By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
Meeting Photos by Julie Carasone
Once upon a time – actually around three years ago – Jeff and Gina Lathan (photo above) entertained the idea of converting their property on Route 237 in the Town of Stafford into an event venue. They had enough land, five acres, along with a nice yard and a renovated barn that could accommodate up to 120 people.
So, the couple, 28-year residents of the town, approached the Stafford Town Board to find out how to make this happen.
Unfortunately, they say that their dream has turned into a nightmarish experience marked by incorrect information and harassment from a former town code enforcement officer, and an ongoing dispute with the Town Board.
Link to video of meeting below:
GENESEE COUNTY/Stafford Town Board Meeting/July 8, 2024 – Video News Service
The Lathans were back at a Town Board meeting on Monday night – a marathon 3 ½- hour session that drew about 50 residents to the Town Court building.
Their situation was one of many contentious issues discussed last night.
Others included the status of the former Stafford Odd Fellows Lodge building owned by James Pontillo, a solar farm application by Robert and Michelle Wood and letters from Stafford Fire Department President James Call and Treasurer Stephanie Call announcing their resignations due to a list of alleged problems in the department.
The Lathans, for the second time in 18 months, came to a town meeting to find out why the board has hired an attorney to review their file and to request closure of the matter, since they had previously decided to drop their quest to become an event venue.
Speaking first, Jeff Lathan said he wanted to make it clear that he and his wife were not renting out their property and do not use it as a business.
“Our property is for our personal use,” he said. “We do not have a barn venue; we don’t have a wedding venue and we don’t have a party barn.”
He then asked why the board was investigating them.
“I want to know before I leave this meeting, and all these people that are here to support us, what is going on?” he asked.
That question was repeated several times by Jeff, Gina and their son, Jonathan, who all said they have been stressed out by the actions of the code enforcement officers (formerly Gerry Wood and currently Don Mullen).
“Why the continued harassment?” Lathan continued. “You had an individual that worked in this building (Wood) for many, many years, and you sat back and let him torture us? And not one of you, except Ed Schramm who no longer is with you, had the decency to stand up and apologize to us for this person’s behavior. It’s unacceptable.”
Lathan said he was forced to call the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office to remove Wood from his property “after he threatened to punch me” and Gina Lathan said that Wood altered a building permit issued for their new deck.
Gina said they enjoy sharing their property with family and friends.
“We love entertaining, we have a beautiful property (and) we will never apologize for that,” she said. “We both worked very, very hard. We raised our family there … and we did think maybe we could do something with this (since) there are barn venues around.”
She said they received misinformation from Wood concerning special use permit and zoning regulations, and this ignited months of threats and miscommunication.
“He gave us the wrong direction, misled us; misinformation. When we figured that out, we said we’re not doing this and we’re not doing it (now),” she noted. “It’s not worth it. It’s not worth the stress because it wasn’t meant to be this big, huge … thing. We got our application back; we got our checks (for building permits) back.”
Despite their change of heart, the Lathans said they keep receiving letters from Mullen, stating they are not in compliance.
“What do you mean by this?” Gina asked. “Why are you turning our file over to your town attorney? … So yeah, we are not leaving here tonight until we have answers of what your problem is. Or it’s going to stop because guess what? We have a big attorney now. So, it’s either ending here tonight, or this is going really far. We’re done.”
The Lathans confronted Mullen (photo at left), who was in attendance, asking him why the town has hired another attorney to investigate them.
“So, what is your attorney even reviewing, because it’s not a complete, accurate file,” Gina said. “So, you’re paying somebody to advise you and they don’t have the whole story. And it’s costing you because you all live in the community. But it’s also costing us and it’s also costing all these people. And it doesn’t make us very happy. So we would like an answer.”
When she asked Mullen, “Why is our file at an attorney’s office?” he replied, “I’m not going to answer.”
The Lathans confronted Mullen, who was in attendance, asking him why the town has hired another attorney to investigate them.
“So, what is your attorney even reviewing, because it’s not a complete, accurate file,” Gina said. “So, you’re paying somebody to advise you and they don’t have the whole story. And it’s costing you because you all live in the community. But it’s also costing us and it’s also costing all these people. And it doesn’t make us very happy. So, we would like an answer.”
