Tag Archives: Kevin Brookman

WHAT IS A CHAPTER 9 MUNICIPAL BANKRUPTCY?

Full article and community commentary can be found on We the People Hartford news site Kevin Brookman Editor & Lead Investigative Reporter
For anyone that wants to take the time to read  it, the attached link lays out the steps required for a Federal Bankruptcy for a municipality.  http://www.jonesday.com/An-Overview-of-Chapter-9-of-the-Bankruptcy-Code-Municipal-Debt-Adjustments-08-15-2010/

It could be a bumpy road for Hartford.
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Title: WHAT IS A CHAPTER 9 MUNICIPAL BANKRUPTCY?
Author: KEVIN BROOKMAN

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#TBT #BrokeBronin A Look Back

Series about the Hartford Mayor Luke #BrokeBronin term in office.

First, stop down memory lane we’re looking back at what has happened under his leadership.

Below is an article posted in the We thePeople Hartford blog by Kevin Brookman back on 1-3-17.  The public commentary speaks volumes of the horrendous conditions that the residents of Hartford suffer.

#BrokeBronin has not been the best on upholding his promises to the residents of Hartford. Luke has grown the cost of Hartford’s mismanaged city hall to new heights with its lopsidedness.

Firing the low waged workers that deal with the public services while creating and expanding highly paid positions for friends? What is wrong with that picture? #BrokeBronin feels that hiring PR people is more important than the hiring of lifeguards for the city pools? Why should the lives of the city’s young and poor be put in jeopardy during the summer?

As a former Northend Resident of Hartford; it grieves me that the city of Hartford, as well as the state of CT, are greatly suffering under the tyranny of the democrats. The condition of both is the direct result of decades of intentional mismanagement & sadly, too often corruption of the elected officials.

The question now remains will the residents continue down the same destructive path?

I’ve highlighted in Red-Bold some of the important items that the residents of Hartford need to take into consideration. Kevin and I agree on some things and disagree on others. We both want the best for the City of Hartford and the state of CT.

What are YOUR Thoughts on how #BrokeBronin has been doing for the city of Harford?


Full article and community commentary can be found on We the People Hartford Kevin Brookman Editor & Lead Investigative Reporter

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.

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Title: ONE YEAR LATER, WHAT HAS CHANGED?
Author: KEVIN BROOKMAN

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#TBT Another Budget What Has Changed in 2018?

This is another year of crazy budget talks for the cities and the state.

So this #TBT (even if it is off for days) is a reminder of what last year looked like here in CT.

The below is the link to the We the People blog post. That post had the notice about the budget talks from #BrokeBronin with his attached letter.

After a year what positive changes are you seeing after they gouged us last year? Have you seen any improvement in your family’s lives or budget?

#TaxationIsTheft and the democrat officials seem to have that theft down to a science. They know how to hide the costs when it comes to hiding the true costs in the budget from us who are paying the bills for these bad budgets.

If your family is being hurt by the rising costs of energy, food, and gas, etc, etc, you only have to thank the democrats. Democrats have been in power for over 40 years in the general assembly. If you voted for the democrats then you have only yourself to blame for the pain your family is feeling.

This is an election year… YOU can correct Your Mistakes

YOU need to start now researching and asking questions. Learn about how the people that you have voted for, have in fact hurt your family in their votes for the budgets and laws of the past.

Then make certain that you tell your family and friends who NOT to Vote For… Any Democrat that has voted to increase your taxes or put forth a bill that was intended to increase the cost of the government! Those are bills which raised the costs for your family to live in CT!

Your Vote is Your Voice, You have a Choice so Choose Wisely


Full article and community commentary can be found on We the People Hartford news site Kevin Brookman Editor & Lead Investigative Reporter

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Title: HAVE A SAY IN HOW YOUR MONEY IS SQUANDERED
Author: KEVIN BROOKMAN

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SUSPECT ARRESTED IN FRONT STREET SHOOTOUT – Commentary

Another Hartford young man arrested for illegally possessing a gun after a shooting.

I have some questions and comments as a result of Kevin’s May 7th article. What I do love about We the People Hartford site is that regardless of what side of an issue Kevin does make you think about what is happening around us.

Unlike the “so called professional journalists”, he both listens to the public that are giving tips or their own commentary. Kevin also discusses his findings with those who are commenting.

That’s one thing that is great about Citizen Journalism, the majority of them are down to earth people and more than willing to talk to and with their readers.

Another great thing about Citizen Journalists is that many of them tend to have the breaking news that the “professionals” won’t bother to look into or cover for various reasons.

That being said I disagree with the title of the article in that a “Shoot Out” requires at least 2 people shooting, but there was only one person illegally armed and shooting at a defenseless car and an unarmed woman the way that Kevin’s article reads. So the title should have been “Suspect Arrested for Front Street Shooting”.

Thankfully the young woman who was the target of this young man’s anger was not another fatality for the crime stats of Hartford. I do wonder whose house was this gun found at? Was that person the Legal Owner of that gun or was that person also in possession of a gun illegally?

I am for people having the choice to exercise their right to self-defense and protecting their family from harm but it’s angry young men like this that create problems for LEGALLY Trained, Permitted & Armed people.

Why did he decide that it was ok to try to shoot (only 7 of 12 shots hit that huge target?) a car because he was angry with the driver?

