A public hearing on a proposal to blend together the blight and code enforcement laws is slated for March 26.
The proposed ordinance, which could be adopted by the City Council as soon as April, requires property owners to maintain the structural integrity and appearance of their homes and other buildings. It covers every property in the city.
With strong police support, the new measure “will change the landscape of Bristol,” said Guy Morin, the city’s chief building official.
Violators face $100-a-day fines that can pile up quickly if property owners refuse to comply with orders to clean up unsightly or unhealthy conditions.
A decade after initially declaring war on blight, city leaders are changing direction in part because they found the existing system allows recalcitrant owners to drag out proceedings for years in costly court fights.
The new code enforcement crackdown would allow officials to write citations that rack up fines quickly. They also have more clout to order cleanups fast – or make sure the work is done by someone at the owner’s expense.
In general, the ordinance eyed for passage says that allowing substandard property has a negative impact on the city’s economic well-being and is “harmful to the health, safety and welfare of residents.”
By requiring cleanups or repairs, the proposed law says, the “adverse conditions” can be fixed so that the community is no longer hurt.
The alternative to taking action, according to the proposed measure, is that “undesirable conditions will grow and spread, necessitating future expenditures of large amounts of public funds to correct and eliminate.”
The Ordinance Committee hearing is slated for 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 26 in the meeting room on the first floor of City Hall.
Angry with the chief
The city’s chief building official said he had “had it up to here” with Police Chief John DiVenere’s refusal to provide solid support for the full-time code enforcement officer created within his department.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley said the code enforcement officer within the Police Department “is an integral part of our vision” in cracking down on property owners who refuse to clean up or fix up.
The City Council needs “to lock into this position” and make sure DiVenere doesn’t assign the officer, currently Tom Lavigne, to other public safety tasks.
DiVenere said, though, that he understands the code enforcement officer is a full-time position that the council created and still wants. He said he’s not a roadblock to its effectiveness.
McCauley said the city has “invested time and training” in Lavigne and the officer has become a key cog in educating property owners about the law and making sure they obey it. Lavigne is a former city councilor.
Councilors said they want Lavigne as the key police representative on the code enforcement committee.
“I want the Police Department to have a voice on this committee,” Morin said.
As the proposal currently stands, the panel will include the code enforcement police officer and the police chief, which ought to satisfy Morin’s concerns.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
39 comments:
mccauley needs to ensure that his intent is for what is in the best interest of the city and the blight committee and not something personal which makes him and lavigne appear as martyrs.
Spoken like a true whining republican. Here it comes again!
you are right, why can't anything be done without all of the political crap - just do what is right - just do it.
We wont have any tax payers left when these two get done. Start enforceing the city to clean up there act first. Oh wait one minute I am sorry that is your boss and you cant rattle the cage. YOUR BOTH CITY EMPLOYES. HOW STUPID OF ME.
THE BLIGHT IN THIS CITY IS SIX OF THESE COWARD POLITICANS SCREWING THE TAX PAYERS.
ABOUT TIME PEOPLE ARE COMING FORWARD
What are you going to contribute except your faceless opinion ?
This makes me feel like I "rent" from the city. Now if they don't "like" how your house or landscaping looks you get a tickets.
Enforce the laws we have now!!! Up the fines... Don't burden our police with what city hall SHOULD be doing !!
I heard Ward called Morin into the Principal's Office on this one. Police Cheif doesn't want it and since he supported Ward, Ward doesn't want it later. Way to move Bristol Forward!
Ward sure has a reputation for being a dictator behind closed doors, but if you see him in the hallways of city hall he always greets you with a smile.
10:54, sounds as if you might be worried because you aren't able to comprehend that your opinion of ward might, in fact, be wrong. takes a strong individual to admit that they are wrong but then again your kind of ruthless, bitter, unscrupulous, self-centered wimps will always exist - in difference to yourselves.
As a frequent participant in events such as " Christmas in April " , " Pequabuck River Clean Up ", and other volunteer events , I find it shameful that the City of Bristol choses to spend huge amounts of taxpayer money using FORCE to solve simple problems when compassion , and minimal expense will resolve these issues without putting yet another union 'worker' on the public dole .
Yes MIKE PETOSA IS TRYING TO CONTROL THIS TO BUT HE WAS TOLD THE BLIGHT WAS IN HIS UNION.
