City Council To ‘Step Up’ Investigation

The City Council conducting an investigation of the city’s program to confiscate  tax-delinquent cars? Oh, my, must be an election year. Meanwhile the man at the center of the controversy Charlie Valentino says he didn’t take a dime from taxpayers.

More from the CT Post:

Released from prison after posting six of his properties as bond, former high sheriff Charles Valentino contends he did nothing wrong.

“I didn’t take any money from people, not one dime from city taxpayers,” he said on Tuesday. “I just auctioned cars, that’s all I did.”

Outraged members of the City Council pledged Tuesday to launch their own investigation into the city’s aggressive program to boot and tow tax-delinquent vehicles, which is at the heart of the allegations against Valentino.

Full story here.

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19 comments

  1. Okay, not a dime from those of us up to date on our car tax payments, so his spin is he only took from the non-taxpayers, and this is OK how? Bash Torres all you want, the reality is he has been speaking out for years against this city-sanctioned booting program, including a resolution to ban this practice. His point is always, the practice punishes those most in need.

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    1. Hey Jennifer B, it was nice meeting you. I’m coming to the Rock for lunch walrus+carpenter for the W+C burger. CT Bites has it as one on the ten best burgers in the State. I’ve tried Norwalk and Stamford’s burgers and I look forward to this one. I’m a real burger lover.

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    1. Did the auto owner ticketed, tax bill unpaid, auto booted and towed get any money? Nooooooooo.

      Did the City get any money from creating this process presumably to receive unpaid taxes? Nooooooooo.

      Did the party who ticketed and/or booted the vehicle get any money? Who knows?

      Did the party who towed the car get any money? And when and from whom if so? Who knows?

      Did the garage providing per diem parking get any money before the car auction? Who knows?

      Did Charley Valentino get any money? By his admission: YES.

      Did anyone else get any money? Who knows?

      Is it time to review all City processes having to do with taxes of any kind? With City-owned property and agreements and fair market rentals of all kinds? Is it time to review in detail other tax foreclosures and WPCA foreclosures to see what parties are “specialists” in extracting a dollar from a City process that should be right, just and fair? Time will tell.

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  2. I was surprised to learn the city received none of the money associated with the car boot program or the selling of residents’ vehicles. If it’s not about the money then this program is vindictive, mean-spirited and callous. How do you boot someone’s car and then sell their vehicle because they lack the funds to pay either their taxes or to remove the boot? I suppose this is making a Better (bitter) Bridgeport.

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  3. On this issue I agree with Councilman Torres. These are the kind of taxes that were used in Ferguson MO where the City was making money off of poor people and the Justice Dept. said they had to stop those type of ways in raising money for Ferguson.

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  4. A $750,000 bond! That can purchase a few red dresses, no?
    My friend in city hall (deep throat) told me the FBI wanted to make sure old Valentino would be around to walk the Red Carpet!

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  5. The paper reported tow-truck Vinnie paid his bond from his seven “Bridgeport Houses.” Hell, I’m going to find me a nice tie and I’ll see you all at Captain’s Cove for the Finch fundraiser.
    I’ll give Finch my chump change, ’cause man I’m going to be in the car business soon, just call me Sheriff Scam, the real estate car man.
    Enjoy the view of Seaside Park without the solar panels up yet?

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  6. I’m 100% sure Mayor Finch, Chief of Police Gaudett and Tax Collector Jones did not have any idea this was taking place. BS. Let’s follow the money trail. I love Valentino’s statement “I didn’t take any money from people, not one dime from city taxpayers.” No shit. You were not towing taxpayers’ cars, they were non-taxpayers. I wonder where these auctions took place and who purchased the cars. Can’t wait for the next arrest. You can run be you can’t hide.

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  7. This has been going on long enough for the FBI and States Attorneys office to do an investigation and make an arrest.

    The city council is now vowing to conduct an investigation? Good timing. The charter gives them the authority to order department heads to share their records and explain their operations. In this case, why did they wait until a criminal investigation was already done?

    Let’s see how the ministry of public enlightenment puts a spin on this one. Maybe we will see a media release with video of Valentino in handcuffs entitled ‘Finch administration cracks down on illegal activity.’ “I am making Bridgeport a place you want to raise your children, yada yada.”

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  8. It is time to stop booting cars. The only people making money are the marshals and the tow truck companies. The biggest part of this scam is the storage fees.

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  9. The City Council is going to investigate:
    A) The driveway for the Contractor in Stratford and from where the City expenses of all kinds were paid?
    B) Whether the City is responsible for resurfacing roads and if so why expensive green signs are posted all over the City in an election year and at what expense?
    C) The process by which the Police Department worked with Charles Valentino regarding towing, redeemed or abandoned vehicles, and yet no income flowed to the City?
    D) Why all City Board, Commission and Departmental meetings per Charter or Ordinance are not listed on the web daily City Calendar, why agendas for those meetings are not available in advance on the City web site, and why minutes of those same meetings are not available at the City Clerk’s office with all Exhibits provided to the groups at their meetings?
    E) All of the above?
    F) None of the above?

    With great respect for Rick Torres placing a Resolution before the Council subcommittee months ago recognizing what this activity did in several spheres and to Eneida Martinez for willing to stand up and speak to the paper, but just how will you investigate? As leaders of totalitarian regimes used to say to the Pope, “Where are your armies?” and they were not talking about the Swiss Guard.

    Tom McCarthy finessed the only legislative employee from the other 19 members as the budget was closing in 2012 for his own reasons but not for his announced reason of cutting City employment, because simultaneously he was hiding the curious rabbit (who asked to see the City stipend records if he was responsible for being a part of the approving signers for STIPENDS) he was also pulling another employee out of the hat for another department but that person ended up performing many of the same duties as the curious rabbit. So for the other 19 Council persons for three years there is no one on staff to help you with your work, run down constituent questions, and pull together data or research on best practices in other municipalities. But, Council people one-third to one-half of stipends go unspent and what we are talking about is Council business, right? And there is a special account called Other Services in your legislative budget with an appropriation of $93,500 this year from which only $4,035 had been spent going into May, 2015. So maybe there is about $150,000 which if it is not spent by the Council for Legislative purpose will be left for Tom Sherwood to allocate where he deems necessary. And where is that? You won’t know until many months after a year closes, unfortunately. So use it purposefully to be an independent governance body as the Charter writers intended. Make a start. You may have enough votes to get there. Time will tell.

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      1. Godiva,
        You tire too easily. Perhaps you need to get in reasonable shape. Unfortunate you do not deal with the issues raised. What are your thoughts about a legislature without staffing though it has funds to secure such? As a matter of fact, what is your sense of how well or poorly the City Council does in providing reasonable checks and balance in City governance? Time will tell.

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  10. Enrique Torres is the only member of the City Council who said ANYTHING about the abuses of the boot program before it became politically expedient to do so. A few view him as a crackpot, a gadfly, but he is the only one to take a righteous stand on the 35-year tax abatement offered to the McClusky firm. The state of New York offers tax abatements to corporations and developers all the time but there are strings attached. Job creation for one thing. The McClusky deal would not create long-term jobs in Bridgeport, not for its residents. The contractor will bring their own tradesmen from Stamford, Norwalk, Port Chester. Virtually none of the construction jobs would go to local workers.

    And what about the financial burden on the local education system?

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