I have been informed by Paul Roczynski that hard copies will be
furnished to my office in the near future. Thank you.
Mayor Melody A. Currey
(860) 291-7200
Town Hall
740 Main Street, East Hartford, CT 06108
mcurrey@ci.east-hartford.ct.uswww.ci.east-hartford.ct.us
All e-mails received or written at this address are subjected to the
Freedom of Information rules and regulations.
Jonathan Searles
51 Spaulding Circle
East Hartford, CT 06118
July 6, 2009
Mayor Melody Currey
Town of East Hartford
740 Main Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
Dear Melody:
Attached are thirty seven pages of supporting documentation for my public testimony of June 16th 2009 regarding the Daley Court property disposition.
No position on the Daley Court property transfer has been taken by the East Hartford Republican Town Committee and as such this is not an EHRTC issue. In the future any requests or questions you or the Town Council may have regarding my testimony or documentation should be communicated to me directly. Neither EHRTC Chairman Paul Roczynski nor the EHRTC have been involved at any point with my research, testimony or follow up on the property transfer and as such Mr. Roczynski is not a proper avenue for questions or communication on this issue.
Please distribute this letter and attached documentation to the Town Council and any other interested parties.
In this time of struggle in which our government once again embraces the tyranny of government for the few at the expense of the many we must not forget what the 4th of July means. It does not represent an epic struggle to find a seat for the local fireworks or a never before seen achievement in pool sales.
The 4th of July is about remembering those who cleared this rocky road of freedom and remembering why they bothered to do so in the first place. As Congress lay chains upon us slowing our every step we must remember that we and we alone have the power to throw off these chains and strike down the despots. They tell us that we must bear our chains to be free. I say I have never seen a free man in chains.
A phone call from Republican Chairman Paul Roczynski spawned the following email to the mayor.
Melody,
I received a phone call from Republican Chairman Paul Roczynski this morning regarding my testimony at the Daley Court public Hearing on the 16th of June. He informs me that during a conversation between Paul and yourself you had expressed a concern that I had not yet provided you with documentation to support my public testimony.
Our grievances with the state of government in Washington, DC go well beyond one administration, a few policies, specific politicians, or a particular political party. The fuel behind our passion derives from the bipartisan destruction of our individual liberties, disrespect for our economic, social, and political well-being, and the shredding of our constitution.
To reclaim our independence and American civic traditions, the following are four key principles and positions that we must demand from our representatives.
PRINCIPLES
Bailouts, Taxes, and Spending Responsibility
There should be no taxpayer bailouts of corporations, and government should never grant private organizations license to commit criminal or fraudulent acts. We must also seek greater transparency of the Federal Reserve System through investigation, evaluation, and audit of its relationships with banking, corporate, and other financial institutions.
Respect the Integrity of the Constitution
We believe that the Constitution was instituted to restrain the arbitrary exercise of government power and to safeguard liberty. A government that routinely disregards the Constitution for the sake of political expediency cannot long remain a defender of the rights of its citizens.
Reducing the National Debt
We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt. The burden of debt placed on the next generation is unjust; it has greatly diminished the power of our dollar and threatens to undo decades of economic progress.
Individual Freedom
We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. We must reject the notion and practice of torture, eliminations of habeas corpus, secret tribunals, and secret prisons.
The Town Council meeting on the 16th was a truly interesting combination of arrogance, intelligence and poor representation. I was stunned at the turnout in the chamber. Hearing the many students and parents who came forward to the microphone speak drove home just how impressive and passionate these young minds are. I applaud those who came out to defend their music, sports and honor programs. You did well.
The arrogance of the Board of Education, particularly Chairwoman Mary Alice Dwyer Hughes, in using unarguably vital pieces of the high school experience to manipulate funding and avoid the serious restructuring in the education budget that they were tasked with this year should offend us all as taxpayers. Instead of seeking out true long term savings the Board of Education created an instant crisis by putting Music, Sports and Honors classes on the chopping block. It only takes 5 minutes of thought to realize that the Board of Education would never have gone through with this plan had they been called on their dirty bluff. They have to be elected this year too after all.
