Astorino in clear as feds drop push for contempt charges

The U.S. district attorney's office is no longer pushing for contempt of court charges against Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino for his opposition to a court order requiring him to adopt Section 8 legislation.

On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kennedy told Judge Denise Cote at a hearing that the federal government is no longer seeking contempt of court charges against the county, which could have faced hefty fines from the action.

On May 3, Cote in Manhattan ruled that Astorino "is failing to comply" with the terms of a 2009 settlement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development over allegations of housing discrimination.

Cote's 28-page ruling said Astorino's actions violated one of the key provisions of the pact, which required the county to "promote" legislation that mandates that private property owners accept Section 8 government vouchers for rent.

Astorino appealed that decision to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and told the federal government that he did not intend to resubmit the legislation on government vouchers until the county exhausted all of its legal remedies.

Under the threat of federal contempt of court charges, Astorino relented and sent a letter to James Johnson, the federal monitor overseeing the case, on Aug. 22, saying he would request that the county Legislature resubmit a so-called "source of income" bill that would prevent landlords across the county from rejecting Section 8 vouchers.

Ken Jenkins, chairman of the Democratic-controlled county Legislature, said the board hasn't drafted the legislation yet and argues that Astorino -- who vetoed a similar bill in 2010 -- should be responsible for proposing it.

The feds have been pressuring Astorino to comply with the 2009 settlement, which stems from a housing discrimination lawsuit filed against the county by the Anti-Discrimination Center and settled by Astorino's predecessor, Andy Spano.

The settlement required the county to build 750 affordable-housing units in predominantly white communities.

Astorino argues that the county is fulfilling the terms of the settlement, with many of the required housing units already financed. He contends that HUD is overreaching its authority by requiring that property owners take Section 8 vouchers for housing and that the county dismantle exclusionary zoning laws in its towns and villages.