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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By Peter C. Frank on December 20, 2025

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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...

"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...

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...

Shield or Sword?

⚠️ CORRECTION & APOLOGY (January 17, 2026) A previous version of the satirical illustration accompanying this article incorrectly utilized symbols and imagery associated with the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. ("ΩΨΦ") to depict Town Manager Alvin Schwapp and Town Attorney Andrew Crumbie. We have been informed by community leaders that while Finance Director Darrell Hill is a member of Omega Psi Phi, Mr. Schwapp and Mr. Crumbie are not. The illustration incorrectly implied a shared fraternity affiliation among these officials. The Dispatch strictly respects the history and distinctions of the Divine Nine organizations. We sincerely apologize to Mr. Hill, Mr. Harris, and the members of Omega Psi Phi for the misuse of their organization's symbols and for the error in our satirical depiction. The image has been removed. Investigative Analysis ...

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...

The Missing $1.35 Million

Bloomfield Did Not Record $1.35 Million State Grant; Credit Rating at Risk With Moody's rating withdrawn and S&P deadline 51 days away, missing education funding highlights financial reporting crisis (Image: Generated for The Dispatch) By Peter C. Frank Editor-in-Chief, The Bloomfield Community Dispatch February 7, 2026 BLOOMFIELD — The State of Connecticut disbursed a scheduled Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant payment of approximately $1.35 million to the Town of Bloomfield in October 2025. Three months later, the Town’s own financial records—including its general ledger data displayed on the public Socrata transparency portal—show no trace of that deposit. When presented with evidence of the discrepancy and asked to explain why the funds remain unrecorded in the Town’s General Ledger, Town Manager Alvin D. Schwapp, Jr. and Finance Director Darrell Hill declined to offer an explanation. "The Office of the Town Manager...

No Public Plan for July 1 Deadline

Image Source: AI-Generated (Gemini) Bloomfield Officials Silent on July 1 State Housing Law Deadline as $19.5M Town Center Project Advances By: Peter C. Frank, Editor-in-Chief BLOOMFIELD, CONN., January 29, 2026 -- On Friday, January 23, 2026, Mayor Anthony Harrington discussed Bloomfield's downtown redevelopment plans on 1080 WTIC radio, highlighting a nearly $20 million Community Investment Fund (CIF) vision for a curated, "village-style" Town Center. But the town faces a July 1 deadline to update its zoning rules under a new state housing law—a deadline officials have not publicly addressed. On July 1, 2026, Public Act 25-1 (HB 8002) takes full effect across Connecticut. The law changes who decides about new housing. Starting July 1, towns cannot block certain apartment projects that meet state criteria, creating an "As-of-Right" pathway for converting commercial buildings into residential units. For a t...

Welcome to The Bloomfield Community Dispatch

Welcome to the Bloomfield Community Dispatch: Your Voice, Your Town By Peter C. Frank, Editor-in-Chief Welcome to the Bloomfield Community Dispatch . You are reading the start of something new—a publication built on the belief that an informed community is a strong community. For too long, the narrative of our town has been fragmented, often hidden behind opacity or lost in the noise of social media. We believe Bloomfield deserves better. We believe you deserve a dedicated, independent news source that respects your intelligence and champions your right to know. Breaking News: The Launch Series We invite you to read our first major breaking story, an in-depth investigation into local governance and transparency: Read: The Part They Didn't Tell You More Than Just a Watchdog Our mission is grounded in transparency. We will serve as a vigilant watchdog over local government, attending meetings, analyzing budgets, and askin...

Opinion: The Landlord vs. Tenant Debate

Fighting the Wrong War: Why Tenants and Landlords Are Both Victims of Connecticut's "Ghost Debt" By Peter C. Frank | The Bloomfield Community Dispatch BLOOMFIELD, CT, January 7, 2026 — The other morning, a viral post began circulating in the popular local Facebook group "Hartford Dwellers" that perfectly encapsulates the boiling tension in Connecticut’s housing market. Written by Andree Mills, a self-professed "Connecticut attorney" [ Editor's Note : we could not find an attorney by the name of "Andree Mills" registered to practice law in the state of Connecticut and the only " Andrea Mills " we could locate is a corporate law attorney with no real estate law practice experience, who is from Pennsylvania], the post argues that the staggering 45% increase in homelessness isn't due to "greedy landlords," but rather a state government that has made the business of providing ...

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We use artificial intelligence tools to support, not replace, our journalism. These tools help us: - Organize and search our notes and ideas. - Outline and structure articles. - Check grammar, sentence flow, and style. - Double-check figures and basic calculations. - Flag potentially biased or editorializing language against common journalism ethics standards. - Generate technical code (such as HTML or table markup) to present information online. We do not rely on AI to report stories, interview sources, decide what is newsworthy, or draft final articles. We provide the underlying information and make all editorial decisions ourselves. Every story is reviewed, revised, and approved by us, and we are fully responsible for its accuracy, fairness, and ethical integrity. Images and other multimedia content may be generated or edited using AI and are tagged accordingly.