PORTLAND, Maine — Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rosa Scarcelli, who launched two recent lawsuits against her mother, has prevailed in one of them.
The Portland businesswoman, who rose in profile with an unsuccessful campaign for the 2010 party gubernatorial nomination, convinced U.S. District Court Judge George Z. Singal that her mother, Pamela Gleichman, was improperly attempting to sell a low-income housing development in Connecticut for personal gain.
Gleichman and Scarcelli are both partners in the legal group that controls the 42-unit Oak Knoll Apartments in Norwalk, Conn.
Singal ruled in favor of Scarcelli in the case Thursday, making permanent an injunction forcing Gleichman to secure the written consent of Scarcelli and Christopher Coggeshall, a project stakeholder representing the Promenade Trust, before selling the complex. The judge also agreed with Scarcelli that Gleichman is not entitled to any proceeds generated from such a sale, if it were to happen.
Scarcelli and Gleichman are adversaries in another case playing out in U.S. District Court as well. In that suit, Scarcelli is attempting to prove that she is the legal majority owner of GN Holdings, a low-income housing development firm, in part to establish her authority to fire Gleichman from managing a slate of subsidized apartment complexes in Maine.
In both cases, Scarcelli is alleging that her mother is not adequately maintaining the housing projects. In the GN Holdings case, Gleichman and her husband, Karl Norberg, have countersued, claiming in part that Scarcelli improperly used her stake in the shared projects for personal expenses, including to help fund her political campaign — claims Scarcelli has sought dismissal of.
In the Oak Knoll case, Scarcelli hopes Thursday’s decision by Singal paves the way for reinvestment into the Connecticut property, not the sale of it, Scarcelli’s attorney said Friday.
“She wants to bring forward clean, affordable housing for people, and we believe money should be infused into that project and not used for other purposes,” said Paul Driscoll of the Portland law firm Norman, Hanson & DeTroy. “It won’t be at risk of being sold and the money misapplied elsewhere.”
Driscoll said his team was able to prove in court that Gleichman intended to sell the Oak Knoll project in an effort to help turn around her troubled personal finances.
“As a result of Pamela Gleichman’s adverse financial circumstances, Pamela Gleichman has exercised her powers as managing general partner in Oak Knoll LP solely for the benefit of her personal circumstances to the clear and obvious detriment to the other general partner and the limited partner in Oak Knoll LP,” wrote Scarcelli’s attorneys in a court filing, a statement declared to be factual in Singal’s ruling.
Neither Gleichman nor any attorney representing her filed a response to the lawsuit. In the concurrent GN Holdings case, attorneys representing Gleichman, Norberg and GN Holdings were allowed to withdraw because of what the attorneys described as a dispute with the couple over payment, leaving the defendants without current legal counsel.
“If someone doesn’t answer [a lawsuit], that’s obviously bad for them,” Driscoll said. “But the party bringing the case still has to prove the case, and provide evidence to support that case.”
must be nice at family picnics…………..
Do you think they have them?
If I’m reading this right Rosa isn’t giving her mother any money, so her mother can’t defend herself.
Her mother give half the properties to her in the first place.
WOW!!!
You are reading it 100% wrong, if that’s what you somehow took away from this article.
Scarcelli and her mother invested together in affordable housing units as a non-profit venture. Since that time, her mother’s financial situation has deteriorated to the point where she wanted to break the fair housing rules and sell-off the properties for personal profit (and prior to that was not willing to invest in keeping the units up to standard). Scarcelli refused to let her, and took her to court to stop it from happening. The judge has ruled–correctly–that her mother cannot sell the properties (which is also fair because Scarcelli’s mother’s financial troubles include a large debt owed to Scarcelli herself).
So I’m not sure where you got the impression you did. But hopefully that clears things up.
where does it say she owes her daughter money?
Fair enough. It does NOT say that in this article. It was something I picked up from another story, but as I can not find a link, it wasn’t right of me to include it in the list of “facts.”
I agree with you. The folks who are disagreeing with you and making the smarmy comments about Rosa should click on the links at the end of the story. After reading them carefully they may understand that they do not know what they are talking about.
Rosa never invested with her mother.. Her mother owned everything and gave Rosa a graduation present.
Don’t forget my former offer Mrs. Gleichman. If you need a daughter, I’m available. I miss my mother who passed in 1981.
Train wreck.
Her mother is not doing anything good to help with the properties, only taking money and neglecting the properties. Do not forget, this is not her mothers first time down the bad finances road.
All of this aside, a mother and daughter should not be so at odds with one another.
As half owner, should she be bringing something to the table as well as Mom?
where did scarcelli get the properties to begin with? did she purchase them with her mother? or were these ‘family’ assets?
Is there a website?
http://images1.fanpop.com/images/photos/1200000/As-The-World-Turns-cbs-1279904-800-600.jpg
Love it!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8XtvdYVz-7Y/TzDlL7eOoPI/AAAAAAAAWz8/TuCh6zW-EW8/s1600/mommiedearest02.jpg
Glad she’s not MY kid.
Nice!!! Sue your Mom!
Nice!! Steal from your child!
I see a politician, not quite to the point of fledgling her wings, trying to secure funding for future campaigns. The unfortunate irony is she sued her mother to get where she wants to go and potential supporters may frown on it. Although her political morals may be just and amicable, her otherwise limitless direction may be somewhat guided.
“Battle of the Democrat Slumlords”
The ONLY thing Scarcelli has done wrong here is that she made the mistake of getting involved in business with untrustworthy family members. Every action she has taken in this case has been in the interest of maintaining fair housing standards and not allowing her former business partner (who is her mother) to sell affordable housing units for personal gain. Period.
Criticize her for a failure in judgement for trusting her mother, but don’t pretend she’s the one doing something wrong here.
again you don’t know,she may just be suing to cover up her real motive.or not.but you don’t know by this article alone who is in the right or wrong.just because they proved their case in the court doesn’t mean they told the truth.
That is a completely ridiculous thing to say. You are essentially claiming that it is impossible to ever comment on anything because we don’t *know* that the media, the person the story was about, and the courts didn’t ALL get it wrong.
I can hear my mother now…Just wait until I tell your father that you’re suing me.
Edited.
not news at all! must be slow at BDN
I’m apalled at Rosa for bringing suit against her parents and apalled at her parents for raising a child that would. Greed , greed greed !
I think this is what happened. Norberg, who is Scars husband, is the brother of Norberg in the Naked Gun series, who just happen to be OJ Simpson. Norberg, in this case, has it out for his mother-in-law. Be aware of the family you’re dealing here Mrs. Gleichman.
Welcome to another exciting episode of Dysfunctional Family Feud!
Oh Rosa – there goes your Thanksgiving invitation.
Reality TV? Move over Octomom, outa the way Ozzie!
maybe they should continue the Maine Housing investigation and check into this family that has prospered on the backs of taxpayers for years.