The court-appointed monitor overseeing Westchester County’s compliance with a 2009 affordable housing settlement will resign seven years after accepting the assignment.
James E. Johnson sent a letter to Judge Denise Cote on July 18, announcing his impending resignation, which he said would be on or before Aug. 10, his seven-year anniversary as monitor.
Johnson did not disclose his reasoning for stepping down, but did say that he also retired from his law firm, Debvoise & Plimpton, in March.
Johnson said he is committed to working with his replacement, who will be appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice following consultation with the county and approval by Cote.
As a result of a 2009 settlement with the federal government under the watch of former County Executive Andrew Spano, a Democrat, Westchester agreed to build 750 units of affordable housing in 31 of its wealthiest communities by the end of 2016.
However, Johnson’s letter suggested that he expected the terms of the settlement would continue beyond that timeframe. “Accordingly, the new monitor should recognize that the assignment may extend for months, if not years, beyond the end of this year,” he wrote.
The relationship between Johnson and County Executive Rob Astorino, A Republican, has been shaky throughout the settlement.
During his State of the County address in April, Astorino accused Johnson and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, of making unfair demands of the county in order to provoke “a settlement that never ends.” Earlier in the year, Johnson had recommended that Cote?]] hold the county in contempt of court and subject it to $60,000 fines.
Ned McCormack, communications director for the county executive, told the Review, “The county’s position from the start is that Westchester will fully comply with its obligations under the settlement, but that the federal government has no right to expand the terms or the length of the agreement.” McCormack added that all the Astorino administration asks of the new monitor is that he looks at the terms of the settlement “objectively and fairly.”
County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, a Democrat and chairman of the county Board of Legislators, said he and the monitor have had a more cordial working relationship. He added that Johnson, while “far from perfect,” conducted his job professionally.
“The monitor engaged in a very important study, the Huntington study, which has helped clear the way for a lot of communities to see that they do not have exclusionary zoning,” Kaplowitz said.
Last week, in what turned out to be his final action as monitor, Johnson removed two communities from a list of seven which he recommended that HUD sue; Croton-on-Hudson, Harrison, Lewisboro, Pelham Manor and Larchmont remain on the list.
Both Kaplowitz and McCormack said that the county lawmakers and the administration, respectively, would work to meet but not exceed the terms of the settlement before the end of the year. But according to Cote?]], the county is currently in breach of the settlement.
On July 8, Cote ruled that the county was violating two terms of the agreement. She claimed that the county failed to introduce and implement an affordable housing public education campaign, and that it failed to develop and submit an approved Analysis of Impediments, AI, a document which lists possible systemic roadblocks in creating affordable housing.
The county has submitted eight AIs since the settlement, each of which has found no exclusionary zoning. HUD has rejected each of the county’s analyses.
As a result of Cote’s ruling, the county was ordered to hire a consultant to help them complete the analysis. The county, however, has appealed the ruling.