When she asked Mullen, “Why is our file at an attorney’s office?” he replied, “I’m not going to answer.”
At that point, the crowd reacted, prompting Mullen to add, “I’m not going to answer because I’m going to the attorney’s office this week.”
Jeff mentioned that another town attorney advised the couple that as long as they weren’t making money from their property, they were free to do what they want.
“We’re not seeking a special use permit. We’re not asking for rezoning. We want to know what’s going on,” he said.
Mullen responded by saying he will have answers to his questions next week and had “asked the attorney just to review the file so we can get together and discuss how we move forward.”
“We’re not moving forward,” Jeff replied. “We don’t want a special use permit. We don’t want to have a business and we’re not going to have a venue. We want to be left alone.”
Town Supervisor Robert Clement(left) with Deputy Town Supervisor/Councilman Ron Panek(right)
Deputy Supervisor Ronald Panek asked Mullen if there were any open issues left in the Lathans’ file, noting that it was the board’s job to enforce zoning laws and building codes.
“Was everything done as it should have been to complete it?” Panek said. Mullen replied, “No.”
Immediately, Gina mentioned the building permit for a new deck, the ensuing confrontation with Wood and the alteration of the permit.
Fast forwarding to today, she said the deck is finished and, if that is the issue in question, someone needs to inspect it and sign off on it.
“But guess what? Nobody from this town is coming on our property,” she said. “So, you can send somebody else or close it out like you close out roofs when you drive by you sign off on it. Because we know that happens … that’s how our roof got closed out.”
At this point, several members of the audience spoke up, imploring the board to give the Lathans a straight answer, with some shouting to leave them alone.
When Mullen was asked if there were open issues he was investigating, he replied by saying it was not an investigation.
“I need counsel because everything that has happened in the past, I wasn’t here,” he said. “So, I need help going through the files, trying to figure out what happened in the past where we’re at today and how we’re going to move forward.”
Moments later, after further questioning from the Lathans, Mullen stood up and – walking toward the exit – said, “I give my resignation right now.”
Many in the crowd applauded.
When asked if the board approved the hiring of the attorney, Board member Terry Young said Mullen “needed help … and we decided to give it to him.”
As residents called for the board to settle the matter, Supervisor Robert Clement said that a code enforcement officer could come to their home, inspect the project and close it out.
Panek then brought up the initial business aspect of the Lathans’ plan, stating, “A lot of buildings are not businesses, but they have capacity.”
Jeff Lathan replied that theirs is a private residence and occupancy limits don’t apply. Panek said he disagreed.
“It’s not a business,” Gina said. “But if I want to have my church lady group over and have 30 ladies in there and have a speaker and have tea, I’m going to whether I sit on my back porch, all stuff into my living room, or sitting in the middle of the field. We can do that. Because we live the United States of America, our house is paid for our and property taxes are paid.”
At that point, someone shouted, “Amen,” and people applauded.
The parties went back and forth for several more minutes before Young said the board can’t close the file until an inspection is performed. The Lathans agreed to allow Code Enforcement Officer Gene Sinclair on their property as long as he calls first to make an appointment.
“We want to be promised that you’re going to do the inspection and leave us alone,” Jeff said.
Sue them all, everyone of them both civilly and criminally! Make them pay for their ignorant and illegal activities. This is a serious violation of several laws and civil rights violations by various government officials. A detailed and thorough investigation should be conducted to determine if any administrative or criminal violations of law actually occurred. The investigation must including the activities of relative government personnel relative to exceeding and or abusing their authority.
Boomers
Unreal!!! Leave them alone is right. I’m proud of the Lathens for making this issue public and fight for there right. It’s there property and I wish they fought for the business they dreams of not the the nightmare. Press charges of they apply. Good luck Jeff and Gina
I don’t know a single person in this issue, but I know a vindictive look when I see one, and that pose of Mullen here is of exactly that kind of person!
Sounds like the Oakfield building inspector. Thinks he is gods gift to earth and just walks on peoples property whenever he chooses. The town protects him and doesn’t do anything about it. Good ol small town politics.
