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General News: Village Board Ousts Building Inspector
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| Bruce Yancewicz at a board meeting in February. |
April 06, 2010
Just moments after being sworn in to his first term as a trustee in the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, Jim Kane cast his vote with fellow trustees Mark Edsall and Doug Vatter against the re-appointment of the building inspector, Bruce Yancewicz.
Yancewicz, who was hired in November to fill the vacant position, grabbed public attention when he ordered the evacuation of the department of public works building in late February after failing to find a certificate of occupancy for the structure. The village board last week hired an engineer to inspect the still-vacant building for code violations.
Several people in attendance at Monday’s board meeting defended Yancewicz’s actions during his brief tenure as building inspector. Zoning board chairperson Peter Osinski read a letter he wrote in support of Yancewicz, citing his knowledge of codes and record keeping. Village resident George Burger said “the guy has a lot on the ball… and I think you are doing him dirt” while Andrew Maroney commented that he hoped that the board’s decision did not reflect a return to the “days of yesteryear.”
Mayor Joseph Gross and trustee Barbara Gosda, who both voted to re-appoint Yancewicz, defended his hiring and his performance, noting that there were many issues, including violations that had not been given to property owners, that he had to deal with when he entered the position. “Mr. Yancewicz inherited a lot of problems that were inherent in his department,” Gross said at the meeting. “He deserves the support of all of the people in this community.”
Earlier in the meeting, trustee Edsall, who is an engineer, said that he had a problem with Yancewicz’s approach to the job. Trustee Kane also said that after observing village meetings for the past year that he didn’t have complete confidence in Mr. Yancewicz and his application of the building code.
In addition to the evacuation of the DPW building, Yancewicz also faced criticism of his decision to issue a certificate of occupancy to a kayak business without sending the case to the planning board. He also raised some feathers by enforcing aspects of the state code that had never been enforced before, leading, in at least one case, to the police being called in to settle his dispute with a property owner. In January, Yancewicz told News from Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson that he was just enforcing the code. "Fire safety, building safety and protecting the residents, that’s my job,” he said.
Comments:
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This a slap in the face to the community.
posted by J Buescher on 04/06/10 at 8:50 AM
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I don't know what Al Gore has to do with COH politics but during his Wolf Blitzer interview his exact quote was
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiate in creating the internet. I took the initiate in moving forward a whole range of initiates that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system."
People can interpret that any way they want but that was his exact quote NOT taken out of context. I believe it was just a gaff/poorly chosen words but that is just my opinion.
In actuality no one person is responsible for inventing the internet.
As far as Rick Gioia being "slandered" as a Hippy. I've only seen that mentioned once here and have NEVER heard anyone refer to him that way. BTW, a holder of Public Office is held to a different standard in the eyes of the Law regarding slander. Maybe he likes it because is being a Hippie a Bad Thing? I don't think so. As a Libertarion we are labeled constantly but it's no skin off my nose. I stand for small goverment, less federal intrusion on the people and pulling our troops out of Iraq, Iran, and all of Europe for that matter.
Now as to what we should be talking about is our elected leaders. They take a tough, thankless job and I commend anyone for that. If change comes we accept it and support the board until the next election. Then if the majority want change the peoples vote speaks. What better way.
posted by P W on 04/07/10 at 2:02 PM
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This is perplexing. Perhaps a shift will come someday when the level of professionalism comes to local leadership. I am sure they are nice neighbors......
posted by j h on 04/07/10 at 2:33 PM
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Direct quote from Al Gore. Just google >>Al Gore Wolf Blitzer<< on the internet.
As for being a Harvard Graduate, who cares? Bill Gates was a dropout and he created more jobs in this country then almost anyone.
BTW, Ed Roberts who recently passed did more to create the internet then anyone according to Bill Gates. I think I'd take Bill Gates opinion over yours.
posted by P W on 04/07/10 at 3:01 PM
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Poor spelling. Ouch! I feel my knuckles being rapped. ;)
posted by P W on 04/07/10 at 6:54 PM
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holy carp! this is the best posting I have read in a while! nice work!
as for the bldg inpsector stuff, (that was the *initial* topic) as soon as he said that he was trying to save some time/effort/money/whatever in by-passing the usual procedure for issuing a CO it made me uncomfortable. The procedures are there to protect the official from accusations of favoritism and croneyism and to insure that all applicants are treated fairly.
And yes, Rick was referred to as a tree-hugging hippie several times (not that there is anything wrong with that) and the mayor was 'accused' of bathing in the river. Actually I think the mayor occasionally bathes in what the kids call 'the magic pool'. This is actually an ancient tradition, bathing in natural waters, it's quite healthy and calming to the spirit. And I wonder,, really, if there is anybody that grew up in Cornwall that did NOT bathe in the river once in a while.
posted by Kate Benson on 04/09/10 at 7:27 PM
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