Krom Responds to Health Department Assertions

Ron Krom, Director of St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen has sent a point by point refutation of some of the assertions made in a letter the Health Department sent to Mayor Sebastian Giuliano and the Common Council.



Mayor and Members of the Council



I know that the following letter to you from Sal Nesci was not directed to me, but since I've seen a copy, I cannot ignore many of the statements that were made in it. In the spirit of providing accurate information on this topic, I would like to offer the following. My comments follow each of the bullets in Sal's letter. I would be happy to speak with any of you regarding this matter at any time.



Ron Krom

Executive Director

St. Vincent DePaul Place



The following is the letter from Sal Nesci:



Gerry/Tim/Mayor/Council...

I do understand that you all have been getting lots of calls and emails about the alleged cease and desist order issued to St. Vincent DePaul Place. First of all, I want to make it clear that it is with the most heavy of hearts that I, as well as Dr. Havlicek and Manfred Rehm of the Health Department, had to put our signature on a legal notice to St. Vincent DePaul. A legal notice is not a cease and desist order. It is a written notification following an inspection or investigation resulting in the discovery of a violation. It allows the individual two weeks to seek a modification of the said practice in order to assure state compliance. Failure to comply usually results in the issuance of a legal order...for food service its usually 30 days. Failure to comply with the legal order Iusually results in the revocation of the license or abatement of the violation.



I've not used "cease and desist" at all. I've been clear in all that I've said and written that the legal notice comes as a CT DPH Food Inspection Report violation. I've also been clear that the legal notice I received said that "failure to correct the outstanding violation will result in the issuance of legal orders and . . . this may put your license to distribute food and beverage within the City of Middletown in jeopardy of being revoked."



For the record:The health department was never aware that the soup kitchen was open on Sunday's until about a month ago. In fact Inspector Rehm was told on numerous occasions that the soup kitchen is only open Monday through Friday. He has been told that by Ron Krom for several months.



It is unfortunate that this has now become a "he said, she said" - I have no recording of our conversations. However, neither I nor our Soup Kitchen Coordinator has ever said that we are only open Monday through Friday. I personally have never been asked that question. What reason would I have to hide the days of the week that we're open? In fact, I'm proud of the fact that we serve 363 days a year and we tell that to every funder, including the City of Middletown in our CDBG grant application every year for more than a decade. It says "Our Soup Kitchen is open seven days a week, 363 days a year." Granted, the health department doesn't see that application or my reports, but why would I tell the health department "on numerous occasions" that we are only open from Monday through Friday? For the record we're also open on Saturdays for breakfast and lunch, in addition to Sunday evenings for dinner.



The health department was never aware that the one meal that was served on Sunday nights was provided by area churches under the supervision of a soup kitchen staff member.



Yes they were. I personally told Fred Rehm this back in February or March when he came to ask me questions about the Food Not Bombs group. I remember telling him that I didn't know much about the Food Not Bombs meal, that it was served outside the Soup Kitchen by folks who were not connected to us. At that time I mentioned that our meals were on Sunday evenings.



The health department was never aware that a portion of this Sunday night meal was prepared in private homes and transported to the soup kitchen.



I believe that they were not aware of this until sometime near the end of August. On September 2, Fred Rehm was in my office and I confirmed that this was the case.



When we were made aware that this activity was possibly happening, we approached Ron Krom to ask if it is true and he stated to us that he has a criteria he uses to assure food coming in on Sunday night meets state code requirements and to the best of his knowledge it does. I stated to him that if that is the case than he is to continue his current practice and we as a health department will work with the area churches to educate them on proper donation procedures.



In fact, I assured them that the food comes from many home kitchens. Sal stated to me over the phone that I should continue my current practice and that he would work with the churches.The health department then sent a memo to all area churches reminding them that all charitable contributions made in the name of their organization should be that of non perishable food or food prepared in their licensed kitchens. The memo was sent on Sept 8, "reminding" churches that "all food contributions to any charitable event should be prepared on the premises in your kitchen currently licensed by the Middletown Health Department." The churches were confused - this was received more as a directive than a reminder. The only thing they remember is that they've been involved in this ministry for almost 30 years. I began to get calls asking "what's this about?" "Can we still serve our meal on Sunday?" "Will we be allowed to bring cupcakes that are baked in our parishioners' homes?"



At a recent hearing at DPH regarding Food Not Bombs, Mr. Krom was called as a witness and gave sworn testimony that he does in fact receive a portion of his Sunday night meal from private home kitchens which is in violation of the state health code. In fact he gave very specific examples of certain foods he receives from private kitchens on a regular basis.



This is true - I did not say anything that I had not already told Mr. Rehm and Mr. Nesci.



Because of the statement he made, we were required by virtue of the professional licenses we hold to confirm this and take appropriate steps to assist in the modification of the current practice. The very next day, Inspector Rehm visited Mr. Krom and Mr. Krom re-affirmed the statements he made in his sworn testimony the day before.



