By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer Last updated: 9:01 p.m., Monday, November 26, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- Four people narrowly escaped injury after the roof and a left wall of a building at 1035 Barrett St. suddenly collapsed late Monday afternoon, police said.
Around 3:45 p.m. neighbor Angela Williams called police after she heard a strange noise from her nearby apartment.
``I said `Oh my God my friends are in there,'' Williams said.
The people were in a first floor apartment when the roof collapsed forcing most of the left wall of the house down into the driveway. No one lived in the second-floor apartment.
``There's nothing besides pure luck that allowed four people to escape unscathed,'' said Officer Christopher Wrubel.
Wrubel said city code enforcers put a notice to vacate on the building in October after they noticed that the house's outside walls were bowing. Why the building had not been vacated and the name of the building's owner were not immediately available late Monday.
National Grid workers were called to the scene to disconnect gas and electric service to the property. City officials said the building is likely to be torn down almost immediately because it poses a safety hazard and is in danger of falling down on its own.
Family flees as house begins to crumble BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The Wright family huddled in shock in their neighbor’s doorway Monday afternoon, trying to comprehend what had happened to them. One minute, they were relaxing in their house, ignoring the gentle rain outside. The next, they were running for their lives as the roof caved in and the wall bowed out. At a minute before 4 p.m., the roof of 1035 Barrett St. landed on the second-story floor. The collapse loosened the bricks on the outside wall of the second floor, sending all of them to the ground. It’s a scenario the building inspectors predicted on Oct. 5, when they nailed an order to vacate on the front door and declared the building an unsafe structure. Inspectors went back several times to make sure any tenants had left, and on Nov. 15, finally caught up with the Wright family and told them to leave. Family members said Monday that they were given two weeks to move out. They didn’t think the building would fall apart 11 days later. For those inside the house, the collapse sounded like an avalanche. “It was like a whole bunch of snow fell off the house, and then whoooooosh,” said Jaleeza Johnson, 12. She was visiting her friend Quanisha Thomason, surfi ng on MySpace while her mother was at the hospital. “I was just supposed to be here for a couple hours. I don’t know what’s going to happen now,” she said, clutching Thomason’s miniature Maltese. The girls later turned one of their belts into a leash for the wiggling puppy named Waffl e. The dog was Thomason’s fi rst thought when she heard the noise. “I actually thought the roof caved in,” she said. “I got the dog and my shoes and we got out of there.” The adults inside weren’t so lucky. Thomason’s mother, Camisha Wright, happened to be fully dressed. But housemate Nikima Herron had to stand in the rain wearing only a sweatshirt, pajama bottoms and slippers. “We were just laying around, watching TV,” she said, rubbing her arms. “We heard it and we got the kids and the dog and we all ran outside.” They had to leave behind their cat. Firefighters ventured into the family’s fi rst floor apartment in an attempt to rescue the pet, but after shaking the food dish, they had to give up. The building was too unstable to stay any longer. Deputy Fire Chief Edward Marquette broke the news to the family. They weren’t impressed. “Most of our stuff is already boxed up. Knowing them, they’ll wait until it caves in and then we can’t get [expletive],” Herron said. Family members planned to sneak inside late at night and retrieve their belongings, as well as the cat. “All we want is our clothes, and maybe a TV. We can leave the dishes and everything else,” Herron said. Wright and Herron blamed owner Dean Redman for the collapse, saying he could have prevented it. “The city said the roof was going to cave in. They told us a week ago but they said Dean’s known for ages longer,” Herron said. “He didn’t want to fix it.” Neighbor Angela Williams said it was clear all autumn that something was seriously wrong with the house. “The bricks on both sides have been puckering out. Then right by where the chimney was, there was a big crack,” Williams said. She called the police at 3:59 p.m. when she saw bricks tumble from the building. Police spokesman Christopher Wrubel said inspectors declared the house unsafe because the walls were bowing out. Inspectors sent registered mail to Redman’s address, warning him about the problems, but got no response. Wright had difficulty getting Redman to respond even after the roof collapsed. “Yo, Dean, you better get over here, your house done fell down,” Wright said when her landlord fi - nally answered her call. She hung up a moment later, looking disgusted. “You know what he said? He said he just got back from the eye doctor and his eyes are all dilated, but if anybody needs him, feel free to give out his phone number!” she said. Redman did not return a call from The Gazette seeking comment; his address was not available and his number is a cell phone. He is in bankruptcy and city officials have taken at least one of his properties for failure to pay taxes, Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said. The house Williams lives in, just behind 1035 Barrett St., was in foreclosure in 2002. The city finished the foreclosure, but until a bankruptcy court rules on Redman’s case, the city may not be the legal owner. Bankruptcy court works to protect assets that could be used to pay off debt. Redman did continue to collect rent at the property, but Williams said she stopped paying in September when she learned that Redman didn’t own the house. The city has now filed to evict her from the building. That may mean the Wright family has to move again — they all crowded into Williams’ apartment for the night. In the morning, they’ll look for a new place to stay. At the same time, city officials said inspectors will try to figure out what caused 1035 Barrett St. to collapse, and whether it can be shored up. If it can’t, the city may be forced to pay for an emergency demolition, Wrubel said. PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Schenectady Deputy Fire Chief Edward Marquette looks over the crumbling building at 1035 Barrett St. on Monday.
