During the crescendo of violence plaguing Captain's Quarters in 2005, Precinct Councilor Rick Barry (R-Cotuit), urged residents and contituents of problem locales to become actively involved in "community neighborhood watch" intiatives. Barry suggested that residents in neighborhoods under seige become proactive with public safety efforts and to develop solid relationships with law enforcement. Councilor Barry insisted that communication of neighborhood needs to police was paramount to quell ongoing, drug related violence in downtown Hyannis.
Barry, a prominent and reputable defense attorney, formerly associated with the Office of the District Attorney, as an Assistant Prosecutor, has a reputation that exudes fine character and integrity. Although Barry's comments were reasonable and well intentioned, the Town of Barnstable had a longstanding practice of covering up corruption by "Shooting the Messenger". If the District Attorney, Michael O'Keefe, or Chief John Finnegan, had been anything other than the gang that simply can't shoot straight, this would have been a serious problem.
A number of complaints were forwarded to both the Office of the District Attorney, and Chief of Police in Barnstable describing dangerous conditions and violent behavior of convicted felons associated with the local homeless shelter and adjacent properties. Clinicians, practioners, and social workers were replaced after blatant illegality was established, but no resolution was ever achieved on public safety issues. To date, there had been no sincere justice for victims. Public officials, law enforcement officers, elected officials and the district attorney accepted campaign contributions, inordinate pay raises, and extended work contracts to cover-up impropriety. When the complainant mentioned "influence peddling", the person reporting was charged with criminal harassment for excessive letter writing, and threatened with jail time.
Please review the conditions of apartments receiving Section8 Reimbursement Funds. Compromised clients with criminal histories, narcotics addictions, and records of violence were clustered among vulnerable populations. After gunfire erupted and a fire nearly destroyed one of the properties in proximity to the shelter, the establishment was closed for renovation. Crime still plagues the downtown Hyannis area, but the landlord now owns and operates a lovely steakhouse.
Here is a slideshow of conditions at 72 North Street taken when I first moved onto the scene in 2001. The residence was known for clustering clients of Housing Assistance Corporation' NOAH Shelter and The O'Neill/Duffy Clinic. 72 North Street had been rumored to be a crack house, but the building was situated behind Main Street Shops including Puritan's Clothing.
(Consider the pay scale for municipal personnel FY2008. Gratis of www.capecog.com)
The photograph presented below portrays Anthony Matienzo and Morgan Parent in the very alcove where homeless congregate and started fires. (See previous post, August 10, 2009, describing accounts of fire at 72 North Street.) Matienzo, known to the NOAH Shelter, was the infamous "Route 3 Highway Shooter" charged with firing a projectile weapon at passing school busses on Route 3. Morgan Parent is the niece of Cybill Shephard. Taken away from her mother in childhood, Morgan committed arson at the age of fifteen. The shelter banned many youth onto the street after accepting them as clients and billing third party reimbursement.(Photo courtesy of the Cape Cod Times.)
Mary Clements
PO Box 134
Marion, MA 02738
June 30, 2003
Jason Talerman, Esq.
Zoning Board of Appeals
6 Sebastian Drive
Sandwich, MA.
Dear Mr. Talerman,
For the past several months I have observed the proceedings involving Sandwich Family Association represented by Mr. William Henchy, Esq. at the Zoning Board of Appeals at the Oak Ridge School in Sandwich in regard to Dana’s Fields. I am greatly concerned about the construction of this project abutting a residential and business community comprised of unsuspecting and vulnerable residents of Sandwich. As a former client of NOAH/HAC, I have witnessed the inability of the staff, management, and administration to gain control over the criminal element in downtown Hyannis. Much of this difficulty appears to revolve around the philosophy and political structure of the organization.
As Mr. Henchy has stated, NOAH indeed serves mainly the criminal element and caters to this population. Mrs. Davis words verbatim have included “Who are you to push your value system on our clients? Predators have just as much right to be cared for as you do!” This particular declaration occurred after an altercation with an individual suffering narcotics and substance abuse and behaviors related to such use. Society maintains a compelling interest in the rehabilitation of criminal offenders. Unfortunately the statistics of success with offender clients at NOAH demonstrate that that the organization cannot meet the needs of the population most in need. The demographics at NOAH reflect a percentage of criminal offenders much greater than vulnerable clients suffering situational homelessness, emotional/mental illness, Alzheimer’s disease and issues related to aging and elder care.
The population of criminal offenders includes convictions as serious as pedophilia, pyromania, narcotics possession including manufacture and distribution grand theft larceny, rape, and assault and battery on a police officer. I attempted to befriend many of these individuals and to establish a positive bond at the encouragement of staff. I have assisted with the relief effort established by the Salvation Army Overnight’s of Hospitality Program. I met a young man named Anthony Matienzo. Anthony began drinking and smoking marijuana with his mother at the age of nine. He was apprehended, charged and convicted as the “highway shooter” for discharging his .22 caliber rifle at buses full of school children. He was later an accomplice to assault and battery on another client with Mr. Archibald Gillian, alias Tony. They lured an older man suffering from alcoholism into the woods behind the East Hyannis Elementary School, beat him and left him for dead. They were trying to impress their friend Naomi who was present during the assault and testified to this event. Mr. Gillian, originally from Dorchester was sent back to prison for violating parole. He was a 42-year-old convicted pedophile.
