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Friday, April 12, 2019

WHY CAN'T WE DO POLITICS WITHOUT THE STUNTS?

Why is it that what we are sold at campaign time is hardly ever what we get after the election?

Politicians seem as though they think theycan tell us whatever sounds good to get elected and then we never follow up to find the truth.

No tolls, remember that promise? How did that work out for you with your blind faith and allegiance. I think we would have more respect and trust in a politician who would say "I'm new to this and until I actually get in there and start looking under the hood, anything is possible" Is that too difficult to do, or maybe it is being too truthful and politicians seem to have a hard time dealing with the truth.

I'm really not opposed to tolls because our roads are a mess, and if the tolls actually go to road repairs and transportation, I'm OK with that. But I think we were told the same thing about Casino revenue going to Education. I wonder how that worked out?

Politicians can't be truthful during a campaign because that might cost them votes. So, instead mislead us on and once you are elected , you are safe to do whatever you want.

Remember the Ned Lamont initial campaign commercial where he is sitting behind the wheel of his personal car, pledging to not use a State vehicle and that his own car was "good enough for him" Does anyone know where that car is now? Definitely not at the Governor's Mansion, his State Police detail troopers drive him everywhere.

Maybe if candidate Lamont had a conversation before that ad was shot with Governor Malloy he would have learned a few things. On the day of Governor Malloy's swearing in, his Troopers told him to put his license away because he would not be driving at all during his elected term. And that actually makes sense .

Here is a little refresher for you:


Maybe our politicians, instead of making it look like they support "the little people" and marching on the picket lines at Stop and Shop while streaming it live on Facebook. A real leader might be more productive working to resolve the situation to get the people back to work with a contract so they start making an income again.

Last night at the Maple Avenue NRZ monthly meeting, there were 5 representatives from Mayor Bronin's Office, all talking about the wonderful things the Mayor is doing. I don't think it is a coincidence that I have never seen any of these people before and they appear as City staffers just in time for the next Mayoral election.

 I guess that is the benefit of incumbency. They probably should have introduced themselves as "Bronin Campaign staffers" paid from the City's payroll.

 Hopefully Chief Thody and HPD can keep it a quiet summer because it will be a messy summer if Bronin and all the other candidates start racing around the City to be the first to be seen by the media consoling the families of shooting victims.

Thar was a regular occurrence by Bronin and Segarra last go round during the campaign, I think that concern and sympathy ended on election night after the final vote was counted.

Does anyone remember the candidate forums for the last Mayoral campaign? Only one candidate seemed to have a grasp on reality and expressed the truth to people attending. Judge Robert Killian spoke very honestly about the financial mess the City of Hartford was in and that bankruptcy was a definite possibility without serious structural change. None of the others in the field of candidates seemed to understand that but instead told us what they thought the  voters wanted to hear instead of the truth

Voters need to open their eyes and then be willing to hold  politicians who lie to us accountable. That is the only way this will change and the truth will begin to matter

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

THE BAERGA INTERNAL AFFAIRS REPORT CONCLUSION

The Hartford Police Department today released its initial conclusions in the Officer Baerga Internal Affairs report to investigate claims of sexual harassment against her by her supervisors.. The conclusions pretty much lays out the claim and the validity of some of those claims.

 On a larger scale though it exposes a greater power struggle by Lieutenant West and his efforts to sway opinion in his efforts to become the next HPD Chief and the hidden agenda behind those efforts.

 It is also interesting to read the actual timelines and it appears as though Baerga was vocal about the delay in her complaint being investigated, much of that delay may have been her own doing in delaying the investigation and Lieutenant West having to be chased down repeatedly by investigators to obtain his testimony.

It is also interesting that the claims of HPD being "unsafe for women" and a toxic environment , to me, would seem questionable. I would have a hard time encouraging anyone I claimed to care about to go work in such an environment. Yet in the IAD report it states that Baerga's wife , or significant other, is currently in the HPD Academy. Would that be safe if the conditions were "toxic"?

