When I returned from putting my clothes in a washing machine, I encountered belongings blocking my way in the hall. Two men appeared coming from outside. One moved enough of the stuff so that I could pass. I spoke to them explaining that when they were present having the door propped open was no problem. But when no one was there that they should not do that because it was a security issue. The taller gentleman said he was a mover and just doing his job. He asked me who provides security for this building. I said the lock does. He became aggressive as if I was causing the problem.
He asked me, "Are you security?" I explained I was a tenant. I asked if the tenant who was moving was in the building. He said the tenant was not present. I asked if the tenant gave him a key to the building. He said no. He asked, "What are you going to do, call the police?" He sounded as if this was an emotional issue for him as if he dared me to call the police. He said "Are you threatening me?" I said I was not, and that I was telling him what I was going to do. I removed some of the tape that kept the door open and retreated to my apartment.
At about 3:45 PM I called to the HRES (Harvard Real Estate Services maintenance) phone and dialed the digit for an emergency. A man who gave his name as Paolo said he was Harvard Operations Center. I explained the situation to him and asked him to solve the problem. He asked me if I wanted to talk to the HUPD. I said I did not, knowing how they like to harass me, to ridicule me, and to arrest me. I told Mr. Paolo that this was wasting my time, and that Harvard was not paying me to do security for them. He agreed that he was speaking for Harvard and that he was being paid by Harvard to answer the phone, and that I was not being paid.
At about 4:10 PM I went to the basement to retrieve my laundry and to place it in the dryer. The front door to 85 Prescott Street was open and now had a bungee cord wrapped around the door handle (See photos below). I brought my still camera with me. Before taking any photos, the taller gentleman warned me that I cannot record anything without his permission. I did not wish to discuss law with him. I waited until he left the building and took a photo of the belongings in the hall (see below photo) and the door propped open (see two photos below).
I went outside and took photos of the truck and the two gentlemen movers. When the taller gentleman said to me, "Now you are beginning to piss me off," I again retreated to my apartment.
At about 4:30 PM I called to the Cambridge Police front desk (Officer McCarthy) to speak with the Shift Commander (Lt. Doyle). Cambridge police dispatchers often and most of the time divert my calls to the HUPD which does not respond at all. The dispatchers do that even when a city ordinance is allegedly violated. My several written and oral complaints to Cambridge City Government about this police dispatcher abuse, were ignored. HUPD does not have jurisdiction to enforce city ordinances. The dispatchers know this. One Cambridge supervising officer suggested asking for the Shift Commander to get a Cambridge officer to respond. Lt. Doyle agreed to send a Cambridge patrol car.
At about 4:40 PM someone knocked at my door while I was speaking to Lt. Doyle. I ignored it. A short time later (when I was not on the phone) someone again knocked on my door. When I asked who it was, a woman announced that she was a tenant at 85 Prescott Street. I opened the door and Ms. Jasmine Tolet said she wanted to know what the problem was. She said, "We're moving out. What's the problem?"
I explained the open door security problem and the response of her movers. When I referred to "the two movers," she said "There are three." She asked why I did not speak with her. I explained the movers told me she was not in the building. She announced that she was a lawyer and that the lease did not require her to keep the door closed when she moved in or out. I explained that I was not her landlord, that I was a tenant concerned about my physical safety and the safety of my property. I told Ms. Tolet, that one apartment had the door removed during a burglary; that during current construction I saw one contractor trying the doors to apartments to see if any were open. I've seen apartment doors left open by HRES employees after doing maintenance, when the tenants were not present.
I told her when I moved into the building I paid a man to stand at the door to watch the entrance. I told Tolet I've had this discussion with Harvard's Office of General Counsel on three occasions over 15 years and that they agreed with me. The difficulty is that Harvard Real Estate employees and HUPD do not agree that leaving locked doors propped open is a security issue. On many occasions over 15 years HRES and HUPD left locked doors propped open for their convenience. I believe that one Harvard senior was denied her degree because she left a dorm door open for her friends who later shot and killed a Cambridge man in the dorm.
Tolet told me that I was not allowed to take photos of her movers. I explained to her that on the street people give an implied consent to be photographed. She used the word record. I noticed that she held her cell phone in her hand and the screen was lit. Was she making an audio record contrary to law? I told her I did many years of legal research and that I knew a little law. I suggested that she did not know the law regarding this matter. She said, "I do not want to discuss law with you." She did not add, "you ignorant pig."
At about 5:00 PM two Cambridge officers (one was Officer McDavit) knocked on my door. I related a brief history of the problem--HUPD, Dispatchers, open doors, security, and the immediate problem. They agreed that my concerns were merited; then suggested that they would compromise by asking the movers to keep the door closed when they were not there, which is all I asked initially. Defending the concern of others being photographed, one officer revealed that "people are paranoid" about having their pictures taken. They left to speak with the movers who were still with their truck on Prescott Street.
At about 8:50 PM the moving truck was no longer parked on Prescott Street. But the front door remained tied open with the bungee cord. So much for consideration from Harvard lawyers. It is obvious where Obama learned to disrespect voters and taxpayers.
Truck license Plate is from Oklahoma
Sometime after August 6, 2010 this sign appeared in the basement on the door which was frequently left propped open over night. Here is an example of what is wrong with bureaucracy even at prestigious Harvard University, which educated the current President and the contributed the newest woman Supreme Court Justice. Well funded maintenance allows for efficient repairs and upgrades to bricks and mortar. "Would that it were" (as US Sen. John Kerry would say), the same for government bureaucracies. Alas Harvard sends the best and the brightest, the highest scoring lawyers to run governments at all levels. They bring along little common sense and questionable rectitude. Is it any wonder why this over rated university cannot get simple signs straight for its students and administrators? If the door must remain closed at all times what is the purpose of having a door at all? Why not just say do not prop it open? Unless as Barack Obama believes, words have no meaning other than to mislead voters and taxpayers.
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