Peter's Place

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...

  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...

The Audit Scandal & The $21 Million "Ghost" By Peter C. Frank ,   The Bloomfield Dispatch  (Read Part 2.5 ) BLOOMFIELD, Connecticut , December 3, 2025 – In Part 2.5 , we discussed how the tax phase-in is a mathematical trap. But taxes are only half the equation. The other half is how the Town manages the money it already has. And right now, nobody seems to know exactly where that money stands. As of today, the Town of Bloomfield is effectively operating blind. The Fiscal Year 2024 Audit , which covers the period ending June 30, 2024, is effectively 11 months overdue (it was due December 31, 2024). Without this audit, the Town Council cannot accurately budget, the bond rating agencies cannot accurately assess the town's risk, and taxpayers cannot know if their money is safe. Why is the audit late? (Again?) While the Administration remains silent (despite repeated attempts to obtain comment), a review of the previous year’s audit reports (FY2023) uncov...

Part 2: The True Cost of Mismanagement By Peter C. Frank , The Bloomfield Dispatch  (Read Part 1 ) BLOOMFIELD, Connecticut, November 24, 2025 - In Part 1 , I discussed the silence of our elected officials in the face of administrative turmoil. In Part 2 , I am breaking that silence to look at the raw numbers. 🚨 BREAKING UPDATE: S&P Confirms "Weaker Management" & Cannot Explain $21M Data Gap [UPDATED 11:40 AM November 25, 2025] - In a response to questions from this reporter, S&P Global Ratings—the agency that assigns Bloomfield's AA+ credit rating—has acknowledged that the town's "management profile... is weaker relative to most higher-rated peers" and confirmed their analysis relies on unaudited financial data. The $21 Million "Phantom" Reduction: Crucially, when pressed to explain a $21.4 million discrepancy between the...