The Town Council for their part had the forethought to plan for a potential state budget crisis and put aside 2 million dollars to make up the difference in the event of a state funding shortage. Not only did the BoE fail to make the meaningful cuts needed in the budget but they demanded this 2 million dollars of reserve funds and redirected the blame for their failure onto the Town Council by ginning up misplaced outrage arguing that it’s the lack of the 2 million dollars of reserve funds that is responsible for the cuts in these core programs. Mary Alice Dwyer Hughes took the position of ringleader and lead arm twister.
As bad as this strong arm manipulation by the BoE was I just can’t help but feel the Council is more to blame for it than the Board of Education. Marcia LeClerc gave a concise sound reason for the funds being placed in reserve. The state may come up short and the reserve funds are a necessary safety. She then made a logical leap that I couldn’t follow. She and the rest of the council supported giving the funds to the Board of Education based on the recommendation of the Mayor despite the fact that exactly the same unknown budget conditions existed that made the reserve funds necessary to begin with. What happens if the the funding doesn’t stay the same? I guess it’ll be an “oops, who could have known” moment on the council.
Worse is that the BoE ended up with a million dollar surplus from the last fiscal year. This means two things. First, despite complaining last year that funding was inadequate we paid them a million more than they needed. Second, with the 2 million reserve and 1 million surplus combined the BoE won’t even need to follow through with many of the cuts it already made. Our Town Council has utterly failed us in this issue by failing to hold the BoE to any kind of fiscal restraint in this recessionary period and failing to protect us from a possible state funding shortfall. A responsible council would have called out the political stunt on the 16th for what it was and sent the BoE back to their budget books to decide if they really wanted to campaign on cutting music, sports and honors.
With almost 2 weeks having passed since the public hearing and subsequent action on the Daley Court property I am becoming concerned that the investigation which was promised at the meeting may have concluded before it was announced.
I have sent a request for a meeting, on the record, to the Mayor in hopes that the lingering questions can be resolved.
Melody,
I still have some concerns regarding the process by which the East Hartford Town Council came to their decision to transfer the title for 582(590) Burnside Avenue to the East Hartford Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday the 16th of June 2009. I can’t seem to find a singular or combined set of ordinances or state statutes that describe the process taken and the ones I’ve found seems to contradict the process employed by the Town Council.
I was encouraged by your statement on the 16th that you were going to look into the claims I made at the hearing starting on the morning of Wednesday the 17th. Unfortunately I have not heard anything more on this investigation and the as yet unresolved questions could have a serious impact upon the ability of the citizens to trust their government. Such a mistrust would be entirely undesirable.
I would like to meet with you, and any others who you feel may be helpful, on the record to discuss the specific legal process followed in the disposition of the property to the East Hartford Redevelopment Agency.
Also, I received and reviewed the discussion agenda for the Green Committee meeting I was unable to attend. I would look forward to a tour of the recycling facility. The last 2 weeks of July would work great.
Jon Searles
(860) 930-4149
The JI, Reminder and Gazette have mentioned the Daley Court events. Unfortunately due to the JI’s relatively recent subscriber model I can no longer link their stories.
I received a response to my request from the Mayor on 06/26/09 at 7:21 PM.
I am awaiting word from the state's attorney concerning next steps.
Depending on his reply, I will be in touch or his office will on this
issue.
Mayor Melody A. Currey
(860) 291-7200
Town Hall
740 Main Street, East Hartford, CT 06108
mcurrey@ci.east-hartford.ct.uswww.ci.east-hartford.ct.us
A neighbor has lost his indoor cat. The cat has been missing since Friday the 19th and was last seen Sunday in the vicinity of Maple Street and Spaulding Circle. See the included flier for a photo and the number to call if you have seen the cat.
Finally I have processed the documents and video from the hearing last Tuesday. Video is below and the documents are at the bottom. You be the judge. I’ll be glad to answer questions through the comments section.
