Council Members Raise A Stink Over Sewers

Incoming City Council members promised to serve as a stronger check on the executive branch and so far a number of them are putting words into action. Council members have heard constituent horror stories about the collection process of the Water Pollution Control Authority, an area that a young Joe Ganim vehemently questioned as a mayoral candidate in the early 1990s.

CT Post reporter Brian Lockhart has more:

In an extremely rare move, a frustrated City Council committee Tuesday voted to subpoena a trio of individuals involved in collecting sewer use fees and foreclosing on homeowners who fall behind on those payments.

“I’m not going to keep coming to meetings when people don’t have the courtesy to show up,” said Councilman Ernie Newton.

It was Newton who made the motion for the Ordinance Committee to exercise its power to legally order Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) Acting General Manager William Robinson, Russell Liskov, a municipal attorney, and prominent private counsel Juda Epstein to attend a special meeting next Monday evening.

Full story here.

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23 comments

  1. Go get him Pete and Ernie!!!!
    What this guy does is immoral.
    He will seize property that is $2,000 delinquent AND buy it himself and resell it.
    Ask Juda how much money he has made in that shell game!

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  2. Good for Ernie and the council, this foreclosure scam has been going on for a long time and the city attorneys have been part and parcel to this scam. It might be time to invite the Feds in to investigate the city attorneys offices and its handling of foreclosures This office has been screwing the residents for years while a few of them get rich

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  3. What a joke, Hamilton Burger has acted this from day one, he will bully you until you standup and push back.

    The article stated, “Anastasi urged the committee to treat those being subpoenaed with respect at Monday’s special meeting, particularly Epstein.”

    “I’m suggesting you not treat this as an adversarial process,” Anastasi said. “You may be misjudging people. You may have information that’s erroneous. Treat him with respect, then go from there.”

    Who the hell does he think he is telling the elected representatives for the voters of Bridgeport how to act. The City Council needs to make their stand right now finding a way to have their own legal team and have it funded by cutting two of the City Attorneys off the staff and use that money to hire their own attorneys as just the start. First there would need to be study to of the goals and objectives, the cost and the funding.

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  4. The Ordinance Committee was just notified by the Assistant City Clerk that Attorney Jude Epstein was notified and emailed to be present at last nights Ordinance meeting, which contradicts what Mark Anastasi told us last night. Maybe it’s just me but Mr. Anastasi didn’t feel like the Attorney for the City Council last night, rather the Attorney for Mr Epstein and members of the WPCA.

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    1. Councilman Brown, thank you for continuing to fight for the residents of the 132nd District. I am continually impressed with you and your colleague, Councilman Langan. I appreciate your service.

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  5. What a difference a new Council is making. This has been a frustrating, impenetrable issue for years.The “cast of characters perpetuating this practice,” have somehow eluded scrutiny despite many attempts in the past to get answers to remedy the gluttony of a few. This can be exposed and fixed. Stay vigilant Marcus and Ernie, the remaining members of the Council should support the efforts the two of you have put in motion. IS THERE ANYONE ON THE COUNCIL WHO QUESTIONS THE NECESSITY OF OUTSIDE LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO THE cc.?

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  6. Lennie, thank you for reporting this. May I ask you how the committee voted on Councilman Newton’s motion? Your article may have mentioned it but I missed it. Thank you.

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  7. You’ve got that right Kid.
    Does this work go out to bid? Hell no!
    Does the city insist that there be a clear distinction between the attorney for the WPCA and the company that buys the liens? No way!
    Does Mark A tell Juda that he must be respectful to the council members because they have ultimate say over who gets the contract?
    Fuck no!!!
    I wonder how much Juda has pledged to the Ganim for Governor campaign. That’s the real question.

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  8. This matter does not suggest the need for dedicated counsel for the city council. It does suggest that the council members should do their homework, starting with a review of minutes from past meetings. They apparently did not do so.

    The ability to subpoena stated in the City Charter has long been an option but I do not recall it being used because the threat of it was adequate. Did the ‘notification’ to Attorney Epstein include mention of a subpoena if he chose not attend? The committee members should have been copied.

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  9. Tom, you’re right. I remember the PSG issue. We requested the Director of Public Facilities address the Council concerning questions we had relevant to that entire debacle. He resisted until I informed him he would be subpoenaed, he cooperated. He wasn’t happy, but it beat the alternative.

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  10. Sooo happy to see some on the council finally calling out Anastasi,he walks around like his opinions are gospel..Time to overhall the legal dept,starting with Anastasi..Only problem is Mario & Joe won’t allow that,they like that they have have a puppet in place…

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  11. Apparently, the three individuals who faced a subpoena have now agreed to appear before the committee to answer questions sought by Pete Spain, Marcus Brown, Kyle Langan and other concerned council members. They should be mandated to produce the properties, past and present that have had liens placed on their property, and more importantly, struggling homeowners who lost their property because they were unable to satisfy the unreasonable collection conditions imposed. In today’s financial environment some are faced with going without food, medical treatment, medications and other life-sustaining needs in an attempt to meet rent or mortgage obligations to keep a roof over their heads. Then the “the terrible three,” instead of working to put in place a doable payment plan for these unfortunate people, work in concert to put them out of their homes, most of whom have innocent children whose lives and education are impacted. This practice must be exposed and changed. Finally, elected officials with the authority to do this have stepped up and I know will change this.

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