One of the characteristics of a Fascist government is the use of government departments to silence or retaliate against political opponents. Mayor Tutunjian has selected Code Enforcement for that function.
Less than twenty-four hours after the Finance Committee voted to place rescinding the 2008 pay raises on the February agenda Code Enforcement raided the home/office of Legislative Assistant Vic DeBonis.
Sound familiar? Less than three days after requesting the resignation of three Tutunjian appointees, Jim DeSeve was slapped with a Code violation. That Code violation didn't exist so another code violation had to be issued.
In the case of DeSeve, the Administration was quite clever. They offered three different explanations on how Code came to issue the ticket to DeSeve. The Code Enforcement Officer had one story (he was just following orders), Commissioner Mirch had another and when those explanations looked dicey, the Mayor chimed in with the third explanation.
The DeSeve matter appears to be languishing in the courts because DeSeve fought back. The Administration wants the matter to dry up and go away.
No doubt Code raided DeBonis' home/office by way of an "anonymous tip." The "anonymous tip" has long been a staple of fascism (although in Mussolini's time many anonymous tips arrived via telegram and not by phone).
There other stories out there waiting to be told. More than one Code worker has registered discontent with the departments use for political retaliation.
You may point out that DeBonis did have code violations. We don't know and don't care. DeSeve clearly did not. That's irrelevant for our purposes. Even if code violations exist, Code Enforcement cannot be used for retaliation.
It would be nice if the Fourth Estate could devote more than a paragraph to City Hall's blatant abuse of municipal departments.
Eurasia is at war with Oceania. Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.
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