Shame on the city for letting this house get to this point and letting the landlord get away with this for so long. This stuff just doen't happen over night or even in a couple of months. I thought the city just hired a bunch of new code enforcers. That is apparently a waste of money. Oh but what the heck, the one block of State Street looks great, huh?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Collapse exposes city's code-enforcement ills House was cited only for cosmetic issues until neighbor pointed out structural problems
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer First published: Wednesday, November 28, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- The Barrett Street house that partially collapsed Monday with four people inside had been inspected -- and cited only for chipping paint and exposed wood -- days before a concerned neighbor's call prompted officials to declare it uninhabitable, city records show. Once an order to vacate was issued for 1035 Barrett St. in October, city officials said they sent certified letters to the wrong address because they haven't had the landlord's correct address for the past four years. The Times Union, using a database search, found his Avenue B home in about two hours.
The case highlights a big problem in Schenectady: Hundreds of buildings are decaying, and limited city staff, time and resources are available to monitor them.
The two-story house's roof collapsed like a wet blanket around 4 p.m. Monday, sending part of the house's left wall into a driveway below. Four people in the first-floor apartment heard the noise and quickly got outside. No one lived on the second floor. Why people were still living in a building declared uninhabitable was not totally clear.
Records show a city inspector cited landlord Dean Redman for peeling and chipping paint and exposed wood surfaces twice in September. But it wasn't until a concerned call from Kathe who owns The Costumer business across the street, that a code enforcer had a different read on the house's condition.
Schenectady Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden says the city posted an unsafe condition notice on the house Oct. 5, and sent letters and an order to vacate to Redman at an Avenue A address where he once lived. It's the same address the city has been sending mail to on and off -- with little success -- since at least 2003.
"It was an odd thing," said Sheehan, who said she could tell the house wasn't right by looking at it from her parking space every morning. "It was like the middle was coming right out."
An official from the city's law department to the house and talked with one of the apartment's three tenants the week before Thanksgiving and told her they had to leave. Tenant Camisha Wright said she had been calling around looking for apartments since then.
The former tenants are staying with a neighbor.
Redman told the Times Union he knew the roof wasn't good. He was unclear Tuesday when reached by cellphone, however, about whether he ever received or read any of the letters.
A person who answered at the Avenue B address confirmed that it was Redman's correct residence.
Redman's debts, exclusive of back taxes, were recently forgiven after he filed for bankruptcy, according to Van Norden. Redman owes more than $23,000 in back taxes, according to city records.
Redman said the Barrett Street house's roof had been bad for years, but it recently decayed very quickly. He said he never had any intention of fixing the house because he couldn't afford it. But Redman said he didn't know it was unsafe to live there.
"I'm not like that," said Redman, who said he makes most of his money as a self-employed maintenance worker at other people's apartment buildings. "I've got 13 grandkids. I'm not trying to put someone in a dangerous situation."
The tenants also had conflicting stories about whether they ever found the posted letter or not.
"If I had seen it, do you think I would have stayed until the wall crumbled down? I've got a child," said Wright, whose 13-year-old daughter also lived there.
