A City Council candidate under fire for filing false addresses with election officials has withdrawn his candidacy in the East End 139th District to run on John Gomes’ mayoral line in the September 12 Democratic primary.
Former City Councilwoman Eneida Martinez, who is seeking to regain her seat, incumbent Ernie Newton and a Central Avenue resident Silvia Ramos asserted Harry Carrillo fraudulently listed his address as 1845 Central Avenue where Ramos resides instead of 33 Boston Terrace which placed him outside the 139th Council District. Upon the complaint Carrillo switched to a Mill Hill Avenue address.
In a handwritten letter, Carrillo notified the Registrar’s Office and Town Clerk. This leaves the Gomes campaign without council candidates at the Dunbar and Harding voting precincts.
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Sponsored Content: Paid For By Ganim ’23, Anthony Paoletto Treasurer, Approved by Joe Ganim
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In a complaint filed last week with the State Elections Enforcement Commission Ramos declares, “Harry Carrillo is using my address at 1845 Central Avenue …Harry does not live at this address.”
The complaint disclosed that Ramos is a Section 8 recipient who was concerned that Carrillo using her address could jeopardize her “housing status.”
Falsifying an address to run for public office is a violation of state law.
Dear Readers,
Interesting to find how important it is to have a residence in Bridgeport, and to be free of worry that you may run afoul of the rules that govern your rental arrangements or the funding thereof.
The story above deals with one case of a HUD subsidized Section 8 recipient. How many folks are in a similar position in the City? Perhaps Park City Communities knows as they seem to be the HUD pipeline folks in Bridgeport. Housing and Urban Development Funds come to the city to fund residents of Green Homes, Beardsley Terrace, and PTBarnum, as well as to various scattered-site housing units in recent years, also to individuals who were eligible for a limited number of individual vouchers to rent where available, and also to large units like the former Stratfield Hotel with 190 units housing older or infirm eligible folks where 30% of their income does not cover monthly rent on a unit and HUD subsidizes the balance.
How many folks benefit from HUD subsidy in Bridgeport? Around 2500 in project based and more than an added 2500 with individual vouchers? Who can provide a timely and accurate answer? Likely the former Bridgeport Housing Authority, now called Park City Communities, that does have a Mayor appointed board, Today there are four listed, of five authroized resident citizens, but only three with current terms. Failing full complements of resident commissioners serving current terms puts each Board and Commission at risk of failing necessary persons to study and approve their own body of work. It is a waste of time for those attending, and a certain waste when appointments of qualified to those posts is easy to track, identify, and source by an active municipal leader reaching out to the community democratically.
What is the total Federal subsidy spent each year for folks who are eligible and qualify? A recent guess based on rising rents is over $60 million that comes to landlords and management organizations in addition to actual dollars from residents. That is significant money coming to the City for basic housing needs, but is it considered “economic development” in a broader sense?
And where do these tenants turn when needing somenone to address resident defects, non-existent security measures or ineffective property safety provisions by landlors? For several years I have spoken of Ganim2’s continued ignorance of the appointment process by allowing Fair Rent and Fair Housing commissions to die in place. The City Council responded last October with their own Fair Rent ordinance, and people have been appointed but are all City renters eligible to present their residence problems, issues, and concerns fo the re-established Fair Rent group?
And Park City Communities has provided PUBLIC NOTICES in the CT Post on two occasions in recent weeks regarding Section 8 Program Waiting List Opening APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE FOR 3 DAYS ONLY commencing Tuesday August 29, August 30, and Thursday August 31. (Rules and person #/income eligibility guidelines listed) To inform you that a Radom (Sp.?) -Draw Lottery System will be used. “Those chosen in the lottery will be notified by mail. All disqualified and remaining applications not selected in the lottery will be discarded with no further notice.” Why discard the ‘remaining applications’?”
How many folks have seen the notice through reading the daily paper, including the LEGALS? And why discard an application from someone who found their way to file? Why not provide to Fair Rent officer authorized by the 2023-24 City budget as they likely will be suffering difficulty and perhaps homelessness? What mayoral candidate is concerned about the human beings in the housing equation? How does the local Commission that has clawed its way in annual reviews by HUD to a “passing grade” of 62 this year, not require full five person membership of appointees serving current terms? Will the Fair Rent Commission deal with all of the 52% of City residents who rent regarding rental amounts and quality of rental values? And has the City executed its much delayed response to the State deadline for Fair Housing? Time will tell.
