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Friday, January 13, 2017

ANOTHER CONTENTIOUS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

And no, the Clinton /Trump feud isn't being revived. That one is still official. This time it is the Hartford Police Union's battle for President.

The race for HPD Union President originally started as a 3 way race between the current Union President  Sgt. Richard Holton, Sgt. Vinnie Benvenuto who is assigned as a Patrol Supervisor, and  Sgt. John Szewczyk who is assigned as a Supervisor in Booking and Detention. Sgt. Holton has since dropped out of the race and replaced by Officer Nick Trigilia.

Sgt. Benvenuto is also a retired NYPD Sergeant, having served 20 years in the Big Apple in various positions and has risen through the ranks in Hartford to become an HPD supervisor. Sgt. Szewczyk  is also a Selectman in Durham. Officer Trigilia serves as an employee member to Hartford's Pension Commission.

 What normally doesn't attract a lot of attention, even among their own members, has turned into a heated race with allegations and criticism being hurled from all sides.

Sgt. Holton's 8 page "manifesto" to the HPD Union membership is below. Sgt. Benvenuto has taken to the internet to explain his ideas to the HPD membership. Benvenuto and his slate's  website can be found at bluechange.org

 A debate among the candidates was held last night and , according to sources who were in attendance, added to the bizarre nature of the race.

The position of HPD Union President is a "detached assignment" position, which means that they are able to work as the Union President and receive their full salary paid by HPD , even though they are not assigned to a working position during that time ,plus a "stipend" from the Union. Currently that "stipend" is  $36,000 for the Union President in addition to their regular salary, plus they are still available for overtime and PJ's.

Benvenuto, on his website, promises to reduce his stipend to $16,000 per year and offer a spending savings to the Union's membership. Benvenuto and his entire slate promise to return $41,600  back to the Union coffers in reduced stipends.



Holton Manifesto  on Scribd

IS SOMEONE ACTUALLY LISTENING? BEWARE GUN THUGS IN HARTFORD

Back on December 13th, I posted this on the blog, http://wethepeoplehartford.blogspot.com/2016/12/are-we-serious-about-getting-guns-off.html

Yesterday, the US Attorney's Office and HPD announced a collaborative effort to reduce gun violence in Hartford.

The initiative will be called the Focused Violence Reduction Team and will combine a team effort between Federal Agencies , Federal Prosecutors and HPD. The program was discussed at HPD's Public Compstat last night. The initiative should send a clear message to criminals participating in Violent crimes in Hartford and using firearms.

Federal Prosecutor Mike Gustafson explained that the effort will allow many more tools to be put into the HPD toolbox, among them the use of Federal Grand Juries and wiretap surveillance. Federal prosecutions and sentencing also seem to be more lengthy under Federal prosecutions.

Hartford Police Chief James Rovella also said that having certain HPD Officers "cross-sworn" as Federal agents will also allow gun arrests to be handled immediately in the Federal courts when needed. FBI ,DEA and ATF agents  as well as other Federal resources will be committed to the team to produce results above and beyond the exemplary efforts already achieved by Rovella's own initiative, Hartford's Shooting Task Force

The Office of the Chief States Attorney has also assigned a State prosecutor to the team. That State prosecutor will also be cross sworn to prosecute cases in the Federal system.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

BIG SHOES TO FILL

It is a little difficult to think of many Hartford elected officials who have left office in recent history without a cloud of impropriety or corruption surrounding them. Retired Probate Judge Bob Killian is one that immediately comes to mind and as of last week, State Senator Eric Coleman is another. Senator Coleman resigned his position last week to pursue his interest in being appointed a Superior Court Judge by Governor Malloy, Senator Coleman has served the 2nd Senatorial district for almost twenty years. The 2nd District consists of North Hartford and portions of  Bloomfield and Windsor.

Coleman has had an exemplary career at the Capitol and rose to a position of prominence with both his Senate colleagues as well as his constituents. His quiet demeanor as well as his integrity and honesty and strong work ethic will be hard to replace.

A special election will be scheduled roughly 60 days from the time of Coleman's resignation to elect Senator Coleman's successor.  Right now several names are being floated or have expressed an interest in replacing Coleman. Two of the names to be taken seriously are 7th District State Representative Doug McCrory and former Connecticut State Treasurer Joe Suggs. McCrory is a Hartford resident, Joe Suggs is a Bloomfield resident, as is Senator Coleman.

A couple other names I am hearing, and I hope more as a joke rather than any serious campaign are former Hartford Council members Shawn Wooden and Ken Kennedy.It would be a shame to replace a man of integrity like Coleman with someone that doesn't know the meaning of integrity and has no problem with corrupt activities.

 Hartford Treasurer Adam Cloud was apparently also considering a run but reportedly has decided against it..

