The news story of a Waterford, NY family forced from their homes under very deceptive circumstances by VFW post 5800 made the local paper 'The Troy Record' several weeks ago. There is much more to this story than even made the original article. The Waterford VFW, Mayor J. Bert Mahoney and other politicians of the town of Waterford make Scrooge look like Santa Clause.

The story began when a water line broke back in July on the property the Waterford family has rented for the past 27 years to place their mobile home on. They were told by their landlord, which happens to be the Waterford, NY VFW that the water line would be fixed before the cold weather set in. This was important since their source of water was then from a garden hose that led into the house from the VFW and was not a match against a New York winter.

The family was led to believe this would be fixed up until November. In fact, a check for $1,500 was written to the Waterford Water Dept. and cancelled on the day work was to begin on the water line. The Water Dept. was to put in the line leading up to the property and the Riberdy Contracting company had put in a bid for $2,500 to complete the project. The Waterford family was then told after contacting their landlords that they were going to be evicted because the property was not profitable enough to the VFW.

The water hose was set up by the VFW to supply the only running water to the family. A setup the town of Waterford seems to believe to be legal. I have a number of email correspondences from the town, although none were from the mayor. The email correspondences came from town Supervisor John Lawler. I will delve into these more later on in my story. These emails show an incredible lack of sympathy for a family being pushed out of their homes through no fault of their own during the Christmas season.

A key part of this story is the timing. The family was led to believe from July until November that this would be fixed by the VFW. A water hose running on top of the ground is no match for winter temperatures. Fighting an eviction does little good when the home is unlivable without water. These people bring shame to what is usually an honorable organization. This is insidious when you stop and think about it.

The cost to repair this water line was $4,000. Keep in mind that using today's dollars the Waterford VFW has made nearly $100,00 from this family. The upkeep to the VFW for their income? They had to have a tree cut down earlier this year after the power company 'Hawkeye' told them it was a hazard. The family had been threatened with eviction by the VFW because they blamed the family for bringing this up with Waterford mayor J. Bert Mahoney.

Mayor Mahoney Pulling the VFW Strings?

Mayor Mahoney has been said to be a member of the VFW, although I have been unable to confirm that, since he has refused comment to me and would not talk to the 'Troy Record' newspaper reporter who originally ran a story on this. Ironically, about 10 years ago part of the same tree damaged the family's trailer. The family had to foot the bill for the damages. The VFW had refused to trim the tree back then. Needless to say, receiving $100,000 over the years wasn't enough to justify a $4,000 repair to keep the property viable. It is hypocrisy to say the least, since the property is worth less without a legal water setup.

If the hypocrisy isn't bad enough, someone stepped up from a local water department and offered to fix this for free on the day the story was published in the newspaper. In fact, he was prepared to fix it that very week. This generous offer fizzled out quickly. Gary Reynolds, who works for the Troy, NY Water Department made the offer.

Aside from the illegal setup and using the cold weather to force a family out of their homes at Christmas time, the reaction from the town of Waterford, the local VFW responsible for this and even the national VFW is astonishingly cold and lacking of compassion. I have email correspondence that shows this incredible lack of regard for these unfortunate people.

VFW Hides Behind Lawyer

I contacted the head of the Waterford, NY VFW Gerald Linen by email asking him for comment on this and received a reply back from him. That was on November 30th. I gave him my number the next day at his request. He finally got back to me on December 10th by email. Here is Mr. Linen's response, in his own words and spelling:

hello Mr la barge We had are meeting with the state VFW officials and with are attorney and are taken the advice of are attorney to have no further comment for the press. Thank you Gerald C Linen commander VFW post 5800

Does that sound like something coming from people who feel they are in the right? Getting advice from an attorney? It sounds to me like people who are hoping this story goes away. Be careful who you donate your money to. It could be used to get lawyers to protect the recipients when they hurt innocent people. What can the VFW commander say at this point? Even with the 'Troy Record' article, there has been no attempt to defend this indefensible action. Even under more pressure there is still no comment at all from these people? No defense offered? Can there really be one? Not even any sympathy offered for the pain their actions have caused. That part is shocking to me.