I took conversational risk with my earlier comments about Carrillo.
Maybe Gomes anticipated this event and has two blockbuster candidates waiting in the wings.
Ernie’s district might become the swing precinct that determines the outcome.
Gomes knows how to pivot — a key trait of any politician.
Local Eyes
👀 Let me just say before you start your B.S as of today useless the Working Families Party endorses him he’s out. What makes you laugh today, will make you cry tomorrow. Lol 😂 We were looking 👀 forward to the challenge. The Eastend is not for sale.We will never let outsiders take over our Community. For all Our Haters Ms. Martinez’s and Myself are Still Standing. Keep hope alive!
This is a no-tears blog and I comply with the rules.
Asking Bridgeport Hospital to build housing on their property is like asking St. Vincent’s Hospital to build a swimming pool for neighborhood enjoyment. You’re asking them to surrender based on a partnership that’s imaginary and one-sided. They’re being polite.
Local Eyes
Bridgeport Hospital has other properties in my district that could be used for housing we so desperately need. I’m not angry and I don’t have a problem with people running for office. I have a problem with people lying about where they live knowing they don’t live there.
At Bridgeport Hospital, your sales methods are wrong and will produce zero results.
Nothing says “I’m a political novice” more than hearing you tell Bridgeport Hospital to “step up to the plate”. It’s YOU that should swing for the fences and hit a home run for your constituents.
Starting from scratch, you should write a script, pick up a phone, call the right people, and start the kind of excitement that ends with the needed housing in your district.
It requires the power of personality.
Ernie Newton, go check if he will still appear on the ballot. It’s highly likely that the ballots were already printed by the time he resigned.
He’s too bitter for an incumbent unchallenged in an upcoming election.
Local eyes 👀 I’m never bitter I was looking 👀 forward to the challenge. I wanted to send a clear message to a few special people in the Gomes camp that the people in the Eastend ain’t new to this but we are true to this.
Local eyes maybe you could get John Ricci to rent you one of his apartments in two years. Lol 😂
Joel
Some ballot may have gone out with his name on it The town clerk has informed us all ballots with his name on it will be black in out. This few ballots won’t be counted.
A note of criticism to our friend, Lennie:
Thanks again for continuing OIB into its second decade. I write with concern over your presentation of the Ganim campaign advertisement that is a video criticizing John Gomes’ record in city government.
I have no strong favorite in the primary this year. I write instead out of concern for the way that this Ganim campaign ad is presented by you on the OIB blog. This is not a criticism of the ad nor the Ganim campaign. It’s a criticism of OIB’s advertising policies.
I picked this particular post as the place to insert my complaint because embedded in this post is a copy of the ad with your disclaimer above it reading, “Sponsored Content.” I’m glad you did this because the headline on the ad appears to be in the same typeface that OIB uses for its news headlines
The same ad appears above every other post page I read these days as well as above the list of posts, at least as the iOS Safari browser presents the phone-sized mobile version of OIB. In these cases, no “Sponsored Content” disclaimer appears. I’m an old-time newsie and I like my news copy separated from my advertising content. By allowing the use of an ad headline type similar to OIB’s headline typeface and with the lack of any disclaimer, you very much confused this otherwise savvy reader into thinking the ad just might be editorial copy.
In the old days of print journalism, ad departments discouraged advertisers from using the same headline type or body copy type that the news department used. When advertisers insisted on their forced confusion, most newspapers would placed the phrases “Advertisement” or “Paid advertisement” prominently above the ad itself. If the advertiser didn’t like the disclaimer, the principled newspaper would suggest the advertiser buy space elsewhere.
I know that if a reader clicks on the Ganim ad, the required political disclaimer is included. But I am concerned that readers seeing the ad repeatedly may be confused as to whether it is paid or editorial content before they click into the content. In the old days of print, the idea of clicking into an ad to see the disclaimer was simply unheard-of.
Lennie, I urge you to add that “sponsored content “ disclaimer above every instance of this ad. Good newspaper policies demanded it in the past and for good reason, to avoid misleading a reader to think the news department was producing what turned out to be paid advertising.
I now humbly step off my soapbox.
Again, thanks, Lennie, for your determined blogging. Your devotion serves us all
— Doug Davidoff