Planning committee to hold mid-May town hall on proactive rental-inspection proposal as counsel reviews legal issues

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The council’s planning committee reported it will hold a town hall in mid-May to seek resident input on a proposed proactive rental-housing inspection program, while city attorneys continue to review potential legal issues that have delayed program implementation.

Council members said the committee met April 15 to discuss next steps for legislation introduced last month. Committee members said the primary barrier to implementing the program has been legal concerns and they plan to work with corporation counsel to resolve those issues. The committee also plans to meet with Mayor Grama and Supervisor Schleider to focus administrative resources on implementation tasks such as logistics, database and software rather than leaving legal coordination solely to the supervisor’s office.

Why it matters: The program would affect rental properties and landlords in the city if implemented; the town hall is intended to gather feedback from residents who may be impacted and to surface operational concerns before the council advances legislation.

Next steps: A town-hall date in mid-May will be announced once scheduled; the transcript records repeated council requests that the mayor’s office develop a protocol for how demolished parcels and related housing programs are assessed (see side-lot discussion).