The View From Prospect Hill

There are no ivory towers here in Somerville. And that is especially true when it comes to substance abuse.

Sadly, that plague has likely been experienced by every member of our community, directly or indirectly. It is too widespread a problem in this world for anyone in our city's neighborhoods not to have a brother, sister, spouse, parent, child or friend caught up in it.

And because we have had that experience as a community we must be sympathetic and supportive of people in recovery trying to get help.

But that doesn't mean we have to tolerate the scam that is going on at 31 Wilton St. for even a second. In that two family house, there are 11 men squeezed into six bedrooms paying $135 a week and getting no treatment or services for their money - just shelter.

The owner's attorney calls it a sober house (sounds more like an illegal rooming house to us) and maintains the city can not regulate it because the people living there are recovering addicts and qualify as disabled under the Fair Housing Act.

Problem is the owners of the house -- Michael Cartolano and Russell Colombo -- are not doing anything for the residents except taking their money. There are no professionals on sight and the only advice on staying sober is: “Go to a meeting.”

The owners and their attorney have found and exploited a legal loophole and now they are making huge profits on the backs of a vulnerable population -- recovering substance abusers.

To make matters worse, neighbors are complaining by the dozen of drug sales, public drunkenness and hypodermic needles originating from the house.

One estimate has close to 30 reputable sober houses in the city. The city has made it clear, it welcomes centers where addicts can receive help and support. The business at 31 Wilton St. is not one of those centers. It is a moneymaking scheme and nothing more.   

Comments

[thenoseknows]

when mayor mike was unhappy about the x-rated video store on the top of winter hill he stationed a cruiser as many times as possible right out front.within a short time the owners business fell way off and he moved to mystic ave.try to keep a high profile on wilton street and see how fast that house is empty. i know it isnt easy but do a lot of passes with the cruiser 24/7 and you'll see a difference.

[Check the Regulations]

Check the regulations. If that is a 'sober house' as has been described, they are not regulated and almost anyone can buy a property, call it a 'sober house' and begin renting space. I'm not sure if the city can do anything about it. On the other hand, true 'halfway houses' are regulated, include frequent testing, as well as strict rules.

[Truth]

Is there not a house like that on Madison street?

[cabbie]

The city cannot roll over and accept this situation. The city owes it to us to fight for our neighborhoods. I am not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure the city has recourse to fight the property owners claim of "reasonable accomation" under the ADA. And I'm fairly certain that the City can regulate how a "clean house" is operated without violating the ADA. A simple regulation requiring 24 hour on-site supervision, or 24 hour on-site security or better yet both, monetarily provided by the "program" of course, and this situation is over. Better yet try to get this over at the State level and similar "clean houses" around the Commonwealth are also over. And for those who would say that this is an "anti-treatment" policy I'll point out that there is no treatment involved in these "clean houses". I'd further argue that they do someone with addiction issues more harm than good.

[JMD]

Like I said in a previous posting, call the police when suspicious activity is taking place or videotape who is going in and out of the house. They are using a legal loophole to benefit themselves financially and it is unfair. They are housing addicts, not recovering addicts.

[It is wrong]

It is wrong and a burden to society to simply arrest substance abusers. They should be forced to do hard labor. The kind of work that illegal aliens do for cheap should be done for free by substance abusers as part of their rehabilitation programs. That will keep their minds off drugs. Freaking losers.

[Ert]

To: it is wrong,

When the government directly benefits for free from the labors of the people who it has decided have broken the laws it has passed you have an incredibly dangerous conflict of interest. Abuses of that sort of system were widespread in the chain gangs of the early 20th century.