In fact, they misled reporter Danielle Sanzone that they were considering buying out the trailer from the family and having it removed. However at the very same time the papers were drawn up by the lawyer for the VFW telling the family the the mobile home must be removed by the end of the year. What kind of people are these? I also have a copy of an email from the Record's reporter verifying that. She said "They told me they were thinking about obtaining the trailer and getting rid of it."

Aside from their misleading ways, there is apparently another dirty deed in regards to the removal of the mobile home. A neighbor offered to dismantle the home and remove it for the family, only to be rebuffed by the VFW. They will not allow that to take place on their property. Haven't they done enough to this family?

The reporter also stated she heard they wanted to sell the site to a developer. It would be interesting to see how the town is involved in that deal down the road. Given the suspicious circumstances surrounding all this, it would be an explanation for the town's silence. Town officials probably wouldn't want residents to know they may actually be paying for putting a family out of their home at the holidays.

National VFW Shows No Regard to the Family Victims

I thought the national VFW was going to step up, but unfortunately they did not issue a statement of any kind condemning this. I was told via Cc email that they were sending people from the NY state VFW to find out what was going on here. That matches with what Gerald Linen said above. The people involved in these correspondences from the national/state VFW were: Assistant Director of Administrative Operations David Prohaska and State Adjutant Art Koch III.

David,

I forwarded this to our State Commander. He and the County Council Commander are going to meet with the post this week end to get this resolved. We will keep you posted.

Art

I was expecting to hear back from them. However, I did not. I sent a followup a couple weeks later asking for a comment on the situation and received no answer at all. Obviously they were concerned enough to send people out to investigate this. It is not a surprise that they cannot defend what has happened, but it is a surprise they did not have the character to speak against what this local branch has done or offer any sympathy for the family frozen out of their home at Christmas time. This organization receives an enormous amount of money from donations. What do they do with that money? Get lawyers? These are supposed to be honorable men. I am quite sure that the majority of courageous members that make up this group nationwide would be ashamed and angry at what this small subsection has done.

Waterford, NY Elected Officials Turn Backs on Family

I was very surprised by the reaction of the town of Waterford. I contacted mayor Mohoney via email. He never responded back. I gave him the opportunity to react to what was going on in his town. I also explained that he was implicated in this mess. This according to a member of the local VFW who said the mayor was a member and that he regularly sits in on meetings.

In addition, over the summer the father of the family quoted the mayor as saying that the mobile home was an eyesore and that he wanted it gone. This comment was made when the VFW had to cut down a tree on the property. Mayor Mahoney lives 4 houses away from the family forced from their home. The father of the family did not live with them, but was speaking up on their behalf at the time when the tree was endangering the safety of the family. If the mayor did not like the mobile home being on the property there had to be a better way than this. Right after finding out that the local VFW had reneged on their promise to fix the water line the daughter of the family sent a lengthy heartfelt letter to Waterford mayor Mahoney. His only response back was brief and callous:

Rebekah, This matter does not involve the Village of Waterford. Any comments or questions should be directed to the VFW.
J. Bert Mahoney
Mayor
Village of Waterford

Very sympathetic, don't you think? I know he was aware of my own efforts to contact him, because the town supervisor did get back to me and included the mayor in all correspondence. Sadly, the town supervisor did little but circle the wagons as far as the town is concerned. I had an ongoing dialogue with him. He included numerous others in his email from the town which included the following people, some of whom I tried to get comment from: Laurie Marble, Jim Boudreau, David Ball, Liz Callaghan, Mayor Mahoney and Mary Shannon Carrigan.

None of those people would respond. Not a single reaction of sympathy for a needy family that was treated in such an incredibly terrible fashion. I all but told them what to do. In one email I said:

I am a little surprised by what may appear to some to be a united front of silence. I really did not expect that. I think the leader(s) of the town might be expected to comment on such a story, as for others I figured it was an opportunity and not something to shy away from. To be honest I did not expect a response from the mayor, given the short response above (to the family member) and the unwillingness to discuss this with the Troy Record reporter prior to that story's publication.

