Letters to the Editor

Thanks voters

Dear Editor:

I am writing to express my appreciation to the voters of Suffolk County.  I am honored at the warm response I have received at local events, quorums, candidate debates, and other public events.

I have attended each and every candidate debate for the office of Suffolk County Registry of Deeds Office.  It was noticed by the Boston newspapers that a fellow candidate (and a former Boston City Councilor) refused to appear at any of the debates throughout the campaign.

In my view, if you put your name on the ballot and refuse to participate in these debates, you are not listening to the voters of Suffolk County.

How then, will you run the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds? You need to listen to people’s needs.

At these debates, many voters asked questions regarding “The Homestead Act.”

Suffolk County homeowner’s and Condo owner’s need to know the information regarding the “Homestead Act” to protect their property rights for their home residence.

I informed anyone who asked, that it’s an easy fillable form that gives $500,000 of homestead protection for every senior citizen homeowner.  If elected to the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds Office, I will constantly emphasize to all who are Suffolk County Registry of Deeds customers the need of applying for “Homestead Protection.”

Presently, there is an automatic  $125,000 of protection on homes that did not file the “Homestead Act Form” at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds Office.

We also discussed the need for all communities in Suffolk County to participate in the Community Preservation Act (CPA).

This fund is supported by the fees from the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds Office. Only 45 percent of the 351 cities and towns of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have adopted the CPA and communities would be able to use the money from this fund for first-time homebuyers.

The Register of Deeds is responsible for maintaining a permanent public record of all properly drawn legal documents submitted by the public relative to real estate.

Also, I am the only attorney running for this office with a real estate background.

At the public debates many people brought out the need to do the following,

• Implement property boundary reviews of deeds filed with the registry to avoid costly legal mistakes.
• Implement optical scanner software to get records online faster.
• To expand electronic filing.
• To increase the multi-lingual capacity at the registry.
• To advocate for land court hearings before a mortgage foreclosure takes place.

This is an important race, as any mistakes at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds can be a costly to the average homeowner. One family, who had the wrong information on their deed, spent $15,000 of their retirement savings fighting over the boundary of a seawall they were required to build.

In 2013, I received more than 28,000 votes in Boston when I ran for

Boston City Councilor-at-Large.

In the March 1, 2016 Primary, I received more than 20,200 votes as a delegate.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in the past. When my name appears on the September 8 ballot for the Suffolk County Register of Deeds, please consider me once again.

I ask, as a candidate, for the Suffolk County Register of Deeds to continue this support and please vote for Jeff Ross candidate for Suffolk County Registry of Deeds.

Jeff Ross

Candidate for Suffolk County Registry of Deeds

 

On the issue of slot machines

Dear Editor:

In my opinion, the Arrigo administration’s erroneous statement on the slot machine proposal are noted in the August 29 Legislative affairs meeting.

Mayor Arrigo knows full well that Gene McCain’s development group is asking for a zoning change though the initiative petition process by the people of Revere for their proposed slot parlor and two hotels to replace Lee’s Trailer Park on Revere Beach Parkway, potentially bringing in $3-6 million in added revenue to the City of Revere – as well as needed infrastructure repair to Winthrop Parkway. This process can be done legislatively through the Council or by Special Election. Please note I am not a supporter of the project, but I believe the people have a right to know about it.

In my opinion, the Arrigo administration continues to not only blur, but also outwardly mislead the public in its recent press release on Wednesday, August 31. The administration states, “The current effort regarding a local ballot initiative amounts to putting the cart before the horse, and could be a huge waste of taxpayer dollars.”

The operative word is “could.”

That said, it is the equivalent of any Revere resident, let’s say Paul Revere, making an attempt to enact term limits so a City Councilor could not serve more than four terms in office. Paul Revere would have obtained the required signatures, followed the rule of law asked by State Election law, and submitted to the Election Department for certification, the signatures required to put a request for term limits on the ballot. It’s everyone’s Constitutional right.

This is exactly what the developer of the slot parlor at Lee’s Trailer Park did; only to have the Mayor say, “No, I don’t like that question,” and then slap a frivolous lawsuit infringing on his rights.

In my opinion, the Arrigo administration cannot pick and choose what goes before the voters. It is against the law, period. It is why Superior Court Judge Peter Lauriat denied the Arrigo administration from obstructing the developers’ efforts to ask the people if they would allow changing the zoning so to place a slot parlor with two hotels at Lee’s Trailer Park.

Remember, today they deny these folks their right to petition, and tomorrow it could be you or me whose rights are denied. It is for that very reason I can’t let the Mayor’s action go unchallenged, no matter how much I dislike this project. By protecting those rights today, I am protecting your rights tomorrow and for the future.

In the end I work for the taxpayers, and like the late former Mayor George Colella taught me, always put the taxpayers first.

George Rotondo

Revere City Councillor