Sparring Continues As Legislators Fight Back Against County Executive, Blast Him For “Politicize[ing] the Safety of the Public”

The Rockland County Legislature voted 14-0 Tuesday to adopt a new law that creates an Office of Buildings and Codes and grants authority for the office to operate. The vote followed the conclusion of a public hearing that was opened on Jan. 18. The new office is authorized to begin its work as of Feb. 14.

“I said we would conclude the hearing this week and that we would adopt this important law and we have done both,” Legislature Chairman Jay Hood Jr. said. “Public safety is government’s most important obligation and County government remains committed to doing our part to protect the health and safety of residents, businesses and first responders.”

The Legislative branch has been working with County Executive Ed Day and his staff to address the many issues that resulted from the state Department of State’s directive requiring County government to take over safety inspections in the Village of Spring Valley.

After the vote on the law to create the new Office of Buildings and Codes, Legislators Alden Wolfe and Toney Earl exited the meeting. Prior to the meeting, they requested to be excused after the vote by Chairman Hood.
“I consider both of them to have been excused,” Chairman Hood said.

Legislator Paul had technical issues and at 7:09 p.m. sent an email to legislative staff informing them that she was unable to connect into the WebEx interface. She also made multiple attempts to call into the meeting. She and legislative staff made repeated attempts to get her reconnected. Her absence was recorded as an unexcused absence for the remainder of the meeting.

Legislator Earl said, “I lived up to my word and got out of my bed after a medical procedure earlier in the day to cast my vote for this vital new law as I said I would. I remain committed to seeing this all the way through and with the passage of this new law, we are now well on our way and rightfully so because our residents, businesses and first responders are counting on us to do everything we can to ensure their safety.”

Legislator Paul said, “It has always been my intention to support this effort because the job is just too big for the existing system to handle. This plan will allow more than a dozen fire and building safety code experts to clear the years’ long backlog and improve safety for everyone in Spring Valley – residents, businesses and first responders.”
Legislator Wolfe said, “It’s unfortunate that the county executive and members of the minority are seizing on this as a way to politicize the safety of the public. The simple fact is that Legislators Earl, Paul and myself all oppose illegal housing and support proper code enforcement in the Village of Spring Valley and across the county and if we had been at the meeting we would have supported waiving the rules and adopted the measures. The truth will be borne out at the next meeting with our votes.”

After the vote to adopt the new law was passed, four resolutions addressing the mechanisms of the new office were proposed, including funding appropriations, the confirmation of a director and an agreement to allow the County to use certain Spring Valley Village inspectors, vehicles, computers, and software.

However, the resolutions were not submitted to the Legislature until shortly before the meeting versus being submitted in time for a review through the committee process. The resolutions did not garner the 12 votes necessary to waive the rules and consider them under new business.

Legislators Wolfe and Earl had been excused, Legislator Paul was unable to connect to the WebEx interface and Legislator Harriet Cornell was absent. Of the 13 remaining legislators, only 10 supported waiving the rules.

Chairman Hood instead took a vote to go into a Committee of the Whole, which allows legislators to conduct a portion of their meeting as though it were a committee meeting. Nine votes were needed and received, and legislators then reviewed the four resolutions. All 13 legislators present (in person or via WebEx) voted yes on the measures during the Committee of the Whole meeting.

Chairman Hood has set a special meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8 to allow for a vote on the four resolutions by the full Legislative Board.

These are the resolutions as they currently stand:
• Approve amending the 2022 Adopted County Budget for the implementation of the new office (increase appropriations by $1.5 million to cover salary, health insurance, Social Security, MTA tax and other personnel costs; computer software, training, and other costs associated with the operation of the new office; increase revenues by $1.5 million in departmental fees to be collected via the work of the new office)
• Approve the creation of a director’s position for the new office (assigned to the County Executive’s Office)
• Confirm the appointment of former Suffern village Mayor and retired NYPD Officer Edward Markunas as director
• Approve an Intermunicipal Agreement stipulating interactions between the new office and the Village (including the assignment of certain Spring Valley Village inspectors to the new County office, granting the County access and use of Spring Valley’s Municity recordkeeping software, and loaning Spring Valley’s vehicles and equipment to the County)
Chairman Hood is also reviewing an emergency procurement directive with the County Executive today to allow the hiring of inspectors.

“This would allow the County to start the hiring process and is necessary to allow this office to get up and running so that we meet the obligations dictated in the State’s order,” Chairman Hood said.

On Nov. 16, 2021, the County of Rockland was designated and ordered by then-New York Secretary of State Rossana Rosado to assume administration and enforcement of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (Uniform Code) and the State Energy Conservation Construction Code (Energy Code) within the Village of Spring Valley. The directive is effective Feb. 14, 2022.