History shows that Mr. Horan reads this blog. Here is a challenge Mr. Horan, as Chairman of the Real Estate Acquisition & Disposition Committee, show me the law that WAS followed in the council’s disposition of the property because I have listed the law that I believe wasn’t.
Council Calls Public Hearing To Order
Chair of Redevelopment Agency Speaks
Developers Bill & Dan Speak
Jon Searles (Me) Speaks
Mayor Currey Addresses Council
Council Debates and Passes Transfer and Sale Motions
** If any of the below documents give you an error please update your adobe reader to 6.1 or better or let me know about the problem so I can down convert the document for compatibility.**
As I stated tonight when I gave my public testimony regarding Daley Court, I have documents to back up everything I said. Soon I will process the relevant parts of the council video and scan in the relevant documents which are not already scanned in for the review of the general public.
In the meantime I have a few comments.
First, I sincerely hope the Mayor is honestly going to start an investigation tomorrow. I have documents.
Second, if Mr. Kehoe was interested in the accuracy of any of my statements or information he could have asked me to demonstrate the information during my comments or when the questions arose. I was sitting right there. Instead he attempted to impugn my character, research and the accuracy of my data. It is evident based on the course he chose that finding out the truth was not his goal.
Third, I invite any media outlet to contact me to verify my information. My claims will stand, theirs wont.
Fourth, I am disappointed that the matter was not referred to the Investigation & Audit Committee for review despite documentation to warrant it.
All in all it was a great night for the citizens of East Hartford because those on the council and in town hall are on notice that at least one person is watching.
I’ve been working on my public comment for the public hearing on the 590 Burnside Avenue deal (Daley Court) for a while and can’t believe how long it has gotten. Clearly there is a lot wrong with this deal and few answers.
Here’s what I have for comments so far. Keep in mind they are written in the confused and improper form in which they flow out of my head.
It’s come to my attention that the new version of Adobe creates documents which aren’t fully backwards compatible and as such the FOI complaint I posted may not be readable for everyone. Here is the complaint set to compatibility all the way back to Acrobat 4.X.
As I researched the chain of events that led to the Real Estate Acquisition & Disposition Committee’s recommendation to the Town Council regarding Daley Court I found something odd. The committee never gave such a recommendation… or at least according to the town website they didn’t. After visiting the Town Council office I learned that the Real Estate Acquisition & Disposition committee had held two secret meetings in May in which they made decisions on Daley Court and the Kilty Farms property.
According to the FOI act the town is required to give at least 24 hours notice on the town website whenever a special meeting of any of it’s bodies are called. This is to ensure that the public can attend if they so choose. After all, the public comment section of the agenda is pointless if the public isn’t notified.
No notice was filed for either the 05/14/09 or 05/19/09 Real Estate Acquisition & Disposition Committee meetings on the town website and minutes for the 05/14/09 meeting, in which the Daley Court recommendation was made, were not even posted until 06/11/09, the day after I made a trip to the council office to figure out what happened.
In response I have filed an appeal (complaint) with the State FOI Commission in response to these violations of the FOI act seeking an order against such secret meetings and a nullification of any business conducted in those meetings.
My public comment for Tuesday night (assuming this doesn’t kill the agenda item) is still being written and so far is far too long and hasn’t covered all the bases. There is a lot wrong with how this project is being moved along and sadly it appears that nobody even knows it’s wrong because it’s how things are done in East Hartford… wrong.
As previously mentioned the East Hartford Town Council will be holding another public hearing on Tuesday June 16th to hear what the public thinks about their transferring a property which the town appraised during reval at 2.2 million dollars for 50 thousand dollars to a group of non-profit developers who intend to develop senior housing which will cost the tax payers greater than twice in subsidies what the property tax levy brings in.
Here is a flyer to distribute in your neighborhood.
Follow me on a journey through Daley Court, AKA 582 Burnside Ave., AKA 590 Burnside Ave. I will show you that Daley Court is not some falling down slum development but instead a structurally sound, if in need of modernization, development. Our town officials are lying to us and it’s going to cost the taxpayers of East Hartford millions.
