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cited the "history of delayed audit filings" and warned of a "one-in-two likelihood" that the rating could be withdrawn entirely in 90 days.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...

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...

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...

The Cover-Up By Peter C. Frank ,   The Bloomfield Dispatch BLOOMFIELD, Conn. , December 4, 2025 — In Part 3 , we exposed the financial chaos: the "Material Weakness," the phantom OPM savings, and the exploding legal bills. But there was one question we couldn't answer: Why is the Administration hiding the truth about the delay? Today, The Bloomfield Dispatch is releasing documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that the Town hoped you would never see. These documents prove that while Town officials were telling the public that everything was under control, the State of Connecticut was preparing to intervene. And most damning of all: The leadership knew. 📄 DOWNLOAD THE OPM "TIER I" WARNING DOCUMENTS (PDF) 1. The "Tier I" Warning (The Receipt) On July 18, 2025 , Kimberly Kennison of the Connecticut State Office of Policy and Management (OPM) sent a formal letter warning that Bloomfield now meets the eligib...