From Democatic mayoral candidate Charlie Coviello:
PLAYING OUR HOMEOWNERS FOR SUCKERS
The average homeowners has as much a chance of hitting the lottery as they do of saving their homes in foreclosure.
The state and the city have publicized they have a program to help people in foreclosure and have offered $33 million to do the job. That is $33 million for the entire state. With the average mortgage in Bridgeport being about $180,000, that is enough funds to help 18.3 families who qualify. Nobody in trouble will qualify so even those potential 15 lucky people will have to be almost perfect to make it.
It is totally disingenuous on the part of Bill Finch and his fellow state politicians to create a mirage for our people who are desperate and grasping for help. The Mayor’s team showed up at the seminar held at City Hall Annex to introduce the miracle solution the politicians said would solve all of the foreclosure problems yet all they accomplished was to prove that they really didn’t have an answer and that the money appropriated was inadequate to even make a dent in the problem.
With over 6,000 homes in Bridgeport alone which are either in foreclosure or heading there, we need a massive program that can help thousands. Where we need $1.08 billion, they offer us $33 million. This was a cruel joke for Finch to play on people whose lives are upside down when one of the biggest problems the families face is the city itself. Between the unpaid real estate tax and the WPCA bill, the city is in foreclosure on as many properties under Finch as are the banks who hold the mortgages.
Charlie Coviello has been developing programs that require the offices of the Mayor to authorize the solution to our foreclosure problem. Instead of looking at the property owner as a target to attack while they are vulnerable as Finch is doing, Coviello will set up a special office that will assist ALL of our property owners who need help.
The limited dollars we get from HUD to assist in saving our residential properties has to go a long way with the depth of our problem. We have to find ways for the families to hold onto their homes until the economy improves and many of our out-of-work residents find employment. The help will probably be needed for 2-3 years when most families will have income to support the cost of their mortgage.
There are many effective programs that other cities have developed where they are helping many of their residents who are fighting for survival. It is a matter of how our city officials approach the issues that face the residents. Foreclosing on people who owe $1800 for their sewer bill is an indication of the attitude our mayor shows about how our residents are not being respected.
One of the programs Coviello will develop as Mayor will work out a new amortization schedule for property owners that will match up their mortgage debt with the actual market value of the property. The real reason why people are in trouble is that there is no equity left for them to fight to retain. Give the property owners a choice of maintaining the property and holding the neighborhood together as opposed to the boarded-up easy targets the homes become when the people move out. Nobody wants to dislocate from their friends and relatives in temporary housing accommodations.
As the Mayor, Coviello will bring a totally different approach to the city’s relationship with our residents.
“We are elected by the people to look out for their interests first, not last. If the funds we receive in the city from tax revenue and government programs don’t deal with our day-to-day problems, we have to change the priorities and trim the budget to accommodate our people” said Coviello.
“I would have told the state to take their feeble excuse for a foreclosure problem to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. Until they can come up with a realistic solution, the CHAFA people should put some meat on the bones and give us a meaningful amount of money that will work for most families.
When I become mayor, I will use the same amount of money, $33 million, and help over 3000 families with a holding program that puts their mortgage payments on hold at an affordable level and accrues any unpaid amounts until the family gets on their feet or the house is sold.
Buying out the banks position only helps the banks, not the property owners. Our responsibility is to the residents. The banks risk is not the city’s job to protect as the Mayor is doing.”
The policy of putting a bandage on a gaping wound and getting a big publicity event that makes the public think our Mayor is doing a great job is only a re-election tactic. It is the typical routine which we expect from our elected officials. A flurry of meaningless projects that gets the Mayor free publicity about all the projects he held off for 3.5 years to save for right before the primary to convince the public he is efficient is rather cynical.
“Bridgeport needs a Mayor who works 24/7 and has implemented important solutions for our big problems that start happening the first day he or she is elected.
