Peter's Place

"Widespread Access" and "Inconsistent" Spending: The Admissions & The Consequences By Peter C. Frank | The Bloomfield Dispatch BREAKING NEWS (Dec 30): CREDIT RATING DOWNGRADED Just moments ago, the bill for mismanagement came due. As we prepared to publish this analysis of the Administration's internal failures, S&P Global Ratings issued a bulletin lowering Bloomfield's credit rating to 'AA' and placing the town on CreditWatch Negative . The agency explicitly cited the "history of delayed audit filings" and warned of a "one-in-two likelihood" that the rating could be withdrawn entirely in 90 days. (Full details below). The Forensic Audit: Conclusion. In Part 5.1 and Part 5.2 of this series, we analyzed the first ten reasons provided by Finance Director Darrell Hill to the State Office of Policy and Management (OP...

BREAKING: The "Percolation" Protocol Documents Reveal Taxpayer-Funded Surveillance and PR Strategy to "Target" Candidate By Peter C. Frank | The Bloomfield Dispatch The internal records are in. Early this afternoon, former Town Councilor Rickford Kirton provided The Bloomfield Dispatch with a cache of internal documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. These documents confirm that key communications decisions in Bloomfield’s government were deliberate, politically timed, and involved a coordinated effort between the Town Manager, Town Attorney, elected incumbents, and a taxpayer-funded PR firm. THE SURVEILLANCE: The 6-Month Gap To understand the scandal, one must understand the timeline. The controversy centers on a private text message exchange involving Rickford Kirton (who was a private citizen at the time) and Shamar Mahon , who was ...

The Offline Government (Part 2): The Digital Blackout By Peter C. Frank   |   The Bloomfield Dispatch (See also: Breaking News: The Town Manager's Legal Troubles ) The “Shadow Ledger” In Part 5.1 , we analyzed the collapse of cash reconciliation—the Town’s inability to balance its own checkbook for 15 months. But the Finance Director’s letter to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) reveals a deeper, more systemic failure. It wasn't just that they stopped checking the math; it’s that they stopped using the calculator entirely. Reasons #6 through #10 of the "13 Reasons" paint a picture of a Digital Blackout —a period where the Town of Bloomfield effectively ceased to operate as a modern digital government and reverted to an "Offline" state, running a $100 million corporation on what effectively amounts to loose paper and unverified spreadsheets. But before we analyze the specific failures, we must addr...

Lawsuit Accuses Town Manager Schwapp of Sexual Harassment and "Fraternity" Favoritism By Peter C. Frank The Bloomfield Dispatch BLOOMFIELD, CT — A lawsuit filed in Hartford Superior Court alleges that Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp, Jr. sexually harassed a senior police administrative assistant and then orchestrated a campaign of retaliation when she reported it. The complaint, discovered by The Bloomfield Dispatch during a routine review of active litigation against the Town, alleges that municipal decision‑making in Taylor’s case was driven by personal connections over professional ethics, and that internal investigations were used against vulnerable employees. Note: The defendants have not yet filed a formal response in court, and the allegations in Taylor’s complaint have not been proven. The Allegations The Plaintiff, Wendy Taylor, a senior administrative assistant who had served the Bloomfield Police Department fo...

Why Are We Rushing the Year Away? This is really me, everything else is AI-generated. The holiday pause we’ve misplaced Bloomfield, CT —  We are officially two weeks away from the New Year. The calendar still clearly reads “December,” yet if you look around at the collective mindset, it feels as though we have already fast-forwarded to January 1st. We haven't even unwrapped the Christmas gifts or lit the final Hanukkah candles, yet the noise of “New Year, New Me” resolutions and Q1 planning is already deafening. Why are we acting like the New Year is already here? This is not just nostalgia talking; it is a yearning for a different pace of life. There was a time when people genuinely took their time. The holiday season was a distinct container of time—a pause button on the chaotic soundtrack of life—where the primary objective was simply to experience joy, connection, and—for...

The Offline Government (Part 1): The Blind Checkbook On January 3rd, they boasted of "Strong Finances." On that same day, internal logs show the Town didn't know how much money was in the bank. By Peter C. Frank The Bloomfield Dispatch  (Read Part 4.5 ) BLOOMFIELD, CT — On January 3, 2025, the political leadership of Bloomfield took a victory lap. In a public post, Town Council leadership boasted of the Town’s "AA+ Bond Rating" and "Strong Finances," explicitly crediting the "Mayor, Town Manager, and CFO Hill" for their stewardship. They told residents that the ship was steady and the course was true. But internal correspondence obtained by The Bloomfield Dispatch reveals a stark contradiction: On the very same day leadership was publicly celebrating fiscal stability, the Finance Department’s own internal logs showed they had ceased reconciling t...

BLOOMFIELD, Connecticut  — Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp, Jr. has officially returned to his post following a period of medical leave. Mr. Schwapp confirmed his active status in an email to The Bloomfield Dispatch on Tuesday afternoon. "I have returned to my duties as Town Manager, that should be understood by all," Schwapp wrote, noting that he is no longer utilizing an automated "Out of Office" response. He emphasized that he has resumed his role as the "CEO for the Town of Bloomfield." The Town Manager had been on Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) since late autumn, during which time Deputy Town Manager Sharron Howe served as Acting Town Manager. The confirmation of his return came during a correspondence regarding The Dispatch’s ongoing investigation into data discrepancies found on the Town’s "Open Finance" portal. Mr. Schwapp intervened in the exchange to clarify that the administration would treat the inquiry as a standard media request ra...

  A Case Study in Contradictions When "Transparency" Means "Opacity." The Facts Behind the Mayor's Fact Check. By Peter C. Frank The Bloomfield Dispatch  (Read Part 4 ) 🗄️ Key Documents Reviewed This report is based on the following primary source documents obtained via FOIA and public record: OPM Warning Letter (July 18, 2025): Identifying "Tier I" eligibility. Finance Status Report (Aug 4, 2025): Admission of 15-month "offline" tracking. S&P Global Correspondence: Clarifying OPEB liability reduction. Town Council Minutes (Aug '24 - Dec '25): Documenting meeting cancellations. Download Mayor's Speech Transcript (PDF) » BLOOMFIELD, Connecticut, December 12, 2025 — On Monday night, December 8th, Mayor Anthony Harrington delivered a 15-minute address to the Town Council and the viewing public. He labeled recent reporting on t...