by Kristina Gabalski
Voters in the Village of Brockport will decide during the general election in June who will supervise the village’s code enforcement officer/inspector.
Village Board members voted 4-1 during their regular meeting February 28 to hold a mandatory referendum on the issue June 19. Mayor Connie Castaneda cast the only no vote.
If passed by voters, the proposition would approve a local law that would modify Chapter 59 of the village code and remove the code enforcement officer/inspector from the supervision of the mayor and instead have the CEO/CEI report directly to and be supervised by the chief of police.
The office of the building/zoning/code enforcement officer has already been moved from the village hall to the police department.
During discussion before the vote, Trustee Kent Blair said the proposition is an opportunity to let the public decide.
“It isn’t necessarily stripping the mayor of powers,” Blair said. He added that the change in supervision would align the CEO with the department that enforces codes.
Trustee Scott Hunsinger said it is nice to see the issue “come to a point where village residents can vote on it.”
But Mayor Connie Castaneda strongly opposes the change. She called it “troubling and dangerous” and said some residents fear “Brockport is turning into a police state.” The mayor said some residents have told her they are worried that the police might use their power against residents who complain about the high cost of the police department.
The mayor said she is also concerned about the need for additional manpower for the police department that might result from the change.
“This is politically motivated to undermine the power of the mayor,” she said and told trustees they were not acting in the best interest of the people they represent.
“This isn’t personal,” Blair told the mayor, “it’s already happening.” He said the change in supervision would be a way for residents to help protect the investment they have in their property.
“This is a simple fact of public safety and quality of life,” Hunsinger said.
Trustee Carol Hannan said the change would allow the code enforcement officer/inspector to work under a full-time manager “and remove politics from code enforcement.”
“It makes sense to have code enforcement under the police department,” Trustee Margaret Blackman said.
Village Attorney Robert Leni noted the change would be a reduction of the mayor’s powers and “would be in place for you and for mayors to come.”
During his report earlier in the meeting Building/Zoning/Code Enforcement Officer Scott Zarnstorff said his work with police officers and the chief has been helpful to him and called it a move in the right direction.
Brockport Chief of Police Daniel Varrenti said during his report that village ordinance arrests regarding quality of life issues were up significantly in the fourth quarter, “but there is a lot more in this village that could be done. Sometimes litigation is a lot more expensive than enforcement,” he said.
