Monday, November 13, 2006

Code Enforcement and Revenue Collection

A past post on www.freespeech.com:

January 21, 2004
Code Enforcement and Revenue Collection
A Steven G. Erickson Editorial Commentary, (click link below for more)(Picture from print edition of the Hartford Courant, July 19, 2003, drawn by Jon Krause, it accompanied a letter to the editor, venting about legislation allowing police to conduct illegal searches and punish citizens for complaining about illegal searches.)

Excerpt: An Ellington, Connecticut , gas station owner (later became a gas station and convenience store) told me that she once gave away ?free? coffee to customers with a donation cup beside inside the gas station.

This was so heinous a CRIME to a passing revenue agent that he/she had to report this BLATANT disregard for our nation?s most sacred laws.

The supplier of the coffee was contacted for the exact amount of coffee that was supplied to solve and figure out the magnitude of the crimes against humanity. It was then determined how many cups of coffee were possibly served, the tax on each that should have been collected, interest, penalties, and fees were then added, and the Revenue Collectors in Connecticut demanded over $5000. She almost went under and was financially devastated.

?
My friend recently bought a single family house and someone drove over a small tree, over the sidewalk and almost into a telephone pole, and into his chain link fence. He called the police and a report was taken. One of my pet peeves is that such reports when taken are rarely investigated, but are opportunities for towns and cities for revenue collection.

Across the street there is a college and surveillance cameras that are not visible, exist and are fixed in a postion, as we called to find out if the hit and run was caught on tape. The dispatcher for the college police force said the camera was trained on my friend?s house, and then caught himself and asked what time the event may have happened, and then suddenly it was role call and for some reason the ?fixed? cameras were pointing somewhere else and no one was on during the time of the accident.

The actual meaning of the reply from police when my friend needed service was, ?You mean you expect us to actually work??

My friend got 2 visits from either a city and/or State Official from code enforcement, seeing how many paid permits must be taken out for the damage. They noticed the damage from having driven by and did not want to miss this ?golden? revenue collection opportunity.

If authorities expended as much effort going after frauds, thieves, drug dealers, vandals, and common criminals as they do trying to think of more and more creative ways to fleece honest citizens just trying to get by, there would be much less crime and need for so many law enforcement officers so skilled at giving excuses, not protection and service.

An Ellington, Connecticut , gas station owner (later became a gas station and convenience store) told me that she once gave away ?free? coffee to customers with a donation cup beside inside the gas station. This was so heinous a CRIME to a passing revenue agent that he/she had to report this BLATANT disregard for our nation?s most sacred laws.

The supplier of the coffee was contacted for the exact amount of coffee that was supplied to solve and figure out the magnitude of the crimes against humanity. It was then determined how many cups of coffee were possibly served, the tax on each that should have been collected, interest, penalties, and fees were then added, and the Revenue Collectors in Connecticut demanded over $5000. She almost went under and was financially devastated.

That is complete BULLSHIT. That is how hardworking people who invest in small businesses, the American Dream, get discouraged and go out of business. Why should so much effort be expended to get the last cent out of business owners and honest, hardworking citizens? It is about greed and government officials not acting in the best interest of those they SUPPOSEDLY SERVE.

When vandals destroyed my home and vehicles in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, little was done when I named them, caught them in the act, and even when police officers caught vandals, teen drug dealers fighting, drunk, smashing my windows after midnight, or even when a teen drug dealer was caught red handed with drugs and drug use equipment. The building inspector made regular visits to see if there were any new opportunities for fees and fines, as often as he could.

Someone abandoned a car on my property and was throwing furniture and all sort of debris in my backyard when I was off at work. The Connecticut State Police wasted no time in sending me a notice that I would owe a $100/day fine until I cleaned up the mess. The dispatcher refused to send anyone to investigate who was illegally dumping on MY private property.

A woman with a long history of theft and fraud, moved into one of my apartments with her vicious German Shepherd. I called police and they refused to remove her for trespassing saying it was a ?civil matter?, which was there answer for any of my complaints and that most other downtown residents made, just an excuse to do nothing as there are few if any law enforcement officers in Connecticut, just ?Armed Revenue Collectors.?

The woman called the police and told them I sexually assaulted her, the responding officer told me he was supposed to arrest me even though he did not believe her claim, and she had claimed that before in other places she had moved in without permission, saying if he did arrest me, the charges would stick whether I did anything wrong or not. So for being robbed of rent for months, I could have been labeled and have to register as a SEX OFFENDER going to prison losing everything!

The woman?s German Shepherd bit and drew blood from a man that was walking on my front lawn. I feared losing my property and being sued for a dog that shouldn?t be in my apartments owned by a squatter illegally living off me. The man happened to be a crack cocaine addict, and was soon picked up by the Stafford Springs Crack Shuttle, a mini-van, that made regular trips to Hartford for drugs, so the man never called to report the dog bite.

