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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Westchester County received the backing of a federal magistrate in its standoff with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over a 2009 housing settlement Friday when the official ruled the lawyer monitoring the case "erred in concluding that the county executive violated the settlement." However, U.S. Magistrate Gabriel Gorenstein concluded that Westchester must fulfill the monitor’s requests to analyze zoning and outline a strategy to fight ordinances deemed exclusionary.
Republican County Executive Robert Astorino said he felt "validated" by the magistrate's decision that he hadn't breached the settlement by vetoing legislation forbidding landlords from discriminating against potential tenants based on the source of their income.
“My position from the beginning has been that the county will fulfill its obligations under the settlement, but it will not be bullied by the federal government into doing things that were never agreed to,” Astorino said in a statement. “I have taken principled stands where I believe the government has overreached, and I am pleased and heartened that the magistrate’s decision vindicates my actions.”
Astorino, who inherited the settlement from his predecessor, argued that former County Executive Andrew Spano fulfilled a stipulation requiring the county executive to "promote" source-of-income legislation "currently" before the board in 2009. Astorino claims his administration is ahead of schedule on building 750 units of affordable housing in 31 predominately white communities with the $51.6 million agreed upon in the settlement. The agreement also requires Westchester to market the homes to minorities outside of the county and educate residents about the benefits of integrated communities.
U.S. Magistrate Gabriel Gorenstein agreed with Astorino that the legal agreement couldn't force a county executive to sign source-of-income legislation. Astorino vetoed such a bill in July 2010 because he believed forcing landlords to accept federal vouchers "was a violation of basic property rights" and worried the legislation might inadvertently make housing more scarce and expensive.
If either HUD or the county disagrees with the magistrate's rulings, the dispute can be sent to another judiciary official for review.
The county and the monitor have also tussled over whether Westchester must outlined what criteria make an ordinance exclusionary and how the county will get municipalities to alter zoning that prevents the construction of fair housing. Astorino has vowed not to sue local municipalities; however, the monitor said legal action is a powerful tool that should not be overlooked.
The magistrate sided with the monitor, saying he “rejected the county’s objection that the monitor could not require it to ‘specify’ a strategy that it intends to employ to overcome exclusionary zoning.”
“In light of the fact that the county has declined to provide its strategy on this front at all — or has done so only in the vaguest terms — we do not view as ripe any question as to whether whatever strategy the county intends to pursue in this area does or does not come within its settlement obligations,” Gorenstein wrote.
The magistrate also dismissed the county’s demand that the monitor get involved in its dispute with HUD over a required report called the Analysis of Impediments (AI) to fair housing. HUD nixed $7 million in federal funding after rejecting Westchester’s fifth AI this summer.
Comments (7)
Rob Astorino has our backs. This agreement by his predecessor is a good example of leftist social engineering. We don't need it...we don't want it, and it's a big waste of taxpayers' time and money.
Let's start by voting Obama out in November, and let him take his Justice Department and anti-America HUD staffers with him.
The Feds are like the Mafia, but without the charm.
Yes, Bravo Mr. Astorino.
I'm rooting for you and the Couny Republicans to reduce the size of the country bureaucracy. However, on the federal level, I don't want the Republicans telling me what my religion should be.
Why don't we just pay the federal government back the original loan and tell them to screw off!!!
I break my ass working and saving money to live in my community. Anyone has the right, no matter what their race, creed, or color, to do the same.
We have families of every kind living in our town, but I guess the federal government doesn't count minorities if they have money.....
We owe a debt of gratitude to the County Executive and his office for standing up to the political pressure being brought by Democratic leaders, and instead, going into Court to enforce the County's rights under the settlement. The County is ahead of schedule in complying, and this decision is proof positive that HUD is now trying to change the rules!
Charlie
Thank you Rob Astorino for protecting the tax paying citizens of Westchester .
This case was never about discrimination as HUD has been trying to claim, and the settlement should be about housing fairness for all, not misguided social engineering dictated from Washington. Learn more about the case at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sons-and-Daughters-of-Lewisboro/155303351171425
Thankfully, Mr. Astorino did not choose to roll over for HUD as Mr. Harckham and other Democrat leaders have been suggesting. He is ahead of schedule in complying with the order brought upon us by the Spano administration's actions, but has refused to be intimidated into acquiescing to their now proven overreaching.