It also seems deceptive that after  report was released, Officer Baerga released a statement regarding the investigation. The deceptive part is that it was e-mailed from Attorney Cynthia Jennings e-mail  account, no where does it state that Jennings is also representing Lieutenant Paul West, so she has a definite motive to discredit the IAD Report.. It might be nice if she was transparent enough to disclose that also.
BAERGA REBUTTAL  on Scribd
At  the very least, both Lt Paul West and Sergeant Andrew Rodney, in my opinion,  do not deserve their positions of rank for the behaviors they admitted to in the interviews. NUMEROUS CHARGES WERE SUBSTABTIATED AGAINST BOTH WEST AND RODNEY BY IAD INVESTIGATORS





Friday, April 5, 2019

PEREZ FOR MAYOR: HOW LOW CAN WE GO?

Eddie Perez's arrest photo

Nothing would make me happier than to see Hartford's Little Prince dethroned in the upcoming election. In fact, I would have loved to have seen a different outcome four years ago before Luke Bronin's coronation as Emperor of Hartford when he first bought the Mayor's Office and the Hartford Democratic Town Committee endorsement.

Hardly a day goes by when I don't wonder where we would be as a City with Bob Killian in the Mayor's Office and imagine the progress we would be making daily. Unfortunately though, Hartford's politics being what they are, we blew the opportunity to put in our first real "Strong Mayor" since Charter reform.

Again, as much as I would like to see Luke Bronin run out of City Hall, (and Hartford as well) Eddie Perez is not the person to drive him out  Neither of them are 1/100th of the leader Bob Killian is and  neither of them have the understanding and love for our City like Bob.

I won't rehash the whole corruption investigation probe and arrest,  but Eddie Perez did huge damage to the City of Hartford. People want to go after Jussie Smolett for his costs to the City of Chicago, but has anyone ever calculated  the costs of Eddie Perez's corruption investigation and Grand Jury to the taxpayers of Hartford. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on lawyers to represent City Hall employees that were called before the Grand Jury  investigating Perez. And those figures don't include the costs to the State's taxpayers for the investigation to uncover his criminal acts.

And now all of a sudden, Perez sees the opportunity to dethrone a very unpopular Mayor. Isn't  it a little bit disingenuous that we now are hearing Eddie Perez "apologizing" for his indiscretions. I think that is the first time since his arrest, and even since his conviction, that I have heard him apologize. Now isn't that convenient. I guess you only need to apologize to the community you defrauded when it suits your need to fulfill your thirst for political power. Oh ,and just like John Rowland, Perez has apparently found God. Too bad he didn't do that 10 years ago before screwing us over the first time

I am sure we will see constant comparisons to another convicted felon who was reelected to his previous position, Mayor Joe Ganim of Bridgeport. Huge difference between Perez and Ganim
Joe Ganim took responsibility for his actions and paid his dues by spending several years in Prison before returning to his community and starting over.

Eddie Perez never paid a price for his crimes. Not one day in Prison , and until he decided to run again , he never took responsibility. In fact he tried to sue the City of Hartford to recover the costs of his legal defense for raping the taxpayers of Hartford. I am not sure why we would be responsible for the legal fees for his attorneys to defend him against his criminal acts. But most likely about as much thought went in that decision to sue as went into his decision to run for Mayor again. Does he really think we are that ignorant as a Community? We just may be, only time will tell

The worst that happened to Perez is that a Judge recently decided to revoke his ill gotten pension. A pension he received while in Office , his salary being paid by the people of Hartford, supposedly to run the City of Hartford, not to commit criminal acts and shaking down City vendors and businesses.

Eddie Perez didn't even come close to getting what he deserved for his corruption and the last thing he deserves is a shot at fleecing  the residents of Hartford once again .

And just to refresh your memory, here are Perez's felony convictions from the Judicial website
SCN_0009 by  on Scribd

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

EXCLUSIVE? YOU BE THE JUDGE



Friday, March 22, 2019  I received a Hartford Police Internal Investigation report , as the result of a Freedom of Information request to HPD, regarding allegations of perjury made against Hartford Police  Assistant Chief  Jason Thody. The completed report exonerated Thody of the charges, but implicated others as the result of the IAD Investigation. The details are contained in the over 1,000 pages of the report. You can read my blog posting and portions of the report here http://wethepeoplehartford.blogspot.com/2019/03/what-is-going-on-at-hpd-peeling-back.html

Now I am used to this happening, because it happens all the time. I do the leg work and file the FOI requests to get documents and then lazy media people claim my work as their own. What is even more aggravating is that I usually get the heads up from sources at HPD when this happens.

