In 2011, we commenced litigation against the Village of Sea Cliff based on the view that portions of the Village code were unconstitutional. Following an incident with Andrew “Drew” Lawrence the Building Superintendent of the Village over a toolshed and alleged “dog run,” Lawrence stated that he had the right to search any property for any reason in the Village.
We felt constitutionally protected Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of Villagers were violated. In fact, Lawrence stated verbally and in writing that he had the right to search any home or property without a duly authorized search warrant. We disagreed.
There controversy boiled over into the Village of Sea Cliff 2012 local elections. While the Sea Cliff POC candidate was running for Trustee, he was simultaneously suing the Village for an unconstitutional search of his property by the Village Building Inspector Andrew Lawrence.
In an article by Newsday’s Carl McGowan on March 4, 2012 “Losquadro said he sued the village last year because a building inspection at his home was “unconstitutional.” The inspection led to charges that Losquadro’s shed and dog run violated the building code. He said he has appealed his conviction on those charges and has not paid the $2,750 in
fines. Mayor Bruce Kennedy, who supports Hayes and Powell, said the lawsuit was
“frivolous.”
Kennedy also made statements in the Gold Coast Gazette, and in robocalls to
voters, that “We have no laws on the books that are unconstitutional. The Village submits that this is a frivolous lawsuit that does nothing more than cost the taxpayers
money and drains time from our staff from being of maximum service to all
our residents. I am confident that our Village will be triumphant. ” See attached Gold Coast
Gazette article.
On July 19 2012, the Honorable Steven M. Jaeger of the NYS Supreme Court agreed with us. In his ten page decision on a motion for partial summary judgement, he struck down Section 48-7 of the Sea Cliff Village Code as unconstitutional. Judge Jaeger stated ” Based on the foregoing, the plaintiff is entitled to partial summary judgement declaring that Section 48-7 of the Code of the Village of Sea Cliff is unconstitutional on it’s face.”
Judge Jaeger further stated, “Overall, defendants [Village of Sea Cliff] have failed to raise any triable issue of fact, or any legal authority to support the constitutionality of Section 48-7 [Village Code]. The other elements of the case will continue to trial.
Apparently Mayor Bruce Kennedy either has no understanding of basic constitutional issues, or little concern for the rights of residents.
Furthermore, Andrew Lawrence is an Village official with a bad attitude. He walks around the Village with a gold shield on his belt like a western sheriff. The is a growing chorus of residents in the Village that are extremely unhappy with him. He had no prior experience as a building official prior to his employment by the Village. If fact his prior employment experience was as a locksmith and part time home inspector. Lawrence was hired by Kennedy. Incidentally, Kennedy also appoints the Village Justice, which makes contesting Lawrence’s decisions very difficult in Village Court.