Charlie Valentino, long active in city and state Republican politics, was arrested Monday morning by State Police. CT Post reporter Dan Tepfer has more:
Ex-sheriff Charles Valentino, Fairfield County’s last high sheriff, who hunted down delinquent taxpayers under mayors John Fabrizi and Bill Finch, surrendered to State Police Monday morning after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
State police said the 67-year-old Valentino confiscated hundreds of cars from city residents during several years through an agreement he had with city officials but instead of ensuring the cars’ owners paid their back taxes he sold the cars keeping the money for himself.
Full story here
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He was appointed under Finch to go after delinquent taxpayers by Finch.
You are mistaken, donj. He was elected to the position, as are all city sheriffs/constables. They are not appointed by mayors. He went on to become High Sheriff of Fairfield County until the State dissolved that position, at which point he just became a State Marshal. He resigned the position when it was discovered he did not process a serve properly and lied about it. Neither Fabrizi nor Finch created this monster, he was around long before either of them took office.
Okay, so who gave him the power to go after delinquent taxpayers in Bridgeport???
The finance department of the city of Bridgeport, under the administration policy.
When it came time to create a Charter Revision Commission to essentially take the power to elect BOE representation from the people and set it under his control, whom did Mayor Finch appoint among others? You are correct. It was Charles Valentino, Republican and lifelong City resident. (May the mythical Groucho Marx duck come down and give you $300 if you had the answer, as the City cannot afford to do so.)
As I look around the City at this moment I have come to meet and appreciate quite a few City residents of diverse backgrounds, experiences and cultures. Why does the City recycle the same old folks through Boards and Commissions? Is it because their vulnerabilities were known and could be depended upon to perform when the Finch administration needed a certain result?
If former Governor Rowland was concerned with Valentino’s specific mismanagement of his office and by 2005 there were indications of Valentino perjuring himself, why did Finch appoint him? Ability to control him? Or was it his belief in trying to give folks a second chance to serve the public? When the law comes down on lawbreakers, I will guess it is a sobering experience and forces a much clearer notion of right and wrong than existed previously. However, there seem to be many who feel law breaking is a game of percentages and if caught, they can find a way to escape consequences. Here is another case of a “public servant” who seemed to be serving himself first at the expense of the public. Self-interest is powerful and conflicts of interest happen daily. Time will tell.
What I don’t understand is does this mean the cars were sold against people’s will? For example, their car is towed and then he just sells the car immediately before owners could pay the taxes etc.? Or is it more like he had the cars for awhile because the owners did not want to pay the taxes, and then he sold the cars off. I am trying to clarify because if it is the first then this is even more disturbing. Can someone help me understand?
Omg. Isn’t that a slap in the face to the Bridgeport Republican party? I often wondered how Charlie made all that money that he could keep putting a shitload of money into his Bridgeport compound and buying every little business on East Main Street. What a piece of shit.
And someone has the audacity to connect Finch to Valentino’s outside business. So let’s hear from Tom White, David Walker and Jennifer Buchanan. This is disgusting. I am shocked. I always liked Charlie V. What a disappointment! Honestly, just a disappointment.
I am not a member of the RTC. There are some elected positions in Bridgeport that require a registered non-majority electorate to fulfill the position. Our party seems to get caught more, we are not (good) crooks!
Seriously, I think I’m going to throw up. How do these absolute pieces of garbage get these benefits and continue to land on their feet? Just for the record, isn’t Charlie a huge Ganim supporter?
He’s a Finchette just like you, Stevie!
Steve, the Bridgeport RTC distanced itself from him many, many years ago!
Steven, what an incredible comment to make. There are bad people in all walks of life, those who engage them knowing their dishonor are the ones to blame here. In Bridgeport this falls in the lap of the Democratic mayor and by extension the Party as well. Charles Valentino was driven out of the Bpt RTC by Michael Garrett years ago. He was further driven out of his city sheriff seat by Michael Garrett, Michael Moretti and David Goodman. He had threatened to return this election cycle. Those three men were more than prepared to put him down. If we could have removed his Republican registration I’m certain we would have.
