Bloomfield
The Dispatch Has Evolved
What began as an investigative series has grown into a dedicated hyperlocal digital media platform for the Bloomfield community. The Bloomfield Community Dispatch is now our permanent home for all new reporting, investigative deep-dives, and community voices.
Visit the New Home of The DispatchThis page will remain active for archival purposes. All future installments of the Bloomfield series will be published exclusively on the new website.
For Peter’s personal posts on technology, mental health advocacy, and navigating life with disabilities, please continue to visit Peter’s Place.
The Bloomfield Dispatch:
An Investigative Series
I wish to express my deepest gratitude to the countless readers who have followed this investigation from its first installment. Without an informed and engaged audience, investigative journalism would be a hollow exercise; your presence here gives this work its purpose. To those who have left comments—whether in fierce agreement or thoughtful dissent—thank you for contributing to a vital public conversation. Your engagement is the lifeblood of transparency.
Mission Statement
Bloomfield, Connecticut stands at a critical juncture where administrative opacity meets a growing demand for civic accountability. This series, "Bloomfield’s Crisis of Governance," provides data-driven forensics, evidence-based rebuttals to official narratives, and the documentation necessary for residents to hold their local government to the standards they deserve.
This archive tracks the investigation from its inception. To stay current with the latest reports, please transition to our new platform at the link provided above.
The Investigation Archive
Next Milestone: Part 6. Having concluded the forensic audit of the Administration's "13 Reasons," the investigation now moves to the Part 6: Payroll Analysis, uncovering the systemic failures within the Town's most significant expenditure. See the full report at our new website.
This final forensic audit of the Administration’s "13 Reasons" exposes the critical staffing gaps and systemic errors that crippled town operations. We conclude our look at the internal collapse of the Finance Department before transitioning to the multi-part payroll investigation on our new platform.
The "smoking gun" has arrived. Internal documents obtained via FOIA reveal that the Town Manager and Town Attorney used a "Zombie Contract" with a PR firm to manufacture a political scandal against a rival candidate. Legal experts warn that this use of taxpayer funds for electioneering may constitute fraud and abuse of office.
Why did the Town lose track of its cash? This installment exposes the "Digital Blackout"—the Administration's decision to abandon its enterprise financial software in favor of vulnerable, manual spreadsheets. We document how this technological regression directly led to the 15-month failure to reconcile bank accounts and left a $117 million government running on guesswork.
Breaking news from Hartford Superior Court: Former employee Wendy Taylor has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Town Manager Alvin Schwapp. The complaint alleges a toxic culture of retaliation and implicates Town Attorney Andrew Crumbie as an instrument used to silence dissenters.
On January 3, 2025, Town leadership boasted of "Strong Finances." On that same day, internal logs reveal the Finance Department had ceased reconciling bank accounts for 15 months. This first forensic installment dissects the Administration's own "13 Reasons" for the collapse.
In a defiant "Fact Sheet" speech, Mayor Harrington labeled reports of the town's financial crisis as "misinformation." This rebuttal uses the Town's own internal documents to expose the truth: the 15-month "offline" spreadsheet blackout, the OPM "Tier I" warning letter the Council tried to hide, and the legal budget that has already burned through 170% of its funding.
Released FOIA documents prove that Council leadership knew about a "Tier I" state takeover threat in July but allowed the Administration to deny it in public meetings. The investigation exposes a "confession" from the Town revealing that the Finance Department effectively ceased functioning—tracking a $117 million budget on manual spreadsheets without bank reconciliations for over a year.
While the administration remains silent on the overdue audit, the forensic data speaks volumes. This installment exposes a "Material Weakness" finding in the town's internal controls, reveals that the $21 million drop in debt was a massive correction of past errors rather than fiscal savings, and documents legal spending that has burned through 185% of its budget in just 20 weeks.
A hard look at the math behind the "revenue neutral" myth. This article presents an analysis of 15 years of budget data to uncover the hard truth: the mill rate cannot drop enough to offset reassessment hikes. It also exposes how the "Phase-In" strategy may actively reduce state aid, effectively costing the town money.
An examination of the town's fiscal crisis uncovers the beginnings of its true cost of mismanagement: an audit-flagged, $21 million "miracle" reduction in OPEB debt—a paper cleanup caused by bad data, not cash—and a town attorney who has already blown through 185% of the annual budget in just 20 weeks. This catastrophic deviation from historical patterns is just the beginning of systemic failure.
The opening article in this series reveals the profound structural deficits within Bloomfield's leadership, focusing on the disastrous handling of the 2024 Revaluation and the resulting chasm between the Town Council's official narrative and the economic reality for its residents.
The investigation began here. A documentation of the town's failure to respond to basic inquiries and Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests, establishing a pattern of opacity that necessitates this series.
Note: This investigative commentary relies on public documents and recorded statements. All analysis falls under the protection of Connecticut's anti-SLAPP statutes (C.G.S. § 52-196a) regarding free speech in connection with a matter of public interest.
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