A retired police officer kept flooding my basement with sewage, letting water run, leaving threatening messages for me demanding a reduction in rent, after having agreed to the rent amount, before he moved into the apartment. I barely escaped criminal charges that involved prison time for being NEGLIGENT for not being able to clean up his unhealthy huge sewage messes fast enough. He called the Heath Department and Sewer Department so often they almost made me replace a perfectly good sewer system, that would have been so expensive I would have lost my property, and they vigorously pursued false charges against me at repeated, lengthy court proceedings.

That attempt to ruin me and run me out of Connecticut failed, authorities were sick of my complaints to legislators and frequent letters to the editor complaining about situations ?briefly? touched on in this post.

I sued those that moved in without permission and ripped me off. I rarely won as it seems Connecticut courts prefer illegal, immoral, irresponsible behavior to moral, responsible, tax paying, hard workers. Those that I won suits against, never paid, as small claims judgments or only collectible against those that care about their credit rating, BULLSHIT. Try owing taxes, fees, or fines, and NOT PAY and see how quickly you are FORCED to PAY UP with THREATS of SEVERE PENALTIES.

For years I watched children growing up into worse and worse, career criminal, adult parasites, over and over. Drugs were openly dealt off my front yard all hours, teens would fall down drunk and refuse to leave my property, urinate and worse on my lawn, park cars blocking me in, and discourage paying tenants from staying on my property.

Crack addicts could offer items in my home to patrons of a downtown bar before they had even stolen them from me. I was assaulted a number of times, called a ?cop caller?. A teen drug dealer pulled a gun on me and chased me inside my home, a teen was setting off bombs and incendiaries near tenant children, and countless criminal acts that the Connecticut State Police refused to even investigate even when I named names and turned in license plate numbers.

I faced arrest as I was late sending in my dog license fee, but then paid the $8, was sent a $146,000 demand notice from the Connecticut Revenue Department due in 30 days, and after arguing with the agent who had sent the letter ?fishing?, and I both decided the amount I owed was ZERO!

After exposing illegal, immoral practices of police and authorities, watching countless criminals openly commit crimes, over and over, for years, MY MOUTH GOT TOO BIG, and police officers openly threatened and harassed me, telling me to get out of Connecticut.

Police allegedly were bragging ?Big Mouth? was going to be run out of town and taught a lesson. And, THEN AFTER, I was attacked from behind on my own property during a robbery attempt by an alleged police informant that police officers had allegedly encouraged to harass, threaten, and attack me.

For this offense of having to defend myself as I could not escape to the safety of the inside of my home, feared for my life, and used pepper spray to end the beating I was taking, I went to prison, sentenced to a year in prison, 3 years probation with the strictest conditions, and police refused to even arrest my assailant, THE CRIMINAL. My arresting officers were willing to commit perjury to get me convicted, put in prison, and then kicked out of Connecticut.

At least from my point of view, the authorities care little to none about honest hard working citizens, justice, the US Constitution, moral behavior, criminal correction, but do care greatly about getting as much as they can out of YOUR purse or wallet.
-Steven G. Erickson

A typical downtown, Connecticut

A Death attributed to Connecticut Policies

What is prison really like?
Posted by Vikingas at January 21, 2004 09:10 AM TrackBack

Comments

Excerpt: Worst of all, the police get to keep the proceeds. This has resulted in corruption of law enforcement agencies, abuse of citizens (particularly minorities), a deterioration of the respect for police and a disregard of the Constitution.

Posted by: at January 21, 2004 10:10 AM

Responsible, working Americans, getting a fair shake and a piece of the pie through hard work and smart investing:

The Gap between Rich and Poor might be reduced by offering more affordable rental options and promoting the economy through local communities, promoting small business and individual rights, and autonomy.

Or at least that is the way it should be in America ...

Posted by: at January 21, 2004 09:05 PM

The Benefits Of Being In The Club
January 22, 2004
Remember the old "If a tree falls in the forest ..." conundrum? Here's another:

If a cop embezzles money, and no one but other cops sees it, is it really a crime?
Not in the case of Philip Laffin, the former president of the Hartford Patrolman's Benevolent Association.

Laffin used the PBA credit card as an extension of his own finances to the tune of $30,000. A trip to Florida. Installation of cable TV. A Jimmy Buffett concert.

But before Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit against him Tuesday, fellow association members - cops otherwise charged with upholding the law - let him quietly repay the money and retire.Consider it a benefit of club membership.

Right now, it looks as though the association was unaware of Laffin's fishy finances as they were happening. Not surprising, as the organization had failed to file annual financial statements to the state Department of Consumer Protection's public charities unit. That, in fact, was how the attorney general got onto the case.

But they better hope that they were truly in the dark, because Blumenthal plans to hold them accountable if his investigation proves otherwise.

