During the extended 2023 mayoral cycle, John Gomes preached ad nauseum Mayor Joe Ganim’s purported failure to secure necessary renovation permits for a Black Rock house the mayor flipped for a tidy $1.1 million.
Ganim said it was an oversight created by the contractor. Well, tit for tat, Gomes is now blaming the contractor for a notice he received from the city for illegal pavement and sidewalk repair at a building he owns on Park Avenue, a place critics say is his actual residence and not another he claims in the city.
See letter from Public Facilities Notice To Repair – 1259 Park Avenue (1)
The city’s Public Facilities Department issued a memorandum to Gomes on Tuesday, citing a list of rules it says he did not follow before having a contractor spread fresh asphalt around the outside of 1259 Park Ave., from the foundation to the street curb. Gomes purchased the two-story structure, with ground floor retail and an apartment above, in 2001 for $85,000. It is currently assessed at $312,880.
Specifically, Gomes is accused of: Failing to hire a company licensed/bonded with the city; not obtaining an excavation permit and paying the related fee; using asphalt instead of concrete, per municipal standards; not incorporating handicap ramps on the sidewalk; lacking a traffic control plan for the work; and failing to schedule an inspection.
Gomes, in an interview Wednesday, said his contractor was just going to do some “temporary patching” and “it became bigger than what it was.” He said the contractor had assured him things were being done properly and he will now follow the city’s resultant order. Tuesday’s memorandum notes that Public Facilities first notified Gomes of the problems June 21 but does not elaborate on how city personnel found out.
Full story here
And the Pulitzers go to : the Connecticut Post (Rag ) for its Editorial excellence, Brian Leakhard for his investigative reporting and OIB for additional useless information and personal attacks on John Gomes.