Evening star., 1961-07-29

In another development, Mr..
Cardano's superior, c. T. Not
tingham, in response to quer-
les by a Washington Post re-
porter, discussed circumstances
under which Miss Miriam Ot-
tenberg, a reporter for The
Star, obtained information for
her series of articles on flag
rant practices by some home
repairmen in the city.
Mr.. Nottingham, superin-
tendent of the Licenses and
Inspections department, said
that he had arranged a meet
ing between Miss Gutenberg
and an applicant for an auto
SaleSmen'S license who had in
side information on the home
improvements racket.
Mr.. Nottingham said the
man, a former home repairs
contractor, had received an
adverse report by the police
but that he felt the mans
familiarity with the facts of
the home improvements racket
might be of benefit to the pub
lie.
Explains Circumstances
The licensing chief explained
the circumstances this way:
He said that shortly after
Miss Gutenberg won a Pulitzer
Prize for her series on auto
dealers, she visited his office
for ideas on a follow-up series.
II suggested to her that the
home improvements field was
the most flagrant field Of vio-
lations that was currently
brought to my attention" Mr..
Nottingham said.
He said that Miss Gutenberg
worked "a very long time" in
vestigating complaints about
home repairmen. In one of her
visits to his office, he continued,
the reporter complained the
information she was getting
isn't right" for a series. She
reported to him that her in
formation was Ito statistical"
Got SaIesman's Application
Mr.. Nottingham said it was
shortly after her visit that the
application of Leonard Klieg-
man, 36, came across his desk
for an auto salesmen's license.
Mr.. Nottingham said he was
aware that Mr.. Kliegman had
been convicted, sentenced and
then put on probation for 10
years on charges of passing a
false promissory note to the
Federal Housing Administra-
ton and a forged completion
certificate to the Columbia Fed
eral Savings and Loan .Associs-
ton.
Mr.. Nottingham said as soon
as he saw the application, Il
Immediately went to the phone
and 1 called The Star"
He said he told Miss Often
berg that with this PROPOSE
ton before me, I might ask him
if he could tell me all about
the home improvem e N is
racket"
"I said," he reported, "that
If he will tell me all about
home improvements and it
proves beneficial in our efforts
to curb the racket, I might
view his APPLICATION different
ly than I do here"
Meeting Arranged
Mr.. Nottingham said he then
asked Miss Gutenberg: do you
want to come down while talk
to him about it?"-
Miss Gutenberg agreed. he re-
ported, and a meeting was ar
ranged between her, Mr.. Klieg-
man and himself.
"He came in and began to
unfold the intricately designed
that go with gyp-
ping the public in home i'm
provement contracts" Mr.. Not
said.
The licensing chief said he
later approved used car sales
mans license for Mr.. Klieg-
man.
Mr.. Nottingham said that his
superiors in the licensing de-
partment yesterday told him to
tell the newspapers that his
Judgment had proven sound"
He said that Mr.. Kliegman
has operated from the first
issuance of the license without
complaint and that the citizens
Of the city were now protected
by new home improvement
laws"