Binghamton Police criticized for how they roust the homeless
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – An argument has erupted over how Binghamton Police are conducting sweeps of homeless encampments.
Earlier this week, News 34 received reports of police taking steps to remove homeless people from tents along the Susquehanna Riverbank between 434 and the Exchange Street Bridge.
A volunteer with the local homeless advocacy group The Wagon Train Warriors, Mike Carter, tells News 34 he saw police roust the camp late Monday night, and those staying there were not able to bring their personal belongings with them.
City Council member Rebecca Rathmell says because of a lack of emergency housing, there's not many other places these people can move to.
'When there aren't shelter beds, and when we're not building enough affordable housing, the only alternative is another unsheltered location. And that's far from a solution,' said Rathmell. 'There's nothing humane about an encampment response that forces humans from the site they're calling home, because they have no alternative.'
Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham says the people are choosing to live on the river.
Kraham tells News 34 he has asked Binghamton Police to review the body cam footage from Monday night.
In the past, News 34 has witnessed police respectfully asking the campers to leave and even helping them move their belongings.
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A disabled veteran is accusing a Holyoke city councilor of taking his home. Did he?
SPRINGFIELD — George Golderesi's Springfield house sold to a new owner in February. It took him six weeks to find out. He said he believed a contractor hired to repair damage from a July 2024 fire was moving ahead with renovations so that Golderesi, a disabled veteran in his 50s, could return home. David K. Bartley, a Holyoke attorney and City Council member, orchestrated a sale of Golderesi's Pinta Circle home. Golderesi says he did not want to sell — and wasn't told someone else owned his home for more than a month. Bartley says that while the situation was unusual, he acted properly. 'There's nothing nefarious, immoral or illegal that happened,' Bartley said. 'I've never committed fraud in my life.' It took nearly two months for Golderesi to see any money from the sale — and only after a different attorney he had hired pressed Bartley for answers. That new attorney, John Tatoian, was so concerned about the transaction that he said he reported Bartley to the state Board of Bar Overseers, alleging misconduct. Golderesi said he was misled and cheated. Bartley concedes Golderesi was not told for more than a month that the property was no longer his. 'So that's, I'll agree with you, that's not a great look,' Bartley said. 'Was this done perfectly? No. Sometimes that happens in real estate.' Further, Bartley conceded to The Republican that the deed document he signed on Golderesi's behalf was purposefully incorrect — saying the property was sold to a private trust for $285,000, when in fact no money was exchanged. The story of the sale of 35 Pinta Circe is tangled and disputed. The Republican reached most of the key players in the situation who made their cases, and examined a paper trail of deeds and other legal documents for this report. Let's go back to the beginning. In May 2020, Golderesi purchased a three-bedroom home in East Springfield for about $250,000. A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs program helped him buy the house, he said. Last year, he put it on the market, but decided he was not ready to sell. In July 2024, a fire broke out at the house. The city fire department responded and investigated but never determined a cause. Because of damage, including a missing window, open ceiling and damaged electrical outlets, the city condemned the building; only construction workers were allowed inside to bring it back up to code. Golderesi said that at a neighbor's recommendation, he hired Worthington Construction, a company run by Anthony Matos, to repair fire damage. Both Bartley and Golderesi agreed that Matos, the owner of Worthington Construction, brought them together. On Aug. 5, Golderesi signed a limited durable power of attorney giving Bartley the power to 'do all things necessary' related to the property at 35 Pinta Circle. Bartley said it would violate attorney-client privilege to disclose why the document was needed, but he says Golderesi wanted to sell the house. Golderesi said he told Bartley he suffered from a brain injury and didn't want to sign the papers without his personal care assistant, Julia Stratton, who also often lives with him. She was out of town. Golderesi said he was concerned if he didn't sign the paperwork, it would delay the rehab of his house. So he signed them, but told The Republican that he didn't understand what the papers meant. If he had understood it was a power of attorney form, 'I would have never signed it,' he said. 'That's completely untruthful,' Bartley said. He said Golderesi knew what he was signing. At times during initial interviews with The Republican, Bartley said he was limited as to what he could say because of attorney-client privilege, which protects communication between a lawyer and client. At The Republican's suggestion, Golderesi wrote and signed an agreement allowing Bartley to speak freely about him and the property on Pinta Circle. More than 20 years ago, Matos was one of many people in the city arrested for involvement in a land-flipping scheme that involved derelict properties and low-income people. In 2006, Matos pled guilty to wire fraud charges and spent years in prison. Authorities estimated that the scheme cheated banks and homebuyers of $15 million, a Springfield Republican article at the time said. Matos said he was young then, has changed and has not been in legal trouble since. 