May 29, 2008
Briefing Book
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A Bronx tale in Lewisboro
Most politicians would travel hours for the chance to speak to a group of a dozen constituents for 30 uninterrupted minutes. When Newt Gingrich and the House Republicans figured out in the 1980s that CSPAN provided them with a vastly larger audience for a much longer period of time, the nature of politics changed. Political debate came directly into the homes of voters, unfiltered by the mainstream media.
For Lewisboro’s politicians, Lewisboro Community Television is the CSPAN of local politics. Available on Channel 20, LCTV provides a medium for local politicians to speak directly to homeowners. But it also provides a forum for homeowners to speak to the politicians. On May 5, homeowner Kevin Roach entered that forum during the Town Board’s public comment period and scored a victory for homeowner rights.
LCTV wasn’t Briefing Book’s first encounter with Kevin Roach and his wife, Maureen. In the 1970s, Maureen and I were classmates at Fordham University at its Bronx campus at Rose Hill. For the last 18 months, the Roaches have been speaking with Briefing Book, keeping this column informed of the status of their legal battle with the town government. They asked that these conversations be off the record. Until now.
In cool, measured tones, Mr. Roach spoke succinctly the evening of May 5. “This isn’t like any other lawsuit the town government’s been dealing with,” he explained, noting that “we have experienced significant, material, obvious damage” from actions taken by the town government since the middle of 2005.
What kind of damage? In plain English, the Roaches, residents of Mount Holly Road, charged the town government with flooding their property. In papers they filed in court and made available to Briefing Book, the Roaches charged that the town government in July 2005 “dug out the shoulder of 502 Mount Holly Road to create a ‘leak off’ or water chute to divert storm water from Mount Holly Road onto [their] property.”
In the course of the lawsuit, the Roaches hired four engineering firms, two law firms, two survey firms, one appraiser and three specialized environmental firms. “Fortunately we are in position to foot these bills,” Mr. Roach explained that evening.
The town government, of course, denied any wrongdoing. But their stonewalling didn’t hold any water, so to speak, with the Roaches. “We’ve experienced clear, obvious damage,” said Mr. Roach, who blamed the town government’s intransigence for “forcing us into litigation.” The town government eventually entered into settlement talks, but not fast enough to forestall Mr. Roach’s LCTV appearance.
“It’s only going to get worse next week when this case goes to trial,” said Mr. Roach as the Town Board squirmed silently. “I’ve made it clear to our attorneys that no water is to drain into our property. We want it back the way it was.”
“I will be back,” warned Mr. Roach. “No one in the town government ever took us seriously. I am puzzled by why you want to proceed with this, given the strength of our case. I don’t know whether it’s misguided aggressive environmental stewardship, whether it has to do with the devious nature of the town government’s stormwater management, or some other agenda.”
“We’re defending our property,” Mr. Roach concluded. “You’re defending the indefensible. You’ve already spent what it would have cost you to fix the problem permanently and you’re facing a multi-week trial.”
“We’re going to win, I’m confident of that,” Mr. Roach affirmed. And so, apparently, was the Town Board. Shortly after Mr. Roach’s appearance, the Town Board made a motion to go into executive session to discuss “legal matters.” One week later, the town government had agreed to a settlement of the Roach lawsuit.
The terms of the settlement prohibit the Roaches from discussing it, and they haven’t. But here at Briefing Book, we’re not so restricted. And in our opinion, we haven’t heard Ms. Roach this happy since we got an extension on that term paper in our political economy seminar.
So here’s our advice to homeowners contemplating a lawsuit against the town government. If you’re not going to vote out the scoundrels who perpetrate these outrages, you can still beat the town government in court, provided you are prepared to spend far more than you’d ever envisioned, you engage in maximum overkill to get their attention, and you assume it will go the full 15 rounds, since the town government is spending your money, not theirs.
Voting them out is cheaper. But if all else fails, it helps if one of you went to school in the Bronx.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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