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Letters to the Editor: Question Residency Law for Bldg. Inspector

February 07, 2011

To the Editor:

Brilliant.

Village law requires that our building inspector be a resident of the village, virtually guaranteeing that the person who is required to tell you to spend considerable money ripping out your new wiring and doing it right, or correcting your chimney height, or replacing the front steps or whatever, be a neighbor, a buddy, maybe a fellow yacht club member or Covac partner, possibly a relative, perhaps somebody whose kids are in school with yours and maybe in the very same class, somebody you see every morning at Fiddlestix. 

Wouldn't it make more sense to have the black hat come from Washingtonville, say? Better yet the Bronx.

What a dumb law, perhaps once written to guarantee employment to a fellow villager. Or perhaps once written to guarantee friendly building inspectors.

Stephan Wilkinson
Cornwall-on-Hudson



Comments:

Stephan - What you suggest would require common sense.... a trait that is LOST on all current board members, the mayor, and a large majority of us regular people.

Nepotism and stalemates are what the village strives for... nothing more.


posted by Jake Williams on 02/07/11 at 4:01 PM

In seriousness.... your solution is the only one that makes a BIT of sense. No matter how impartial a building inspector can be, friendship and community neighbors are a hard thing to overlook. This wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if life safety wasn't the issue.


posted by Jake Williams on 02/07/11 at 4:03 PM

How about this, someone makes a motion to waive the residency requirement. It is passed, problem solved.


posted by Andrew Argenio on 02/07/11 at 9:21 PM

Yes, but someone would say they needed legal advice to ensure that that was proper and could actually be done, and that until the Supreme Court had ruled, the village couldn't make a move.

Check, and mate.


posted by Stephan Wilkinson on 02/07/11 at 10:32 PM

We encourage the members of the village board to introduce the motion at the next board meeting and see what happens. The proof of the pudding and all that....

Warren and Mary Mumford


posted by Warren Mumford on 02/11/11 at 11:40 AM

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