Van Norden said the first code inspector in September might have missed the roof's condition if he or she were just checking on the property by driving by. He said it's almost impossible to keep up with the addresses connected to the city's 20,000 properties, and that property owners have a legal obligation to provide a current address. "We have a number of different ways to find out what someone's legal address is," Van Norden said. However, "it is a time-consuming process. Code officers are overwhelmed with work with other properties."
Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton referred all questions about the collapse Tuesday to Van Norden, who said Stratton ordered code enforcers to begin checking the 800 or so properties that had orders to vacate placed on them in the past.
Problems with outdated landlord addresses is the reason City Council recently passed a law requiring all landlords in the city to provide new addresses and a local manager the city can contact. The law was designed to target problems with absentee landlords because city officials say many use P.O. boxes.
Van Norden said it's unclear what will happen to the building, but that it will likely have to be demolished at a cost of between $30,000 to $40,000 to the city. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com.
Didn't the folks that lived there see the notice nailed on the door????
Quoted Text
"I'm not like that," said Redman, who said he makes most of his money as a self-employed maintenance worker at other people's apartment buildings. "I've got 13 grandkids. I'm not trying to put someone in a dangerous situation."
The tenants also had conflicting stories about whether they ever found the posted letter or not.
these are thinking people with God given brains........
I'd like to know his 'employers' and who hires him......I wonder what their properties look like.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
SCHENECTADY Changes planned after house collapse Condemnation orders to be made simpler BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
When their roof pancaked onto their ceiling Monday, the residents of 1035 Barrett St. got the message to get out. The notice the city had left more than a month earlier was not as clear or adamant, they said, leading them to believe there was no reason to hurry. City policy is changing as a result, and inspectors are scurrying to make sure there are no other occupants in condemned houses. At 1035 Barrett St., the tenants and their landlord said the dense legalese of the city’s order to vacate made them think they were merely being punished for poor maintenance — not being warned of an imminent danger. “The tenant down there called me when the city said she’d have to leave,” said landlord Dean Redman. “We thought the city was going to take the house because it had a bad roof, if I didn’t fix it in a certain time. I told her I didn’t think I’d have the money.” The lengthy notice was primarily a boiler-plate legal document, but it did state in bold letters, centered in the middle of the page, that the house was unsafe and the roof was structurally unsound. Even so, tenant Camisha Wright said she didn’t understand. She said she wouldn’t have stayed in the house if she’d known the roof was about to collapse, adding that she would never have put her 13-year-old daughter in such risk. But her housemate, Nikima Herron, admitted that they knew the roof was unstable 11 days before it fell onto the second-story floor and knocked out much of the side wall. She admitted speaking with a city law department employee, who was sent to 1035 Barrett St. on Nov. 15 when she learned that the Wright family was still living there, more than a month after inspectors posted an order to vacate. They agreed to leave — but they were watching television in their living room 11 days later when the roof fell in. Mayor Brian U. Stratton Wednesday said that in the future, nearly everything the city does to handle such situations will be different. He wants a new, clearer order to vacate, combined with immediate face-to-face efforts to get the residents out. “There wasn’t a sense of urgency conveyed in a notice posted on the doorway,” he said. “I just want to make sure we don’t get into a situation where we have a tragedy.” Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said his department will draft a “lay person-oriented order” to make sure residents understand that they can’t go into their building. “It will say something like, ‘This building has been deemed unsafe. No persons are to remain inside,’” Van Norden said. “And since we have a sizable Hispanic population, there will also be a graphic, like a red X over an open door, to make it clear.” It’s important the order be written quickly. Van Norden said the city deals with several severely deteriorated, occupied houses every year, and most of the most serious cases occur in the winter. From now on, when a building inspector comes upon one of those houses, the law department will be notified immediately, Van Norden said. “If it’s in imminent danger of collapse, you do not simply make the posting,” Van Norden said. “There’s a more diligent and urgent effort made.” Officials will meet residents at their door and tell them they must leave at once. The residents won’t be given an opportunity to pack up over the course of weeks, as happened with the Wright family. If the building is considered safe enough for residents to remove their belongings, officials will stay with them while they move out. “They will allow a re-entry in those cases, but a supervised reentry, to ensure they don’t stay in the building,” Van Norden said. Code enforcers will also be more closely supervised. Van Norden said that’s partly because Building Inspector Keith Lamp was startled to learn, on Oct. 5, that an inspector had looked at the bowed-out walls at 1035 Barrett St. and decided it wasn’t a serious structural problem. “It was a judgment call. Keith wants to make sure that if there’s a judgment call, he’s involved in it,” Van Norden said. “He wasn’t aware of the judgment call, and when it comes to things like determining the structural integrity of a building from an exterior inspection, experience matters.” From now on, each enforcer will turn in a daily log for Lamp to review. Stratton also directed the enforcers to look for structural problems at all of the city’s old brick buildings. 1035 Barrett St. was roughly 130 years old, according to Redman. “I've told them, slow down what you’re doing, to ensure we’re not missing things like bowing walls,” Stratton said. He said inspectors would focus on the College Park, Vale, Stockade, and North Stockade neighborhoods. He also wants the law department to seek immediate, court-ordered evictions when enforcers post a notice to vacate, arguing that would be better than “just posting a notice on the door and hoping for the best.”
