Danbury taxpayers have become victims of fraud in BRT’s bait and switch urban renewal project.
Friday, May 25, 2007
By Lynn Taborsak,
Danbury Common Council, At Large (D)
Danbury taxpayers have become victims of fraud in BRT’s bait and switch urban renewal project. The “bait” was an offer to the City Council in 2005 to develop 115 units of market rate rentals at 30 Crosby Street for young professionals and mature empty nesters with disposable income to spend in our urban core.
The “switch” was Bertram’s 2006 offer to WCSU for exclusive use of the property as a residence for 324 students paying $6650 to $7050 to live there for nine months.
Bertram gets to double the occupancy of his building, double his rental income and walks away with a property tax deferral worth 1.2 million dollars. He can laugh all the way to the bank.
WCSU gets a free dormitory without lobbying the governor, the legislature or the Bond Commission. The university will close Fairfield Hall for renovations next year thanks to the generosity of the previous Common Council. Maybe Western should secede from the State University System and change its name back to Danbury Teachers College.
Taxpayers in Danbury get royally screwed and there is no public outcry. No members of the public were allowed to speak at the May 22nd meeting to rescind the deferral. No coverage of the meeting was provided by the News Times. The seven Council members who petitioned to rescind the deferral were not allowed to fully debate the issue. The chairman apparently thought the developer’s views were more important. Bertram gave a 10 minute power point presentation. Mark Boughton sang the projects’ praises. What more was needed?
The meeting was continued to allow Council Members to tour the building. Will the physical form of the project somehow justify Bertram’s bait and switch? Wouldn’t the building look the same with real tenants in it?
I hope the public is fed up with the rubber stamp administration of Mark Boughton and his Republican Common Council. It has ended even the appearance of checks and balances, real discussion and real debate by the legislative body.
Danbury Common Council, At Large (D)
Danbury taxpayers have become victims of fraud in BRT’s bait and switch urban renewal project. The “bait” was an offer to the City Council in 2005 to develop 115 units of market rate rentals at 30 Crosby Street for young professionals and mature empty nesters with disposable income to spend in our urban core.
The “switch” was Bertram’s 2006 offer to WCSU for exclusive use of the property as a residence for 324 students paying $6650 to $7050 to live there for nine months.
Bertram gets to double the occupancy of his building, double his rental income and walks away with a property tax deferral worth 1.2 million dollars. He can laugh all the way to the bank.
WCSU gets a free dormitory without lobbying the governor, the legislature or the Bond Commission. The university will close Fairfield Hall for renovations next year thanks to the generosity of the previous Common Council. Maybe Western should secede from the State University System and change its name back to Danbury Teachers College.
Taxpayers in Danbury get royally screwed and there is no public outcry. No members of the public were allowed to speak at the May 22nd meeting to rescind the deferral. No coverage of the meeting was provided by the News Times. The seven Council members who petitioned to rescind the deferral were not allowed to fully debate the issue. The chairman apparently thought the developer’s views were more important. Bertram gave a 10 minute power point presentation. Mark Boughton sang the projects’ praises. What more was needed?
The meeting was continued to allow Council Members to tour the building. Will the physical form of the project somehow justify Bertram’s bait and switch? Wouldn’t the building look the same with real tenants in it?
I hope the public is fed up with the rubber stamp administration of Mark Boughton and his Republican Common Council. It has ended even the appearance of checks and balances, real discussion and real debate by the legislative body.