'This guy hired me to do the work and fix the damage that the insurance company paid for and that's what I did,' Matos said. But he has had trouble in civil court in recent years. A construction supply company sued Matos and his company last year alleging he purchased supplies on credit that remained unpaid. Matos didn't respond to the lawsuit and the court issued a judgement of $44,000 against him in November. Today, a separate lawsuit against his company remains in arbitration. A Springfield woman alleges that after a fire destroyed her house on Prospect Street in 2022, she hired Matos to rebuild it. She paid $400,000, which she alleges he urged her pay in cash. The house was not finished by the contracted deadline, the lawsuit claims. 'The only services rendered to date consist of rough framing and a roof,' says the complaint, filed in May 2023. The plaintiff was stuck living in a studio apartment with her two sons. In his legal response, Matos admits the woman paid him but denies her allegations. Earlier this year, in a third lawsuit, the court issued a $20,000 judgement against him after a building supply company sued over unpaid debts. The same day Golderesi signed the power of attorney form, he also signed a purchase and sale agreement for his house. He said it was one of the documents he didn't understand. The agreement stipulated a contract to sell the property to an entity called Empire One Investments LLC, or that company's designee, for $285,000. In corporate filings with the state, Bartley is listed as the secretary and a director of Empire One Investments. When first asked about the extent of his involvement in the Empire One, Bartley said the company's mail just comes to his office. Soon after, Bartley ended the phone conversation with a reporter. Bartley called The Republican back that afternoon. 'I just didn't recall it,' he said of being identified in official state paperwork as a director of the company. He insisted that his involvement in the company — whose president is listed as John Friberg Jr. — is limited. 'This is a case where I was asked to help out clients and I did it to the best of my ability,' Bartley said. 'I can assure you I made no money on this. It was not nefarious.' The purchase and sale agreement also lists Bartley as the buyer's attorney. He said he isn't sure if there were ethical issues for an attorney to be on both ends of the deal. 'I guess I'll leave that for somebody smarter than me,' Bartley said. 'I'd have to think about that one. That's a fair question.' An attorney can represent both sides of a property transaction if there is consent from both parties, according to Jeremy Paul, a professor and former dean at Northeastern University School of Law. After the fire left 35 Pinta Circle condemned, Golderesi and Stratton said they bounced around hotels while waiting for the contractors to finish their work. They said they expected to move back into the house. In February, when repairs were complete, the city lifted the condemnation and filed court paperwork to dismiss the case. Housing court records show that after the power of attorney form was signed, Bartley signed court documents on Golderesi's behalf. Ten days after the housing court case was cleared, the property changed hands, at least on paper. Bartley signed a quitclaim deed — a simple document that transfers property between parties — on behalf of Golderesi as his power of attorney, purportedly selling the house for $285,000 to 35 Pinta Circle Realty Trust. It was notarized by Marc J. Hickey. In a text message to Tatoian, Bartley said Hickey was his assistant. When The Republican asked Bartley, he said Hickey has never worked for him and is a friend. Efforts to reach Hickey were not successful. Jason Vazquez is listed on the deed as the sole trustee of 35 Pinta Circle Realty Trust. A document filed with the Hampden County Registry of Deeds says he has authorization to buy and sell properties for the trust and its beneficiaries. He could not be located for an interview. The purchase and sale agreement Golderesi signed in August 2024 was to sell to Empire or its designee, and the trust is the designee, Bartley said. Bartley said he doesn't 'to my knowledge' believe he is involved in the private trust. Golderesi was not notified about the sale, Bartley said. 'First of all, George never reached out to me.' He said George was 'completely incommunicado.' But, Golderesi had been in touch with the contractor. Texts between him and Matos show that Golderesi had contacted Matos in January and late February, both before and after the sale. The Republican reviewed those messages. In late March, Golderesi said he believed his home was still being fixed and he went to the house looking for mail, he said. He noticed someone inside and called the police to report a break-in. 'Caller states he hears a female voice inside his house,' the 911 narrative reads. 'Caller is outside … states whoever it is turned the lights off.' A police spokesperson said an officer responded to the call, but no formal report was filed about it. Stratton, Golderesi's personal care assistant, said she went in search of answers. She called the city water department to check on the status of the property's account and was told it was no longer in Golderesi's name — and that the property had sold. 