’ve had conversations with Treasurer Cloud, and he recognizes that whether or not the raise was legal and whether or not a raise was justifiable, the process was simply not transparent or proper.  Taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability, and while the Treasurer is fully entitled to ask the City Council to review his compensation in the future, there needs to be an open, thorough process before the public eye.  As I prepare to take office, I plan to lead by example.  Under the City Charter, the Mayor’s salary is set at the level of a Superior Court Judge, which would be $167,634 at the beginning of a new term.  As we prepare make hard choices to address a substantial budget deficit, I will work as many days unpaid as are necessary throughout the year to return $20,000 of my salary to the taxpayers, so that my salary will remain at the level of $147,600."



Tuesday, December 29, 2015

JUST A THOUGHT

 In this morning's Courant there was an article by Steve Goode about last nights Council resolution to rescind Adam Clouds raise. The author of that resolution, Councilman Ken Kennedy was quoted in the article.

"Kennedy said that if the raise is not challenged, the city's credibility with voters and staff members will be called into question and a precedent will be set for department heads to award themselves raises that are buried in their department budgets or have them approved clandestinely."

Does the Councilman not think that dirty deals like Dillon Stadium and the Yard Goats Stadium have  not eroded trust and confidence in Hartford City Hall. The Dillon Stadium deal has actually led to an investigation by a Federal Grand Jury and may actually ensnare more in Hartford City Government and damage "credibility with voters".  And not just voters, all Hartford residents as well as our suburban neighbors  as well .

And as I recall, weren't the Yard Goats approved "clandestinely".

Just a thought,

Monday, December 28, 2015

COUNCILMAN KENNEDY'S LAST OFFICIAL ACT (HALLELUJAH)


UPDATE:9:00pm, Once again, Councilman Kennedy showed his effectiveness as a Councilperson and his resolution failed to gain the votes to pass. Two of the co-authors abstained from the vote and Councilman Deutsch was a no show for the meeting.

COUNTDOWN TO A NEW BEGINNING

MY CRYSTAL BALL IS OUT OF ORDER

My crystal ball doesn't seem to be working right. The majority of the calls I have received recently have been in regards to the future of City Hall with people asking me "What is Luke going to do?". The answer is, I don't know.

I have high hopes for the future of Hartford, starting right away on January 1st.. My immediate response would be that the bar hasn't been set too high  by the Segarra Administration. With that being said, there is so much work to be done, it is going to take a concerted team effort by the best that Mayor Bronin can find to begin immediate progress.

Department head choices will be very important to bring both continuity and accountability to City Government. I think the biggest flaw by Segarra, besides his lack of leadership, was his inability to make proper choices  and select competent department heads  for all city agencies.

Too many departments were in constant flux or void of any direction by poor choices. Several key departments had "acting" department heads for most of Segarra's term. DPW and Finance are two of those Departments. Most people, including City employees want leadership and direction, and with that comes accountability. "Acting" positions don't bring that to the operation.

The finance department, with some solid leadership would have avoided many of the pitfalls that proved embarrassing to Segarra. P-Cards and insurance payments are two instances that come to mind. If the City credit cards were being properly monitored and audited, rather than receipts being kept in a shoebox on a shelf, someone might have noticed caviar and rack of lamb charges before it became a huge mess.

If proper procedures were being followed, no checks would have been cut for the O'Garro insurance payments. If the warrant for payment had not been attached to the request for payment, no check could have been cut. The policy was in place, just no accountability to following it. We need a finance director who is more concerned about Hartford's actual finances rather than how many Girl Scout cookies are sold out of the office.

Department of Public Works- Where to begin here? Proper management and accountability is key here. I think it may have gotten a little better under its "acting" Director, but it needs steady, strong management. This is one of the high profile departments that tell our neighbors whether Hartford is being run properly or not. Are the streets being plowed? Are potholes being repaired? Are our parks in decent condition?

It is a tough Department to manage. It is difficult to motivate employees if they feel they aren't being respected. Workers comp claims and injuries are high, much of that because of the nature of the work. In a cash strapped City, we need a Director who has an eye toward automation on some of the labor intensive processes such as trash pickup . The "one arm bandit " type trash pickups would eliminate the human factor in  much of the trash operation  as well as the back injury type claims. It wouldn't require any lay-offs, but may free up workers for other duties and attrition would solve some of the issues.

