Chris Johnson may be stripped of title by Westchester legislators; could still be expelled
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Westchester County Legislator Chris Johnson’s political career, which had an upward trajectory for more than a decade, has turned south.
That downward slide has accelerated of late.
Johnson lost the June 27 Democratic primary to Yonkers City Councilwoman Shanae Williams by 61% to 39%.
Three days later, Yonkers Inspector General Liam McLaughlin issued a scathing report on Johnson's move outside the legislative district he represents, the 16th, and his decision to rent his affordable condominium in the 16th to his wife’s brother and family, in violation of city regulations.
The city of Yonkers has begun protocols to revoke the STAR property tax exemption from his affordable condo because it was not owner-occupied for the past 12 months.
On Monday, the county Board of Legislators is expected to announce it will strip Johnson of his title as majority leader and the $12,000-a-year stipend that comes with it. This was first reported by The Yonkers Times. The board may still consider whether to remove Johnson from the board entirely.
The removal of Johnson from his leadership post would make him the second leadership casualty among county Democrats in three months. In late April, board Chair Catherine Borgia, D-Ossining, resigned her post after questions arose over her handling of reports that a legislative aide, Anand Singh, had solicited sex, in a vigilante sting operation, from someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Johnson also came under fire from Williams, his primary opponent, for his role in the flap over the legislative aide. Singh was subsequently fired. Borgia resigned as chair but will serve out the remainder of her term.
Democrats meet in private
Board Chair Vedat Gashi, D-Yorktown, said the board’s Democrats met in a private caucus Wednesday evening to decide upon a path forward to address Johnson’s residency issues, detailed in a May 18 Tax Watch investigation, and fleshed out in Johnson’s interview under oath with the inspector general.
The county charter states that you forfeit your seat if you move out of your district.
"A county legislator who ceases to be a resident of such district from which he is elected shall forfeit his office and the same shall be deemed vacant," it states.
McLaughlin, who will share the taped interview with county legislators, said that Johnson at first told him he was living at the condominium.
"He tried to flim-flam me, telling me he was living in the one-bedroom apartment with his brother-in-law, his girlfriend, and two kids," said McLaughlin. "I asked him: What is your primary residence? He answered it was his new place."
Questions were raised Thursday regarding whether Johnson could salvage his $75,000-a-year legislator's salary for the final six months of 2023 if he reestablished residence in the 16th District by renting an apartment over the weekend. But Gashi said Johnson’s return to the district in a new apartment would not change the board majority’s planned actions at its 7 p.m. meeting Monday, which he declined to disclose.
“I’ve heard no indication that he’d be moving back to the district,” said Gashi. “What we are doing is pursuant to the facts that we have.”
Williams said allowing Johnson to retain his status as a legislator if he finds a new apartment in the 16th District after a year’s absence would make a mockery out of county law.
“It would be foolish and corrupt,” said Williams. “It would set a horrible precedent: that you could move out of your district and then come back whenever you feel like it.”
Legislator Jimmy Nolan, R-Yonkers, into whose district Johnson moved, the 15th District, said Johnson must step down from the board.
"We must follow what the charter says: that if you don't live in the district, you vacate your seat," said Nolan. "The report said that he didn't live there."
Johnson did not respond to numerous phone messages, texts and emails since his primary defeat. At the Board of Legislators meeting on Wednesday, he did not acknowledge questions asked as he walked down the corridor.
Johnsons were riding high in 2022
In 2022, Johnson, and his wife, Tai, were riding high.
City & State New York ranked them at #60 in the media site’s Westchester Power 100, suggesting “this pair may be Westchester’s most powerful political power couple.”
In his third term on the Board of Legislators, Chris Johnson was its majority leader, who led the Democratic caucus in its closed-door meetings over legislation, budget matters, and political issues. Tai Johnson had joined the political consulting firm, Actum, leveraging her work with state Attorney General Letitia James to promote candidates around the state.
The Johnsons were moving up.
Just look at the City & State ranking from 2021. A year earlier, Tai was No. 78, and Chris followed at No. 79. The 2021 article is framed in Chris Johnson's eighth floor office in the Michaelian Office Building in White Plains, across from a photo of state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, his political mentor, for whom he worked as an aide in the late 2000s, swearing him into office.
The Johnsons moved up on the housing front as well.
The affordable condo with Hudson River views that Chris had purchased in 2010 through the city’s Affordable Housing program on North Broadway had become too cramped as their toddler son grew up. Chris said his wife wanted a new home she’d found on Rose Hill Terrace.
The home on Rose Hill Terrace, however, lay outside the 16th District that Johnson represented. He had hoped no one would notice that salient fact, with Johnson, through the Democratic caucus, helping to shepherd through a new redistricting map that would put Rose Hill Terrace in the 16th District.
By renting his affordable condo to his relatives, Johnson violated the program's residency laws, which require that the owner lives in the unit. The Yonkers city administration is considering whether to foreclose on the condominium, as is allowed under the federal program, or convince Johnson to sell it to a purchaser who qualified under income guidelines and would make it his or her primary residence.
"The Mayor’s Office is more inclined to see the property go back into the affordable housing market rather than see it tied up in foreclosure proceedings," said spokeswoman Lisa Reyes.
More: Westchester legislator's house is outside his Yonkers district. Here's what we've learned
Johnson's STAR exemption in jeopardy
Johnson's move to Rose Hill Terrace appears to have run afoul of state tax law as well.
City Assessor Lynette Thomas-Braggs has started the process of revoking Johnson’s STAR property tax exemption at 421 North Broadway condominium. Under state law, only owner-occupied units qualify for the tax break, which saved him $967 in 2022.
More: Borgia resigns as top Westchester legislator after losing case to stop her ouster
Thomas-Braggs sent Johnson a letter on May 22, asking him if he considered 421 North Broadway to be his primary residence, said city spokeswoman Reyes. When the assessor didn’t receive a response, she sent a certified letter on June 23. If she doesn’t hear back by July 22, a second certified letter will be sent. If there is no response to the second letter, the tax exemption would be revoked.
Williams, who defeated Johnson in the primary, called on state tax officials to claw back Johnson’s ill-gotten STAR savings over the past year. She also wants Johnson to pay back his public salary of $87,000 that he received over the past 12 months, after he moved from the 16th District to the 15th.
“There should be consequences for breaking these rules,” said Williams.
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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Westchester legislator Chris Johnson may lose title, could be expelled