EDITORIALS Stratton hits right notes on code violations
The story behind Monday’s collapse at 1035 Barrett St. has brought home, yet again, the serious shortcomings involving code enforcement in Schenectady. At least Mayor Brian Stratton seems finally to have acknowledged that a problem exists, as he quickly unveiled a laundry list of procedures for Building and Law department personnel to follow when buildings are judged to be in imminent danger. But all the rules in the world will hardly matter if he doesn’t hire the right people — people with eyes and brains — and make sure that they follow up when there are problems as obvious as the one involving Barrett Street and the two recent vacant-building fi res. One can’t help but wonder, for example, about the code enforcement offi cer who reportedly inspected 1035 Barrett St. not two months ago and cited it for peeling paint — but failed to realize that its bowed walls were cause for concern! How could such an employee’s boss — longtime Building Inspector Keith Lamp — fail to have impressed upon him the urgency of a condition like that, as opposed to a relatively petty violation? How is it that, for four years, the city Law Department couldn’t figure out where the building’s owner lived, when it took the Times Union just two hours to do so? And after it was finally determined that the building was in imminent danger, and it was appropriately posted, how could law department personnel have been so lenient about enforcing the order to vacate? As Thursday’s Gazette story indicated, the tenants were told Nov. 15, in no uncertain terms, that they had to get out. Why were they reportedly given two more weeks to do so? Why wasn’t the building subsequently checked by Law or Building department officials to make sure they’d left, that the walls hadn’t gotten worse? It’s not even a five-minute walk away from City Hall! In short, bad judgment and poor communication between city workers were in abundant supply in this story. It’s a relief no one got hurt when the building’s roof finally gave way, and probably a real financial break for the city given its potential liability. One is tempted to praise Stratton for heeding the wake-up call here, but it remains to be seen whether he’s really serious about improving code enforcement in the city, or just papering over another embarrassing failure. After all, this was not the first, or even the second, event this year in which a problem with repeated code violations blew up in such spectacular fashion.
A warning in Schenectady First published: Friday, November 30, 2007
There's nothing quite like the sight of a building coming crashing down to get city leaders to pay attention to dilapidated buildings. In Albany, all that blight -- more than 800 abandoned buildings across the city -- has been a crisis that Mayor Jerry Jennings no longer can ignore, ever since a South End couple lost their home of almost 40 years last August because of the deterioration and neglect of adjoining buildings.
In Schenectady, Mayor Brian U. Stratton has ordered changes in code enforcement that are as sensible as they are overdue in response to the collapse of a house Monday on Barrett Street.
That debacle, and it's a wonder all four people inside were able to get out unhurt, underscores the need to keep better track of who owns these unsafe properties. The city says it sent letters to the landlord, Dean Redman, almost two months ago declaring the house at 1035 Barrett St. unsafe. Little good that did, of course, since he never received them. It's shocking to think that the Times Union was able to locate Mr. Redman's current whereabouts before city housing officials were.
Worse is that when he was found, Mr. Redman said that he was too broke to fix his buildings anyway. Foreclosure should have happened some time ago against someone who owes more than $23,000 in back taxes.
