Trending
A hotel owner is responding to comments made recently by Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson while planning a lawsuit regarding the situation.
In a news release issued Tuesday, Dunkirk Hospitality, LLC, owner of the former EconoLodge in Fredonia, now America's Best Value Inn, countered statements by the village leader and served an Amended Notice of Claim on the municipality.
Ferguson told the OBSERVER, "Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me," but that worry rests on informal conversations. The parties never signed a contract or put any obligation in writing.
"Instead of worrying about burning himself, he should be worrying about burning the village," stated Richard J. Morrisroe, Esq., of VanDette Law PLLC, counsel for Dunkirk Hospitality. "Ferguson could have avoided the improper handling of the hotel and the litigation that will follow. Taxpayers will feel the burn as well. It is surprising that Mayor Ferguson worries so much about this business, being that he comes from the private sector. He should know that the mayor does not control the supply and demand of hotel occupancy. He should also know that everyone is entitled to due process rights, including business owners such as hotel operator Dunkirk Hospitality LLC."
The notice alleges the village ordered every occupant out on April 27, days after inspections, without notice or a hearing, then rescinded the order June 16 after the hotel won a temporary restraining order. It alleges the village's own inspector found no violations on Sept. 9, and on Sept. 21 the village certified the hotel's roof replacement as substantially compliant.
"The same village that called the roof 'collapsing' in April certified the replacement work in September," Morrisroe argued. "The notice demands the village's proof."
The notice alleges a pretext: the village used the closure to remove county placements and keep them out.
"By his own account, the mayor 'worked hard to get' that programming removed and expressed 'strong resistance' to its return, even as he acknowledges cold weather means people will need emergency housing," Morrisroe said. "My client did not create the nuisance issues he raises. A hotel is not responsible for policing the nuisance or alleged criminal behavior of guests placed by Chautauqua County DSS, just as a landlord is not responsible for policing its tenants. Dunkirk Hospitality, LLC and its members have worked, invested and lived in this community since 2006, and pay over $102,000 in annual property taxes. The village's negligent actions pushed taxes that were current before the shutdown into arrears and cost many employees their jobs. It chose to mitigate its losses by opening as a hotel again to serve travelers rather than shutting its doors."
Before they closed, Ferguson said, it had become the top location of police calls in the village, with more than 530 calls there over an 18-month period. While many of the calls were for stolen merchandise, drug use or noise violations, there were also reports of rapes, stabbings and shootings. In addition, there were more than 100 Emergency Medical Technician dispatch calls there, many of which were for drug overdoses, when residents were administered Narcan. The overlap of homeless people and the traveling public made things complicated.
Eventually Ferguson got the hotel to stop renting to the general public, saying he didn’t want other visitors to go through similar experiences to ones he detailed recently to the OBSERVER and Post-Journal.
"The mayor got his wish. According to DSS, Mayor Ferguson and (Chautauqua) County Executive PJ Wendel made the final decision that DSS will no longer place anyone at the former EconoLodge, now America's Best Value Inn. Mayor Ferguson's passionate righteousness and dedication are admirable. However, passion is not process," continued Morrisroe. "Notice, an opportunity to be heard, and enforcement through the proper channels. That is the due process the village failed to follow. The mayor has every right to speak. That right protects his freedom to talk, not the wisdom of what he says. His words and inattention to due process will keep this village in court. As I said in April, sometimes, say less."
The Amended Notice of Claim is the precursor to the lawsuit Dunkirk Hospitality will file against the village. No court has yet adjudicated its allegations.