When an elected official breaks rules or laws merely because they are an elected public official, this becomes disturbing and detrimental to the functional of the town. Then it is time to remove the irritant.
There are several rules and some laws which have been bent or broken by Shelly Schwartz, an Amherst NY Town Council Member. Should she be held responsible for her indiscretions or should the Town institutions like the Town Ethics Board be responsible? Her fellow Council Members, for one reason or another, have kept their mouths closed about the infractions Shelly has been involved in since she has been in office. The Town Supervisor, Dr.Mohan, has been her savior and protector. He alone has kept her from being removed for her unprofessional behavior.
A classic example of her abuse of power is her purchase of a house for her mother. The house she purchased happened to be next door to her own living quarters. Shelly stated from the stage in Town Hall during a Town Board meeting that she spent $33,000 to fix up the new house for her mother.
Shelly’s mother moved it months ago but Shelly didn’t obtain a Certificate of Occupancy, which is needed before anyone can occupy a building as a residence. The Building Department of Amherst is the department which issues such a certificate after checking what was done to the building which makes it suitable and safe for anyone to live there.
Shelly hasn’t applied for any permits to do any needed work in the house. There is the possibility she didn’t require any permits to get the house in shape but most likely she did. The Building Department, as of Monday, will check out the house and what work was done which may have needed permits.
The Head of the Building Department informed me Shelly’s mother should be removed from the house but he feels it is not the right thing to do at this time. He will wait for an inspection to be done by his department workers to see if any work which was done, without the required permits, meets the standards to issue a Certificate of Occupancy.
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