Anthony is only a nineteen-year-old young man. Most of the criminal offenders are much older, seasoned and well progressed into sociopathy. I am extremely concerned that the inability of the organization to provide direct and necessary services to the target population of offenders leaves all vulnerable residents of Sandwich their children at risk. In the absence of demonstrated effectiveness, a loosely supervised criminal population with unresolved behavioral issues would not only be detrimental to the small town colonial atmosphere of Sandwich; more importantly it would leave an unsuspecting, quiet community in peril. I have enclosed documentation from NOAH including a form that “requires” the NOAH client to contract out of negligence. In addition you may review an intake form that presents a line for the listing an alias and a checklist regarding criminal past. You might surmise that the organization is accustomed to providing temporary housing for the criminal population for quite some time. Not only are they currently serving offenders being recently paroled, they are crowded with recidivist offenders that have yet to be rehabilitated of years past.
Lastly, I have enclosed the complaint letters I wrote in a successful attempt to have a staff member removed. There may be information that provides you with insight into the internal workings of the organization and the substandard services it provides that could affect peace and prosperity in your community. You might review the letters I have had to write to HUD to request overrides in an effort to move out of a drug infested area. My current residence is a crack house on North Street. The building is around the corner from NOAH and adjacent to a crack house directly across the street from NOAH. Housing Assistance Corporation has provided a number of Section 8 Certificates circumventing the CORI Check at 72 North Street. Two of my neighbors have done prison time for Class A felonies at Cedar Junction and Framingham respectively. It appears that Sandwich Family Association’s concern that HAC could place offenders within a radius dangerous to unsuspecting children and others is not only valid, but also justified.
Thank you for your time and attention. Best wishes for continued peace and happiness in the town of Sandwich.
Sincerely,
Mary Clements, RN, BSN, MA
Correspondence forwarded to the Chief of Police in Barnstable about this tenancy and placement resulted in a charge of criminal harassment.
Mary Clements
72 North Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
October 16, 2003
Chief John Finnegan
The Barnstable Police Department
1200 Phinney’s Lane
Hyannis, MA 02601
Dear Chief Finnegan,
I had an opportunity to attend the Barnstable Human Service Needs Committee Meetings and in particular the meetings at Barnstable Airport when the Assistant Town Manager Joellen Daly accompanied by Cheryl Bartlett of Community Action of Cape Cod and Islands, Judy Best, RN, FNP and Rick Presbrey of Housing Assistance Corporation proceeded to secure the Mildred’s Chowder House for renovation of a new and improved shelter with expanded facilites based on success with the PILOT House Project. Ms. Best challenged my insistance that the original six clients had not yet been rehabilitated and that there were extreme difficulties with the clientele and unreasonable burdens placed on local law enforcement and residents. Expansion of the current industry appears to be an unwise and foolhardy endeavor considering the challenges already faced by the afflicted clients, quality of providers, and the economic base related to the tourist climate of Cape Cod. Ms. Best tried to have me excluded from speaking at the meeting and when I was allowed to voice my concern, she disputed that 72 North Street was indeed a crack house.
Please note the photographs I have included of Mr. Edward Reed of Hyannis a known drug dealer and outspoken vocal advocate of the “wet shelter” freebasing cocaine in my back yard. I apologize that the pictures are dark however I was using a long rang focal length lens that would not allow me the benefit of a larger aperture permitting more exposure nor considering the circumstances would I have been able to use a flash. The blonde woman is named Barbie and is a resident of the shelter. There is a spoon in her hand and the other gentleman Perry that deals drugs in my building with Mr. Reed lit something on fire. They used the narcotics for approximately 3-5 minutes, drank the alcohol in the brown paper bag, smoked cigarettes and then ducked out very quickly as you will see in the photographs. I overheard “Perry” ask “Barbie” if she “felt better now?” Barbie was in the clinic the following day to see Mary Hettich, RN, FNP. I would suggest once again that the clients of the Duffy Clinic are not rehabilitated and present a general menace to the community. The local NOAH shelter and its associated Duffy Clinic have imposed on so many vulnerable and unsuspecting residents and members of the community. The adamant refusal of the local human service provider to accept responsibility for its clients will transfer to the opposite site of town and remain a threat to the soon to be renovated downtown area. The narcotics industry thrives in settings of active commerce and access to transportation and will compound Hyannis tourist industry by now involving an airport and a major hotel.