I would contact the Attorney Generals office !!
This is a clear case of abuse of power by a governing body. No Matter the size of the city, Town, Hamlet, they still must follow state laid out procedures and policies.
They should be brought to justice, and the board members should all resign for allowing this to happen
We were unfairly harassed by the Stafford town board a few years ago. I couldn’t believe the people who stopped by to tell us of their own experiences. People feared retribution if they took a stand against the ongoing abuse of power. I find it hard to believe that there is no oversight for this group. I called around and kept hitting a dead end, it appears they report only to the voters! That’s unbelievable; I know of a few people who got on the board to try and straighten things out. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered by the bullies, and ended up quoting in frustration. Someone with legal authority should take a holistic look at all the issues over the years and help the citizens of this town. How long should favoritism, intimidation, unlawful repercussions be the mode of governance in Stafford N.Y.
Sounds like the dirty tricks we just went thru with the Village of Hamburg. A local contractor bought the single family house next door. Gutted it down to the studs. All new everything – money seemed to be no object! Never got a permit of any kind. Installed a parking lot in a zone where it is ” strictly prohibited “. Village rolled over for this guy. This was all for his kid (early 20’s) and his kids friends plus lots of revolving door girls! A “frat house” in a “single family zoning”. They have modified exhaust systems on many of the cars, sometimes 6 to 8. Sounds like jet engines 11 ft from our house. Windows shake, it’s crazy! Village did not follow their own code. We’ve lived here 45+ yrs. Car blasting off right now!
Is there any way to have a news channel action report be done ?? Bad publicity for a town sometimes helps push those in power get pushed out for upstanding people to step in.
The Truth, and nothing but the Truth, for isn’t it time the People awoke to the Truth…
Government Employees, much like judges, have broad discretion with their jobs, with that discretion, they are afforded immunity, much like an entitled benefit of sorts. There are numerous court cases in a wide spectrum of matters that support this. While we would all like to think the law is heavily weighted on both sides, it is not. While we would all like to believe that the rights of one individual are equal to that of another regardless of job position and title, it is untrue. “Municipalities surrendered their common-law tort immunity for the misfeasance of their officers and employees long ago (see Bernardine v City of New York, 294 N.Y. 361), but other recognized limitations still govern the tort liability of municipal officers. Relevant here is the rule that when official action involves the exercise of discretion, the officer is not liable for the injurious consequences of that action even if resulting from negligence or malice. Conversely, when the action is exclusively ministerial, the officer will be liable if it is otherwise tortious and not justifiable pursuant to statutory command ( East Riv. GasLight Co. v Donnelly, 93 N.Y. 557, 559, cited in Rottkamp v Young, supra; see, generally, 2 Harper and James, Torts, § 29.10). In Rottkamp the Appellate Division held that a building inspector who refused to issue a building permit was immune from suit because his act was discretionary (21 A.D.2d, at p 376). ” [Tango v. Tulevech, 61 N.Y.2d 34, 471 N.Y.S.2d 73, 459 N.E.2d 182 (N.Y. 1983)]
If a school teacher rapes a student, they are immune from liability including emotional pain and suffering. If a police officer kills a child out of rage while on duty, immunity protects them. If a group of town employees bully, harass and gang assaults an entire family, they are immune from any consequences to their actions. And yes, there is case law that supports this. The only remedy or recourse we have is to stop paying taxes, they are not on our side, they are the enemy.
We were all brainwashed, like generations before us, who believed our tax contributions went towards the protection of our rights. It’s time to wake up and face the Truth, we have been scammed on the American Dream, on the United States and on the Constitution.
You will not win a lawsuit. It’s a waste of your time, your money and your efforts.
I’m so sorry for Jeff, Gina and their family to have to have gone through and continue to fight government officials on what they can do on their own property! I wish them all the best from here on in and if they want invite 120 people to attend a “bonfire” like event, more power to them!!! “The Man” needs to be drained from the swamp once and for all!!!!!
Worked for Don Mullen in the past and know that look all to well especially when he’s in the wrong and questioned about it!