From the New London Day, March 31
My YMCA hometown landmark has fallen on tough times, so sad...

An ad hoc committee of city finance office officials and two local financial professionals will review the YMCA of Southeastern Connecticut's books this week and report back next Monday on the crisis that led the 123-year-old organization to announce plans to close April 30.

YMCA officials said with a debt of about $1 million and an operating deficit of more than $400,000, money to cover payroll and everyday expenses would run out by that date.

About 100 representatives from numerous city agencies, state and federal legislators, public schools and Norwich Free Academy, local business owners and YMCA members crowded into a meeting Monday morning at City Hall, hosted by Mayor Benjamin Lathrop.

The meeting originally was intended for YMCA board members to discuss financial issues with the mayor and city staff. But as word spread, so did interest, and Lathrop said his phone kept ringing with calls from people who planned to attend.

At the start, Lathrop told the audience that he had asked City Manager Alan Bergren to set up a committee to do “an informal audit” of the YMCA's finances to better understand the scope of the problem.

Later Monday, city officials said city Comptroller Joseph Ruffo, Dime Bank Vice President Brian McNamara and Norwich accountant Michael Goldblatt will serve on the committee.

The committee will report its findings at a second public meeting on the issue next Monday at 11 a.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. An evening public meeting also might be scheduled on another night for those who can't attend during the day, Lathrop said.

Following that announcement, Lathrop disappointed the crowd by saying no public comments would be allowed until next Monday. Instead, he offered a sign-up sheet for those in attendance to be contacted with updates. He invited them to contact either the mayor's office or the city manager with questions or ideas. Nearly 100 people signed the sheet.

”We all have the answers, but they're not all good answers,” Lathrop said.

Downtown business owner Harry Lawson interrupted the mayor, insisting on being allowed to speak and question how the YMCA reached this crisis without bringing the problems to the public. Lawson, owner of a Main Street convenience store and lunch counter, said the YMCA is a crucial piece of downtown.

”We know we must keep it going,” Lathrop said, “but we need to know the sustainability of it.”

Lathrop pronounced his own support for the YMCA, drawing applause from the audience. He acknowledged the emotions attached to the YMCA and said he was overwhelmed by the support expressed during the past several days. Nancy Tepper, director of the YMCA's Small World Child Care Center in Groton, and Small World bookkeeper Jody Williams held up a colorful poster depicting dozens of finger-painted handprints made by children at the center.

”Save our Y, Please,” the poster said.

Bud McAllister of Partners in Healthy Communities of New London pledged his organization's assistance as well, saying the YMCA's closing is a regional issue.

M. Garfield Rucker, a YMCA member, said he wanted an opportunity to express “basic questions,” asking how the YMCA board is appointed and how long members serve. He complained that decisions were made in secret. Lathrop again tried to cut off back-and-forth discussion, saying those answers would come at the next meeting.

P. Michael Lahan, YMCA board spokesman, told the audience that the financial records for the non-profit YMCA are public records and have been published in news stories on the YMCA's pending closure. They also are submitted annually when the YMCA applies for funding from the United Way and other grant foundations.

IRS Form 990 reports for the YMCA, published on the Web site Guidestar.org, show that the YMCA has had operating deficits of $237,268 in 2005; $412,357 in 2006, and $544,296 in 2007 following the $900,000 renovation of the facility.

Lahan said the deficit was more than $400,000 in 2008 and the YMCA is about $1 million in debt. In addition, the aging building on Main Street has an obsolete and failing heating system, no air conditioning and a leaking roof.

”We will do everything we can to cooperate, and we will see you next Monday,” Lahan told the audience.

I remember when this was opened and it was going to save dowtown New London.


Bank Says Crocker House Owners Are In Arrears, Files For Foreclosure
Complaint says payments on New London landmark mortgage missed in July, August

By Brian Hallenbeck Published on 3/25/2009


New London - Wells Fargo Bank is seeking to foreclose on the Crocker House, the five-story State Street landmark that was a centerpiece for downtown development a decade ago.

