The Recent Village Election Proved You Can Fight City Hall and Win

Dear Editor:

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, permit parking on public streets was established in the village of Pelham on Wolfs Lane by the high school to provide legal overnight parking for tenants living in the south end of the village.

The permits were sold for $250 and were not designed to be an income source for the village, but rather a legal way for tenants living on the south end of the village and along Fifth Avenue in front of the Sanborn Map Company to park legally overnight.

Within a short time, Democrats on the board began to view these street permit fees, as well as parking deck permits fees, as a cash cow for the village, although this was not their purpose. Democrats soon decided to double the cost of permit fees in the decks, on Wolfs Lane, and on Fifth Avenue in front of the Sanborn Map Company.

Tenants in the village became outraged and organized a voting drive. Three Democratic village trustees were swept out of office and replaced with Republicans. Parking permit fees were immediately lowered to a reasonable rate.

Since that time, Democrats elected to the board, including the recently replaced incumbents, raised thefees again and again, forcing many tenants to move and creating unnecessary turnover in village apartment buildings and a large amount of empty parking spaces. This may soon result in tax grievance filings bylandlords, which will affect the school, town, village and county tax base in our village.

During 2010, the Pelham Picture House formed plans to expand that required additional parking and an additional drainage pipe to be installed in the street on Brookside Place. Clovelly owners, who claimed ownership of Brookside place and Hillside as private streets refused to allow the drainage construction fearing it would create major flooding problems and wreak havoc in the neighborhood.

Mayor Hotchkiss and some of the Democratic trustees intervened and hatched a scheme to force Clovelly to give up their claim of ownership of Brookside and Hillside as private streets. (Brookside Place and Hillside Place have been private streets for over fifty years). Neither side wanted to enter into an expensive and extensive court battle. Clovelly owners finally gave in to pressure placed on them by Mayor Hotchkiss and Democrats on the board.

On December 20, 2011, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution to allow special twenty-four-hour parking permits to Clovelly owners if they agreed to give up their claims to Brookside and Hillside as private streets.

Although a home rule resolution- passed by the New York State Legislature- is required to allow permit parking on any public street, the Mayor and board never sought this home rule resolution from the state knowing it might have been denied and would have required all of the Carol Avenue neighborhood to access to the permits.

The village resolution allowed permit parking on both sides of Brookside and Hillside as well as on the west side of Carol Avenue only. The permits cost $250 per car annually to be increased slightly in five years. 

Although twenty-four-hour parking had been allowed for over fifty years on the east side of Carol Avenue due to unique parking limitations, Mayor Hotchkiss and Democratic trustees refused to hear appeals by residents.

Disregarding police warnings, residents on the east side of Carol Avenue and neighborhood tenants were told by Mayor Hotchkiss to walk the quarter-mile to park behind village hall nightly and pay $750 each year.

Mayor Hotchkiss and Democrats on the board ignored constant appeals from Carol Ave. residents and tenants and required those living on the east side of Carol to pay $500 more to park than their neighbors

This entire attack on the Carol Avenue neighborhood enraged many Clovelly owners, as well as residents on Carol Avenue, Brookside and Hillside. Many village residents from other neighborhoods were also outraged at the bullying, unfairness and refusal to truly hear the concerns of residents demonstrated by Hotchkiss and Democrats on the board.

The refusal of the Mayor and other Democrats on the village board to honestly listen to the concerns of Pelham residents was evident in other areas of the village as well. Their planned development of a 110-unit apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a lack of flood mitigation, unnecessary and unwelcome re-zoning plans, over-priced unaffordable permit parking fees along with the huge increase in debt service are a few examples of this.

Fortunately, this is America and there is one very powerful tool, an option available to every citizen; the right to vote.

Members of the Carol Avenue Neighborhood Association and others appealed to Republican party leaders in the village to put together a slate to challenge incumbent board members. As a result, an excellent team of candidates were nominated.

Homeowners and tenants alike from the Carol Avenue neighborhood, as well as residents from every neighborhood in the Village of Pelham, organized and

A new Mayor and Trustees were elected, winning a landslide victory by almost a two-to-one margin as in the early 90’s, when a similar situation occurred.

During the past few years, the current Mayor and trustees refused to hear the residents of the Carol Avenue neighborhood, as well as residents from every neighborhood in the village. They heard us loud and clear on Election Day.

Those who choose to serve as Mayor or Trustee must never forget that they serve the people. Everyone must be treated with respect and be included in the process before decisions are made, both homeowners and tenants alike.

Pelham is a community made up of different neighborhoods with unique issues that must be addressed accordingly. A one-size-fits-all form of management does not work in our village.

Life these days is difficult enough without additional costs, problems and pressures created by headstrong elected village officials who refuse to honestly listen or to manage with a little compassion when appealed to by residents who seek fairness and viable solutions in their neighborhoods.

This story isn’t over yet. There are still three incumbent Democrats on the board who may not have gotten the message that the practices of the past few years will not be tolerated. The years of uncontested elections may have given them a false sense of security. However, the days of uncontested elections are over.

Either way there now is a new Mayor and three new trustees who will usher in a new style of leadership that will include all of us in the process and deal with both homeowners and tenants with respect and compassion. This election proved you can fight city hall and win.

Robert Keller

Member of The Carol Avenue Neighborhood Association. (An association comprised ofhomeowners and renters)

[Pelham residents are welcome to submit letters to the editor for publication on Pelham Patch. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.]