It's also quite troubling that one Schenectady housing inspector thought 1035 Barrett St. was in decent enough shape, aside from rotting paint, after a visit on Sept 27. That's barely a week before another inspector found the house to be unsafe on Oct. 5.
Mr. Stratton should be as concerned with such inconsistency -- sloppiness, really -- in the inspections as he is that the city doesn't have up-to-date records as to who owns these buildings and where they live.
"I can understand how one code officer might look at a building and not detect there are structural flaws," the mayor says.
He shouldn't be so accommodating. In a city like Schenectady, or for that matter Albany, the structural flaws that miss an inspector's attention should be taken as a stern warning. How many other buildings, besides 1035 Barrett St., are in such imminent danger of collapsing?
It's encouraging that Mr. Stratton wants to make sure that all the properties that have been ordered vacated during the past six months are indeed empty. The mayor isn't even sure how many buildings that includes.
"We haven't had an aggressive code enforcement effort like this in years," Mr. Stratton says. It's about time. What was a close call on Barrett Street could be fatal somewhere else.
THE ISSUE: Mayor Stratton vows to toughen code enforcement.
THE STAKES: Doing so just might prevent a disaster.
Landlord faces jail threat Schenectady pursues owner in city court over collapse of occupied rental property
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Wednesday, December 5, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- City officials are seeking jail time for the owner of a collapsed house on Barrett Street, saying he collected rent while knowing the building was in dangerous condition.
Dean Redman, the landlord, is scheduled to appear in Schenectady City Court Dec. 17 to answer code violation citations of having an unsafe structure and failure to obtain a rental inspection certificate. The city cited him for an unsafe condition and issued an order to vacate Oct. 5 after code inspectors said the roof at 1035 Barrett St. had failed. On Nov. 26, the roof partially collapsed onto the second floor. Four people on the first floor escaped without injury. Redman is facing 68 city code violations -- one for each day the conditions were ignored, plus 12 more days added on for lack of a rental inspection certificate. Each day can carry up to a $1,000 fine and 15 days in jail. Actual fines or jail time would vary depending on City Court action, but jail time is usually rare. Schenectady City Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said this week if Redman took some responsibility for the problem, Van Norden would consider changing the city's prosecution strategy. But otherwise, he said the city will seek an undisclosed amount of jail time for Redman. Redman said Tuesday he hired a lawyer and won't discuss his case. It hasn't been determined if Redman ever received the code enforcement notices that declared the house uninhabitable. The city sent the notices certified mail to an apparently wrong address for Redman. Another letter was posted on the house, which Redman and the tenants both said they never saw. But Van Norden said Redman has admitted publicly that he knew the roof was in bad condition, and that he never had any intention of fixing it because he has no money. Redman also owes more than $23,000 in back taxes. The city has since located Redman's correct address, and personally served him the court appearance ticket within the last few days. Meanwhile, the Barrett Street house will likely come down next week. Dan's Hauling and Demo of Troy will knock down the house, remove the debris and back fill the lot over three days for $16,000, said Steven Jacobson, city housing rehabilitation supervisor. The city has located the owner of two cars behind the house, but is looking for the third. If one car near the house can't be removed from the property before the demolition, it will have to be protected with plywood, Jacobson said. Intruders recently ripped off nailed plywood from a rear door of the house. City employees returned and secured the property.
SCHENECTADY Landlord denies violating codes BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.
