Tuckahoe Housing Commissioners Dismissed for Misconduct

The mayor of the Village of Tuckahoe held a hearing and found two housing authority commissioners guilty of neglect and misconduct. The two THA commissioners were removed from their posts. The commissioners appealed. The court annulled the mayor's ruling, finding that the mayor wasn't an impartial hearing officer. The matter was sent back to the mayor to appoint an impartial hearing officer and conduct a new hearing. The village appealed and won. Although the mayor should have recused himself, the case was now moot because the commissioners' terms expired before they filed their appeal of the court's decision and they no longer held public office anyway. And although the expiration of the commissioners' terms didn't bar them from seeking a name-clearing hearing where they could attempt to prove that the mayor created a false and defamatory impression of them in connection with their removal, they didn't demonstrate that they were entitled to this relief. There was no indication that any of the mayor's findings or comments to the media were false, as they were based on the problems identified in a HUD audit report.

Decintio v. Village of Tuckahoe: 2012 NY Slip Op 08002, 2012 WL 5870390 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 11/21/12; Angiolillo, JP, Lott, Austin, Cohen, JJ)