There are “big people” and “little people” in life. “Big people” get to wield a “big stick” whether it be power, money, influence, etc. “Little people” catch the stick in the eye, when they are unlucky.
Our Federal government bailed out certain financial institutions because they were “too big to fail” (and allowed their “big people” executives to continue with big profits and bonuses as if nothing had happened) but have basically ignored looking at other bigness like the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, or financial service regulations that let AIG provide guarantees to institutions with creating reserves when claims came; that allowed people in the mortgage food chain to pass along bad underwriting to others and escape the risk they offered “having no income, no assets, and no credit rating” mortgages; and lots more. “Little people” will lose (and hopefully learn a serious financial lesson about putting their own dollars at risk) and those who are in foreclosure and never put any real dollars at risk, well they are in tough shape, but they did not lose anything really. They had nothing to lose.
Most of us are “little people” not looking for special exceptions, trying to stay healthy, have some choices about food, shelter, and occasional fun with friends and family, and hoping to raise and educate our kids to have a better future. We can share the pain when it is dished out fairly, but we really get a bad attitude when we are lied to regularly and half-truthed to death. We need to vote this year!!!
There are some great “big people” who know when they have enough for themselves who are willing to get into the public realm and work as stewards for the public in general, a leader for the community that is mostly “little people.” Let’s keep looking at those who have put themselves forward for consideration. There are many roles to play assisting the community now and into the future, but the job demands of our Bridgeport Mayor are too great to continue allowing incompetent and narcissistic candidates to occupy this primary seat of governance. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most competent, experienced, energetic and fairest of all?”
So Charlie let me get this straight. The city of Bridgeport will offer people in foreclosure help in the form of $33 million in aid. Where will we get $33 million? Will that come from Bonding? Since when did we decide to go into the mortgage business? I feel for the people underwater but isn’t it something they should have been aware of when they took out these loans that required no down payment?
It’s been a proven fact when people in foreclosure are helped out of foreclosure in a matter of time they are back in foreclosure. Sorry Charlie sounds good but you are giving people false hope for the sake of political gain.
Get fucking real! This guy has the balls to get in the trenches to help people who are in jeopardy of losing their homes and you attack him? Where the hell is your candidate? Where are the other fucking heroes who are running for the Mayor’s office? It is easier for cowards to attack a proposal than offer their own position, or lack of one. This guy is a frontrunner who is putting the people of BPT first.
Coward, my ass. Where the hell do you think we are going to get $33 million from? Am I responsible for people who took out mortgages they could not afford? No I am not. There are enough problems in Bridgeport we do not have money for.
You can have all the positions you want, it does not mean they are viable. This one while noble is not viable.
I hate to tell you this but there comes a time when people are responsible for what they do. The next thing you know you will want the Bridgeport citizens to pay for car leases or payments people can’t make the payments on.
town committee, you are a paper tiger! You are a puppet of Mario Testa who is watering down the field to insure Finch wins the primary in September! You have the balls to pretend you support MJF in an open election but are secretly supporting Mario’s boy! Grow a spine, grow some balls and support some change. If you truly want change, shed the yoke of your master and vote independently for BPT!!!
Ronin, grow up. You talk like a man with a paper ass. You have not posted one thing that has been right since you came to OIB. You see I put my MONEY where my mouth is. I support MJF by working for her and with cash donations. If you took the time to read my posts I bash the shit out of Finch and his administration every chance I get. So you think I do this to cover my support for Finch??? Really, get a clue. Master really get a freaking clue and by the way grow up, if there is a boy in the room it’s you.
While I am at it Mario Testa is a friend of mine. I will take a combat veteran as a friend over a bullshit artist like you any day. Mario and I do disagree about much in politics but that does not stand in the way of friendship, something you would not understand. Grow up, support your candidate and get the facts.
You even called me Master!!! How many Masters do you have?
READ it again, dumbass.
Looks like the work of another internet troll, tc, trying to get your dander up, someone else to ignore.