Monday, January 9, 2017

"WE THE PEOPLE", SHOW MONDAY JANUARY 9, 2017

FROM HPD, HOMICIDE NUMBER 2 IN ONE WEEK

"On January 08, 2017, at 2245 hours, patrol units responded to the area of 72-74 Stonington Street for a shotspotter activation of one round. While en route, officers were advised by dispatch that a male suffering from a gunshot wound was transported to Hartford Hospital via private vehicle. The victim succumbed to his injuries (a single GSW in the head) and was pronounced deceased at 11pm. A crime scene was established in the rear parking lot of 50-52 Lisbon Street. The Major Crimes and Crime Scene divisions responded and assumed the ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Hartford Police Department 860-757-4316 and anonymous tips can be left at the HPD websitehttp://www.hartford.gov/Police “Submit A Tip”

According to sources, the disagreement may have started over a parking space

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

ONE YEAR LATER, WHAT HAS CHANGED?



Well, the first year of the Bronin Administration has passed, and it is time to evaluate what has changed. Sadly, I think very little. We still have a city government that is broke and I don't see any plan to restore sustainability. Some of Bronin's attempts have failed miserably. (remember the Senate Bill 464 mess)  

I am not sure if those failures are because of inexperience or attitude, or a combination of both. The "sky is falling" mantra by Bronin worked in the beginning in drawing attention to our problems as a City, but you can only play Chicken Little for so long before it becomes tiring as well as ineffective.

Although Bronin's first move was to slash City jobs through lay-offs, many of those laid off were some of the lowest paid employees, and the ranks of high priced management positions, some of them actually residing  in the Mayor's Office and throughout City Hall, have continued to grow.

Claims of inviting the Union's to the table to be part of the solution seemed as though those invitations got lost in the mail, and aside from a new Fire contract, nothing much else has changed. It doesn't appear as though Hartford has made any moves to restructure cost associated with employee benefits such as moving to HSA's  as the City of New Britain recently did.

Although Bronin did promise hiring of Police and Fire personnel to reduce overtime costs, none of that has happened . The October Police Academy class that was promised has never happened and the January recruit class that was promised isn't even any where near close to happening, and the attrition draws the numbers at HPD lower everyday.

Luckily, even with a thinly stretched Police Department, it is still functioning and Hartford saw one of its best years in lowering Homicide numbers in a few decades. Hartford finished the year with 14 total Homicides for 2016 compared to 31 for 2015. Those reduced numbers though had very little to do with the current Administration and more with the creative efforts of HPD and its leadership under Chief Rovella, although I am confident a press release will be out any day by the Bronin Administration taking credit for reduced crime.

Those efforts still include the results of the Shooting Task Force and the creation of C4 under Rovella's creativity. C4 is the acronym for the Capitol City Crime Center, which has blanketed the City with technology to reduce crime, including cameras, Shot Spotter technology and license plate readers scanning for criminal activity. Imagine what could be accomplished with the additional Police Officers promised by Bronin if he only came through on his promises. The efforts of C4 have been very successful in reducing crime and identifying violent criminals on our streets

The Bronin promise of hiring 45 firefighters also appears to be a pipe dream of broken promises. Although Bronin had held a dog and pony show last fall to proclaim his plans to hire  45 fire recruits, he knew, or should have known at the time of his announcement that his request for the FEMA grant for the hiring had been rejected and no money was available for the 45 new hires.

And just as a thought, can we also push for regional cooperation and tell our neighbors that they are not eligible to apply for our Fire Department if they aren't Hartford residents. That sounds a little hypocritical. Lets find the best candidates we can, no matter where they live, and then make it inviting for them to move into Hartford if they wish

Now I know that Bronin inherited a mess, including the baseball stadium, but after a year of failed or poor decisions, Bronin now owns all those  messes. Where are the solutions? What is the plan besides the "sky is falling"?

Regionalism? Good idea but we need partners to buy in on that. Bronin may actually have the right idea moving in that direction, "as goes Hartford, so goes the region" .  The problem being, I would expect more from an attorney who should know he needs to make his case first. Bronin seems to be going around asking for the Jury's verdict before he even has laid out his case as to why the Jury needs to rule in his favor. It isn't working and the script never changes.

Walk out to the podium , take off the suit jacket roll up the sleeves and start proclaiming "Hartford is broke" . Where is the leadership by example? Build the case that the tough decisions are being made and Hartford is on a path to tightening its belt and becoming financially responsible and we want our suburban neighbors to buy in as equal partners. We haven't done that yet and shoving our MDC responsibilities down the throats of our suburban neighbors isn't going to help.

The cutting needs to continue in every corner of City Hall and nothing should be off limits, if that means bankruptcy to get at Union contracts and benefits , then do it, and shut up. Stop leaving our employees in a state of suspended animation as they await their future. They will get out of here at the first chance they have if they are kept in the dark and we can't afford to lose any more good employees.

I personally don't think bankruptcy is the solution as business as usual  remains the same at City Hall and it would take us years to recover from a bankruptcy filing. I think we now have half the members of the Hartford County Bar collecting paychecks from their jobs at City Hall and I have to ask if that is money well spent?

We all know the State of Connecticut is probably in worse shape than Hartford, and we can't count on any financial help from the Capitol. We also know that City hall didn't campaign for our next President, so that might be a tough sell to get Washington to open their wallet for us. ( Elections have consequences)

We elected a Mayor to bring leadership to City Hall during what we knew were going to be difficult times, now it is your time to come through with a plan and some workable solutions and put aside the Chicken Little act, it is wearing thin.