The man who ignored his rental property roof until it collapsed above his tenants’ heads has denied violating city codes. Dean Redman was in City Court Monday to face 68 counts alleging failure to fix the Barrett Street house that partially collapsed Nov. 26. He also pleaded innocent to 13 counts of renting 1035 Barrett St. without getting a rental inspection. If convicted, he faces up to $74,500 in fines, or nearly four years in jail. But Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden offered Redman a deal. If Redman reimburses the city for the $19,000 it cost to demolish the house, as well as repaying American Tax Funding for the roughly $15,000 he owes in back taxes, Van Norden said he might go easy on the bankrupt landlord. “Otherwise, we will be asking for jail time,” Van Norden said. The case was adjourned for a month to give Redman time to consider the offer, Van Norden said. He also told Redman that the city wants a clear deed to the house behind 1035 Barrett St. The city took that property when Redman failed to pay taxes on it years ago, but Redman filed bankruptcy so the city couldn’t immediately take ownership. Bankruptcy court protects all assets that could be used to pay off debt. Redman never completed his bankruptcy filing, so the city owns the house now — but Redman is still renting it out. “We want a deed. We would want to control the property,” Van Norden said. “He’s taking rent that belongs to the taxpayers.” The tenant, Angela Williams, hasn’t paid rent since August, when city officials told her that Redman doesn’t own the property. The city is now moving to evict her. It’s not clear how the building would be used once it’s empty. The only access is through a driveway shared with 1035 Barrett. The surprising collapse of an occupied building also led to a series of changes in the code department. City officials tightened their policies regarding dangerous code violations. When there is an imminent danger, officials will meet residents at their door and tell them they must leave at once. The residents won’t be given an opportunity to pack up over the course of weeks, as happened with the Wright family. A code enforcer had noticed that the roof was caving in, but only placed a notice on the door to vacate. Official notices were sent to Redman’s last known address, but they were returned because he’d moved a few blocks away. When the Wrights called him to report the notice, he and they assumed he was being punished for poor maintenance. They say they didn’t understand that the roof had decayed to the point where it was about to collapse. The lengthy notice was primarily a boiler-plate legal document, but it did state in bold letters, centered in the middle of the page, that the house was “unsafe” and the roof was “structurally unsound.” The law department is now writing a “lay person-oriented order” which will convey “a sense of urgency” and make it clear that it’s dangerous to go into the building.
The law department is now writing a “lay person-oriented order” which will convey “a sense of urgency” and make it clear that it’s dangerous to go into the building.
we certainly have under-educated ourselves.......and if they didn't understand it why didn't they just take it off the door/window copy it and bring it to someone......it must have had the word 'dangerous' in there some where, or something of the like written.....???
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
First published: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Dean Redman has gotten the message. Or so it surely seems. It's the other property owners in Schenectady who might pay attention as well. Code enforcement, suddenly, is very serious business. Mr. Redman, it needs to be noted, is hardly the only problem landlord in the city. Instead he's the most prominent problem landlord. That subtle but critical difference meant everything Monday, as Mr. Redman stood in City Court to plead not guilty to charges of maintaining an unsafe structure and failing to obtain a rental certificate. For that, the criminal complaint and all the attention it's brought him, Mr. Redman can thank bad luck, poor timing and his own apparent negligence. That much became obvious on Nov. 26, when the roof of one of Mr. Redman's buildings, at 1035 Barrett St., partially collapsed. No longer does holding landlords accountable for the sad condition of their property not go much further than sending letters that they might never receive, as was the case with Mr. Redman and an Oct. 5 order to vacate a building that's since been demolished. Now the city says Mr. Redman could be getting his mail delivered to the city lockup, sturdy roof and all, if he doesn't strike some sort of deal regarding payment of some $15,000 in back property taxes and the $19,000 it cost to take down the Barrett Street house he allowed to deteriorate. The city also says Mr. Redman collected rent on a building behind 1035 Barrett that it seized after he declared bankruptcy. The case against Mr. Redman includes a claim, understandably, for money the city says he collected illegally. "He needs to make good on finances owed to the city," says John Van Norden, the city's corporation counsel. 'It's a strong incentive to settle up with the city to avoid going to jail." Intriguing word, he. A trip through the city's more rundown neighborhoods raises the fair question of how many more "he" 's there might be, seriously behind on taxes on buildings they don't even live in, or a roof collapse away from a near disaster. Mr. Van Norden points to about 800 abandoned buildings in the city and says a fair percentage of landlords are neglectful in one way or another. Mr. Redman's plight -- pay up, or get locked up -- shouldn't be seen as an anomaly. Watershed moment is more like it. THE ISSUE:Schenectady wants a neglectful property owner to pay up or go to jail.THE STAKES:Code enforcement needs to be that serious.
Investors in the City of Schenectady and Schenectady County take note. If your property is not taken by eminent domain, the City government may demand transfer of ownership if you are cited with code violations.
Granted Redman acted irresponsibly. The punishment, however, seems severe particularly considering that the City Code Enforcement office bears some responsibility for failure to locate and notify Redman of the cited violations.
This is heavy handed government looking to make an example of an irreponsible property owner who, through no actions of his own, made the City government appear inept.
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