At the latest Plattsburgh Common Council meeting, city leaders reviewed proposed short-term rental registry laws and approved a new provisional police chief.
The council meeting opened with public hearings on a proposed local law to establish a short-term rental registry. After moving the resolution to adopt the local law, Ward 3 Democrat Elizabeth Gibbs had some questions regarding enforcement.
"I have concerns about whether or not this can actually be fully enforced,” said Gibbs. “That’s my concern. It’s not that I don’t support the idea of a short-term rental registry but I’m concerned that it doesn’t really have the enforcement that we want it to.”
Ward 5 Democrat Caitlin Bopp noted there are enforcement pitfalls in every law considered by the council.
“We do need some sort of legislation in place with regard to these rentals and I personally would not support a complete ban,” observed Bopp. “And even if we were to support a complete ban we would have the same problems, right. They could fly under the radar. They could be operating without you knowing. They could be an LLC. We could run into a lot of those same problems even if we were looking at a total ban.”
The short-term registry law passed on a 4 to 2 vote.
Common councilors also voted, without discussion, on Mayor Chris Rosenquest’s appointment of a new provisional police chief. Captain Peter Mitchell, a 25-year veteran of the department, was nominated pending the civil service exam. Prior to the vote Gibbs criticized the process and choice of Mitchell.
“Mr. Mitchell came into an executive session to interview, which I said in my statement,” said Gibbs. “Couldn’t answer basic questions which was alarming to me because this is your interview for this position that you want and you don’t even come prepared? So I expressed my concerns to the entire council, the mayor included, that I thought his performance was very poor and I was concerned about his ability to answer what I would consider basic questions.”
Gibbs supports another internal candidate who was passed over during a previous selection round for police chief. Outgoing Ward 2 Democrat Mike Kelly says Gibbs’ issuance of a letter to the media was inappropriate, and noted that the mayor had been conferring with the council since October about Mitchell’s qualifications.
“He was interim chief,” noted Kelly. “I watched him perform his job and he seemed to be doing just fine. He’s got the respect of the police officers. He’s trustworthy. He’s quietly working behind the scenes to make sure that the city of Plattsburgh has a good police department. I consider him to be a person a lot like myself. I like to think about things before I give answers. And it was my impression that Chief Mitchell is exactly that kind of person. He likes to deliberate and I don’t think there’s any harm in that. I don’t think that’s a sign of a person who can’t perform. In fact, it might be a sign of a person who can perform better because he takes time to consider all the possibilities.”
Mitchell’s appointment passed with three ayes, one no and two councilors abstaining.
