Carl Garcia de la Contribuciones Politicos, aka MY DUMB KID

City Council steps in to prevent
 auto body shop's license from lapsing.

Stupid is as stupid does

Herald News.Carl Garcia was in the hot seat answering city councilors questions after filing at the last minute for a renewal of his auto body shop license. The council met in a special session to get his license pushed through. He employs over 50 people in his body shop.

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By Michael Holtzman
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Jul 19, 2010 @ 09:51 PM
Last update Jul 20, 2010 @ 12:00 AM
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FALL RIVER — While four business owners this year did not file in time for license renewals and needed to apply for new ones, the City Council held a special meeting Monday night for a fifth owner and voted 4-2 to save him the time and expense.


“I’m very sorry that we made a mistake. It got lost in the mail,” Carl Garcia of Carl’s Collision Center said of his notification to apply for a five-year license renewal.


Apologizing several times, he emphasized having about 60 employees at the 1591 Bay St. business he’s taken over from his retiring father. Manuel Garcia has been in the business 33 years, also on Globe Street.


While the long-held auto body license would have expired Monday night, and Carl Garcia said his father’s move to Florida caused his delay, City Clerk Alison Brett cited the timetable and regulations at Councilor Eric Poulin’s request.


On June 1 certified letters of license expiration were signed for at the business and the father’s Portsmouth, R.I., home, Brett said.


The letter tells the owner to submit an application and related forms 30 days prior to expiration. An auto body shop requires a police background check and fire inspection.

Carl’s Collision returned the application to the city clerk’s office July 6, Brett said. His fire inspection was done Wednesday, the day after the council’s last regular meeting.

That precipitated council President Joseph Camara calling the special meeting after speaking with Carl Garcia, he said.

Camara, when polling councilors — three of whom were on vacation — confirmed “I might have asked if we could do it Friday. Then when I realized Government Center was closed Friday, I decided not to do it Friday.”


Brett said at her office that Assistant City Clerk Ines Leite spoke with one of the owners, “and told him if he can’t get it to her by the close of business on the 13th it can’t be presented as a renewal.”


Brett said on Nov. 13, 2007, the council changed the city ordinance to set up a 60-day period from when owners would be notified renewals are due and ample time for police and fire officials to do their work. The fire department has 14 days to do an inspection.


Before 2007, the council would grant licenses pending the approvals, and the clerk’s office has issued licenses since 1986, Brett said.

It cost $100 for a five-year repair/body shop renewal.

Cost of a new license is $200, $175 for a newspaper legal ad and $13.34 to notify each abutter.
In one recent auto repair case, an abutter objected to a Slade Street licensee who missed the renewal deadline, requiring a Committee on Regulations hearing before the council granted the license.


“They’re not happy about it. It does cost more money, and you do have to notify abutters,” Brett said.

Later, when Councilor Leo Pelletier asked Brett “is this the right way?” she said, “I think the process works well.” She said no special meetings had been called for those missing renewal deadlines.


Pelletier, joined by Camara and Councilors Pat Casey and Brian Bigelow granted the 11th-hour renewal, strongly objected to by the two councilors criticizing it, Poulin and Raymond Mitchell.


“The point is you’re trying to help your constituents. You put a lot of people to work. I’m glad they didn’t shut him down,” Pelletier said.


Brett said as long as a new license was in process, the city does not take action to close a business. She did not know the legalities of operating without a current license, and said it’s within the council purview to hold a special meeting to avoid it lapsing.


Garcia said he could lose insurance business because some companies operate “by the letter of the law.”


“I’m a little perplexed,” Mitchell said. “I was told things fell through the cracks, that you weren’t notified in a timely manner.


“The thing that concerns me is the precedent we’re setting if we give him the license,” Mitchell said, asking of those that renew late, “Do we have to give everyone a license?”

On Aug. 10, Sidocei Freitas has a hearing before the council for his Pleasant Street repair shop after missing the renewal deadline, Brett said.


Poulin, who questioned and criticized the process at what several councilors predicted would be a brief meeting, said they were sending a wrong message to the city clerk’s office.


“I feel this is undermining them,” Poulin said. He asked if they should tell others to simply seek a special meeting. Poulin also said the delivery of the agendas by taxi to the nine councilors added a cost, and if the meeting had been held on Friday there would have been staff costs.


