Pittsfield Council Candidate Airs Her Side Of Legal Battle With City
  Tammy Ives met with iBerkshires on Friday to discuss both her campaign and the status of a civil lawsuit between her and the city. |
The Sadler Avenue resident aired her side of the story about ongoing litigation between her and the city on Friday as she embarks a campaign for City Council.
The city and Ives are battling in Berkshire Superior Court over the demolition of her condemned garage, which burned last March, as well as a cease and desist order stopping her from operating what they call a scrap yard and she calls a hobby.
"It is not like we are in a dispute with the city saying 'we're not taking this down.' It's ugly. It's burnt. We can't have access to it even if we needed access to it. It is condemned," Ives said on Friday about the garage that is still standing.
"We have no use for that garage and we'd like it to come down but it is the insurance company. They aren't releasing the funds and we don't have the funds to tear it down on our own."
The stone structure burned on March 23, 2014, and the next day the Fire Department ruled that it was unsafe because some of the support beams have been damaged. The building inspector then condemned the structure. Ives said her family has been working with their insurance company but the funds and contract to remove the structure hasn't been issued yet and she can't afford the demolition on her own.
During the process of the city condemning the garage, items she was taking to a scrap yard was added to the city's citations against her. The Board of Health and building inspector's departments both ruled that she is operating a scrap yard. She says she isn't.
"We work with the elderly and we have worked with Pittsfield schools. We work with Berkshire Housing and individual people. It is people who can't afford to bring their stuff to the dump. We go there and pick it up for free. We help them if they are moving and we clean out their houses. We bring their stuff to the dump," Ives said. "We have some stuff in our yard that we scrap."
Ives said she never has more than what her vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, can fit at one time and the materials are never stored for more than a weekend - with most of the items going on and off the property in less than 24 hours.
"This whole production is behind our stockade fence," Ives said.
In June 2014, the building inspector's office issued a cease and desist order. By September, the Board of Health said it could see "trash and rubbish" on the property in violation of city codes and the garage was still standing. The Board of Heath, too, ruled that it was a scrap-metal operation.
"The city is trying to say that I am running a scrap yard like I have crushing machines on my property," Ives said. "I don't know where they are coming up with this. You can't see behind the fence. You don't know what I have behind there."
The Board of Health issued a cease and desist letter that October. By November, a neighbor complained to the building department that Ives continued to operate a scrap yard.
In Berkshire Superior Court documents, the city included letters from both Ives and her father showing the family had intentions of running a recycling business. Those letters are addressed to the building department. Ives, however, says that it isn't a business right now.
"It is like a community service. I don't charge anybody anything," Ives said, adding that some of the items brought back to her home are donated if they work and her only payment is that she keeps any money on the items that need to be scrapped.
Nonetheless, the city continues to fine the family for failing to comply with orders - fines the family refuses to pay. That led the city to ultimately take Ives to court, filing the suit in December.
The current case isn't the first foray into Superior Court for Ives; she's been listed as the plaintiff in at least three other cases. She's also filed no-trespass orders and harassment accusations against the city and inspectors.
She initially took the city to court over issues relating to the inspections. Those cases have all been closed while the city's lawsuit against her is still active. The next court date is in the end of September.
Ives says the issues all stem from a neighborhood dispute over no-parking signs. Ives said she was concerned with the neighbor across the street parking directly behind her driveway. The narrow road made it difficult for her to navigate out of her driveway. After talking led to no resolution, she petitioned the city to put up no-parking signs on the side of the street. The Traffic Commission at the time felt it was warranted for public safety.
Those signs triggered a neighborhood dispute that eventually led to her spray painting "FU" followed by the house numbers of neighbors she believes have wronged her.
After the signs were installed, the neighbors snapped photos of items she was holding on her property to take to the scrap yard and submitted them to Ward 1 Councilor Lisa Tully, Ives contends. Ives says Tully then ushered in the first inspections and fines for operating a scrap metal business. The fire and delay in removal of the garage then linked the two disparate complaints into one case.
That started the court case and on the home front, Ives said there are some neighbors who have threatened her and her children, made sexual gestures toward her, and swears at her family.
"My fence, on the front, does have a large FU. It does have house numbers on it," Ives said. "Each house number represents a person who did something to us."
She said she painted that on the fence after being given so much grief from the neighbors.
"All we want to do is be left alone," Ives said.
All of that happened between the time Ives first tried to run for City Council. She's kept up with the city's issues since then and is launching another campaign. However, she hopes to clear up any confusion about the cases as the campaign begins to ramp up. iBerkshires.com will have more about her bid for public office in the coming days.
Tags: candidates, election 2015,