The building houses about a half-dozen retail outlets and some 80 apartments.

In a complaint filed late last week in Superior Court and in city land records, the bank, headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., alleges that the property's owners are in default on a 10-year, $5.3 million mortgage secured in July 2006. The owners failed to make mortgage payments that were due July 1, 2008, and Aug. 1, 2008, prompting the bank to declare the entire balance due and payable, the complaint states.

Notice of the complaint was served last Wednesday on Tamara Levine, a Farmington attorney for Crocker House LLC, an entity formed by AME Development, whose principals are Alva Greenberg and Michael Joplin, both of Chester, and Elie Pallandre of Madison. Joplin is the president of the New London Development Corp., the quasi-public agency charged with developing the Fort Trumbull peninsula. Greenberg owns a retail store, Alva, on State Street.

None of the principals could be reached to comment Tuesday. Messages left with Levine's office were not returned.

The owners renovated the apartments on the top four floors of the 137-year-old building, as well as the ground-floor storefronts, a 5,600-square-foot ballroom and a 4,000-square-foot courtyard.

”To my knowledge, the building is fully occupied,” said Penny Parsekian, chief executive officer of New London Main Street, which promotes the downtown area. She said she was “terribly disappointed” to hear of the foreclosure proceeding.

The complaint asks the court to grant Wells Fargo a foreclosure of the mortgage; immediate possession of the property; a foreclosure by sale; a deficiency judgment against Crocker House; the appointment of a receiver to collect rents and profits; damages; and attorneys' fees.

Armando Batastini, an attorney with the firm Nixon Peabody in Providence, which is representing Wells Fargo, said the complaint “speaks for itself” and declined further comment.

The defendants have until April 14 to reply to the action and could, presumably, settle the complaint before then. According to land records, the original amount of the loan, which had an interest rate of 6.156 percent, was $5,285,835. The monthly payment, including principal and interest, was $32,223.

The property subject to foreclosure, according to the complaint, is the Crocker House building at 170-190 State St. and a vacant lot behind it at 112 Golden St.

Built in 1872, the Crocker House was originally a hotel. It was vacant and in disrepair when Cabrini Inc., then the for-profit real estate arm of the New London Development Corp., bought it for $1,250,000 in 1999, according to a city assessor's database.

Crocker House LLC purchased the property at public auction in 2002 for $525,000.

Rents for the one-bedroom and studio apartments begin at $650, according to the property's Web site. Retail tenants include Smizer Perry, a graphics design firm; a beauty salon; TSETSE Gallery; and Minuteman Press

It is the 2nd day of spring, it is still a bit chilly up here in NH but it is not snowing so that is good. Tomorrow, we are going to Boston to the Food Show at the Boston Expo Center, that should be fun.

Work is going well, the renovations are going along fine, I will be happy when it is over, yesterday I was interviewed for the paper, I hope I did not sound stupid or anything one of my biggest fears is to sound dumb.

On Thursday, we went to Manchester, NH to the Women in the Workplace Conference "WOW", it was wonderful, we heard some wonderful speakers and learned alot of what people are thinking out there in this economy, different ideas for your business. All the women were wonderful, and networked, came up to give you their ideas, it was kind of nice being surrounded by about 100 professional women, all wanting to help the other woman.

All the speakers had incredible stories and were amazing, Stephanie the GM of the Manchester Wolverines, can you believe the General Manager is a woman in a man's sport? Debra Titus works for Dale Carnegie, Tina Editor of the Mirror, Tammy PR,
Kathleen Peterson from Powerhouse Consulting. Give these women a hand they were wonderful, and it was interesting, fun and educational thank you for your time.

Being a woman in a man's business is hard, and we have come along way from when I started in the Hospitality Business, but if you look at the Board member's of major hotel companies who are on the boards? MEN. AIG- who got the bonuses mostly men or women?