“He made a mistake. That’s fine. Pay the $500 and start over,” Poulin said. He said the other late businesses did that and continued to operate.

Poulin also questioned if the situation was caused by a mistake. “I’m hearing that when the clerk’s office was calling your attitude was that you weren’t worried about it,” he said. Poulin said he heard the owner would call Camara.


Carl Garcia said he didn’t speak with the clerk or assistant clerk.


Casey and Bigelow spoke glowingly about the longtime business and jobs provided.


“I think you’ve done a very good job there,” Casey said.


“I don’t want to take people’s food out of their mouths,” Bigelow said. “You’ve been great to the city.”


“He didn’t file late after it expired. It just didn’t allow the fire department” to inspect the shop. “He would have wished they were down on the 7th (after filing July 6),” Camara said.


Camara said he’d call special meetings for anyone else needing an extension to keep others working, and was not aware of the others missing renewals this year.


“Prior to 2007, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he said. “I think it needs to change to the way it was.” The council action “is not extraordinary.”


“I felt sorry for the guy. He’s begging to stay open,” Pelletier said.


Turning to Garcia, he said, “You didn’t do anything wrong. You forgot. That’s it.”
E-mail Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com.

I love the way this City Council never ceases to provide us all with a bit of comic relief during news dead periods like these recent scorching summer days.

Take the case of one Carl Garcia, he of the "Carl's Collision Center". Seems Carl's daddy, Manuel Garcia , gifted son Carl with this business to run and to provide wheel barrows fulls of cash to make campaign contributions to Fall River elected officials. How else could dim-bulb, arrogant Carl be placed on Tumbleweed Flanagan's post election Transition team. Stupid and pushy makes a great character in a situation comedy. Combine that with fawning, obsequious, calculating and toady like City Councilors, and you've hit comedy gold!

Seems son Carl forgot to file his facility's license renewal application by the deadline. He wasn't alone, several more garages in town also missed the deadline. Stupid is as stupid does, it happens all the time. In this instance the cost of not timely filing increases one hundred percent, from $100 to $200. But that's just the beginning. Apparently, once that deadline to renew is missed, you actually have to refile for a new license, which means abutters have to be contacted, which can be expensive and tedious, and a separate hearing must be held where each abutter can present reason's why the applicant SHOULD NOT be granted a license. The meetings are public and while most applicants, especially these late renewal applicants, are easily approved, it can get dicey at times. But hey, if your dumb enough to not pay attention and insure your business has a legal license to operate and all of your employees still have jobs, then you have to run this gauntlet of public embarrassment. Unless you are one Carl Garcia de la Contrabuciones Politicos.

What must be listed as one of the great lost opportunities of this young century, for some truly unanticipated reason (I'm choking on my own saliva right now) no local government access cable TV camera's were available to film the emergency session of the City Council to hear this late license renewal. Actually, rumor around the city is that Council President Camara sort of hinted to those running the cameras  there was really no need for them to come in for this inconsequential, very likely quick, emergency Council meeting on a hot and humid summer day, and I'm sure you get the gist of what was really being said. Therefore, no cameras were there, and we were left with only the story appearing in the local rag of rags Herald News(HN), the newspaper that never knew a Mayor, whose editor's husband served on his transition team, that they didn't lovelike.

It's not like adequate notice was not sent.  The overwhelming majority of the city's auto and repair shops responded in timely fashion to license renewal guidelines. But when you are a fave of elected officialdom, you get the benefit of emergency meetings to do your daily business. As the elderly immigrant once said, "AMERICA! WHAT A COUNTRY!"

So the dullard son of Manuel Garcia came before the Council to state his request for renewal of his license and reasons for "tardiness".

AHHHHH....but did it REALLY get "lost" in the mail?

“I’m very sorry that we made a mistake. It got lost in the mail,” Carl Garcia of Carl’s Collision Center said of his notification to apply for a five-year license renewal.

"On June 1 certified letters of license expiration were signed for at the business and the father’s Portsmouth, R.I., home, Brett said.

The letter tells the owner to submit an application and related forms 30 days prior to expiration. An auto body shop requires a police background check and fire inspection.

Carl’s Collision returned the application to the city clerk’s office July 6, Brett said. His fire inspection was done Wednesday, the day after the council’s last regular meeting.

