The Bloomfield Community Dispatch

Independent journalism for a stronger Bloomfield in Connecticut. Truth. Transparency. Community. An independent news source focused on transparent governance, community celebrations, and the voices that define our town, bridging the gap between official governance and community action through rigorous, fact-based reporting.

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"Meaningless"

By Peter C. Frank on January 30, 2026

bloomfield ct Board of Education Bullying CHRO Civil Rights Data Data Breach Education Law FERPA IDEA investigative journalism Karsten & Tallberg Local News Privacy Special Education Student Privacy

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The Part They Didn't Tell You

One Rating Away from State Takeover: How Bloomfield CT's Financial Crisis Puts the Town on the Brink READ THIS FIRST: What's Happening in Simple Terms The Problem: Bloomfield has not finished its required 2024 financial audit. It is now one year late. Why It Matters: Without audits, no one knows if the town has enough money to pay its bills. Credit rating agencies cannot rate a town without audits. What Just Happened: S&P (a rating agency) lowered Bloomfield's grade from AA+ to AA. S&P warned it might stop rating Bloomfield entirely in 90 days. What Happens If S&P Stops Rating: Connecticut state law says towns with no ratings can be taken over by the state. The state would control Bloomfield's budget. What the Town Says: The town says it is working to finish the audit by February 2026. This is the fourth deadline the town has promised. By Peter C. Frank...

The Transparency Test:

Bloomfield’s Vice Chair Race and the Shadow of Financial Crisis AI-generated satirical cartoon (Gemini) for the Dispatch. Bloomfield DTC Vice Chair Race 2026: McClary Faces Garcia & Schulman Amid Credit Downgrade Crisis Editor's Note: The Public Record and the "Hit Piece" Deflection (March 18, 7:00 PM) Following the publication of this article, The Dispatch has received comments characterizing our reporting as a "hit piece," questioning our use of FOIA requests, and expressing offense at our political cartoons. Journalistic transparency demands a direct response. The "Hit Piece" Accusation: A hit piece relies on unverified rumors. This article is grounded entirely in empirical facts: state audits, official OPM warning letters, and S&P Global Ratings documents. Furthermore, both Kenneth McClary and the DTC Chair were given multiple, documented opportunities over the course of a month to set ...

"Meaningless"

"Meaningless": Town Attorneys Release Academic and Medical Records of Students from Unrelated Schools to Litigant By: Peter C. Frank Editor-in-Chief & Investigative Journalist Satirical editorial cartoon illustrating the confusion of confidential proceedings with confidential information. Image generated by nano banana Gemini 3 pro module. BLOOMFIELD, CT — Attorneys defending the Bloomfield Board of Education against a bullying complaint produced a spreadsheet containing detailed, unredacted records of dozens of students who attended different schools than the child at the center of the case—and were in grades the school doesn't even serve. The spreadsheet, spanning more than eight pages and produced by the law firm Karsten & Tallberg, LLC during Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) proceedings, contained sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) for students in grad...

Paying More for Less in Bloomfield: Part 1

Paying More for Less in Bloomfield: Part 1 - The Reality of Bloomfield's Next Budget and the Fiscal Year 2027 Tax Hike AI-generated satirical cartoon (Gemini) depicting the shifting of municipal liabilities onto taxpayers while town reserves remain locked away. By Peter C. Frank | Editor-in-Chief, the Bloomfield Community Dispatch April 10, 2026 BLOOMFIELD — Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp Jr.’s proposed FY2027 budget document is presented to the public as an exercise in fiscal restraint and "shared sacrifice." The administration is asking taxpayers to absorb a 6.81% property tax increase to support a $117.1 million operating budget. While officials may claim the actual mill rate is remaining "flat" at 35.65 mills, this is a mathematical illusion. Because property values have increased under the revaluation phase-in, the true, revenue-neutral "equalized" mill rate for this year is actually 33.37. By pushing the rate back up to 35.65, th...