Mike B,
Better get your information straight before you make inaccurate statements. First of all, code enforcement is LONG OVERDUE!! You must be an absentee landlord who doesn't comply with what has already been put in place otherwise you wouldn't be attempting to knock something that only helps the city and its citizens tremendously.
The previous council unaninmously approved, meaning also our present mayor, Mr. Ward, the position of code enforcement officer allowing the police chief to hire another patrolman. This came about after the chief himself advocated for the position and the chief selected Mr. Lavign as an interested candidate to assume that position for which he has been so trained.
The taxpayers are not the losers here. There may be an initial investment by the city in cleanup of the properties, but these properties will be liened to recover those costs from the propery owner.
Once you have the cleanup, the property itself and the surrounding properties rise in value. I can't understand why anyone would not want that.
Code enforcement is needed and QUICK! Thank God someone is trying to do something to cleanup this city!
Lets get some facts straight about how the position of code enforcement officer came about for Lavigne. This was a political position that he and his buddy Guy Morin dreamed up because Lavigne wanted a soft job for himself after his political career ended. He seems to forget that he is a police officer first and works for the Chief of Police and not Guy Morin or in City Hall which is where he would like his office.
Know one in the police department seems to know what he does all day. He comes and goes and is like the invisible man when it come time to investigate city ordinances for the police department. I guess the years he spent in politics p[aid off for him in a big way. A NICE JOB WITH THE CITY WHERE HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS.
Now he has his friends coming to his aid to bash the Chief. Morin, McCauly and whomever else he can get on board. They have created a monster here and don't even realize it. Maybe they should all remeber that Lavigne is a police officer who works for the Police Department and the Chief of Police. The Chiefs job is to use he resources as he needs them, not as the politicians need them. Try and remember that Cocayne and stop calling the police chief for your own politican gains.
Will that include Geladinos property?
Bottom line is that unless there is a logical approach to "blanketing " the city, what will happen is tha tall the councilors will have the cleanest neighborhoods.
There has to be a comprehensive systematic approach, not a shotgun one.
enough about this blight garbage
Looks like the politicians are taking care of their own.
Talk about micro-managing!!!
Poster 9:25,
What are you talking about! You sound like a very bitter person. Perhaps even the Chief himself! I'd love to hear how Cockayne has called the chief for his politial gains! Are you sure Cockayne just isn't expecting the Chief and his department to do the job they are hired to do! Even the Police Chief must be held accountable!
Perhaps the Chief must stop running to Ward when he doesn't like something!
As usual, Ward has lots of promisses to keep! This is just one person he owes!
Ward, keep moving Bristol Back-Ward!!
FROM 9:25 POST: Know one in the police department seems to know what he does all day.
First of all, it's "no one"
If anyone is curious about what Tom does all day all they have to do is go to the Building Dept and ask to see the citation records that Tom has done. Morin has a good set of logs with this information.
The Courant did an article on this a while ago where Morin listed the statistics relative to Lavignes work with code enforcement.
Steve Since this article was written from information stated at the Ordinance Comm. Meeting, why don't you post the email that the Chief gave the members except Morin that prompted this issue? I think it would shed a clearer light of the problem for the public.
The Chief pulled an "Ellen" by distributing an email and leaving out a key person (Morin).
Sounds like MCauley wants to run the Police Department; eliminate blight, crime, in my neighborhood, but don't raise taxes.
He is a loose cannon, or perhaps a a cannon aimed by others.
And Artie just sits there.
but these properties will be liened to recover those costs from the propery owner.
March 16, 2008 4:55 PM
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Sounds like this is just an end around way for use of 'eminent domain ' without getting caught .
The Chief is clearly in the wrong place on this one. That’s why Amy didn’t do one of her typical glorification pieces about the Chief and the department on this topic.
Blight is a huge issue in Bristol. The properties that have come down, or will come down are unsafe garbage properties that put a strain on our people, our property values, our neighborhoods, our schools and our social services. All of this burden on the taxpayers so some out-of-state scum ball can make more money.
The Chief has a problem with this position, probably personal animosity, I don’t know and don’t care why; but he has busted Tom’s ass pretty good in trying to impose his will. First he wants to take away Tom’s car, and then Tom can’t go to night meetings because of overtime.
I shiver at the thought of the Chief managing this position so tightly. Shouldn’t he be worrying about files piling up on detectives desks, cases going uninvestigated and other things that more properly demand his attention?
