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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

DILLON STADIUM: THE RESPONSIBILITY AND THE INDIGNATION, WHO'S FAULT IS IT

Some days I think Hartford thrives on being embarrassed. The Dillon Stadium fiasco proves it. Council President Shawn Wooden is now becoming a master at back pedaling as witnessed by his performance at last nights Council meeting. Wooden voiced his displeasure on being called on the carpet by the public at last nights public comment session. Councilman  Ken Kennedy quickly withdrew his resolution giving the keys to the Kingdom to James Pluckett and his fellow snake oil salesmen.

Wasn't Ken Kennedy the same one that has been shoving this development down our throats for months to cement his legacy as a soccer dad? Wasn't Kennedy the same Councilperson that sandbagged the first developer that was in line for the project.  The developer who is now suing the City of Hartford for its actions. I am pretty sure his case has been strengthened now by Hartford's actions and should be a slamdunk for a large settlement.

But let's get back to Wooden and the Council's actions. Wooden has every right to be indignant because this Council has been deplorable. Through their actions (or more appropriately inaction) the Council has empowered the air of incompetence that enshrines City Hall and this administration.

Remember the caviar and P-card incidents first outlined here? Where were the investigations and hearings into that ? There were none, again a little indignation but no one ever dug into the problem to get to the bottom of it. Maybe a memo advising employees that putting food and alcohol on City credit cards was a no-no. No discipline, nothing.

Remember all the trees cut from Keney Park by a rogue vendor profiting off the backs of Hartford's taxpayers . Again, questionable letters of credit and very poor oversight by City employees. What happened? Nothing. Does anyone remember the Council hearings on that matter? No you won't because there weren't any.

Incident after incident of incompetent business practices have been described here on this very blog. Many of those incidents have resulted in audits by Hartford's Internal Audit Commission. The results of those audits have ended in very specific recommendations by the Audit Commission to the Council , the Mayor and Department heads. For the most part those recommendations have fallen on deaf ears

After the Keney Park incident, the Commission recommended hiring an asset manager for the City. A City Hall employee had also recommended instituting an asset protection program after realizing that many City employees left employment and never turned in their I-pads, cell phones and laptops. Apparently at the time that the asset program was suggested there was no small asset inventory program. No one really kept a record of who was issued a cell phone or laptop, hence, no way to track what should be turned back in., and to the best of my knowledge, there still isn't an asset protection program. Incidentally, the employee who recommended the program has since been terminated by the brain trust at City Hall.

Hartford is a free-for- all and exemplifies the height of incompetence . These practices would never survive in the private sector, yet at Hartford City Hall they are rewarded. And in most cases the City Hall so-called managers are paid significantly more than their counterparts working for private businesses.

Hartford has a suite full of attorneys as well as a floor full of so called experts occupying high priced real estate at Constitution Plaza (Development Services) Are they so focused on proclaiming the next "Done Deal" as their resume builder that they are afraid to actually examine the deals closely? Could anyone with any common sense look at the Dillon Stadium deal and not realize the documents and the deal stunk to high heavens?

And how did Duckett arrive at the land of opportunity for sleazy scammers, also known as Hartford Connecticut? The theories abound, one being that there may have been a relationship between a certain Councilman and youth Soccer programs he was involved with. And how did invoices get overpaid with apparently duplicate payments with very little , or no oversight? One source claims there may have been a "dating relationship" between one of the persons signing off on the invoices and Mr. Duckett himself. I guess the investigators looking into the dirty deal will have to develop that information further.

In the meantime Council President Wooden, save the indignation and take a look in the mirror. How much of this fleecing of Hartford could you have stopped over the years with some actual leadership. I know the truth hurts, but you had the potential to form a different direction for Hartford and you chose not to. Maybe you weren't ready and didn't know how to, but hopefully your replacements coming in will understand a little better why they were actually elected and what leadership requires. Below are a sampling of documents used to determine the validity of this project. Would they have raised any red flags for you?
And here is the so called letter of credit

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shawn Wooden is a very shrewd individual. He did not run because he knew the slate under Mayor Maria Augo would sink like quicksand. Not like Minnie Mouse "we takin' it to the streets" Gonzales. Shawn had no place left to go. Now, he is scrambling to keep his dirty nose clean so that he can be a candidate for state Treasurer. That is the only position potentially remaining open for possibility in the future. What else could he run for; dog warden?

The unfortunate point is that he may have just backed out in time enough to give him a chance to run in the future. The common, garden variety voter is a crude one with a very short memory.

Mayor Maria will one day not have the title but the "friends' from the sleezie bars he likes to hang out at will, in a future sign of respect, or maybe in mocking, call him "Mayor." "Mayor, can you do this for me? Mayor, can you scratch my Rumplestilskin?"

And with an aging twinkle in his eye, he will oblige.

Drop mike.

Anonymous said...

Kevin, can you talk about this "rogue" tree cutter in Kenny Park? No, please don't tell me. A sub contractor went cutting trees down! That is under public works. There will be a time when I can reveal a few things about public works. Not long. Just can't do it now.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

10:49 PM it was all posted here you can read it by going back through the archives.please feel free to call me whenever you want to share information

Anonymous said...

Kevin, you forgot Deller the Seller in this latest scandal. Deller approved and authorized those outrageous patments, the duplicate ones and others. Deller the Seller "sold" this project to Pedro Maria. Deller is a total mess and should have been fired long ago.

Anonymous said...

There's a lot of blame to go around. Wooden and the other moron Kennedy must answers some questions. But we all know that the fish stinks from the head, and this stinky fish has 2 heads: Pedro Caviar and Tom Deller. Both must be o-u-t, as in out of office.

Anonymous said...

12:46 It's never too late, get rid of this liability called Deller NOW.

Anonymous said...

Anyone notice any commonality among these "white collar" criminal "business men" who are currently robbing Hartford blind?

Anonymous said...

I agree with 12:54, Segarra and Deller must go, but it's must be the same accountability to Wooden and Kennedy.

Anonymous said...

AT THE END OF THE DAY IT'S ALL ABOUT PEDRO "CAVIAR" SEGARRA AND HIS FAILED ADMINISTRATION

Anonymous said...

No we haven't what is it exactly enlighten us?!!

Anonymous said...

I have one question? Will you go after Bronin with the same tenacity as you do Pedro? Or is your aim just to rid of Segarra? The reality is if I am not mistaken is the Governor has the final say on spending in Hartford.

KEVIN BROOKMAN said...

The Governor has very little to say directly about spending in Hartford. The Hartford City Council is the fiduciary body for the City when it comes to budgets and appropriations

And yes, I will point out issues with the Bronin Administration if they warrant it. I have confidence that a Bronin Administration as well as a new Council will be working more to get Hartford in order than the last two incompetent administrations and hopefully drastically reduce the need for my blog posts to bring about accountability . Time will tell.

Anonymous said...

Stephen Cole must go!! I heard he was managing the project! Maybe his ex-boyfriend David Panagore can find him a job @P-Town !!!