Why at the time of this hearing? Why not on September 2?



The notice sent does not pertain to the general operations of the facility Monday-Friday. It is only relative to a small percentage of the food distributed on Sunday night.



Not true. We receive sandwiches during the week from non-licensed kitchens. They come from families, church receptions, student classrooms, sunday school/catechism classes and more. At least a part of every meal, every Sunday night, is prepared in home kitchens. Last year we served 4133 meals on Sunday nights, or an average of 80 meals each Sunday. This is a significant part of our program and the need is growing. We are already serving 15% more people than this time last year.



To the issue of discretion:As we understand it, we are only talking about a percentage of the Sunday night meal in question. Relative to that, we believe that a viable solution would be to encourage donors continue using the licensed kitchens at their churches and to donate commercially prepared and prepackaged food that could be heated and served on the premises whereby eliminating the issue of cooking in their own homes. As we understand it, many churches already donate commercially prepared and prepackaged food to the soup kitchen. We are willing to work with any group that cannot readily comply and come to a code compliant resolution to anyone organizations concern and willingness to feed the hungry.



In some cases, it is the entire Sunday meal that comes from homes. Some of the smaller faith communities are able to participate in this program precisely because they can get their parishioners to sign up and make casseroles or desserts at home. If they were required to gather a group on a Sunday afternoon in a licensed kitchen, some have said they would not be able to participate. It isn't only about having a licensed kitchen - it's about gathering a group of people to prepare the meal.



We are in no way intending on revoking the license of St. Vincent DePaul. If we are put in a position where further code enforcement is required, we would only be seeking to curtail the distribution of food during the Sunday night program in that we need to assure that home cooked food is not distributed.



If there is no intention of revoking the license, then why include that language in the Legal Notice that they sent to me?



The health department is not looking to shut down thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinners. We are willing to work with any organization to make sure that there is a way to cook all turkeys. Just off the top of my head, we could utilize fraternal organization kitchens, school kitchens, church kitchens and restaurant kitchens. We just need to know how many turkeys need to be cooked.



There are turkeys, pies, breads, and more. I don't dispute that it may be possible to have this all prepared in licensed kitchens. If that is necessary, I would appreciate the assistance of the Health Dept to coordinate all that. Right now it is coordinated by the faith communities and a few volunteers who spend countless hours to put on these meals.



The Middletown health department values the security and safety of food distribution. It is our belief that the hungry and homeless of our community deserve the same rights and privileges in a free meal as paying customers at a restaurant do. All restaurants are inspected for compliance of their general practices regularly and that food is acquired from approved sources. Shouldn't the patrons of St. Vincent DePaul on Sunday nights receive the same consideration? That goes to the same position with Food Not Bombs?



St. Vincent DePaul Place values security and safety of food distribution too. And we absolutely believe that the poor and homeless of our community deserve the same rights and privileges as everyone. Don't they deserve a home cooked meal too? A license does not guarantee food safety. We take food safety very seriously and ensure the proper heating, refrigeration, storage, and serving protocols. We also have a 30-year history of serving food to this vulnerable population and no one can remember any incidence of food poisoning. Can the same be said for all the licensed restaurants in town?



Any resolution or change to current city ordinance regulating the distribution of food and beverage cannot supersede current state statute or health code.

We are encouraged by the activity on the State level to change this law. Today's Courant reports that legislators were "dumbfounded" to learn that state laws prohibit the longstanding practice of parishioners preparing meals in their homes for shelters and food kitchens. There is a bipartisan movement to get this legislative change onto the implementer bill, and Governor Rell has said that she supports that too.



Food safety and security has taken a front line position in our national security post 9/11 and much time, energy and money have been spent in the way of agro terrorism. To compromise our interpretation of code regulation, we are minimizing state and federal efforts of homeland security and safety.

Just because every other town "compromises their interpretation of the code" doesn't make it right. I get that. But to not do so threatens our ability to provide nutritious meals to the poor of our community. Somehow, some way, I believe that we can find an answer. And hopefully the State law is changed very quickly.



***We had a very productive meeting this morning with Peter Harding, who as you know is the former director of St. Vincent DePaul. He is willing to work with us to achieve compliance. It is his understanding, as it is ours, that the entire situation has been blown way out of proportion and the issue we are dealing with in this legal notice is small in comparison to what the media and blogs have turned it into. He has assured me that together we will come to and understanding where we will be able to put this issue to rest without compromising the mission of the soup kitchen as well as our professional integrity. My spirit is strong in this regard and we will work to do what ever we can to make this happen. I will keep you posted.



I'm glad that Peter is willing to work with the Health Dept. to help sort this out and to find a compromise. I welcome the opportunity to participate in these discussions as well.