I'd be happy to post any emails from the chief. I don't have any copies of any of them, however, and I'm not sure it's worth my time to track them down. If someone has them, of course, I'd like to see them.
The chief is hired to run his department, ostensibly without interference from politicians.
He gets criticized for crime, but they take staff away from crime prevention and detection.
They criticize him for going over budget, but tell him when and where to have overtime.
When politics start to interfere with good police work, the city will be in trouble.
Have Morin DO HIS JOB. and maybe some of the problem will be taken care of.
Have him ask for more money in his budget, and see what happens.
He doesn't, or shouldn't work for MCauley/Zoppo, but his boss, Ward is afraid to speak up.
Sad state of affairs.
I'd be happy to post any emails from the chief. I don't have any copies of any of them, however, and I'm not sure it's worth my time to track them down. If someone has them, of course, I'd like to see them.
All you have to do is email the Chief and ask him to forward you the email he gave the Ordinance Committee. I think it would shed a necessary light on the issue. Your article is good, but it's missing a key component as to why the issue is brought up and why Morin has "had it up to here" with the Chief's position on having a full time officer involved in code enforcement.
Just a suggestion.
I just posted a new entry with a copy of city Councilor Craig Minor's March 7 email to the chief that sheds some more light on all of this.
Maybe if Morin, and/or his staff did not spend so much time at MCauleys house he could get some of his work done.
Who is overseeing him???
Politicians come and go and it's sad that they use the short time their in office to try and run things they have no knowledge of. The Chief was hired to run the Police Department, to place his resources and people where he needs them. Currently he has three officers in schools full time and now a full time code enforcement officer. All of these positions come out of the Chief's budget but none of them are doing actual police work on the street. Why dosen't the school dept. pay for the three officers and City Hall pay for the code enforcement officer, that would allow the Chief to hire four more officers to fight crime.
Its a shame that every time an ex-politicians like Lavigne needs to get taken care of it comes at the expense of others. This time its the taxpayers and the officers on the department who have one less officer on the street.
Who are they going to take care of next?
The Chief is not bothering Lavigne, I think Lavigne just forgot where he works and who he works for. Tom, your a police officer and you work for the police department in case you forgot!!
How about doing some homework before you go around badmouthing the city council. The council specifically gave DiVenere an additional police officer last year for the express purpose of doing code enforcement. DiVenere doesn't dispute this, so who are you to say the council should back off?
to the 11:47 poster:
Time to move on from Zoppo. Secondly, as was already stated by a previous poster, the last administration specifically made a spot for a code enforcement officer which Divenere advocated for. Why the change of heart? Has it become personal? If it has ... too bad! It's time that everyone did what was right for the city and put aside any personal issues they may have. That's why the citizens always get the shaft. Their needs are put aside so agendas can be forwarded that aren't for the betterment of this city.
The bottom line is a code enforcement officer is deparately needed. West Hartford has three of them and they don't have nearly the trouble that we do. Maybe it's because they have enough to take care of the problems and we are a city of comparable size. What is so bad about a code enforcement officer? Answer that questions instead of clouding the issue with a lot of empty talk.
Morin is doing is job, but he can't do what he needs to do if his hands are tied and the chief changes his mind for some still unexplained reason. Let's put the blame where it belongs here. The money is there for a code enforcement officer. No one is dipping into any budgets or over extending themselves for this position.
One union boy (McCauley) sticking up for another union boy (Levigne) to ensure the other gets his sweet easy job as he cruises to retirement.
McCauley: you make me sick to my stomach.
Again, Morin is trying to get others to do his job, and Ward is letting him get away with it!
Morin hasn't done his job since day 1 !!
Ward should take a real hard look at his performance!
The republican whiners are at it again. Boo Hoo What'sa matter try for their job and didn't qualify for it ?
Wrong on one point but right on how stupid you really are. A typical mouthy republican who doesn't know what he is talking about. Be careful the rest of those people don't start pulling their money away from YOUR business.
March 16 . Who's the invisable man you ? HaHaHa
There are mant instances where citizens have worked to clean up the city, but they rarely get any support from the city, or any recognition.
We know about the Boulevard, but do you know of the Korean veterans cleaning up on Mix street during the LL tournament, the nice ladies who take care of the island on Hill and Pinehurst, or the elected official, my neighbor, who adopted a 200 foot stretch and cleaned it, mows it and has planted flowers?
I am sure that there are many like this.
Lets encourage them, lets support them, lets copy them.
Then we will have an even better city.
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