Blight Fright in Torrington, CT

Let’s Change Torrington’s Blight Policies

I was fined $200 a day for two weeks while Torrington officials refused to tell me the problem.  At the hearing I was told the blight officer had been on vacation.

So Victor Muschell, Corporation Counsel, said I should be glad to have a “win” in my column, but I won’t consider it a win until the silly, expensive and illegal policies change.  Muschell says there is “no such thing” as appealing these silly, expensive and illegal policies. 

People seem to think I am lucky I don’t have to pay fines for this nonsense, and that it is good that State officials come to hearings and straighten out our Torrington City Hall.

So I wrote Elinor Carbone, the Mayor of Torrington explaining the problem.  She didn’t answer, so I wrote her again.  Now I am here wondering if anyone can help.

1. Torrington Blight policy clearly makes the property owner responsible for the private property of tenants. It is illegal for one person to dispose of another person’s private property even if Torrington considers that property to be blight.
2. No one should be fined while city officials refuse to speak to the issue for which the fine is levied.  While awaiting a hearing fines should be suspended or officials should be accessible.
3. If US mail is used for communications then the date of receipt of the letter is the significant date, not the date it was written.  I was given 15 days from the day a letter was dated, not from the day I received it (6 days after it was dated). 
4. And with such short time limits as Torrington gives, US mail should not be the preferred way to communicate problems with Torrington residents. Alternative forms of communications should be used or time limits should be extended to allow mail to go back and forth
5. Citations for blight should relate to a complaint and not be haphazard and open to charges of spite and favoritism.

I posted this on Facebook and a friend answered:

Jim A Gioia Kent one question? Do you have blighted property? If so why and why haven’t you fixed it in the past? I am sure you have reasons.

Kent Johnson That isn’t how it works. The town gives you a Certified Letter that you have 15 days from the day the letter is written (not the day it is sent, or the day it is received) to take care of very general problems. In my case it was an overgrown vine, peeling paint, junk all over the place, and unregistered vehicles.

I got rid of the vine in a day, and painted the next day. The Blight Officer took five days (remember I had 15 days, and eleven had passed which means I had 4 days) and City Blight Officer said some of the problems were gone but not all.

So on the 15th day I finally found the Blight officer in her office and I was armed with pictures that show the unregistered camper had been registered all along, and the junk that had been blocking the license plate had been removed. She responded there was still a tire on the ground, so that is still blight. And my time was up, I had to go to a hearing. Here is a link, the tire I circled in red is the “blight”.

At the hearing all the fines were removed and she agreed I was not responsible for blight. Is that any clearer?

Jim A Gioia If thats the case than it seems to me they might be hasty or have a problem with you Your side seems to indicate that you indeed tried to correct the problem Maybe just saying maybe more hours or people need to be available to resolve issues IDK I dont work for the town Be interesting how it goes

Kent Johnson I have all the pictures and a recording of the hearing. I don’t care that I am right, I want them to change policy.

Jim A Gioia Good luck on that Kent LOL not trying to be funny but you how gov works or rather doesnt

Kent Johnson That’s my point Jim. They say I should be glad they didn’t treat me worse. Torrington government is out of control.Edit or delete this

Jim A Gioia Different times Kent sad very sad

 With your permission I am going to put your questions up on my Against Goliath web site so people with the same questions can see…

 yup

Here I will be putting links to all the pictures and documents that show just how stupid this mess is, and how easy it would be to make the system more reasonable and keep the State out of our Torrington business.
I am looking for stories from other Torrington people about how badly they were mistreated by City Hall. If you have pictures, letters, or other verifiable facts showing how Torrington has treated you unfairly, please contact me. Kent@compx2.com

My letter of November 20, 2019 was sent twice to Torrington’s Republican Mayor with no response:

Dear Mayor Carbone,

I am directing this letter to you as your Corporation Council Victor Muschell has twice ignored my letter, attached.  Perhaps you are aware of the short-sighted arrogance of those who work in City Hall, and I would hope you can address this pervasive problem. It seems to me the taxpayers are happier if they believe their governments are fair and efficient.

Your blight policy is illegal according to City Ordinance, and state and federal law. It is also irrational and Mr. Muschell defends it saying there is “no such thing as appeal” for city policy. The arrogance is palpable.

City Ordinance Chapter 161 – 5. – “Duty of owner or occupant” does not differentiate between owner or non-owner occupant.  But city policy clearly holds the property owner responsible for all blight regardless of any other consideration.  When the blight officer deems the personal property of a non-owner occupant to be blight only the owner of such personal property can address the problem, not his or her landlord. As a landlord I am aware of what I have to do to force tenants to comply with leases   It begins with a letter that gives them two weeks to comply with their lease or be evicted.  This is unworkable according to Torrington City policy for obvious reasons.

The only solution I can think of is a challenge to your policy so that it can be changed in accordance with City Ordinance and state and federal law.  Perhaps you know another solution.

City Ordinance 16 E (2) requires the blight enforcement officer to provide “A due date, within a reasonable time determined by the Blight Enforcement Officer, for the performance of any act required to remedy the violation.”  I was given the necessary information in the very same envelope with the citation fining me $200 a day for noncompliance. Blight officer Ashly Clement refused to help further while awaiting a hearing.  The taxpayer then paid salaries and expenses for four government employees during this ridiculous two hour long hearing which Mr. Muschell counted as a “win” for me.

If the blight officer is fining me during the time I am waiting for a city – provided hearing I also need guidance from the blight officer as to what, precisely, I am responsible for to stop the fines.  When I am refused such guidance by the blight officer the fines should then be waived until such guidance can again be provided.

The ordinance says the blight officer is responsible to provide reasonable time.  In my case that time was 15 days from the date on a letter which I received 6 days later.  At the very least the 15 days should begin when I receive the letter, not when the blight officer dates the letter.  Even so 15 days is not enough time for a landlord who is not an occupant of the property cited to deal with a tenant and report back to the blight officer by mail.  Unless arrangements are made for faster communication 15 days does not allow even enough time to ask if the work is done to the satisfaction of the Blight Officer and get an answer.

Finally Mr. Muschell wrote “The Enforcement Officer does not pick and choose the properties to warn”.    That was certainly not true in my case. None of the original complaints against my tenants had to do with blight.  However the blight officer issued citations for blight which had nothing to do with the complaint. The complaint is not addressed, but instead blight violation is addressed.

Mr. Muschell evidently sees his job as protecting arrogant Torrington city policy over being helpful to taxpayers.  I hope you see the job differently.  It is undeniably helpful to aid the non- occupant owner in removing blight belonging to property occupants.  It is undeniably illegal for any person to dispose of personal property of anyone else even if I am fined by the City of Torrington for not doing so.    And I should not be fined while city officials refuse to speak to the issue for which the fine is levied.  If US mail is used for communications then the date of receipt of the letter is the significant date, not the date it was written.  And with such short time limits as this a channel for quicker communications should be opened.  Finally citations for blight should not be haphazard and open to charges of spite and favoritism.

I will only count this as a “win” if the City of Torrington changes blight policy to take into account the law and respect for due process for the owners of personal property.  I would love it if city employees were less arrogant and more reasonable when dealing with taxpayers as well.


                                                                                Kent Johnson