A reporter will call HPD and ask them "Is that true what Brookman has on his Blog?" or " Can we get a copy of the documents Brookman just posted on his blog?"

I don't usually watch Channel 3 for News, but last night I watched them for some reason  and the second story at the top of their newscast was promoted as an "EXCLUSIVE" story of the same IAD report I had posted about on Saturday, complete with the same documents I had posted Saturday. Here is their "Exclusive" story https://www.wfsb.com/news/report-hartford-s-assistant-police-chief-cleared-of-wrongdoing/article_bbcda680-4f42-11e9-b86b-57ffacfaaf0e.html

In the report, the reporter states that in their "Exclusive" story, that Channel 3 were the only ones to gain access to the IAD report. WRONG- I had gained access to the report at least 3 days earlier. It is flattering to know that the Paid media reporters have to chase my content, but I doubt many reporters would want their work stolen and claimed as original by someone else.

Then to add insult to injury, the reporter is now following me on Twitter, I guess to get her content in a more timely basis.

 It might be nice if they were honorable and at least give credit to where they were grabbing their stories from. especially when HPD acknowledges that the reporters tell them that is where they got it from


Saturday, March 23, 2019

WHERE TO BEGIN



One thing I have to admit I learned was a very important lesson from Chief, now Commissioner Rovella. When Rovella was Chief , early on we had a conversation and he told me I needed to learn to take a breath and calm down many times before I went to my keyboard for a blog post. He said the "venom" showed when I was upset and it detracted from the "fairness" people appreciated when they read the blog.

It has taken me a few days to let the "venom " subside after the resignation of Chief Rosado earlier this week. People were calling asking why I had not posted anything about the impending departure of Chief Rosado.

Well, maybe I was preparing for the announcement for at least the past month as the situation deteriorated, and I could see that almost daily. Many days I would call Chief Rosado with what I began to call his 'well being" checks, just to make sure he was still coming in to his office.

In the beginning, I was very concerned if I would be able to deal with Chief Rosado. We originally met one night a couple months before he actually took over. We did the basic introductions and I quickly felt that this was a guy I could deal with. I was impressed by his love for his family and the passion in his voice when he spoke about his children. Many nights when we were out, either at a community meeting or at someone's home,  he would make it clear that he was heading out because he had to get home to say good night to his kids.

I also respected the fact that he was always truthful and he also had a terrific memory for details and concern for other people. I remember specifically one such time when I was scheduled for some laser eye surgery. David Rosado was still the Lt Colonel for the Connecticut State Police and we had just come through a pretty severe snow storm that was borderline crippling to the highways and transportation.

 I am pretty sure the State Police had their hands full dealing with the weather and Lt. Colonel Rosado was the man at the top in charge of those operations. Imagine my surprise when the morning of my appointment, first thing early in the morning I received a text message from Rosado wishing me "good luck" on my appointment and telling me his thoughts and prayers were with me for a successful outcome.

He quite frequently remembered my doctor appointments better than I did, and to me it showed that he was actually concerned about people.

I only wish that others in the community had taken the time to get to know Chief Rosado , as I did. And gotten to know him before casting judgement on him.

Chief Rosado had more than his share of issues to deal with right out of the gate at HPD. I am sure that in many ways, it was culture shock for him to come from a regimented organization like the Connecticut State Police into the halls of HPD. He dealt very well with the staffing issues and has been able to see the results of an effort started by Chief Rovella to rebuild the staffing numbers and he has continued that effort.

He had labor issues and community issues, issues like the Barone  eventual termination, and I know how hard he worked to resolve that situation and arrive at a point to keep everyone in agreement on resolving the situation, only to see it fall apart in the final hour. A lot of work went into that behind the scenes, and unfortunately Chief Rosado could never lay out all the steps taken and show the community how much he had tried to resolve that.