All town supervisor Jack Lawler could do was carefully select his words in what appeared to be an effort to try to protect any involvement or liability the town may have had. His final email to me really summed it up. After repeatedly asking him for a statement from the town and receiving several emails back over the course of a week I finally was able to get a comment:

Mr. LaBarge Here is my comment, as promised: It is always unfortunate whenever anyone is forced to move from their home and I certainly sympathize with the Roy family's situation. However, this is strictly a matter between the a landlord, the VFW, and their tenant, the family. The VFW apparently made a decision that they no longer wanted to rent property to the Roy family. No town codes or laws were violated in that decision, and the town frankly had no right to interfere in the VFW's decision. I am very glad that the Roy family was able to find alternative living accommodations before the holidays. Best Regards, John Lawler

Note: Mr. Lawler's attempt to make it sound like a happy ending was wrong. When he wrote that there were indeed people still living there and of course, just because people are not homeless doesn't make everything right. Any happy endings would not be thanks to the town, that's for sure. Not even a bake sale for God's sake. I wonder what else was more important at that time in such a small town that not one Waterford elected official could do or say anything about the way this family was being pushed out of their home at the holidays?

Despite a front page local newspaper article and plenty of pressure from myself and the family there still has been no public statement regarding what has been done here. Just an email message from the supervisor that was not easy for me to get. They didn't even have the decency or the political smarts to address the Troy Record story about a family that was deceived and left for dead in their small town. That aside there are some interesting things in that statement. "No town codes or laws were violated." The eviction process from the town's perspective may have been legal, but there were obviously town codes broken for some time. For starters how about the family not having a legal water setup?

There was also an illegal electrical setup coming into the house. The power company Hawkeye complained about the electrical setup earlier in the year when they were installing lines in the area. The town has been aware of those for some time. This was also a front page story in the local newspaper. The VFW has been aware of it for a long time obviously and the mayor lives 4 houses away. I think you can see from their response that they are not people who can be believed/trusted.

Based on information included here and other things I have been told, it is my opinion that Mayor Mahoney was behind this terrible injustice. His motives appear to be rooted in pure selfishness.

As of this writing the family still has a right to the property. They have until the end of the year according to the letter from the lawyer representing the "landlords." Not to mention any time they would have following an eviction and fight. These are not legal setups and the town knows. Why hasn't the VFW been forced by the town to fix these violations? I'm not a lawyer, but I do own a copy of the NY State renter's rights guide. I don't know how it is acceptable for a family to live with illegal water and electrical hookups. The electrical setup has no doubt been illegal/dangerous for years. It's a safety and health issue. Not that the town of Waterford cares about such things. Certainly the VFW has shown how much they care.

I do not know how leading a family into believing this was going to be fixed and then pulling the rug out from them when the weather makes it impossible for them to fight it can be acceptable behavior. Is it legal? Is there no liability for the tactics used and the pain inflicted? Again, I am not a lawyer, but it seems like this is at the least an attempt to slide through a loophole. The family lived here for 27 years. Was there no expectation of electricity and running water? Would people be allowed to live like that in this Waterford, NY town? The decisions made here appear to be based in the hope that the story goes away and that the family is of limited means to fight.

I am not sure what is worse with this story. The dirty tactics used to get a family out of their home of 27 years in the cold and during the Christmas season or the total lack of compassion from those who would be expected to be honorable people. The VFW and the supposed servants of the people. There are not many stories sadder than this one. The people from the VFW and the elected officials of Waterford, NY should be ashamed indeed. I feel sorry for the family members of these cold individuals. They bring shame on the innocent residents of this area and on the honorable Veterans that are out there. None of the parties involved here have disputed any of this story despite numerous email correspondence and the newspaper story. I have given them more than ample opportunity myself. I think it is simply a case of hoping there is no liability and that the story goes away. That seems obvious to me.

Please feel free to pass this story on to others. I have all emails relating to this story and you can find contact information for the parties involved here as well. You know the people responsible for this are hoping for this story to go away quietly. The newspaper that covered this story is not a big one. This story deserves much more attention and people deserve to know what has been done here. So email, link, print/pass it around. Mail it out. Whatever... Whether you pass it on to one or many, I believe it is a good deed. Hopefully, God willing, by this time next year the whole area and beyond will know what happened here in this small town in upstate New York.

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