I initially made a police call in regard to Mr. Reed et al. that went unattended. I made the call on the non-emergency line and there was no response to my request to have an officer respond to trespassers in the back yard of 72 North Street. When your department declined to respond to the call I photographed the individuals in question using narcotics. This was in the window between the time the airport commission delayed the decision to give the Mildred’s Chowder House to HAC/DUFFY/CACCI for an expansion project. Please refer to the minutes of the Barnstable Human Service Needs Task Force where Ms. Best voices concern over peace and justice issues. Please note she disputed my perceptions at the meeting that the drug problem in Hyannis is really this bad. Ms. Best states publicly that she had no idea that 72 North Street where she maintains several clients really is a crack house. The photographs were taken in this interval between the delay of the approval and the final airport meeting on the issue on September 17. Please note Alan Burt’s Letter to the Editor in the Barnstable Patriot that I have enclosed for your perusal. Several reformed narcotics offenders that have never been patients of Judy Best analyzed the enlarged photograph and explained freebasing to me. They pointed out the drugs and associated paraphernalia as indicated in the photograph. I was willing to believe the folks in question were just “sitting at the round table of Camelot doing justice for justice sake”. It must have been an “amazing experience”.
I finished up the roll by photographing some lovely sunset scenes around the crack house where I make my home. The two recreational vehicles in the back of my building have housed summer residents on the property. As you can see, there is a DO NOT DISTURB sign in the window of the maroon van and drug dealers frequent this particular area. Sometimes it frightening to go out to the parking lot or to the garbage dumpsters to throw away trash, but other than fearing for my life, I’m accustomed to living in danger. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the many times the police department had responded to constant calls, I just live with the constant uncertainty of not knowing whether any particular crack offender is going to be annoyed because I dare to breath his air space. It makes it difficult to make future plans. Last week my neighbor Glenda McMullen, a convicted felon, friend and client of Mr. Edward Reed and a current crack cocaine offender thought I was “talking to myself”. She was hostile and knocked on my door. She refused to believe that I was talking on the telephone, but “ if I was, that was no excuse for my ‘talking about her.” I was talking about how negligent the organization was on a cellular phone with a friend. I hadn’t even mentioned Glenda’s name. Shortly after I went shopping for groceries and she stole my groceries as I carried them from my car to the door.
My immediate plans if I make it are to move to a town where I’m less likely to get killed. In closing, I have included some extra photographs I took around the back of the building. You will see the spot where clients sleep with blankets in an alcove. I used to ask the police department to remove the folks. Sometimes they were drunk and high, and smoking cigarettes and had candles. I used to be afraid of fire. Now I don’t care anymore. My drop from my bedroom window is quite high. I would not survive the fall in a fire. But it’s not worth a nightly call to the police department to come help the imaginary people the really aren’t rehabilitated. There are times when I can’t even remember the quality of life I had before I came here to Hyannis. The residents and business owners have voiced their concerns about offenders being relocated to their neck of the woods. Wisely, some public officials and potential candidates are questioning the prudence of an expansion of the industry to this area. I’m supposed to look the other way and hope nobody gets burnt, raped, molested and killed over near the airport. After all, Livia Davis and Judy Best have both told me this is “None of your business!” “Just stay out of it! You’ve got your own issues!” After living for two years in Hyannis, she can sure say that again.
Sincerely,
Mary Clements
cc. Sergeant Sean Sweeney
David Daly, Esq.
Representative Thomas George Esq.
Michael O’Keefe, Esq.
William Henchy, Esq.
Jason Talerman, Esq.
Lou Gonzaga
Arthur Tonini
Thomas Lynch
Stuart Bornstein
John Klimm
Gary Blazis
Commissioner William Dougherty
Looking out into the backyard at 72 North Street, visions of narcotics addicts freebasing comes to mind. This was a typical imaginary scenario that played out in my delusional mind, if I declined to let the addicts into the building. Clinicians and practioners were angry at this photograph, claiming that the clients had a "right to privacy". They are freebasing in broad daylight.
BARNSTBALE, MA Joshua Debonise was ready today to admit his role in the firebombing of a Hyannis home. But the 21-year-old was not ready to be labeled a snitch, his lawyer, Richard Barry, said during a plea hearing in Barnstable Superior Court. So the plea deal fell apart.
Shortly before 3 a.m. on April 3, 2008, a Molotov cocktail crashed through the window of a home on Hiramar Road starting a fire in a bedroom where children were sleeping. A total of seven people were inside the house at the time. They all managed to escape the blaze unharmed. In addition to Debonise, a Mashpee resident, four other people Jose Reyes, Andrew Nickerson, Victor Mason and Tiffany Mason are charged in the incident, according to court records. Before signing away his rights, Debonise waited for the courts assurance that a statement he gave to police about the events of that morning would be thrown out.
He wanted to make sure that when and if he did go to jail, he would not be construed as a snitch, Barry told Judge Gary Nickerson, who agreed to suppress the statement if Debonise pleaded guilty. But the deal was never carried out.