An "adopt -a spot-program", similar to those used in many other City's and towns would also help keep our parks and public spaces presentable. I have tried several times to present such a program, even provided Council members with an outline and all of the release forms used in Waterbury, but it has never gotten off the ground here.

The next DPW Director also needs to make Hartford's Flood Control a serious priority. It has been ignored for far too long, to the point some question its stability as to where there are questions if it will actually hold up, or can we make downtown a marina after the next disastrous flood.

MHIS- Aside from the updated name change, no real changes needed here. With the exception of the 311 system. Either get it fixed or scrap it and allocate the savings somewhere else where it is needed. I haven't been hearing the complaints regarding 311 that I used to get regularly, so maybe the move out of the Dispatch Center control to MHIS is working.

Hartford Fire Department- Where do I begin on this one? HFD needs something it hasn't seen in years... solid leadership, strong management and much better decision making. Assuming that there is a change in management (I don't see how there can not be ) the next Chief needs to be a top notch manager.

I don't think we need a Fire Chief that knows how to hook up to a fire hydrant. We need a fire Chief that understands labor law and proper decision making to start avoiding many of the law suits and labor claims that have been the hallmark of HFD for several years now. We need the type of decision making  and leadership that you often see in the Corporate world where poor decisions are hardly ever rewarded , but do result in unemployment slips.

Poor decision making on many labor issues have been overturned by the Labor Board and Courts to the tune of hundreds of thousand dollars in back benefits and legal costs, and that number promises to escalate as more of these poor decisions move through the legal pipeline.

HFD alo needs to establish a " community policing " type plan for the Fire department. Firefighters need to get out of the firehouses more and start interacting with the Community. Whether that is sometype of fire safety inspections or even attending more community meetings and events. We have seen the number of fatal and serious fires increasing.

If there isn't enough budget money to make the state mandated annual inspections, "walk thoughs" of a building by firefighters can locate and identify serious deficiencies fur further inspection by the Fire Marshall's Office.I routinely am in buildings with serious issues, locked or blocked emergency exits are just a couple things that even I can identify, a firefighter walking though surely could.

Remember after the Station Nightclub fire in Providence several years ago, the City routinely showed up at bars and places of assembly checking for occupancy and safety issues,. When was the last time you saw or heard of that happening in Hartford ?


I think the next leader for HFD needs to understand that the Firefighters Union has a role in protecting its employees, but Union leadership is not charged with management or day to day operations.

HPD- It has been a bad year for high profile crime in Hartford, homicides and shootings to be specific. This is one of those cases where doing more with less just doesn't work. City hall, specifically the Council needs to step up and do their part. As of today HPD is apparently at 389 officers, far short of the 482  officers most say they should be at. (A few years ago, Hartford took Federal money "COPS Grants" and agreed to maintain staffing level of 465 officers. we are no where near that now)

Trips to the White House do nothing, unless you are returning with checks to hire cops. Chief Rovella and his forward , creative thinking deserves to continue.  He needs the support of the Council, not just support or lip service at budget time or election time. Rovella has had a strong impact on the safety of Hartford by creative programs like the Shooting Task Force , and his support of Project Longevity and Prosper. The latter two being programs that will continue to show the benefits years from now as the culture of lawlessness is changed in Hartford.

And for those that think they are ready for "prime time" and Rovella's job, think twice. Your time may come, but right now we need a Chief with Jim Rovella's management qualities.

In the current climate of Law Enforcement in this country we should be thankful we have a Chief Rovella type at the helm. Community policing and relationships are clearly a priority in Hartford, and you can see that first hand by watching our CSO's interact with community members at various meetings across the City.

The mounted unit is also an example. Despite numerous attempts to eliminate  them at budget times, the horses ( and the officers that ride them) are one of the best public relations tools that money can't buy. It is probably an important time to start a real effort for corporate sponsorships for the mounted unit to avoid any attempts to cut spending and eliminate the unit.

Corporation Counsel- An effort needs to be made to find a City Attorney that can better evaluate and staff the Corp Counsel Office. I think even as far as labor law, much better decisions can be made . Possibly lawyers with more precise expertise in certain areas, such as ;labor law, need to be recruited. Corporation Counsel Office can no longer be the clearing house for  political patronage and payback for well connected law firms.  Things as basic as real estate closings  and FOI complaints should be handled in house by staff. Either that or eliminate staff, it doesn't make sense to have both.