The Kiddick situation definitely took a toll, and no Chief wants to have any of their officer's injured. I think he also learned very quickly that people who knew nothing about what actually goes on at HPD would present themselves as experts out in the Community dictating HPD policy.
I don't recall ever seeing Councilpeople at the Public Compstat sessions, except for one person, yet they are willing to control everything from body camera's, to taser's to drone policy. Maybe they might want to educate themselves so their decisions actually have some basis,( I wonder how many Hartford City Council members have actually gone on a ride along program to see what our Patrol Officer's face every day?) instead of letting the ACLU dictate HPD policy.

Sorry Chief Rovella, there goes that venom, time to step away from the keyboard for a minute.

I think one of the final straws that broke the camels back happened recently prior to the LGBTQ Commission meeting at City Hall.

After dealing with the Union and the Baerga complaint, Chief Rosado was at City Hall for a meeting in the Mayor's Office, which happened to precede a press conference by the LGBTQ Commission. From what I have been told by a credible source who was in the Mayor's Office. Chief Rosado was quickly ushered out of the Mayor's Office so that he would not be around during the press conference or the Commission meeting. This was apparently done at the direction of Mayor Bronin.

Once the LGBTQ Commission meeting began, an audience member asked Mayor Bronin why Chief Rosado was not in attendance. Instead of showing some integrity and telling the audience member  that he instructed the Chief not to be there, Bronin was on video saying "I don't know why he is not here". I think Chief Rosado still has tire marks on his back from where Bronin threw him under the bus.

This is not the way you treat a professional, or anyone for that matter. Maybe that is why Luke Bronin has had such a high turnover in his Administration.

I could go on with more examples, but it won't change the outcome. Chief Rosado has made his decision, and as disappointed as I am that we won't be able to see what progress he would make with another year or two, I have to support David's decision for the well being of his family.

 Chief Rosado, you made the right decision. I still support what you have done here in your unfortunately short tenure, but you did make a difference, I hope Chief Thody and Chief Medina can keep that progress moving

Best of luck to you and your family in your new career.

What happened to Home Depot?

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE, EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE MAY

A lot was made recently after a Hartford Police Officer was transferred out of her assignment as a Community Service Officer (CSO). Immediately the Officer made a claim that her transfer was the result of a sexual harassment claim dating back over ten years byan HPD Captain, Gabe Laureano.

The officer in question , Mirella Gentry, a female officer, only filed her sexual harassment complaint after she was transferred. Apparently the harassment wasn't an issue until she was moved out of her assignment. And the irony is that the decision to move Gentry was made by her immediate supervisor, Lieutenant Lauren Cox, also a female.

Captain Laureano had no involvement in the decision to move Gentry, other than being higher up in the Chain of Command and sitting in on the notification of Gentry when she was informed  of her move.

You can read more about that complaint here;http://wethepeoplehartford.blogspot.com/2019/02/how-do-we-stop-nonsense-in-age-of-me-too.html

Gentry's move apparently was instituted after her performance was evaluated by Lt. Cox after Lt. Cox  took over as the Lieutenant responsible for Gentry's area. And the numbers don't lie.

I requested Officer Gentry's performance numbers as well as the numbers  for all CSO's through an FOI request, and the numbers show Gentry's performance at the bottom of the list in most categories.

The figures for a 3 month period from September 20, 2018 to December 20, 2018 would tend to show me that Officer Gentry's move had nothing to do with any sexual harassment or vendetta by Captain Laureano or anyone else, but was purely the result of  Officer Gentry's incompetence and lackluster performance in her assigned area..

As an example, the CSO for my area, Asylum Hill,  had 61 Community Court arrests for the period, compared to ZERO (0) for Officer Gentry. Community Court arrests are the offenses that typically make up the "Quality of Life" type offenses, the things CSO's are meant to focus on.

So lets take a look at actual performance and not how well they can write a CHRO complaint to determine the authenticity  of their work performance. False complaints detract from everyone that truly are victims of workplace harassment.