City officials took action toward closing the city’s Office of Housing Inspection last week, according to employees who work in the five-person municipal office and fear for their jobs. Jude Fitzgibbons, the longtime supervisor of the municipal office, who is charged with ensuring that city buildings are not in violation of the housing code, said that Robert Drasheff, the director of the city’s social service operations, called him last week to notify him that the city was considering closing the office. In remarks at the City Council meeting Wednesday night, Housing Inspector Joe Grossi, who is also president of the Municipal Employees’ Union, said that closing the office would make life more difficult for landlords who are trying to comply with building codes. “Abolishing this office would be the biggest mistake the council ever makes,” said Grossi. “If you close us down, landlords will no longer be able to say, ‘Joe, I couldn’t get an electrician out to take care of that problem this week, can I get another week?’ Big and small landlords work well with us and they will come out and testify on our behalf.” City officials would not say that the decision had been made to eliminate the office, but they did say that it was something that was being considered. “I can confirm that that there is discussion about eliminating that office,” said Public Information Officer Michael Korman. “The state gives municipalities the option to set up its own housing inspection office or mak[ing] use of the state’s inspection program. It’s up to the city, depending on what is best for the taxpayers.” In his remarks in front of the council, Fitzgibbons stressed that he ran a tight ship and that the savings realized in eliminating the $170,000 line item set aside for housing inspection might not be in the best interests of the city. “I’m from the old school,” Grossi said. “I don’t believe in spending the taxpayers’ money on supplies or anything. We have about $1,000 in expenses for supplies. If you come up to our offices it looks like something out of Barney Miller.” Fitzgibbons also detailed several of the Housing Inspection Office’s accomplishments for the council, including its efforts to help residents install smoke detectors in the early 1980s and to modify fire escapes to make them safer. Grossi, who has played a key role in contract discussions with the city, said that he thought the effort to eliminate the office was politically-motivated. “I’m very outspoken,” said Grossi before the meeting. “I have to fight for my members. And after doing that I hear that all of a sudden they want to abolish the little department that I work in. What else could that be but political retaliation? I mean, our department only spends $170,000 a year, so how big a deficit could that fill anyway?”
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