Speaking of AIG, when is Chris Dodd and Barney Frank going to be voted out of office? I think a special elections should come back for their stupidity alone, or can we just "fire them", "lay them off" so they can live like the rest of us, who lost our jobs and even after finding one, still trying to put my life back on track and paying old bills to catch up from being out of work for 4 and 1/2 months.

Just my opinion.

Today, is my dad's birthday and finally Saturday, which is my Friday. We are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary tonight at "Woodshed" in Moultonboro, NH. We have never been there but have heard good things about it. We wanted to go to Boston and eat at Capital Grille but this year it is not possible.

I am working today, my brother and his wife came up from CT last night, and we had a nice dinner, laughing and talking it was a good time. I miss my brother, he is all about his own immediate family, so when he actually takes time out to come see us it is nice.

Reality TV Time:
Real Housewives of NYC: Where did the Countess coolness go against Ramona? Ramona should never have said what she said in front of Victoria ( countess daughter) bad timing, and the Countess was acting motherly which lets be fair seems to be not that often. Granted TV does edit so we have no idea, but it was interesting to watch, and then when Bethanny called her out on something else, she didn't understand. You can not have it both ways.

Rock of Love Bus- I have missed lately, but I heard Heather was back and there was some fireworks what happened?She get back in the running for Brett? Give it up that ship has sailed and why do you want him anyway?

Top Chef: I am so glad an American won!!!

Where is my Big Brother and Project Runway? I miss it..

Millionaire Matchmaker : Don't you love Patti Sanger? Good for you telling Howard the truth, he is back with you because he doesn't get it, he may walk off camera but the fact remains you have no clue on how to treat women and stop going for the young ones. What is up with the Woman Millionaire and the guy Millionaire are they still together? I liked that one very much...

I didn't watch the end of "Confessions of a Teen Idol", the few people I cared about did not get as much air time as the idiots so why bother?

This article is from the New London Day, on Sept. 22, 2008 I lost my job at the resort and so did my husband. We packed our stuff up and put it in storage and lived off family until Feb. of this year, when I landed a position in NH. We had such a hard time, nothing worse then not having a place to call your own. We were lucky to have family help us out.

Even now it has been 5 weeks, and we are just starting to pay back family for all their fiancial help during this time, you feel as if you are a failure. The failing economy hits everyone and people have to realize it is very real and very hard for families. We were fortunate to find work at all, but we had to move ourselves and half our stuff is still in storage, which may not be a big expense but when you are living paycheck to paycheck it is, we have started saving money and cutting back even further to have a cushion in case something happens again.

Costa Mesa, Calif. - Greg Hayworth, 44, graduated from Syracuse University and made a good living in his home state of California from real estate and mortgage finance. Then that business crashed, and early last year the bank foreclosed on the house his family was renting, forcing their eviction.

Now the Hayworths and their three children represent a new face of homelessness in Orange County: formerly middle income, living week to week in a cramped motel room.

”I owe it to my kids to get out of here,” Hayworth said, recalling the night they saw a motel neighbor drag a half-naked woman out the door while he beat her.

As the recession has deepened, longtime workers who lost their jobs are facing the terror and stigma of homelessness for the first time, including those who have owned or rented for years. Some show up in shelters and on the streets, but others, like the Hayworths, are the hidden homeless - living doubled up in apartments, in garages or in motels, uncounted in federal homeless data and often receiving little public aid.

The Hayworths tried staying with relatives but ended up last September at the Costa Mesa Motor Inn, one of more than 1,000 families estimated to be living in motels in Orange County alone. They are among a lucky few: A charity pays part of the $800-a-month charge while Hayworth tries to recreate a career.

The family, which includes a 15-year-old daughter, shares a single room and sleeps on two beds. With most possessions in storage, they eat in two shifts, on three borrowed plates - all that one jammed cabinet can hold. His wife has health problems and, like many other families, they cannot muster the security deposit and other upfront costs of renting a new place.

