Fung vetoes prompt response from Cranston Democrats
6:16 PM Fri, Nov 06, 2009 | Permalink
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CRANSTON, R.I. -- Mayor Allan W. Fung said he was following the advice of city lawyers this week when he vetoed two ordinances that would have created local rules for lenders to follow when foreclosing on residential properties. The Republican mayor said that while he appreciated and respected the effort to help people who are faced with foreclosure, he could not support measures that "interfere with and alter existing mortgage agreements" and "contradict state law," potentially creating "problems with the titles of properties in our city." Legally sound or not, Fung's vetoes prompted members of the all-Democratic City Council to say they will likely seek overrides when they meet again on Nov. 23. His vetoes also drew protests from Democratic City Committee Chairman Michael J. Sepe, who issued a two-page statement Friday with the headline: "Fung turns back on Cranston's homeowners," Sepe wrote: "One has to ask, what motivated Mayor Fung to take the side of the mortgage bankers over the concerns of his own constituents? Has his extensive training and years of experience as a paid lobbyist on Smith Hill for a major national insurance company tainted his reasoning so that he is incapable of feeling empathy for those unfortunate Cranston residents who have lost their jobs and now find themselves -- through no fault of their own -- in a position of losing their homes to some out-of-state bank with an '800' telephone number." He continued: "On behalf of all those Cranston homeowners who are affected by Mayor Fung's callous, cold-hearted veto, I implore him to get real, come to his senses and reconsider the fallacy of his reasoning." Republican City Committee Chairman James Quinlan said Fung's vetoes show that he is looking out for taxpayers and trying to spare the city the cost of defending ordinances that won't hold up in court. Of Sepe and the council, Quinlan said the Democrats are focused on trying to win votes when they should be concerned about budget deficits and cuts in state aid. "You can see where the council's financial priorities are," he said. 
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Thank you Mayor Fung. This is why voters have put you in office. Who are Mr.Sepe, and the City Council trying to protect, certainly not the homeowners and the people of Cranston. Keep up the good work Mayor. You have my vote.
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Good move on Fung's part. When you try to save a few , you take down many more! There are many ways that a homeowner in trouble can work out a plan with the Bank, We do not need new laws that restrict Commerce. As it is the Democrats around the country are bringing the Country to its knees. We do not have to add to it locally.
Keep up the good work Mayor!
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Im disappointed in the short-sightedness of the Council. These ordinances do not appear legal and if they were, the chances for 1st time home buyers in Cranston would be nil. If you were a bank, would you give money for a house in a city that restricts your ability to recoup your investment?
This just looks like desperation on the part of the council.
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This is what happens when you elect a Republican, you get some accountability. State Democrats need to look no further than last week elections in Connecticut to see what's in store for their political future. Were tired of unemployment and high tax rates, for what? To support illegal immigrants, their darn not taking care of us, the American taxpayer.
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Once again the Democrats are more concerned about the things they cannot fix and find ways to cast a haze over the real problems of the City. All they are trying to do is continue to put a cloud over the reality of the economy. The City is not going to fix the countries issues as it relates to the mortgage and the economy problems. Maybe you should look in the mirror. Your job is to control the city and its finances. Did the thought ever occur to you that part of the foreclosure problem is that our City taxes are absurdly too high? By creating these ordinances will only cost the City money we do not have. Maybe the Democrats should seek legal advice before they make these ridiculous statements. Hopefully the people voting in the next election will finally wake up and get rid of this administration and put people in that understand how to run a business. We need to wake up people and take back our city and finally get rid of the Sepe and Garabedian clones.
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GOOD JOB MAYOR,THE CITY COUNCIL (DEMOCRATS)NEED TO STOP HAMMERING THE MAYORS JUDGEMENT! ALL THE COUNCIL NEEDS TO DO IS LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE.DO THE TAX PAYERS OF THIS CITY NEED TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE PROBLEMS (LEGAL)OF THESE HOME OWNERS,WITH THEIR FINANCE COMPANIES?"NO",MOST OF THESE HOMES THAT ARE IN FORECLOSURE ARE DUE TO SHADY LENDING PRACTICES AND GREED ON THE HOME OWNERS PART. SORRY ,BUT THE SPENDING HABITS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY MUST STOP BEFORE THE FOR SALE SIGN GOES UP ON THE WHOLE STATE! GREAT JOB AGAIN MAYOR.
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I live in the Edgewood section of Cranston and see the terrible post impact of home foreclosures. There are several properties in this area that have been foreclosed, are not in ruin and delaptated. You see family forcefully evicted from their homes. While sad and tragic on so many levels - what the Cranston Democrats are doing is INSULTING to voters. Do you honestly believe they care about this issues? Perfect example, the councilman for Ward 1 lives in another city and seldom shows up for council meetings. Now we should be told to believe he cares...? This ordinace was passed to garner votes - plain and simple!
Oh..and Mike Sepe. He is a political hack, who has done nothing for the city except land jobs for his family members. Does his son still work for the city...oh that right he was FIRED!!!
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Mike Sepe is a political hack and the Democratic City Council are a bunch of idiots. They are trying to appear to be concerned about taxpayers when they actually only want to garner votes.
This kind of action by the council proves again that they are incapable of dealing with the city's real budget and finance problems and to hide that, they come up with some illegal scheme.
Why we keep voting for these idiots I will never understand!
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Mike Sepe is a political hack and the Democratic City Council are a bunch of idiots. They are trying to appear to be concerned about taxpayers when they actually only want to garner votes.
This kind of action by the council proves again that they are incapable of dealing with the city's real budget and finance problems and to hide that, they come up with some illegal scheme.
Why we keep voting for these idiots I will never understand!
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Good Job Mr. Mayor,
Thank goodness the City has an executive with common sense. The foreclosure proposal is ridiculous at best since the City has no position to meddle in unrelated contracts. This type of position can only be addressed from a State and Federal level. The City surely has better things to be concerned with than attempting to adopt illegitimate legislation.
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