One thing doesn't need further investigation: Even if, as they say, association officials didn't discover the diversion until after the fact, they clearly took care of one of their own. Why else allow someone who used funds meant to help officers in need for such personal indulgences as Jimmy Buffett tickets to pay up and slither away?

The interim police chief, Mark R. Pawlina, responded to Blumenthal's announcement with the proper outrage Tuesday. But back when all this was fresh, there was no criminal investigation. He paid up, the commander of the major crimes division said at the time. No harm, no foul.

The association members had their own justifications for not pursuing the thief among them: no one had complained. They certainly hadn't. And neither had any donors.

And unfortunately even those who have benefited from the association's kindness seem OK with how it all played out.

Three years ago the PBA paid for a wheelchair van to bring Helen Bergeron's husband Gene, a former Hartford police officer, home from the hospital for Christmas. She thinks what Laffin did was wrong. But, he did repay the money, she said. And the embarrassment from being found out was punishment enough.

"Considering the way things are playing out for Johnny G, it's even-steven," she said.

For all of you who have written to tell me that I've become obsessed with the governor, I plead innocent this time. Bergeron brought up the credibility-challenged governor.

But it's fitting, because the governor belonged to a club himself. One whose members didn't see what there was to gain by pointing out his acquisitive tendencies - until they suddenly realized there was less to gain by remaining silent.

And it was all there to see: The surplus army gear, the cut-rate vacations,the concert tickets - including, coincidentally, a Jimmy Buffett concert. Boys, is being a Parrothead really worth it?
Just like the governor's fraternity, members of Laffin's club seemed oblivious to his misdeeds. First rule of the clubhouse is that you take care of your own.

The same day the story about Laffin quietly repaying the money he stole ran in The Courant, a secretary was in a New Britain courthouse for embezzling $100,000 from her employer. She wasn't as lucky as Laffin. She got five years in prison for using a company credit card to live beyond her means.

Obviously, she belonged to the wrong club.

Helen Ubiń”³§ column runs Thursdays and Sundays. She can be reached at Ubinas@courant.com.
E-mail: ubinas@courant.com (ctnow.com)

Maybe less that 1% of cop thefts, rapes, and other crimes ever get reported, nevermind punished. The brotherhood protects its faternal members.

Posted by: at January 22, 2004 01:37 PM

I've been reading some of your articles and I think you are the voice that I need. I always been a working women I've never had the problems that i'm facing today. I am being discriminated and my name is being slandered by Middletown Housing Authority. For the last year I been looking for help in Middletown through different agencies. I lost my last job because of my vision impairment, I'm Blind in my left eye and losing my vision im my right eye. I'v been struggling to get help for me and my 5 year old son all the doors have been close to me. How do you seek help from agencies that don't understand your situation. My mother try to have me live with her twice through Section 8, I was denied help for me and my son. They gave my Mother a ultimatium. I agreeded to give my mother temporary custody of my son so Jonathan won't be in the streets. Posted by: Melissa Valentin at May 18, 2004 02:28 PM

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Code enforcement sucks! They are all former school yard bullies / insecure impotent pussies PERIOD.
They call themselves Code COMPLIANCE now, but would a neo-Nazi, fascist thug by any other name still be as bad?
We wrote Hesperia city council and all three mayor(s): Tod Honeycunt (now, a federally indicted future felon), Rite Vulger and Mike Leonard: NONE even answered our letters~!
I guess, they will wait until someone VIOLENT assaults, shoots, kills some, many, all of their KKKodeenforcement over-zealous, legalistic prick-bastards before something is done! IT IS ALL ABOUT $$$MONEY$$$--they let my Hispanic friend Robin Garcia have 11 dismantled cars in his backyard (garage in a box/canopy). I could not have any (ZERO) and my steel poled garage in a box had to be taken down ("An illegal steel building.") Code enforcement are almost entirely Hispanic = racial discrimination. Congressman Jerry Lewis did NOTHING as did Senator Barbara Boxer NOTHING!
Judgment day is coming and I'll sit back and laught. Meanwhile, we bought 5 acres in Oro Grande, CA so we can build a steel building and store our 26 classic cars.
F#&K Hesperia. Hesperia S-U-C-K-S !

Monday, May 26, 2008 12:18:00 PM  
Anonymous bobm1055 said...

If anyone out there is having trouble with Despotic code enforcement abuse contact:
FLORIDAF.A.C.E.OFFmovement.com
This is a grass root effort to make code enforcement liable for their un-constitutional civil rights violations. Get envolved, ever wonder why the code enforcement agencies let 30 or 40 illegal aliens live in (1) one house?

Thursday, December 09, 2010 12:01:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Once a lien is attached to your property is there anyway to force a county or city to implement an amnesty program? Miami Dade has no such program to date while Plantation, N. Lauderdale and West Park (all in step with the rest of the country) do have amnesty. We have been in compliance for the past few years and would like to resolve the case and pay all fines, but not $10,000.00. Thank You!

Thursday, December 07, 2017 8:04:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home