'It was devastating,' she said. Once he learned it had been sold, Golderesi hired Tatoian, the attorney, who contacted Bartley in April. After hearing from Tatoian, Bartley sent Tatoian a settlement statement signed in February that summarizes the purported finances of the sale. Tatoian provided a copy of the document to The Republican. The document, signed by Bartley on Golderesi's behalf, said Golderesi was owed $43,000. In the years Golderesi owned it, he built up equity in the property. The document also said that the mortgage was paid. That was not true. Tatoian said he spoke with Golderesi's lender, Navy Federal Credit Union, which told him the mortgage had not been paid off. The bank did not respond to The Republican's requests for comment. Tatoian said the numbers on the settlement were incorrect. 'He's right,' Bartley said. 'I agree with him.' Bartley said the mortgage was not paid off then for valid business reasons. After Tatoian spoke with Bartley, Golderesi was paid back about $40,000. By late April, Golderesi was released from his mortgage with the credit union, documentation filed with the Hampden County Registry of Deeds shows. The quitclaim deed filed in February allegedly without Golderesi's knowledge said that the property was transferred for $285,000. When The Republican first asked Bartley where the $285,000 went in the nearly two-month period between the property transfer in February and April when Tatoian got involved, Bartley declined to comment. About a week later, when pressed, Bartley said that no money was paid. 'There was no money transferred whatsoever,' Bartley said. That's despite the deed saying it was transferred for $285,000 to a trust, and an addendum on the document that said Bartley swore to the notary it was accurate. Bartley told The Republican that the plan was to sell the house and that the contractor and Empire One Investments would be the ones to benefit from it. Bartley insisted he would not reap any of that profit and that he often works with house flippers. Bartley said after selling the house to an outside party, the mortgage and Golderesi would be paid. The plan went awry when they didn't immediately find a third party to buy it. Bartley made those comments in late May after The Republican had spoken to Matos earlier in the month. The Republican tried several times to follow-up with Matos to ask about the plan Bartley laid out, and he had not responded as of Friday. 'In a best practice world it would have been one step after the other,' Bartley said with a sigh, 'except all this stuff moved too fast and here we are. This is an unusual situation for me.' Bartley said he executed a quitclaim deed transfer once the house was no longer condemned to get the property out of Golderesi's control. 'It was my opinion he wasn't in a great position to hold on to any money,' Bartley said of Golderesi. He declined to elaborate. Bartley said he didn't want to list the sale for $1, because he worried it would 'raise an alarm for the third-party buyer.' So he signed the quitclaim deed for $285,000. That was the amount listed on the purchase and sale agreement signed in early August, one of the documents Golderesi says he didn't understand. After being confronted by Tatoian, Bartley said he personally paid Golderesi and settled his mortgage, and will be made whole when a third party buys the property. 'The real loser of this has been me,' he said. Golderesi was paid on April 11, Tatoian said. On April 14, the house was transferred to another private trust — Pinta Empire Realty Trust — for $305,000. The trustee is listed as Jenal Rentas. Rentas owns Extremely Clean Construction and Design, a Springfield-based business that does home improvement, construction and remodeling. Rentas said he was a manager of the trust. 'I know nothing, I'm just a manager on the account,' he said in early June. 'I can't disclose any information.' He told The Republican to contact Matos, who has not responded to follow-up inquiries. When asked about the price listed on the quitclaim deed – $305,000 – and who owns the property now, Rentas said he didn't know and hung up. When property is transferred to or from a trust, those involved usually file a document that certifies a trustee, essentially someone who manages the trust, said Laura Marino, Land Court technical assistant at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds. 'Trusts are not required to be recorded with our office,' Marino said in an email. 'Many people do not record Trusts because they want the terms to remain private.' Tatoian said he submitted a complaint last month to the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers about Bartley's conduct, accusing him of violating the state's rules of professional conduct for attorneys and a federal law on making false statements. Bartley has long been the Ward 3 city councilor. He has not yet taken out papers to run again for office in the fall. The deadline to return nomination papers is July 29. Several other people took out papers to run in his ward. Tatoian said he was recently notified by the Board of Bar Overseers that it was investigating. Bartley said he had no knowledge of any inquiry. A spokesperson for the board said that by law, it can't comment on any complaints unless an investigation yields a public proceeding and discipline. Bartley remains listed on the bar's website as an active attorney with no public discipline. Read the original article on MassLive.
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San Diego veterans in another 'war' over federal cuts
Its been 81 years since D-Day. With as many as 80,000 projected veterans affairs jobs being cut under the Trump Administration, veterans in San Diego are using the historic date to make sure they aren't forgotten.
