by Pam Ketchum
Regarding Connie Castaneda’s court case, it is amazing to me, that the judge has expressed concern that the charges against the mayor would discourage people from running for public office. As a landlord who has worked diligently to follow the law, I resent that anyone should feel sorry for the mayor or anyone else who breaks the law and might want to run for public office. The mayor is supposed to know the laws and the government that she represents. She should not lie about having a rental unit(s) in her house, she should have had the house inspected and registered and she should not encourage others (tenants) to hide the fact that they are renting from her.
She was asked a few years ago if she should recuse herself from voting on issues regarding rental properties because of her close ties with one of Brockport's largest landlords, Norm Giancursio. She said at the time "you can ask" but that she was not going to recuse herself. Now we know that at that time she was secretly renting out part of her house.
Fooling the public, breaking the law and taking advantage of our neighborhoods, trying to slowly, secretly convert properties into rentals - that is the technique that has been practiced frequently by a number of opportunist landlords. Ultimately this has changed the character, value and quality of life in the historic core of the Village of Brockport.
In recent years, the spread of rental properties is growing north of the canal and south into the Hillcrest Pkwy, Brookdale Rd and Coleman Creek neighborhoods. For some landlords, a favorite technique for landscaping is to slowly gravel, then pave over the lawn turning the yards into mega parking lots to provide parking for more and more tenants. If the landlord is lucky, they can buy a house on one street and then purchase the property next door and/ or one that backs up to it. This allows for a fabulous parking lot plus the added benefit of no mowing and landscape maintenance. The tenants can have super big, loud, fun parties in their “back lot” and maybe even set up a tent and performance stage for the year’s entertainment.
Supposedly there are laws in Brockport that are to prevent this sort of "development" but the mayor's style of code enforcement is not too heavy handed on such matters or concerns. I wonder if this judge or any judge would feel any concern for the neighbors of such illegally converted properties with poor code enforcement oversight.
To me, it is a sad situation for the law abiding people who purchased their house years ago and have had to watch the slow degeneration of neighboring houses and lots and the negative behavior of transient tenants. What judge is going to have concern for those homeowners and what mayor will have respect for their hard work. Is their hard work not as important as the "hard work" of rogue landlords?
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