This past Tuesday the town council held a public hearing at which point it became apparent that the council and development department had not done their homework. In response they have scheduled a second hearing for June 16th at 7PM in the town council chambers. Please come and voice your opposition to selling a 2.2 million viable commercial residential development to a non-profit developer of subsidized housing projects for a mere $50,000. Tell them you aren’t willing to give up millions on this property so they can have an election issue. It will take a minimum of 10 years for the new development to offset the loss on the property alone that this deal would create.
Shame on the East Hartford development department and shame on East Hartford Mayor Melody Currey for recommending this transfer to the Town Council.
Bridgeport, CT – On Saturday, May 30th, the Libertarian Party of Connecticut (LPCT) will hold their annual
convention at the Holiday Inn in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Although 2009 is not an election year, the convention is generating a great deal of interest due to the impressive
lineup of speakers – including potential Senate candidate Peter Schiff. Schiff, a Darien resident, is the founder of
Euro Pacific Capital and the well known author of “Crash Proof” and “The Little Book for Bull Moves in Bear
Markets”.
Other featured speakers include:
· Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who became a noted critic of military
intelligence leading to the Iraq war . Karen writes for a variety of web sites and journals,
including regular articles on LewRockwell.com.
· Katherine Albrecht, a sought after campaigner and expert on privacy issues, who hosts a daily
syndicated radio show.
The event will kick off at 3pm with the speakers appearing at varying times throughout the night (a schedule is
available at LPCT.org). Tickets for the event are still available for $45, which includes a buffet style dinner
reception.
For the first time ever, those unable to attend in person will still have the option of participating in the LPCT
convention via the internet. The convention will be broadcast live on ustream using the LPCTTV show. This
video feed will also be available directly from the official website of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut,
LPCT.org.
The LPCT will also be taking questions for the scheduled speakers via Twitter. Those wishing to submit
questions and receive updates live from the event should “follow” (twitter speak for monitoring a user)
LPCT2009. Please use hashtag #LPCT2009 for questions.
I’m not militant against smoking and having chosen not to be a smoker I respect the choice some make to smoke. There is no secret that many don’t give the same respect for that choice as evidenced by calls for smoking bans everywhere, regardless of property rights. It’s also clear that many smokers lack a basic respect for those who don’t smoke and the property rights of others.
Today I was at the Fox Run Mall in Glastonbury. As anyone who has had the pleasure of witnessing could attest I have a habit of pacing while talking on the phone. I found myself mindlessly walking the sidewalk engrossed in conversation when an odd sight caught my eye. Smoke… rising from the landscaping. I walked over and investigated and discovered a ring of burning mulch approximately 7 inches in diameter surrounding a cigarette butt. I attempted to stomp it out and was at first unsuccessful as the mulch had turned into burning coals. I was able to kick the larger bits onto the concrete and grind them out and stamp out the remainder, though I’m afraid I sacrificed a shoe to do so. As I stood watching the remains of burnt mulch to make certain there was no re-ignition I took a look around paying attention for the first time to the volume of discarded butts in the otherwise appealing and no doubt costly landscaping.
So I thought to myself, what kind of mindlessness thinks it’s ok to discard burning objects randomly? What is it about butts that make them ok to litter in so many people’s minds? The location of this small yet persistent mulch fire was a lonely stretch of landscaping in front a closed toy store which would warrant little passing foot traffic today. What if I weren’t a pacer? Chances are nobody would have noticed that little mulch fire until it was a landscape inferno. What would the careless and disrespectful smoker who discarded that butt, who no doubt is on a surveillance tape, have to say if I had not stomped out the mulch and the management of Fox Run Mall sought compensation for their burnt up landscaping?
I suppose the bottom line is that if smokers want to be respected in their choice to smoke than they ought to show enough respect for others to keep their butts to themselves. Throwing your properly extinguished butts anywhere not specifically designated for garbage or butts is rude, and a violation of the property rights of whoever owns the land you are littering on, but throwing still burning butts in wood chips and other flammable materials is an idiotic case of pure negligence.
