Dear Gripe Vine Readers:
By now, you are reading this column anticipating responses from Mayor Nancy Rossi’s office. I submitted 76 complaints and gripes to the Mayor, Monday, Aug. 20. In last week’s Gripe Vine, the mayor indicated, “Your readers would be best served if their first course of action is to contact the department e.g. public works, police, building, blight, etc. that is trained and authorized to manage their particular issue.”
Mayor Rossi also indicated that there are 13 Councilpersons that can be contacted. To reach these representatives and gather their email addresses, you can go to the city’s website at www.cityofwesthaven.com/183/CityCouncil.
To clarify the griper’s dilemma”, here’s a short, clear to explanation for my readers:
Got a gripe? You have several choices:
Write to gripevinewh@aol.com and I will, as I have for the past 16 years, do my best to solve your complaints.
Or
You can write to your Council Persons for help. www.cityofwesthaven.com/183/CityCouncil or You can call DiMassa in the mayor’s office at (203) 937-3672 who will contact your Councilman to help you.
Or
You can call the mayor’s office at (203) 937-3510
OK. Here we go. It is extremely important that my readers who submitted gripes in the past three weeks notify me if your complaints have been corrected or not. Your responses will determine if the mayor’s suggestions for the City Council persons efforts to solve complaints have been successful. Let me know; email Gripevine4wh@aol.com or write me c/o The West Haven Voice 666 Savin Ave.
Meanwhile, I will continue to accept your gripes and comments and do my best to have them corrected. As soon as I hear from the mayor, your gripes and the city’s solutions will be published in Gripe Vine weekly.
Now, here are a few of the gripes I forwarded to the mayor’s office that were addressed:
Why are you charging $5 to do business at City Hall?
I need more information to answer this correctly; however, I believe this reader is referring to the convenience fee that DMV- not the City of West Haven charges for processing. It is presently $8 and it is assessed by the State of Connecticut.
If you are on Beach Street, everything is abandoned. What if someone needs help? What are the city’s plans for this area?
Fred Messore, Commissioner of Planning and Development works actively on economic development in our city every day. Beach Street is in a flood zone and presents us with special challenges. The road itself needs to be raised and other flood mitigation work is necessary. We continue to lobby our state and federal government for grants. As progress is made and news is available, we will share it publicly
When will the city get uniform trash cans like Milford and New Haven?
Our contract for trash pick-up and recycling expired at the end of August. We are entering the bidding process and are exploring uniform trash receptacles. I will keep you posted.
We need more trash receptacles throughout the city.
Please be specific where the reader believes these trash receptacles are needed. (Gripe Vine response; A resident is presently working on a plan to identify areas where additional trash receptacles are needed) Mayor Rosssi continued, ”Every receptacle is maintained and emptied by the City. We are trying to be as efficient and practical with their placement while simultaneously asking people to take some personal responsibility for their trash. This may mean walking a few extra steps to the next trash can, including the receptacles located on the CT Transit buses.
Gripe Vine Readers, you can send your gripes, comments and suggestions to gripevine4wh@aol.com or mail them c/o The West Haven Voice, 666 Savin Ave. You can also use the online form by clicking here. Please include your name, address and phone number, kept in strict confidentiality with me.