Motel families exist by the hundreds in Denver, along freeway-bypassed Route 1 on the Eastern Seaboard, and in other cities from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Portland, Ore. But they are especially prevalent in Orange County, which has high rents, a shortage of public housing and a surplus of older motels that once housed Disneyland visitors.

”The motels have become the de facto low-income housing of Orange County,” said Wally Gonzales, director of Project Dignity, one of dozens of small charities and church groups that have emerged to assist families, usually helping a few dozen each and relying on donations of food, clothing and toys.

In the past, motel families here were mainly drawn from the chronically struggling. In 1998, an expose of neglected motel children by The Orange County Register prompted creation of city task forces and promises of help. But in recent months, schools, churches and charities report a different sort of family showing up.

”People asking for help are from a wider demographic range than we've seen in the past, middle-income families,” said Terry Lowe, director of community services in Anaheim, Calif. The motels range from those with tattered rugs and residents who abuse alcohol and drugs to newer places with playgrounds and kitchenettes. With names like the Covered Wagon Motel and the El Dorado Inn, they look like any other modestly priced stopover inland from the ritzy beach towns. But walk inside and the perception immediately changes.

In the evening, the smell of pasta sauce cooked on hot plates drifts through half-open doors; in the morning, children leave to catch school buses. Families of three, six or more are squeezed into a room, one child doing homework on a bed, jostled by another watching television. Children rotate at bedtime, taking their turns on the floor. Some families, like the Malpicas, in a motel in Anaheim, commandeer a closet for baby cribs.

The Garza family moved to the Costa Mesa Inn in August, after the husband, Johnny, lost his job at Target, his wife, Tamara, lost her job at Petco, and they were evicted from their two-bedroom rental. Their 9-year-old daughter now shares a bed with two younger brothers, their toys and schoolbooks piled on the floor. The couple's baby boy, born in April, sleeps in a small crib.

Rental aid from federal and county programs reach only a small fraction of needy families, said Bob Cerince, coordinator for homeless and motel residents services in Anaheim, who estimated the families at more than 1,000.

President Barack Obama's stimulus package may give hope to more people and blunt the projected rise of families who could end up in motels and shelters, said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington. The package allows $1.5 billion for homeless prevention, including help with rent and security deposits. Schools have made special efforts to help children in displaced families stay in class, and some send social workers to connect families with counseling services and food aid.

Wendy Dallin, the liaison for the homeless in one of Anaheim's seven school districts, said that in the last three months she had learned of 38 newly homeless families, bringing the total she knew of in her district to 376. About 48 of those families are living in motels, Dallin said, with the rest in shelters, renting a room or garage, staying with relatives or living in cars. At the same time, in California's budget crisis, some school social workers are being laid off.

Many motel residents have at least one working parent and pay $800 to $1,200 a month for a room. Yet even those with jobs can become mired in motel life for years because of bad credit ratings and the difficulty of saving the extra months' rent and security deposits to secure an apartment.

Paris Andre Navarro, 47, knows how hard it can be to climb back. She and her husband used to have good jobs and an apartment in Garden Grove, near Anaheim. But they have spent the last three years with their 11-year-old daughter in the El Dorado Inn.

The bottom fell out when her husband's medical problems forced him to leave his job as a computer technician and her home-care job ended. They were evicted and moved into the motel, and she started working the night shift at Target.

Last year, when Navarro's husband started a telemarketing job, they thought they might escape. That hope evaporated when her hours at Target were cut in half. What with the $241 weekly rent, the cost of essentials and a $380 car payment, they cannot save.

”Now we're just living paycheck to paycheck,” Navarro said.

Their daughter, Crystal, tries to sound stoical. “What I miss most is having a pet,” she said. The motel does not allow pets, so she gave away her cat and kittens.