Starting Spot For Parade Has Changed To Middle School
May 22, 2009
EAST HARTFORD — – In order to avoid potential construction work, organizers have moved the starting location for the annual Memorial Day parade to the East Hartford Middle School.
The parade will leave from the school at 10:30 a.m. turn onto Burnside Avenue before traveling along Hillside Street and ending at Hillside Cemetery, where a memorial service will take place.
This year’s parade is dedicated to the late Leo J. Cordier, a U.S. Air Force lieutenant and World War Two veteran.
This past Tuesday’s Town Council meeting was somewhat eventful with a decent discussion of what lies ahead for the dike repairs. According to Denise Horan, the town engineer, we have spent almost all of the original 7 million dollars we were told the project would cost back in 2007. She indicated that for the almost 7 million spent we have a host of engineering reports and surveys as well as some tree/vegetation/wildlife removal on the dike and little actual repair work. The total cost of the project has ballooned to 27 million dollars and even that is a number that could “wiggle” according to Horan.
Mayor Currey reported that she has word that Dodd is earmarking 15 million dollars in an upcoming energy bill for the East Hartford dike and another earmark for 2 million dollars has been stuck into an upcoming agriculture bill. Odd that they can’t allocate money with a simple “East Hartford Dike Repair” bill instead of spending the money on the sly.
In addition to that potential 18 million the town previously received a commitment from the State DEP for 4 million in reimbursements for approved projects which has and will fund dike repair costs and the Council approved the Mayor to enter into contract with the state for another 3 million dollars which would bring the state chip-in to 7 million dollars. Assuming the federal money doesn’t show up we’ll have a 13 million dollar hole to fill before this project can be completed.
Worse yet, the project completion deadline before our dike is de-certfied is February 22, 2010, a date the mayor is confident can’t be met. According to the mayor if the funding is lined up the earliest this project could be completed is by the end of the 2010 construction season, meaning fall 2010. We were assured that our federal legislators were diligently working on crafting an exemption for East Hartford.
The Fire Department has stepped up to the plate in response to the elimination of funding for maintenance items by identifying two FEMA grants which will pay about 90% of the cost for replacement of Engine #5, 50 SCUBA sets and 3 thermal imaging cameras which aid in identifying the location of fires. The sum of these three maintenance items would be about $669,000 but with the grants they will cost the department $60,850 which will be funded entirely from the existing Fire Department budget. The grant process is expected to take about a year.
The final interesting piece of the meeting came in the form of an approved motion to permit the finance director to refinance, to speak simply about a complicated process, up to 26 million dollars of outstanding bonds. The expected savings is between $125,000 and $600,000 over the remaining life of the bonds if the full amount were refinanced. It is important to note that Mr. Walsh, the finance director, was not optimistic about then entire amount being possible to refinance due to market conditions and it’s unclear how the bottom line savings would be adjusted by a reduction in the amount refinanced. None of the council members saw fit to ask.
CT Resistance put on a protest in front of Dodd’s office this past Saturday which was quite entertaining.
From their page:
The event was a success. There were hundreds at the protest. Everyone I talked to said they had a great time. We must thank a lot of people:
The Hartford Police. They were a big help and treated us well.
Campaign for Liberty. Huge help in promoting the event.
Scott Adamsons for filming the event.
Pam Fowler, Jim Azzola, Papa Possum, and Joe Visconti for speaking.
Michael Marcucci for co-authoring the Declaration of Independence from King Dodd II.
We pulled all this off without any help from the Republicans.
I caught the event on video using my new Blackberry 8900 (I know why they call it crackberry now) and attempted to stream it but QIK, the streaming application, seems to have borked most of the video. I do have one of the two best parts of the protest. Sadly I lost the second which was an analysis of Dodd’s Iowa caucus results. Did you know only 2 in each 10,000 caucus voters cast a ballot for Dodd?
I look forward to more from Sean Murphy in the future.
