Some four years ago I wrote an article in our local newspapers describing of the mere fact that you as a city employee coupled with your being an elected city Alderman placed you in a conflict of interest at either location until such time you resign from one or the other.
You ignored the warning with your complacent attitude.
And then a few years back you proposed a resolution at a council meeting calling for the elimination of all city undertakers from being able to serve on the cemetery commission and when it was time to vote on your proposal you were cautioned by the Minority Leader of the council that your vote would place you in a conflict of interest since your boss at the city’s park department, where you work, also serves as the Chairperson of the cemetery Commission. With your complacent attitude you acted as though you are above the law and went ahead by voting for your motion. I again wrote an article admonishing your actions in the local newspapers with your continued disdain of your being within the dictates of law.
Paul, it is amazing that it took all this time for these facts to surface and with the additional complaint filed with HUD about your HRA involvement along with two of your other Democratic Alderman who are in conflict as much as you are and are being dragged through the mud and slime of politics because of your insistence that you can do no wrong.
With the aforementioned facts I cannot agree more with the HUD edict that all three of you, should resign from the council due to your conflict of interest and that mandate includes you, Alderwoman Tonilynn Collins, and the council Majority leader Alderman Michael Trueworthy.
Furthermore; It would be much wiser for all three to not attend any future council meetings until such time all the legal conflict issues have been resolved with the HUD Agency.
The saddest part is watching you tear down the democratic ideology through your extreme desire to show the electorate that you have the power and God help anyone who might come between you and your thirst for power.
Frank: great likeness of Paul! Did you copy the photo of Catzanaro off the city web page?
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example of why they need to move ahead with the proposals to give the ethics commission the teeth they need to do their job including terminating employment for conflicts of interest!
comflict of interest---cnflicts----conflicts are there and every and every body turns their heads as though nothing is occurring.----its New Britain that why!
ReplyDeleteI thought it looked more like Phil Sherwood!
ReplyDeleteWasn't it the parks commission that sent the Stanley Golf Course restaurant out to bid? It was Paul
ReplyDeleteCantanzaro with his "council hat" on that vehemently opposed replacing the current run in that restaurant turning away 190,000 in much needed renovations. He seemed so personally involved in his opposition to change over at the course.
+I rceived this for Posting:
ReplyDeleteWhen elected to serve the city in any capacity, those elected must take an oath to serve the City and its citizens according to the provisions in the City Charter and the city’s ordinances. It is also understood that as citizens of the state and our country we must all abide by State and Federal statutes and the U.S. CONSTITUTION. Anyone who needs more than this information about how to behave as an honest member of society should not run for office. Surely, there are times when for whatever reasons people make judgment errors. No amount of special rules written anywhere can erase human errors.
That being said, while I applaud the effort by the “Freshman members...” of the Common Council to erase conflict of interest situations involving city officials from occurring, I believe that adding a whole new set of regulations to city ordinances regarding conflicts of interest is unnecessary especially when these regulations may be redundant with the city’s own regulations and State Statutes.
Since Mayor Stewart was first elected in 2003, Council Democrats have attempted to copy state government structure and regulations into our city ordinances. Efforts to mirror state legislature committee structure, FOI regulations, etc., have largely failed. Why, some are in conflict with our City Charter, some are not compatible with out city government structure or, as already pointed out, are redundant. Most of these actions taken by the Democratic Council Majority are attempts that have been made to usurp Mayoral prerogatives or to micromanage departments, boards, commissions or committees. Many times, important city business has been delayed or obstructed with debilitating results to the City and its residents. Recent examples, all involving conflicts of interest of some kind are: The Stanley Golf Course food service fiasco, the BOE replacement for Mrs. Kraczkowsky and the landscaping contract for the Badolato Garage.
Perhaps two thirds of Council members have conflicts of interest in their duties as elected city officials arising out of: personal, financial, and/or familial relationships. They are aware of these potential conflicts and the consequences for ignoring them. There is no need for a “fresh set of eyes.” Of the violations of laws and conflicts of interest that have been reported over the past five and one half years, “old eyes” have exposed them.
I remind our “freshman” Council members of an old saying, “ be careful what you wish for, you may get it.” Also, be careful that what what you hope to accomplish now doesn’t come back to bite you in the derriere.
LOU SALVIO, REPUBLICAN ALDERMAN
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“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to
the music he hears, however measured or far away.” H.D. Thoreau
Alderman Salvio: There is one place where the State of Connecticut appears to be 100% correct, and that is in the strict ethics policy that no current state employee may serve in the legislature. In addition to the conflicts of interest this creates, it also creates a situation where you have an employee who is "untouchable" by his supervisors and can literally do whatever he wants without fear of discipline.
ReplyDeleteIf you have an alderman working for a city department, what supervisor is going to discipline him/her no matter how bad he may behave? Any supervisor put into this situation is going to fear retaliation should he/she find himself in the position of having to discipline an Alderman.
This entire situation goes to the root of why it is so blatantly unethical to allow city employees to serve on the legislative body of the city, and this is exactly why the state has a blanket prohibition on such conduct in state service.