Paying More for Less in Bloomfield: Part 2

Paying More for Less in Bloomfield: Part 2 - Administrative Expansion Amidst Public Service Reductions AI-generated satirical cartoon (Gemini) illustrating the priority shift in the FY2027 proposed budget: funding a "$3.97M TOTAL COMPENSATION" safe for executive administration while a locked chain-link fence shuts residents out of an empty municipal pool. By Peter C. Frank | Editor-in-Chief, the Bloomfield Community Dispatch April 12, 2026 (Catch up on the series: Read Part 1 - The Reality of Bloomfield's Next Budget ) BLOOMFIELD — The Bloomfield Municipal Pool costs $261,480 to operate for a summer—providing swimming lessons for 700 residents, 30 summer jobs for young adults, and a cooling center during heat emergencies. Two administrative assistants in the Town Manager's office cost more than that: over $320,000 annually. In Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp Jr.'s proposed FY2027 budget, the pool gets mothballed. The administrative assistants get...

THE BLOOMFIELD PARADOX: Part 1

🔴 BREAKING NEWS — March 31, 2026: This morning, lead complainant Mark Sanderson hand-delivered a formal, notarized regulatory complaint to the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) offices in Hartford regarding the statutory failures described in this report. The SEEC formally acknowledged receipt of the complaint upon delivery. Concurrently, an identical complaint was officially filed with and accepted by the Secretary of the State's (SOTS) Elections Division. Residents wishing to add their names as official co-complainants to the SOTS filing—which simultaneously registers them as corroborating citizen witnesses to the SEEC complaint—should contact the Dispatch directly. We will report on the state's response as these regulatory matters develop. THE BLOOMFIELD PARADOX: How Bloomfield's Municipal Machine Made A Voter Referendum Disappear and Allowed the Town Manager to Keep His Job. Here's What the Documents Show. (Part 1): How a Voter Mandate Vanished...

SPECIAL REPORT:

SPECIAL REPORT: The $7.75 Million Question While the Town Council debates policy, financial documents reveal a government operating without audits and draining its savings to pay the bills. BLOOMFIELD, CT — An analysis of the Town’s January 2026 financial records, cross-referenced with court filings and credit agency reports, reveals a Finance Department struggling to maintain basic operations. While the Town Council debates policy, the machinery of financial oversight has broken down: the administration has gone four years without completing an audit, and its savings account is being drawn down rapidly to balance the budget. Tonight, the Finance, Budget, Audit & Bonding Subcommittee will review a disclosure that reveals significant gaps in the town's financial health. Here is what the numbers say. I. THE NUMBERS: BREACHING THE SAFETY NET The Official Story: The administration claims the budget is balanced...

Paying More for Less in Bloomfield: Part 3

Paying More for Less in Bloomfield: Part 3 - The Broken Ledger: Audits, Plugs, and the S&P Downgrade AI-generated satirical cartoon (Gemini/Nano Banana) depicting the structural fragility of the municipal budget and the cost to taxpayers. By Peter C. Frank | Editor-in-Chief April 21, 2026 (Catch up on the series: Read Part 2 - Administrative Expansion Amidst Public Service Reductions ) BLOOMFIELD — In early April, Bloomfield, CT's Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp Jr. presented a FY2027 proposed budget that would require a 6.81% tax increase for residents — effectively an 11.6% increase when factoring in the revaluation phase-in. To ostensibly balance this ledger, the administration proposed extreme austerity measures for essential town services: zeroing out the municipal pool, gutting school-year recreation and senior services, halving the prevention crisis fund, and transferring residential trash collection to private pickup. All of this while simultaneously exp...

The $4 Million Loophole and the $100,000 Bill:

The "Victory" Lap vs. The Reality: While the administration stirs the pot, the plaintiffs examine the cracks in the foundation. (Image Concept: The Bloomfield Community Dispatch) Why The Real Cost of Bloomfield, CT's "Total Victory" is a Roadmap to a Slush Fund On January 5, 2026, the Town of Bloomfield issued a press release characterizing a recent Superior Court ruling as a "total victory" that "rejected all claims" challenging the town's FY2026 budget process. Former Mayor Danielle Wong echoed this assessment in a Facebook post , stating the court had validated the administration's financial transparency. However, a detailed review of Judge Huddleston's 40-page decision —and the subsequent appeal filed on January 12—reveals a more nuanced outcome. While the court legally validated the town's $4 million transfer, the ruling exposed what some voters and legal observers characterize as a signif...

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