George Bryant drives around these days in a long blue sedan that looks like a surplus police car, so he's easy to find in this seaside village. The longtime public servant sometimes parks in front of his family's million-dollar homestead in the East End, or behind the United Methodist church, which buzzes this time of year with a thrift shop, addiction group meetings and free meals. Bryant, 73, will try Tuesday to keep his seat on the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, in a three-way race with dentist Cheryl Andrews and commercial property owner Judith Cicero. Despite his loyal following and two-decade hold on the post, Bryant has struggled in recent years with legal and personal issues, including substantial hoarding, court records indicate. He has been arrested, sued, ordered to stay off property and, as of Oct. 6, evicted. "I give people here their money's worth," Bryant said Friday as he stood behind the church. A few minutes earlier, a passerby hollered out, "Vote for George Bryant!" When Bryant didn't hear him, the man yelled again, louder, "Vote for George Bryant!"
Estate dispute tangles county candidate Peru RPCV George Bryant in legal woes
Estate dispute tangles county candidate in legal woes
Caption: Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates candidate George Bryant. Photo: Cape Cod Times/Mary Ann Bragg
By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com
October 30, 2010
PROVINCETOWN - George Bryant drives around these days in a long blue sedan that looks like a surplus police car, so he's easy to find in this seaside village. The longtime public servant sometimes parks in front of his family's million-dollar homestead in the East End, or behind the United Methodist church, which buzzes this time of year with a thrift shop, addiction group meetings and free meals.
Bryant, 73, will try Tuesday to keep his seat on the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates, in a three-way race with dentist Cheryl Andrews and commercial property owner Judith Cicero. Despite his loyal following and two-decade hold on the post, Bryant has struggled in recent years with legal and personal issues, including substantial hoarding, court records indicate. He has been arrested, sued, ordered to stay off property and, as of Oct. 6, evicted.
"I give people here their money's worth," Bryant said Friday as he stood behind the church. A few minutes earlier, a passerby hollered out, "Vote for George Bryant!" When Bryant didn't hear him, the man yelled again, louder, "Vote for George Bryant!"
On Friday, Bryant, a historian and Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained architect, said he's living at his late mother's property in the East End, at 471 Commercial St., although he acknowledged a dispute between him and another family member over the property. But court eviction documents show that a deputy sheriff oversaw the Oct. 6 removal of Bryant's bed and clothes from the antique six-bedroom house, assessed at $1.7 million, and that Bryant stored his belongings in New Bedford.
squabble over estate
Bryant's younger brother Eugene, the executor of their late mother's estate, began the eviction proceedings in 2009 as a way to sell the waterfront house and pay off $800,000 in estate taxes, according to court records. Eugene Bryant had originally asked George Bryant to begin paying rent on the house, where he has lived expense-free since 2005, the records state. When George Bryant did not respond to the rent request and would not leave the house, Eugene Bryant sought his eviction in a year-long process that has involved judges' orders from Orleans District Court and the Appellate Division of the District Court Department.
George Bryant's habit of collecting junk, or hoarding, at least in part led to the court judgment allowing the eviction, court records state. The hoarding has caused the property insurance on the house to lapse, the court ruling says. It has also forced town authorities to get involved and spend $100,000 of public money to deal with the problem, Orleans District Court Judge Brian Merrick said in an Aug. 27 ruling.
Michele Couture, chairwoman of the Provincetown Board of Selectmen, said Friday the town has incurred expenses since the mid-1990s pursuing a cleanup at another family property at 467 Commercial St., which adjoins 471 Commercial St., and that legal agreements are in place to recover some of that taxpayer money.
"It's ironic that it's George, who has served the town," Couture said. "He's been great with human services and other things on the assembly. But this is an issue that concerns the whole neighborhood and the whole town because of the legal costs. If there's ever a fire, I think it's going to be an unfortunate thing for a volunteer fire department to go on that property and put it out."
Friday, Eugene Bryant, who lives in Maine, rolled a dolly to the front of the house at 471 Commercial St. and said he's trying to quickly clean up to prepare for a sale. His brother George is not living at the property but may attempt to move back in, he said. "We can't let that happen," Eugene Bryant said. "He denied that he has a problem. It's so dysfunctional."
Arrested for trespassing
On March 9, the police arrested George Bryant on a charge of trespassing at 467 Commercial St., where a criminal "no trespass" order against Bryant exists, court records state. Town Manager Sharon Lynn reported Bryant to the police after she saw him on the property, which includes a general store. Bryant told the police he went into the store to return a basket he had borrowed, the court record states. He was placed on pretrial probation for six months and the case was then dismissed Sept. 8 on recommendation of the court's probation office, court records state.
"We're working with the family and we're monitoring the property on routine patrols," Police Chief Jeff Jaran said.
Bryant, who is divorced with two adult sons, has appealed the estate dispute to the state Appeals Court, according to state records.
Bryant's history in Provincetown both as a young boy and an adult goes a long way toward keeping his supporters loyal, former Selectman Mary-Jo Avellar said Friday.
In the 1920s and 1930s, his grandmother ran the Bryant House restaurant and rooming house, where a lunch of meat or fish, a vegetable and a potato was 25 cents, and a slice of pie was 5 cents, Bryant said. He spent his childhood and adult years helping his late mother at their family store, called Bryant's Market at 467 Commercial St. He still bikes on a one-speed through town, partly to keep his health up, he said, and recalls his days as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru with obvious pleasure.
"He's made Provincetown and Provincetown history almost his life's work in many respects," Avellar said.
Avellar served in town government with Bryant in the 1970s, when they were elected selectmen on a reform platform called SCRAM: "Serious Citizens Revolting Against Mismanagement."
"We had no books or records or finances," Avellar said of town administration at the time. "We didn't have any in those days. He saw what was wrong."