Isn't it about time New Britain stepped up to the plate and raised their ethical standards to same level practiced by our legislature?
I found the comments made by several council members including
ReplyDeletePaul Cantanzaro to be extremely embarrassing on behalf of the city
of New Britain concerning the Stanley Golf Course Restaurant bid.
Imagine being the representative for Jordan's catering, the winning bidder. Your invited to a city council meeting to discuss your decision to spend alot of money
in the city and when it gets to the council comments, you hear Adam, "where are the hotdogs going to come from,China?" Paul "This is a blue collar town and I like it this way" Phil "I read that start-up restaurants are risky in this economy,we shouldn't take the risk"
This city solicited the lease at the Golf Course out for bid and several candidates spent time and
resources on bidding. Jordan's catering was the winning bidder.
A long established company with qualified financial backing and the desire and willingness to do business in our city at our golf course. As a resident sitting in the audience I found most of our city council members humiliating. I felt that an apology should be sent to Jordan's explaining that this small minded little "power pack" does not represent the opinions of the residents that elected them.
Maybe Jordan's should have promised to import the hot dogs from Ukraine, that might have gotten Adam's vote!
ReplyDeleteSo now the alderman want to select the menu at the golf course? Don't they have anything better to do?
ReplyDeleteNice likeness of Catanzaro :) Like his buddies on the council, he can be an a** at times...
ReplyDeleteRemember he wanted more housing put up at the new Pinnacle Heights? Like they need more low income housing in that part of town...don't forget Corbin Heights, Malikowski Circle, amongst others.
And, with most of our former large industries gone, and Stanley Works just a shadow of what it used to be, New Britain is NOT a blue collar town any more.
Geeze...this is America, land of opportunity...or is it?
NBResident, forget about any opportunity here in America. There is a wave of socialism sweeping over this country, which is very obvious in the New Britain Council. You don't dare disagree with these socialists on the council or you will be attacked like you won't believe.
ReplyDeleteThese guys can't even approve a hot dog vendor that had already been selected by the Parks Dept, how can you expect them to do the right thing about an important appointment like this?
ReplyDeleteDid they ever solve the big mystery over where the proposed vendor was planning to import his hot dogs from, or is that still a major decision facing this council?
I read in today's paper that Catanzaro doen't know what the Hud edict entails.
ReplyDeleteWhat doen't the Alderman understand with the word resign.?
There were enough prevarications in today’s Herald Article about HUD by Rick Guinness to make one vomit. For Rocco Tricarico to say what he did is proof that he should not be running that agency. Surprised that the Herald didn’t call HUD for corroboration.
ReplyDeleteKnow this, nobody worked harder that Mayor Tim Stewart to gain the exemptions required by HUD in awarding the CDBG funds! Had the Mayor not intervened in the professional manner that he did, other CDBG Funds would have been denied. As it stands now, only about $100K was denied. Only after I suggested that no Democrats came forward to thank the Mayor for his efforts did Phil Sherwood offer a belated and “choking” thank you. So much for “class.”
It is apparent that when the liberal Democratic contingent is not getting its way, the group looks for someone –some group – to blame. Thankfully there are yet some responsible journalists and bloggers.
About the Hartford/New Britain Busway; a couple of years ago, our State Legislative contingent was out there on the former Greenfields’ property getting their photos taken with Gov. Rell, promoting the busway, all of them, DeFronzo, O’Brien, Geragosian, etc.. Now, all of a sudden there is an opportunity to throw a monkey wrench into New Britain’s Downtown Redevelopment Proposal. Another opportunity to thwart Mayor Stewart’s efforts to help NB taxpayers. Throw the busway under the bus and forge a $1 billion proposal to use trains instead. On whose side is our legislative contingent anyway? You be the judge!
Sincerely,
Louis Salvio
Whoever it was who told Catzanaro that the HUD edict means he should resign should have said "quit." Resign has too many syllables for a simpleton like Paul to understand.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to anonymous’ question regarding the no vote by Alderman Catanzaro to his bosses request that the Golf Course restaurant contract be awarded to Jordan’s Catering be fired.
ReplyDeleteWell, isn’t that the question that I have been raising with my newspaper articles, for the past four years or so, that it is a conflict to have a city Alderman serving while he or she is a city employee.
How can the boss direct him out of fear of his being fired by the city council if they chose to do so? if this council member is of the majority membership how can his boss go to the council to make the request of layoff?
I have posted how many of the existing members of the City Council have a direct conflict of interest in relationship to their employment and serving on the Council.
The real question is how does a department head fire an alderman for insubordination? And that Alderman knows he can get away with most anything as an employee.
In short, voters beware of who you select to vote for the next time around.
Sincerely,
Frank Smith
Alderman Paul Catanzaro was appointed to the New Britain Zoning Board of Appeals in 1998 and served until 2003.
ReplyDeleteWhy was the Salvation Army's Food Pantry construction site stalled for months by the action of the New Britain Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)? Why did this new Food Pantry need a Variance from the ZBA - a Change in Conditions from Garage Building site to a Food Pantry Building site?
What did Mr.Catanzaro know...and what third party whistle to the Building Department and ZBA the question of a Variance?