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By Kerri Provost, November 16, 2011 10:13 am

Occupy Hartford, like many other Connecticut residents right now, is directing its ire at CL&P. Besides a rally they have planned for this coming Saturday, the group has released a play on Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses.

In its entirety:

Disputation on the (Lack of) Power and (Absence of) Efficacy of (Executive) Indulgences Commonly Known as The 99 Theses.

By Occupy Hartford CT.

Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, we present the following reasons that CL&P must be held responsible for providing the services they promise and for which we pay them. We request that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

1. Our Governor, Dannel Malloy stood at the podium and called for CL&P to “Repent,” which roughly translates to, “Do the job consumers pay you for”

2. The word “Repent” cannot properly be understood as referring to penance by the consumer in terms of increased rates.

3. Repentance means not only in the Executive’s heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh. We mean increased staffing.

4. As long as hatred of the profit loss abides, the penalty of sin abides, viz., until we enter the kingdom of heaven, or refuse to pay our bills.

5. Jeffrey Butler and Co. have neither the will nor the power to demand any rate increases beyond those imposed by law.

6. Mr. Butler himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by CL&P. Clear case, the guilt remains untouched. Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: 99 Theses'»

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By Kerri Provost, October 6, 2011 12:33 am

The Municipal Building a.k.a. City Hall

While some folks get themselves all worked up over Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, the average person can have the most impact in local politics; local politics also have the most immediate impact on us. If garbage is not removed on your street, you do not take the matter President Obama; you call 311 or complain to the City Council. Maybe you push for better funding of the Department of Public Works, or better management of it. And unlike top level national politicians, you actually have a good chance of being able to arrange a meeting with someone on City Council and sometimes the Mayor. At minimum, you can sign up and wait for a chance to air grievances at a Monday evening City Council meeting. In a city where so few people bother to vote, each person’s vote actually has a lot more weight to it than it would in a national election.

With all this in mind, another forum/debate for City Council candidates was endured on Wednesday evening. All candidates whose names will appear on the November ballot were invited to participate; those actually participating included: Kyle Anderson, Alex Aponte, Corey Brinson, Kevin Brookman, Luis Cotto, Joel Cruz, Raul DeJesus, Larry Deutsch, Cynthia Jennings, Ken Kennedy, David MacDonald, Sweets Wilson, rJo Winch, and Shawn Wooden. Republicans Gerry Pleasant and Michael Fryar were invited but did not attend. Ironically, Luis Cotto, a member of the Working Families Party, acknowledged and explained Fryar’s absence, stating that the candidate is working toward his Ph.D and could not get out of a midterm exam Wednesday evening; no Republicans mentioned their absent colleagues.

With fourteen candidates and roughly two hours, the audience could only get a small taste for what each person had to offer.

The best response to anything was when a misinformed resident accused the current City Council of voting for their own enormous raises. A yelling match ensued, as the resident refused to allow candidates to respond as they were entitled to by the event’s format. When Cotto, Deutsch, Kennedy, and Winch finally had the opportunity to respond, all explained, coherently and consistently, that the pay raise was put forth to the voters; Hartford residents were the ones who voted to increase their salaries. This was a strong showing that demonstrated the ability for at least some Democrats and Working Families Party members to work cooperatively.

The majority of the evening, however, was not spent with questions posed by the audience. Continue reading 'Who Wants to be a City Councilperson?'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 31, 2011 2:54 pm

photo courtesy of Afonso Lima

Click here to read about how a student in Hartford opted out of the Connecticut Mastery Test.

The Connecticut State Department of Education website makes the No Child Left Behind threats both clear and obscure at the same time:

Schools will be responsible for improving the academic performance of all students, and there will be real consequences for districts and schools that fail to make progress.

The phrase “academic performance” is Continue reading 'Back to School Guide: Reclaiming Your Child’s Education (2/2)'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 25, 2011 11:32 am

About half the seats were filled at the start of Wednesday’s forum; by the end, only a few dozen people remained, and many of those were candidates’ families, or, candidates running with the Republican and Working Families parties. Two of the ten Democrats running for City Council did not attend. It was a rare event that finished early in spite of many questions from the audience.

The forum provided Democrats with the opportunity to distinguish themselves from the other candidates; few bothered to do so. Instead, candidates were quick to agree with each other, rarely adding anything meaningful to previous comments; a few candidates gave rambling responses to most questions, stumping the audience as to the point being made. Continue reading 'Council Primary Candidates Forum'»

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By Kerri Provost, July 22, 2011 2:12 pm

Because the Hartford Democratic Town Committee convention did not start on time, there was opportunity to check out the fashions. Continue reading 'Is this what Democracy Looks Like?'»