What does that say about our society and community; where a person can grow up thinking that it is ok to escalate a verbal argument into threatening a life and destruction of property?

How much worse is it going to get with so many police officers retiring in Hartford? Will there be an increase in the gang-related shootings and crimes in our cities?

This young man was wrong in what he did; but was he carrying the illegal gun because he was unable to afford to get a gun legally? I do not know anything about this young man so I do not know;  would he have been able (prior to this incident) to attempt to get the training that is part of the requirements to obtain a pistol permit?

What can be done to make our cities safer for the citizens that live there? Our police and fire departments are understaffed with more about to retire. Will more citizens be arming themselves illegally because the powers that be have made the basic human right to self-defense out of reach for the poor, blacks and minorities in our state?

How is the pending Bankruptcy going to affect the police and firemen and public safety for the people in Hartford?

Those are just a few of the questions and thoughts that Kevin’s article and the public comments have sparked for me…

What are your thoughts and questions?

Full article and community commentary can be found on We the People Hartford news site Kevin Brookman Editor & Lead Investigative Reporter


Hartford Police officers were dispatched to 24 Front Street this morning on the report of shots fired.

Upon HPD’s arrival, officers located a 2010 Ford Fusion with multiple bullet holes in it parked at the entrance to the Front Street parking garage. The victim detailed to officers that she had been involved in an argument with here “friends” boyfriend. The boyfriend removed a firearm from his waistband and fired 12 rounds at her vehicle. He apparently needs to spend more time at the range,  since only 7 of the 12 rounds actually struck the vehicle.

Based upon the victims information , the suspect was identified and HPD contacted him. The suspect and his girlfriend agreed to return to the scene where HPD conducted a felony motor vehicle stop and the suspect was placed under arrest.

The suspect, identified as Austin Treadwell, 28, of 20 Front Street, Apt 318 was arrested and charged with numerous charges, including carrying a pistol without a permit, unlawful discharge of a firearm, Reckless endangerment 1st degree, Weapons in a Motor vehicle, Criminal Possession of a high capacity magazine, Criminal Mischief 1st Degree.

Treadwell had apparently disposed of the weapon, a 40 caliber pistol in East Hartford before returning to the scene. The weapon was recovered through the efforts of HPD.

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Title: SUSPECT ARRESTED IN FRONT STREET SHOOTOUT
Author: KEVIN BROOKMAN

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DON’T GET RIPPED OFF BY MDC IMPOSTERS

This warning has been given out back in November by me but this warning post from Kevin Brookman is worthy of a share because he actually has the press release in the article that he posted; in addition to his always worthy of a read even if you do not agree with him commentary.

There were 2 Reader comments plus his own reply that should get people asking some questions about our water bills….

Who are the people that are connected to the reasons why our water bills are going up higher than ever while their corporate buddies are getting a sweetheart deal at our expense….

Head on over to We the People Hartford by clicking the “Go to Source” link below & join in on the conversations…. –

 

Full article and community commentary can be found on We the People Hartford Kevin Brookman Editor & Lead Investigative Reporter

 

 

MDC WARNS OF SUSPECTED IMPOSTERS
November 30, 2016
For Immediate Release
HARTFORD  The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) is advising customers to be cautious of an individual posing as a water company employee in an attempt to enter residential homes.
On Tuesday, November 29, a male suspect claiming to be from the water company attempted to gain access to several Hartford apartments in the vicinity of James Street, telling the residents there was a problem with their water bill. No further details are available at this time.
The MDC urges all residents, especially those who are home during the day, to be alert for imposters by following these tips:
  • MDC field employees wear clothing and drive vehicles clearly marked with the MDC logo.
  • The MDC encourages customers to stay secure within the home while asking for identification from anyone who comes to their door.  All MDC employees have photo identification badges and will gladly display them upon request.  The policy is “No Identification – No Entry” .
  • If someone comes to your door claiming to be from the water company and you do not have a previously scheduled appointmentdo not allow access to your home until calling the MDC Command Center at 860-278-7850 ext 3600 to verify their identity.
  • If you have any doubt about the individual’s identity or motives, or authenticity of their credentials, do not allow them entry into your home and call the police.
 
Maybe the next step should be to distribute a flyer of MDC Chairman Bill diBella and the MDC Commissioners to our suburban neighbors. The MDC’s plan to shove Hartford’s debt off onto member towns will cost residents more than any imposters ever could. 

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Title: DON’T GET RIPPED OFF BY MDC IMPOSTERS
Author: KEVIN BROOKMAN

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HARTFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES CHRISTMAS LIGHT TOUR

Wanted to share some good news coming out of Hartford via the We the People Hartford news site – the Hartford Fire Departments will be making our Christmas a little brighter this season with a (0;} Christmas Light Tour {;0)

If you’re not yet familiar with this news site you should go on over & catch up on the news that the local media does not cover… many times they (WTPH) are the source for the Breaking News that the major media get their story ideas from yet rarely give this valuable news site credit for.

Click the “Go to Source” link below to view everything in full

 

Full article and community commentary can be found on We the People Hartford Kevin Brookman Editor & Lead Investigative Reporter

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Title: HARTFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES CHRISTMAS LIGHT TOUR
Author: KEVIN BROOKMAN

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