August 3, 2000 Barnstable Council meeting

[Guest guest]

Barnstable Town Council August 3, 2000

Good Evening Councilors and Citizens.

My Name Is Ken Moulton and I Live in Centerville with My Family. Tonight, I Come Before You to Ask the Town Council, Town Manager and Town Attorney One Question and I Want That Answer Now.

When Are You Going to Allow, Ralph Crossen, the Building Commissioner, to Come to Our Home and Do a Complete Inspection?

As You Know, We Had a Meeting with Mr. Houghton, the Assistant Town Attorney, on June 28th, That Mr. Crossen Attended. We Were Recently Informed by Mr. Houghton That Mr. Crossen Will Not Be Doing an Inspection Because Only the Town Manager and Town Council Can Authorize a Home Inspection. By Your Own Choice, You Have Made Mr. Crossen Obsolete and Make Yourselves Liable under the Law.

As You Are Aware, You Knowingly Allowed Our Home to Be Illegally Built and it Violates the Town, State and Federal Building, Fire and Safety Codes. I Know the Answer Why You Will Not Inspect Our Home. The Answer Is Money. It Is the Law That Every Home must Be Inspected by the Local Building Inspectors and Meet All Codes and Regulations.

Just Remember That Everyday You Refuse to Allow Mr. Crossen to Do His Job, We Have Been Asking Him since 1995 and His Predecessor since 1993, You Place My Family of Four Generations and Our Neighbors Life's in Danger.

A Few Days Ago, We Received the Latest Demand Letter for the Property Taxes on Our Home. As You Are All Aware, and Have Been since 1987, Our Home Has a Zero Value Because of the Illegal and Unsafe Construction You Allowed on Our Home. Perhaps Attorney Can Explain to All of You That it Is a Federal Offense to Send this Bill for Services under Fraud by Mail Statutes.

Also, Attorney Should Review the Policy Statutes of the Federal Trade Commission. They Clearly State That Certain Elements must Be Met in Cases of Deception and Consumer Fraud. First There must Be a Representation, Omission or Practice That Is Likely to Mislead a Consumer. Practices That Have Been Found Misleading or Deceptive Include False Oral or Written Misrepresentations That Allow the Sale of Hazardous or Defective Products and a Failure to Disclose These Facts. Secondly, You must Examine the Practice from the Perspective of a Consumer Acting Reasonably and If this Deception Was Material. Third, the Deception must Be a Material One. The Basic Question Is Whether the Deceptive Act Is Likely to Affect the Consumers Conduct or Decision in the Purchase. If These Three Issues Are True, as They Certainly Are in Our Case, the Deception Is Considered Material and Consumer Injury Is Likely Because the Consumer Is Likely to Have Chosen Differently but for the Deceptive Practice.

Finally, Before You Go Forward with the Issue of Affordable Housing, Don't You Think it Would Be Fair for You to Reimburse Us for Our Thirty Years of Life Savings from Our Marriage That Your Deceptive Acts Have Cost Us? Which Comes First, Safe and Legal Housing or Affordable Housing? In an Ethical, Moral and Legal Community, Which You Are Not, Both must Take Place Together.

Ken Moulton

38 Hawser Bend

Centerville, Ma. 02632

508-771-6365