So, brain drain Garcia's dad and the brain drain himself received official, certified letters, which were signed for, and failed to return the renewal documents in a timely fashion. I'm sure Garicia the Major left it up to Garcia the Lesser to handle business. Bad move dad!

That precipitated council President Joseph Camara calling the special meeting after speaking with Carl Garcia, he said."

By the city's own ordinances that means "Carl's Collision Center" has to reapply for licensure. But then, I'm sure, a few phone calls were made and all of a sudden, out of all the late responders, OH-MY-GAWD-WHAT-A-COINCIDENCE-THAT-WOULD-NEVER-HAPPEN-IN-A-MILLION-YEARS City Council President called an emergency for all one of the late dummies, one Carl Garcia de la Contribuciones Politicos. That is Fall River comedy genus on display right there guy! It just doesn't get any funnier than that.

 Unless, of course, you are one of the OTHER late filers who now has to undergo the trial by fire of the new application, public hearing process. Unless, of course, your late application could have been dealt with during this very special emergency City Council meeting apparently called only for Carl Garcia de la Contribuciones Politicos.

When the City Councilors start chiming in, that's when the funny starts:

"In one recent auto repair case, an abutter objected to a Slade Street licensee who missed the renewal deadline, requiring a Committee on Regulations hearing before the council granted the license.

“They’re not happy about it. It does cost more money, and you do have to notify abutters,” Brett said.

Later, when Councilor Leo Pelletier asked Brett “is this the right way?” she said, “I think the process works well.” She said no special meetings had been called for those missing renewal deadlines.

Pelletier, joined by Camara and Councilors Pat Casey and Brian Bigelow granted the 11th-hour renewal, strongly objected to by the two councilors criticizing it, Poulin and Raymond Mitchell. 

The point is you’re trying to help your constituents. You put a lot of people to work. I’m glad they didn’t shut him down,” Pelletier said."

Oh yes, when long time good government fan Leo " "Come to breakfast in my cellar kitchen", said the spider to the fly" Pellitier teams up with Six Fingers Camara, Sportcoat Bigelow and Pat "point me to the exit" Casey to carry the day in a majority vote you KNOW some phone calls had been made sub rosa , or as Leo himself might say " Sure, it ain't, ya know, officially legal or nutthin', but necessary to help a constituent". Talk about a laugh riot! And no, just like Bobby the the brainiac in blue from Fall River and his "Bridget the Midget" episode, YOU CAN"T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!

But it gets better:

" Poulin, who questioned and criticized the process at what several councilors predicted would be a brief meeting, said they were sending a wrong message to the city clerk’s office.


This is undermining them,” Poulin said. He asked if they should tell others to simply seek a special meeting. Poulin also said the delivery of the agendas by taxi to the nine councilors added a cost, and if the meeting had been held on Friday there would have been staff costs.


“He made a mistake. That’s fine. Pay the $500 and start over,” Poulin said. He said the other late businesses did that and continued to operate.


Poulin also questioned if the situation was caused by a mistake. “I’m hearing that when the clerk’s office was calling your attitude was that you weren’t worried about it,” he said. Poulin said he heard the owner would call Camara.


Carl Garcia said he didn’t speak with the clerk or assistant clerk."

Later in the article came these illuminating comments from Sir Leo :

“I felt sorry for the guy. He’s begging to stay open,” Pelletier said.


Turning to Garcia, he said, “You didn’t do anything wrong. You forgot. That’s it.”

NO, I'm sure armed only with the arrogant stupidity of one Carl Garcia de la Contribuciones Politicos could such denials of official contact between himself and the City Clerk's Office be publicly denied and  swallowed hook, line and wingnut by the idiot "too live crew"  that voted for approval. That's comedy. Tragedy too, but comedy always will out when you are talking about the comings and goings of this collection of keen wits and dulled morality on the Fall River City Council!

No , we've been left laughing ourselves into a veritable stupor  for eons watching this City Council, heck , all of this City's elected officials engage in the same kind of double talk jabberwocky before when it comes to screwups and interscessions on behalf of the favored few,  ususally financially powerful or contirbution rich friends of the friends. Sure it happens other places as well but it usually doesn't happen so openly.

At least it's one form of transparency this collection of shepards delivers to we sheep. Thankfully it applied to the curious and funny case of Carl Garcia de la Contribuciones Politicos, aka my dumb kid.