Greg Hayworth, whose family has spent six dispiriting months in the Costa Mesa Inn, tried working in sales but has had trouble finding a lasting job. Paul Leon, a former nurse who formed the Illumination Foundation to aid motel families, has promised to help with a security deposit when the Hayworths are able to move out.

Hayworth's teenage daughter has had a difficult time because of the lack of privacy. She is too embarrassed to take friends home, and is uncomfortable dressing in front of her brothers, who are 10 and 11. Not long ago, she was attacked at school by classmates who mocked her for living in a motel.

”I'd promised my daughter that we'd be out of here by her birthday,” Hayworth said. “But that came last week, and we're still here.”

”It really hurt me the other day,” he added. “My son came home and asked, 'Are we homeless'? I didn't know what to say.”

Its Monday, and for the third week in a row we have had a winter storm. We just went out to a local market to get dinner and lunch, and will go big shopping tomorrow night after work. 12 miles may not sound like much but in NH it is quite the hall and with the snow and in the Sonsata due to the Jeep being in CT, we have to make due.

Saturday and Sunday were so beautiful up here and Spring like you could see people everywhere out and about enjoying the weather, we all realize winter is still not done so take advantage when we can. I was on Facebook this morning and have connected with more past friends and some not quite friends, but nice they made a move to connect.

We spent yesterday in Concord, getting another monitor for my husband, he needs (2)for his business, we went to Best Buy and bought one then went to Staples for myself and we found the same one for $60 cheaper so we bought that and returned the other one to Best Buy. See, this is why you do your research on line, so you don't have to jump between stores. I did get to go to TJMaxx, and my husband ( he doesn't know it) bought me a wonderful dress and purse for our anniversary which is Wednesday. We will have been married 4 years, sometimes it feels longer sometimes I can not believe I have been married for 4 years.

When I am on Facebook I am amazed at how long so many people in my age group have been together 20+ years, I still feel sometimes like I am that party girl in her 30's, this year I will be 45 years old. I don't feel it and sometimes to myself don't look it.

Well, time to go and watch the snow fall so we can shovel our way out yet again, I used to love Monday's, I hate snow.

Well March has definitely come in with a roar. It is snowing yet again here in NH, I am know I have said it before but so ready for spring. Yesterday, we went to the Outlets in Tilton, NH and I got (2) Pairs of pants for work, at J. Jill due to the sales it was $17.99 for both so excited. No shirts though, they were awful looking and every store had horrible styles or bad material. Am I the only woman in the world who has a problem finding shirts?

Pants always have be hemmed I am 5'4 and not petite so every time I buy pants, need to be fixed. I realize designers only want to design for size "0 -2", but for us "normal" women, we want to look stylish too. My problem with the shirts yesterday, were either for matronly women or for young girls, nothing for in between. I do not want to look like I am ready for retiring and definitely not like my nieces.

Yes, I am not happy about that part of shopping, the husband found a great shirt at GAP and then jeans at Old Navy, he tore his pants slipping on the Ice shoveling last week.

Have a safe day.

March 1, 2009: Spring is coming, that is what I keep telling myself, I do not care what that stupid groundhog said, I am so over winter and snow. Yes, I am a tad bitter we are suppose to get snow again today oh YEAH! Could I sound anymore saracatic? I was certainly trying.

This morning I was just on Face Book, it really is an addition to find people, and see if you can add them as friends and if they actually comment or anything. The instant chat is fun, my nephew who is suppose to be in College seems to always be on it, I chatted a few with him, but he would rather chat with pretty girls then his Aunt, really can not blame him.

We just had pancakes, and we are going to walk into town and check out the bookstore, but I really want to go to Portsmouth and see what is down there, it is about and hour, just like when we would go to Portland for the day when we were in Maine. Job was alright this week, I did get my first contract back YEAH! I start my 4th week on Tuesday and there is a Managers outing on Wednesday, we are going Skiing, now anyone who knows me, realizes I am a klutz, I am going to try to come back without getting hurt but you never know now do you?

Everyone have a warm and fun Sunday..