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SCHENECTADY
Landlord: Code staff violated civil rights
Claims harassment over challenges
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.

    Schenectady’s code enforcement department is the target of a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a city landlord in U.S. District Court this month.
    Mohamed Hafez, who is representing himself in the lawsuit, claims his constitutional rights were violated when city code enforcers harassed him at his business and private shop on Crane Street. He also alleges the code enforcers arbitrarily assessed him citations last year, threatened him with legal action for failing to have rental certificates and then wrote him up for even more violations after he complained to the city about their actions.
    “The defendant’s continuous campaign of retaliatory acts are designed to chill, curtail and inhibit the lawful exercise of my First Amendment rights to free speech, associate, petition the government and elected officials for redress of grievances, and to be free from retaliation,” Hafez wrote in the 16-page lawsuit.
    Hafez also suggested the city’s ire toward him stems from a property assessment reduction he received in 2009. He claims the code enforcers started a “campaign of harassment and retaliatory acts” last year after he successfully argued for a $56,100 reduction on the value of his property at 727 Crane St.
    Hafez requested the court grant him unspecified monetary relief, including a reimbursement of any past fines and legal fees. He also asked the court to declare parts of the city code unconstitutional, including the rental certifi cate ordinance. ...................>>>>............>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01302&AppName=1