The Metropolitan District Commission has placed a lien for more than $2,000 in unpaid water bills on condos owned by Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra’s husband, Charlie Ortiz.
Ortiz owns a number of properties in the city, including five of the units at 57 John St. where the MDC placed the $2,418 lien.
A spokeswoman for the mayor did not respond to requests for comment.
According to an attorney for the MDC, the lien is on all six units but each unit owes one-sixth the amount. The MDC will release the liens on each unit if its owner pays a proportionate share of the unpaid fees, plus a $26 release fee.
Rising MDC bills has become an issue for some South End residents, says Hyacinth Yennie, chairwoman of the Maple Avenue Revitalization Group.
Yennie said MDC bills have gone up, in some cases more than double, and they “are going out in a threatening way.”
She said one woman with a $900 bill told the MDC she couldn’t pay it all at once. “She was told, ‘No, you better send it all.’”
Carmen Duhaney, a South End resident, said her MDC bill went up from $210 per quarter to more than $400 per quarter. “It’s not affordable,” she said.
“Customer service was very nasty to her,” Yennie said. “They’re like pitbulls.”
Yennie said it’s also important to have oversight of the MDC. “There is no accountability when it comes to spending our money,” she said, explaining voters approved an $800 million MDC project in 2012. “We knew we were going to have to pay, but we didn’t know at what cost.”
“The plan is to have a meeting with the mayor,” Yennie said. “He’s so into this stupid stadium, I’m not sure I can get a word in.”