TRUMBULL COUNTY Council addresses cleanup

It's time to make property maintenance a priority, the council president says.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Improving the city needs to start in its neighborhoods, the council president contends.
Robert A. Marchese called a work session for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Mocha House, High Street, for what he calls a brainstorming session.
"Out of our regular environment and in a more relaxed setting is an easier way to brainstorm," Marchese said.
At the beginning of his term, some council members expressed interest in council's taking a role in some of the city's big problems.
"One of the things I'd like to do is to go after the big-time slumlords and squeeze them so hard that they call their friends to send lawyers, guns and money," he said.
Marchese was referring to people who own homes but don't maintain them and then rent them to poor people.
"Everybody talks about bringing back the community," he said. "Well, that starts with the neighborhoods," he said.
Municipalities have the authority to ensure property owners maintain their property, he said, citing nuisance abatement as a possibility. It's a matter of making it a priority.
"There's a lot of good people who pay a lot of money to maintain their homes and then they have something like that next door," Marchese said. "It's not fair."
It makes the whole neighborhood look bad, he added.
What police are doing
Police Chief John Mandopoulos said he's in the process of nuisance abatement against a house on Rex Boulevard that's been a problem for neighbors.
To declare a property a nuisance, the city must go before a judge to show evidence of the nuisance.
"It's not a criticism, it's a focus," Marchese said. "We've always had other priorities. It's time to make this a priority."
Councilman Alford L. Novak, D-2nd, is another proponent of cleaning up neighborhoods.
"We need to either pursue eminent domain or seek demolition and reimbursement from the brokers," Novak said, referring to vacant buildings owned by banks or out-of-town companies.
Earlier this year, council passed legislation dictating how a property owner must board up an abandoned property. Previously, the city did the boarding.
New legislation also enabled the hiring of an assistant code inspector to help enforce the city's property maintenance code.