New Haven Independent

Aldermanic President Carl Goldfield (pictured) and Westville Alderwoman Ina Silverman had submitted a proposal to hold hearings into the issue. But opposition from some aldermen at Monday’s night’s board meeting meant the proposal wouldn’t receive unanimous approval. Several aldermen said they colleagues wanted to be briefed first by WPCA officials before voting to hold full-fledged hearings.

The mayor made no specific reference to the foreclosure crisis in his 15th State of the City address to a packed aldermanic chamber, which opened the evening’s meeting.

Since it became an independent agency in 2005, the WPCA has filed for foreclosure on the homes of more than 130 customers who owed as little as $793 in unpaid sewer bills. It’s seeking to improve a 92 percent collection rate.

“I’m not sure why we’re having a briefing first,” Goldfield said. “I mean when there’s a pressing issue with public works or some other matter, we have a hearing right away. We don’t have a briefing first. And in this case, yes, with all this stuff going on, I wanted to get going.” Nevertheless, he bowed to the brief-first, hearings-to-follow approach, which, he said, had been advocated by Alders Jackie James and Michael Smart, among others.

Alderwoman James said she wanted a briefing to understand the issues clearly before hearings. “We are a board collectively,” she said, “and two members should not just announce to the media that we’re having hearings. We need to understand all the processes of the WPCA first, in detail, clearly, not vaguely. We need to make sure we’re educated on this before a public hearing. Many of my constituents are affected by this issue, and they’re going to call me, not Carl Goldfield.”

Following board procedure, the issue was assigned to an aldermanic committee, in this instance the City Services and Environmental Policy Committee, for scheduling. That committee is chaired by Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale. Both the briefing of the alders by WPCA officials and the hearings that presumably will follow, Goldfield said, will be open to the public.

Read previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Megna’s “Blood Boils” at WPCA Tactics
• Goldfield Wants WPCA Answers
• 2 Days, 8 Foreclosure Suits
• WPCA Goes On Foreclosure Binge
• A Guru Weighs In
• WPCA Targets Church
• Subprime Mess Targeted
• Renters Caught In Foreclosure King’s Fall
• She’s One Of 1,150 In The Foreclosure Mill
• Foreclosures Threaten Perrotti’s Empire
•“I’m Not Going To Lay Down And Let Them Take My House”

The following links are to various materials and brochures designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

How to prepare a complaint to the Department of Banking; Department of Banking Online Assistance Form; Connecticut Department of Banking, Avoiding Foreclosure; FDIC Consumer News; Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Inc; Connecticut Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

For lawyer referral services in New Haven, call 562-5750 or visit this website. For the Department of Social Services (DSS) Eviction Foreclosure Prevention Program (EFPP), call 211 to see which community-based organization in the state serves your town.

Click here for information on foreclosure prevention efforts from Empower New Haven.