In the First Ward, Gary Purnhagen voted to opt-in, and Margaret Morris was the only council member voting against who actually voted ‘no.’ Morris did her job. The three Common Council members who were absent and/or recused all counted as ‘no’ votes. In the Second Ward, Dewan Sarowar beamed in on a smart phone to vote in favor of opting in, as did Mohammed Rony, who reached him on a video connection. In the Third Ward, both Shershah Mizan and Lola Roberts voted to opt-in. In the Fourth Ward Jennifer Belton voted in favor of opting-in, while Rich "Trixie" Volo did not show up for his job. He previously said he was recusing, so voting ‘no.’ In the Fifth Ward Vicky Daskaloudi also did not show up for her job for the citizens, and previously said she would recuse, so another ‘no’ vote. Dominic Merante was there, and the Hudson city attorney explained last week that each time a council member wanted to recuse, they must explain why to the public, the voters. Merante first said he could not vote because he was a renter, an argument that the city attorney said was not necessary. Last week, the Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson wondered aloud if anyone recusing because they are a landlord or tenant, would also be recusing on voting on the city budget, since that impacts landlords and tenants much more. Following Merante’s logic, none of the board members could ever vote on a food issue, because they all eat. And no housing issue could ever be voted on, because, deep down, we are all landlords and tenants. Then Merante said he was also recusing because he had an opinion on the issue. Everyone else on the council voted because they had an opinion on the issue, and Merante refused to vote on the issue because he said he had an opinion. The definition of “recusal,” for the curious, is “the withdrawal of a judge, prosecutor, or juror from a case on the grounds that they are unqualified to perform legal duties because of a possible conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.” Having an opinion does not fit anywhere in that definition. Very few local officials recuse when they should, and in Hudson, my faulty memory says they recuse more often to get out of going on the record, instead of because of their conflicts-of-interest. But I have no statistics to back that up. Finally, Common Council President Thomas DePietro voted to opt-in, and Hudson opted-in to the new state law.
What is New York’s Good Cause Eviction law?
“Under the new Good Cause Eviction law, New Yorkers have the right to continue living in their homes without fear of unreasonable eviction or extreme rent increases. In many situations, tenants of market rate housing will now be covered by more expansive protections.”
A very similar Good Cause eviction proposal was introduced on Oct. 9 at the Catskill Village meeting, with a vote the first public hearing on the issue on Oct. 30, and a vote possible next month.
Interestingly, I did not see any reporters or journalists at the actual meeting. Apparently they are all just watching online and missing things, even when some of them could just walk down the street.
UPDATE: I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Merante about 20 hours after this story went live (he reached out earlier, but I was asleep). When he called I was not taking notes nor recording, so I can’t provide the specifics I would like to. But the Common Council member who recused on the Good Cause Eviction explained why he did to me in a way that I now understand better than the night before at the meeting. Merante explained to me that he believed that he would be among a specific number of local renters who would immediately financially benefit if the City of Hudson opted-in to Good Cause Eviction. He said he thought the City of Hudson was at risk of losing an Article 78 case if he voted on the issue. I would agree that anyone who believes they will specifically financially benefit from a vote should be recusing. Merante did a pretty good job convincing me that he would benefit more than, say, from voting on the city budget, where one could also reap rewards. Moreover, Merante also did convince me that he genuinely believed that, and I think any politician who genuinely believes they will financially benefit from a vote should recuse themselves. Now the Hudson city attorney disagreed with him, generally saying that renters and landlords did not have to recuse on the Good Cause Eviction vote. Merante claims his reason is more specific than that. Your mileage may vary. Also, Merante accurately points out that, unlike two other Common Council members — Vicky Daskaloudi and Rich “Trixie” Volo — he did not shirk his duties, and showed up to the meeting, and faced the large crowd of Good Cause Eviction supporters. If Merante had not shown up, it is very likely there would have been no vote on the issue at all, as it took most of the meeting to get Common Council member Dewan Sarowar logged in with visuals and audio so he could vote. Without Merante and Sarowar, the meeting would not have had a quorum, and at this moment Hudson would not have Good Cause Eviction. Also, Merante described how he previously has been harassed as a public official, and one person in the crowd after the meeting did shout at the council, which seemed to be directed at Merante. A police officer helped him get out of the meeting, but he clearly was uneasy, and no one should have to face that sort of threat. I will come completely clean, and wonder if that outrage was sparked by something I said during the meeting. After Merante explained why he recused, he also said he wasn’t voting on the issue because of some opinion he had. I interjected into the meeting, “You can’t recuse because of an opinion” and immediately, appropriately, got shut down by the Common Council President, Tom DePietro. I want to publicly apologize to Merante, because it seems what I said may have led to him feeling threatened, when he was doing his job. I’m not sure if I agree with him on the recusal, but I do think he was genuinely attempting to do the right thing. And I don’t usually feel that way after talking to elected officials.
Anyone else with anything to add to this story, please get in touch.
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Hudson Common Council votes to opt-in to New York's Good Cause Eviction law