New Haven Independent

Posted by: Darnell | May 7, 2008 1:26 PM

MS. Festa: Keep Fighting, you can beat City Hall. Make sure you get your $95 back also, the city is obviously responsible for you paying that. I bet they made you feel like a criminal when you went down to City Hall.

Posted by: Darnell | May 7, 2008 1:27 PM

Mr. Mayor: Give this lady back her money, with interest, along with the $95 bucks. Do the right thing.

Posted by: jeffreykerekes | May 7, 2008 4:42 PM

The city owes her the refund, the interest, the towing fee and the babysitter money to go down to city hall.

Can the Independent follow up on Kimber and Suraci? Who else?

Posted by: david streever | May 7, 2008 5:01 PM

the towing/ticketing system here is incredibly frustrating.

when i first moved here I still owned a car: I lived on Howe, and applied for a parking permit in the middle of the switchover.

it took them an ungodly length of time to issue it (over a month... despite valid id and proof of address) and told me to "simply drop off the tickets at their office"

I must have missed a ticket out of the 8 or so I received, because eventually, they denied my parking permit: for an unpaid ticket.

What bull! Then they reported me to a collections agency, because every ticket I'd turned in was suddenly not contested: they auto-determined my guilt, because I, or they, missed one out of 8.

I was legally parking in an area I was supposed to be in, and had a permit "on the way" and was following all the protocols. Now I have 200 something dollars on my credit rating.

Thanks.

Posted by: david streever | May 7, 2008 5:02 PM

as for being thieves: I actually think it's just laziness....

Posted by: Ouch my foot | May 7, 2008 7:34 PM

Any time I'm in a foul mood, I play the video of that lady running over Cuticello's ankle. Anna, if you haven't seen it yet, take a look. Brightens my mood every time.

Posted by: In The Hood | May 7, 2008 8:27 PM

The tax collector is liable for the towing costs and other punitive damages since they admitted through the mayors office that that it was their own clerical error that led to all the problems this totally innocent woman faced.

Meanwhile, the tax Collector and his entire staff need professional development in competence, politeness, and public service.

Posted by: write&wrong | May 7, 2008 8:50 PM

Anna, Keep the "faith". I know what it is like to balance city parking and kids. Fight for your rights and it will all work out in the end. Andiamo. 8-)

Posted by: walt bradley | May 7, 2008 9:37 PM

Just yesterday my home on Central ave. had it's first streetsweeping. I know that because when i got home at 1030 pm and had to park much farther away from my place than usual, i happened to spot a posted no parking sign. The sign was somewhere between 100-200 feet from my house, and i usually park in front of my place where there is no post. Had i not seen the sign, or maybe had gone into the city for a few days, my car would have been towed, and had i been out of town, i'd have no idea what happened because at 1100 am the signs were gone.
I called and emailed the city, and as of yet have not been able to get me a full towing schedule for this summer in my neighborhood.
I'm not at all pleased with the City, the whole lot.

Posted by: Peter | May 8, 2008 6:11 AM

Ms. Festa is correct. They are thieves-- literally.

As a result of the intentional taking of her vehicle without any legal justification, Tax Collector C.J. Cuticello should actually be arrested for either larceny in the first degree, (CGS Sec. 53a-122, a class B felony), or larceny in the second degree, (CGS Sec. 53a-123, a class C felony), depending upon whether her vehicle was worth $10,000 or more, or $5,000 or more respectively, at the time it was wrongfully taken.

In CT, CGS Sec. 53a-119's definition of "larceny" states, "A 'person' commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such property from an owner."

The government and government instrumentalities are within the State's definition of "person" (CGS Sec. 53a-3). Cuticello is an agent for the government and he, through the Plate Hunter program, ordered this theft to occur.

Posted by: Walt | May 8, 2008 6:51 AM

Having also been victimized by Cuticello and his cronies, I empathize with Ms. Festa/

They sued me ( and/or my son who had left the area 25 years ealier to join the Air Force) for back taxes on a Fair Haven house which we had never owned, lived in, or probably even seen before the suit was filed , for a Wallingford collection agency, by an obnoxious attorney, both acting for Cuticello the Tax Collector.