I am going to stop here, because these are the Departments that I feel comfortable writing about, but all departments are important when it comes to the proper functioning of City Hall. It needs to be an entire team effort and accountability needs to be the key phrase. Accountability to the overall operation and accountability to the people the departments serve.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

HARTFORD STF, BLOOMFIELD PD AND MANCHESTER PD COOPERATION YIELDS BIG RESULTS

Cooperation pays off. More guns off our streets

On 12/23/15 at approximately 1700 hrs, Manchester Police along with the Hartford Police Shooting Task Force to include Bloomfield PD, executed a search and seizure warrant for a stolen firearm at 66 Regent Street in Manchester.

Surveillance was established prior to execution resulting in one of the targets of the investigation being detained (Christon Jackson 11/28/90) prior to officers arrival at the residence.  Upon Manchester Police and Shooting Task Force arrival, detectives noticed a male watching from an second story bedroom window. The male was observed quickly retreating into the bedroom and down into a stairwell.

 Entry was immediately forced to the residence and one male subject was detained in the downstairs living room  identified as Cryshawn Jackson 10/7/92.  Officers cleared the residence and discovered an empty leater  the room  holster in the upstairs bedroom that the male was watching from.  A firearm was found underneath a mattress in the room where an adult female was sitting with two small children.  A Beretta PX4 Storm .40 Caliber handgun fully loaded with a chambered round (Serial # PZ48722) was recovered from underneath the mattress ,where the children were sitting. The firearm had been  reported stolen from Manchester in August.  During the investigation numerous firearm related items were seized to include 12 gauge slug and buck shot gun shells, 9mm ammunition, .380 Ammunition, .38 special ammunition, holsters and sawed off shotgun handles.  
Once the initial search was complete,  a delivery of a  firearm to the residence took place while officers were still on scene.  At approximately 2100 hours, a black Mazda  bearing CT registration 1AUMJ6, pulled into the driveway and was subsequently secured by officers. The driver, Rahnda Charles DOB 6/9/95, was in possession of a Walther P99 9mm handgun (Serial # FAH7651) fully loaded with 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition, The weapon had been reported stolen this month out of Manchester.  The front seat passenger, Kemo Teal DOB 12/21/96, was in possession of a silver Walther PPK handgun (Serial # A064404) fully loaded with 5 rounds of .380 ammunition.

Charles and Teal were taken into custody without incident. 

A fourth handgun, a loaded Ruger LCP .380 handgun (Serial # 37184506), was recovered from Christon Jackson's vehicle.  This firearm was reported stolen out of Hebron in May 2015.

The below listed suspects were charged in relation to this case:

Rahnda Charles (5/9/1995), of  90 Orchard Street, Manchester, CT. 53a-212 Theft of a Firearm, 53a-217 Criminal Possession of Firearm, 29-35 Carrying Pistol without a Permit, 29-38 Weapons in Motor Vehicle.
Christon Jackson (11/28/1990), of  66 Regent Street, Manchester, CT. 53a-212 Theft of a Firearm, 29-35 Carrying Pistol without a Permit, 29-38 Weapons in Motor Vehicle, 53a-217 Criminal Possession of Firearm, 53-21 (a)(1) Risk of Injury to a Minor (2 Counts), 21a-279a(a)(1) Possession of <1 b="" marijuana.="" oz="">
Cryshawn Jackson (10/7/1992), of 66 Regent Street, Manchester, CT. 53a-212 Theft of a Firearm, 53-21 (a)(1) Risk of Injury to a Minor (2 Counts), 21a-279a(a)(1) Possession of <1 br="" marijuana.="" oz="">Kemo Teal (12/21/1996), of 10 North Fairfield Street, Manchester, CT. 29-35 Carrying Pistol without a Permit, 21a-279a(a)(1) Possession of <1 b="" marijuana.="" oz="">
Evidence:
Beretta PX4 Storm .40 Caliber handgun (Serial # PZ48722) Walther P99 9mm handgun (Serial # FAH7651) Walther PPK .380 handgun (Serial # A064404) Ruger LCP .380 handgun (Serial # 37184506) Misc ammunition and firearm parts Misc amounts of suspected marijuana