Ron Vendetti retires as Albion code enforcement officer
File photo by Tom Rivers: Ron Vendetti, center, speaks during a meeting in April 2018 with other local municipal officials, including County Legislator Ken DeRoller, right. Vendetti advocated for local municipalities to have standardized forms, setbacks and many regulations. He has worked as the code officer in Albion, Holley and Murray.
ALBION – The Albion Village Board this evening accepted the retirement notice from Ron Vendetti. His last day as code enforcement officer will be Thursday.
That will end a career spanning nearly 20 years with Albion. Many residents have complained he was often rude and abrasive, or too nit-picky when he would cite them for code violations.
Vendetti did have fans, especially with several corporations which invested in new buildings or major renovations in the village.
Many significant projects happened in his tenure, especially on Route 31 and South Main Street with new stores or major renovations by Tops, Dollar General, Monro Muffler, McDonald’s, Eckerd (now Rite Aid), Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ Donuts, Kentucky Fried Chicken and several others.
“We appreciate everything he did with the grants and the developments,” said Mayor Eileen Banker.
She said the village will advertise the position. Some of the workload in the meantime will be picked up by Tracy Van Skiver and Scott Bradshaw, current village employees who work part-time in code enforcement.
Vendetti was fired by the village as codes officer on Feb. 27, 2008, where he was accused of a pattern of rudeness with residents and incompetence on the job when he missed a court date to defend a ticket.
Vendetti sued and got his job back as well as back pay.
He was hired in 2002, when Ed Salvatore was mayor. Vendetti went about “cleaning up the village,” ridding Albion of many unlicensed vehicles and cracking down on unkempt homes and properties.
He acknowledges it can be a difficult job, with many people not happy to hear from him.
He wrote a letter to the editor of the Orleans Hub that was posted on June 27, 2018, after a Murray resident complained about his work as well as his role with the local Republican Party.
“No there is no politics in code enforcement, every violation has a picture,” Vendetti wrote. “The code enforcement position is a Civil Service job, it has nothing to do with politics. I was number 1 on the list when I was hired. There is a lot more to code enforcement than property maintenance. My job is to protect the people in the Town. When there is a fire, a faulty appliance producing carbon monoxide, a car crashing into a house, I go out whatever time of night. When a contractor does faulty work I inspect and have it corrected.”
Vendetti continues to work as codes officer in Holley. He wasn’t reappointed as Murray code enforcement officer this year, although the town approved a “confidential separation agreement” with him for an undisclosed sum.
Vendetti and the Town of Murray last month were both sued by Anthony Manno, owner of A & M Automotive and Transmissions in Fancher. He was in the parking lot at the Fancher Post Office on Route 31 on Feb. 23, 2018, when Vendetti drove over Manno’s right foot.