The outrage you seem to ignore is really poor people were robbed by a crook (Valentino) and by a tax-voracious mayor. The theft here is not only Valentino’s but mayor Finch’s as well. He enable a crook to rob our neighbors. That is the story. The real scandal is the city got nothing back for the “work” Valentino did. The folks who lost their cars and property still owed the city the back taxes with interest. The city got nothing back from Valentino in the form of taxes owed. So the taking of the car resulted in no tax collection for the city at all! If the city had done nothing it would be in the same state and the poor person would still have a car, still owe the money and they would have to pay it with 18% interest upon reregistration.
Bill Finch is a degenerate mayor who preys upon the weakest in society. He has engaged the worst individuals in society to rip off the poor. He has unleashed a cadre of lawyers to similarly foreclose on homes. He takes the poor’s homes to the tune of 1000s in city possession today (where they sit idle, not paying taxes until some connected individual wants it) and takes their cars for as little as $90 owed.
This is a shameful, heartless mayor if ever there was one.
Rick Torres, this was the first post that actually moved the needle with me. Excellent job. I wouldn’t attack the Mayor for trying to collect back taxes. I have had a boot on my car and paid the bill. There are consequences. I paid. I wouldn’t attack Finch as heartless. But on Charlie Valentino’s issue, which has absolutely nothing to do with Finch, Valentino was a thief and stole that money. How does his crime compare to Ganim’s felonies? I had no idea the Republican party has been distancing themselves from Valentino. I know David Goodman very well.
Mr. Torres–as you well know (or should), City Sheriffs are elected and Valentino was elected by none other than your very own Republican party decades ago. He went on to become High Sheriff of Fairfield County with the blessings of former Gov. John Rowland (another Republican) as I understand it. He was a sheriff long before the Fabrizi or Finch adminstrations. The Republican party may have ousted him, but nevertheless, his career began with that party, so his claim to fame lies with the Bridgeport RTC.
Good points Godiva, however the news reports the arrangement to boot cars and sell them was:
police said the 67-year-old Valentino confiscated hundreds of cars from city residents during several years through an agreement he had with city officials
Those officials are not Republicans is what I read Rick addressing.
I think this is just the start of something BIG!
The Sheriff of Rottingham Robbin’ Da Hood!
lol.
Steve,
I will not blame the Finch administration for the felonious actions of one individual. But if Finch does not produce a full report of what went wrong and what the city will do to correct it then they are totally to blame.
And the same should be said for the city council. If they allow the administration to sweep this under the rug like they allowed Finch to avoid the truth about Manny’s driveway then they are equally to blame and the voters should throw Finch and the entire council out of office.
Remember, the Finch administration allowed a single sitting council member to run up delinquent property tax bills to over half a million dollars. And still no real explanation from either Finch or McCarthy and his incompetent council.
Two individuals costing the taxpayers of the city of Bridgeport over $1,000,000. How many Bass Pro Shops does it take to offset that level of incompetency?
And maybe Finch can give us an update on Captain’s Cove tax/lease status? Last time l looked they owed the city a bundle. And the city turned a blind eye to that problem also.
Yes Bob, why don’t you advise Mary-Jane Foster to go after Captain’s Cove? Honest to G-d you are one naive man. Bob, where’s the beef!!! You had better help with a platform unless you can afford to offset the Public relations coming out of the city hall annex. Hmmm, I’ve got one for you. How about taking pictures of which city hall associates are taking cars home? Now there is a scandal that should offset Steelpointe. Speaking about Steelpointe, picture this: driving on 95 looking down at Bass Pro in just a few months from now. A full parking lot, and life.
Steve,
Thank you for continuing to share what you find “outrageous” as well as what “excites” you. I have this image of you driving in Paramus NJ, or Hartford CT, or perhaps closer to home Stamford and Norwalk to see shopping malls from an Interstate. Each to his own Steve, certainly. If it floats your boat to see consumer opportunities with full parking lots and find your high point for the Finch administration at the same time you will not utter a complete, rational thought as an adult involved in the process of educating our youth about dollars of revenue relative to the dollars of expense that all taxpayers have contributed for many years in funding for land buys, legal expenses and taxes that were never received while the City waited for a Development Knight to appear. Are cost and benefit mere words to you or can you balance both concepts in your mind at one moment? Time will tell.
Valentino is a crook, period. He wouldn’t have been charged if the authorities didn’t have enough to convince a jury that he’s a crook. Enjoy your freedom, d-d-d-dude. The Graybar Hotel has a room for you, and it ain’t got no view.