Cuticello would not move a finger to correct the error.

I was told by the attorney...just hire your own attorney and fight it. No one would consider evidence that they were after the wrong folks.

Nothing wrong with chasing tax cheats, but it seems to me that it is incumbent upon Cuticello and his agents to put some effort into correcting their errors when they occur.

After several months of agitation I went to one of the Mayor's open sessions showed him that the delinquent guy and his son and my son and I were different pairs and he set up a session with the attorney and the ombudsman who is supposed to act on behalf of the complainants.

Insulted by both, with the Attorney claiming I slept with what turned out to be the true owner's sister, and the Mayor's aide later saying the attorney never lies,

I told them that the Mayor told me to come back to him (30 feet away in his office) if the matter was not settled to my satisfaction

AS I started back to the Mayor, they changed their tune and said the suit would be with drawn, but as I could get nothing in writing, I was forced to go to Court a month later, and eventually got the written confirmation I needed,no thanks to the City Hall folk.

Disgusting people, in my opinion, except for the Mayor who saw the evidence and acted.

Keep fighting, Ms.Festa

Try the Mayor. It worked for me

Posted by: JMac | May 8, 2008 9:36 AM

Wow, I owed back taxes about five years ago. Wonder if the shiftless dolts in the tax office have gotten around to updating my file yet.

I am planning to look up the home phone numbers of the Tax Collector and the marshals and put them in my cellphone, so I can relentlessly excoriate them if something like this happens to me.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | May 8, 2008 10:12 AM

Subrban Guy
You said that plain and simple live you life by the law,pay your bills on time and you can avoid incidents like this and you also said that the people that complain have gotten caught,This woman did what you said to do and still got the shaft!!!where is her favor like the good old rev.kimber got,May be you should give this woman her 95.00 dollars back since you belive in this crooked tax colliction system in which only the people who are connected get over!!!

Posted by: East Rockette | May 8, 2008 1:03 PM

This is what I was talking about in the other thread: making it illegal to tow cars with child-seats in them. Not only was Ms Festa unfairly punished and robbed of her time and money, but her sick children were punished too. I hope small claims court adds a punitive fine to the city's bill for that.

And Ms Festa was *right there*. All the tow truck driver had to do was ring the doorbell and inquire about the status of the taxes on the car. A quick call to city hall to check. And if there was any doubt, holding off on towing the damn car.

What if the last minute diaper change hadn't happened, and she and the kids were already in the car? Would the tow truck driver have ejected two vomiting children just to get the job done?

Whatever happened to fair notice and presumption of innocence? Why do they tow anyway? What would be so wrong with instituting a 48-hour (preferably more) warning that, unless outstanding taxes/fines or tickets are sorted out, you will be ticketed again, and then if that fails, towed?

I mean, what's the ultimate goal here? Collecting taxes, yes, but also quality of life for city residents, no? How many citizens have had their cars towed, or suffered at the officious and incompetent hands of the parking office? I've had two run-ins with them already; one towing (in a snowstorm, sick kids, yep, only car) and one mix-up with an "unpaid" parking ticket that we never actually received.

You can't calculate the degree of aggro each incident causes, but it's really adding up. It takes a dramatic example like this to clarify that the city will happily prioritize the towing crews and their bounty-hunter tactics over small, ill, citizens and their tireless parents. Time to fight back.

Posted by: Hartford Johnson | May 8, 2008 3:22 PM

How many citizens does the City of New Haven owe money to -- and which they're not telling them about?

How about a story on that topic, Independent?

Posted by: cnj | May 15, 2008 7:47 AM

until they get rid of destefano and all his croonies..this corrupt attitude they have will get worse....i lost my home for$5000in tax last year no one wanted to know anthing. they wanted half one week and half another....rents are riducluse in new haven. high rent because section 8 .. how about the average joe who works 2 jobs to pay 950dollars for 4 rooms no utililties near grand ave...and they want us to vote right,,this city needs a revamp..