By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

For seven years, contractor Joe Ritchie kept his materials in a Wissinoming yard. Then, one day last month, he found the materials gone.
“I was baffled,” he said.
At first, he thought it was a burglary. He called the police. Later, Northeast Detectives told him that the materials were disposed of by the city’s Community Life Improvement Program, a pilot program in the 6th Councilmanic District that addresses quality-of-life issues.
Ritchie couldn’t understand why his yard, located at 6056 Tackawanna St., was singled out for such a mass cleanup.
He’s been a good tenant, he said, one who’s outlasted numerous families who have lived in the adjoining house. He’s a small-businessman who is licensed and insured and pays his taxes.
“I’ve been here seven years and never had a complaint,” he said.
After getting over the shock of the CLIP cleanup, Ritchie’s mood turned to anger. He lost an estimated $18,000 to $20,000 in materials.
In addition, Ritchie said he was never warned that his yard was about to be cleaned.
Under CLIP guidelines, the city sends a notice to the property owner. In this case, that would be Bob Della Vella.
Della Vella said he would have alerted Ritchie to the problem — had he known himself.
“I did not know about the citations,” said Della Vella, adding that he received one after learning of the cleanup.
Deputy Managing Director Tom Conway, who oversees CLIP, said two violations were mailed to Della Vella, though he can’t explain why they either didn’t arrive or arrived late.
In addition to mailings to property owners, CLIP inspectors are now knocking on doors and leaving letters so tenants can find out personally that they’re in violation. Conway said CLIP is about cleaning up neighborhoods, not collecting fines.
“We want compliance. We’re not trying to be Big Brother, the hammer,” he said.
The dispute has turned into a “he said, he said, he said” debate among the tenant, the property owner and CLIP.
City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.), whose district is home to the CLIP effort, said Ritchie should be compensated if it’s determined that his materials were destroyed unfairly. If no such determination can be made, Ritchie will simply have to go through the appeals process, the councilwoman said.
“I would like to see it settled,” Krajewski said. “If CLIP was wrong, we’ll have to take care of it.”
The dispute will be resolved, one way or the other, by the city’s risk management division.
Conway has reviewed the case and forwarded a recommendation to claims adjuster Charles Zitter. The deputy managing director wouldn’t reveal his recommendation.
“I’m a fair person,” is all he would say.
Other questions remain. Will the city bill Della Vella — who is friendly with Krajewski and Conway — for the cleanup? And will Della Vella continue to rent a property to Ritchie — who isn’t paying rent until the matter is resolved — that is actually zoned residential?
In the last eight weeks, Ritchie has called and written to anyone who’s anyone in city government. He’s stopped by Krajewski’s house. And he’s been profiled on the “What’s Buggin’ You?” segment on Fox 29’s Ten O’Clock News.
Ritchie doesn’t have money to hire a lawyer. He and his girlfriend, Dana Long, are doing all the work.
“They were hoping he would go away,” Long said.
Ritchie, who lives in Holmesburg, wants to be reimbursed and wants to make sure what happened to him isn’t repeated.
“Overall, CLIP is a good program, but it has its flaws,” he said.
One of those flaws, in Ritchie’s opinion, is the lack of effort in contacting tenants in violation.
The contractor said CLIP personnel should have read the two big signs on the property that have his telephone number and called him.
“Believe me, I would have been on it immediately,” he said. “I live in Northeast Philly, too. I like clean neighbors and a nice home.”
In fact, Ritchie said, the yard was recently cleaned by his worker, Bobby Benussi, and Long’s brother, Brian.
The city cleanup crew took lumber, copper, aluminum, doors and 25 sets of step boards ranging from 2 feet to 16 feet in length.
They left bricks and heavy steel.
Ritchie gives Della Vella the benefit of the doubt, blaming the city for what he believes to be a screw-up.
“They knew it wasn’t junk,” he said.
The contractor wants to stay where he is because he likes the location. In addition, he said, Della Vella has been a good landlord, arranging for plumbing and electrical work when necessary.
Ritchie said he’s lost work because of the loss of his materials, and he’s had to purchase new materials to do the jobs since the early October cleanup. A $6,000 patio job in Buckingham is on hold as he tries to recoup his losses.
Now, with winter approaching, business will probably slow down some more.
During the ordeal, Ritchie still has to make his truck payments and pay his workers’ compensation premiums.
The contractor has also felt an obligation to find work for Benussi, who has four kids.
Ritchie isn’t an expert at fighting City Hall. He wants to be reimbursed, so he can go back to pouring concrete, installing siding and performing the other work that contractors do.
No matter how the dispute turns out, Ritchie doesn’t want to repeat it.
“It’s been a nightmare,” he said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com