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By Kerri Provost,

A large room crammed full of powerful people (and those aiming to be) dressed in red, white, and blue, with buttons and signs galore. The party casts its votes, maybe some numbers don’t match up and a recount is needed, but the endorsements get made and the evening moves on. Reporters pushing their way through to get to the newly endorsed or to those left behind. That’s the image that comes to mind, and to an extent, that is what happens. But for those who have never been to a convention and who are not politically connected, it might be eye-opening to learn that the behind the scenes “back room deals” are not so secretive after all.

The Hartford Democratic Town Committee’s convention was scheduled to begin at 5:30 on Thursday evening in Bulkeley High School’s air conditioned auditorium. We assumed that this was the fake time, which is told so that events kick off on time about thirty minutes later. Segarra’s supporters were gathered around the building’s entrance with signs and stickers at 4:30 pm. By all accounts, I thought I would be home by ten, latest.

Upon entering, we had our choice of seats. Nothing was roped off. Nobody was serving as an usher. I sat with Emily of Live in Hartford, and near reporters from The Hartford Guardian and The Hartford News, two small, local newspapers that work hard to get the story, like journalists from days of yore. We were in the second row, center, and nobody seemed to mind.

Waiting for the event to begin, we noted who was conversing with whom. Julio Concepcion, an HDTC member, stopped over and we chatted about the waves he made when he publicly questioned the 2-2-2 strategy days prior. In the audience was a young man, a teenager about to enter Hartford Public High School after attending Bellizzi. He began the evening as the embodiment of idealism. We never saw if he looked the same, or disenchanted, when he slipped out later.

At 6pm, we thought the event was going to begin when the committee announced that the little people had to move our seats:

The rationale made sense. Leave room so that HDTC members can easily access the microphone and be heard; one wonders why this was not announced earlier. One also wonders why this was even attempted, as the members were scattered throughout the auditorium, some griping that they could not hear, all the while not moving their seats, despite the vacant ones now reserved for them. Continue reading 'Behind the Scenes at the Hartford Democratic Town Committee Convention'»

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By Kerri Provost,

2-2-2 Continue reading 'Hartford Democratic Town Committee Convention: Numbers Game'»

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By Kerri Provost, March 29, 2011 9:36 pm

The next time I hear somebody run his mouth about how people in Hartford don’t care about anything, I’m going to drag him to a City Council meeting. He would then see that even at meetings without a public hearing session, residents are willing to stand — if there are no chairs left, which often is the case– for over an hour to listen to public servants make decisions that will affect them.

Monday night, many residents showed up at City Hall to support designating roughly $50,000 for the Salvation Army’s Marshall House emergency shelter to remain open through the end of June. Because there was no public hearing, they held signs. This agenda item was not debated because its sponsor apparently missed a deadline. Items that were discussed: trees, the impact of war, and whether or not voters were too dumb to know what they were voting for in 2008 when they gave an 80% pay raise to City Council. Continue reading 'Removing Trees, Ending Wars, and Repealing Raises'»

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By Kerri Provost, March 10, 2011 9:39 pm

Because such thinking has become part of the national rhetoric, nobody bats an eye anymore when words like “unity” and “collective” are shorthand for “conformity” and “the herd.”

Recently, Mayor Segarra was thrown under the bus for the way in which he requested a more just search process for the replacement superintendent. Actually, the request itself was demonized. This all could have easily been turned into an episode of The Simpsons:

Continue reading 'Conform for School Reform'»

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By Kerri Provost, February 28, 2011 11:31 pm

The post about grade inflation (2/12/11) in the Hartford Public Schools created some discussion about whether or not such a practice was detrimental to the students. Some readers found that the practice could serve as a safety net, while others found it to simply present a false sense of hope.

There has yet to be any discussion of this issue among members of the Board of Education. I hear that if such discussion occurs, it will be in March. I still have not heard a peep from Superintendent Adamowski, David Medina (spokesperson for school system), or the principal at one of the schools practicing the questionable grade policy. To make this more interesting, while Medina is not responding to citizen inquiries about ethical practices, he has had the time to do some cheerleading for two superintendent candidates.

Troubles in the system. Troubles in the classrooms.

I have since been contacted by other teachers within the school system who are finding social promotion to be an even bigger concern. One has stated that his/her eleventh grade students are unable to read or write beyond a third grade level. Ideally, students in the eleventh and twelfth grades would be getting prepared for college-level work, but because of this inability to perform at grade level, such idealism does not play out. Students are apparently able to graduate from city high schools without being able to write a basic persuasive five-paragraph essay. Continue reading 'Failing Students Through Social Promotion, Poor Planning, and Skewed Testing Policies'»