Complaint Review: Office of Community Renewal

  First, I will state that I have a Bachelor's degree in Education, so I am not an uneducated person. Secondly I have over 25 years experience in the field of security, 11 of which I spent supervising individuals charged with the security and management of convicted felons for the State of New York, as well as directly supervising them myself. Therefore I think that establishes my credibility as an observer, manager, and a witness. I believe it also means I have sufficient experience to asses a person's behavior with regard to volatility.
   I observed Mr. Barney shouting at the 'individual'. In fact, I was in the back of the domicile when I heard a strange voice shouting and came to see what was going on, only to observe this man insisting at a shout that the 'individual' who happens to be a retired building contractor who owned his own business for several years, was refusing the contract because he insisted the work be done properly. Mr. Barney kept repeating that in his opinion the work was done properly and therefore to insist on any other method constituted a refusal.It was patently obvious to me the 'individual' would obtain no satisfaction from Mr.Barney. The 'individual', in my opinion was provoked into a shouting match in an attempt simply to be heard.
   I Have just completed repainting and replacing all the wallpaper in the domicile in question. I can state from my personal observation that the ceilings are not installed level, they are not centered in each room, and although I am not a carpenter, I can see the work was done in haste and with little care for proper application. In addition, I witnessed the verbal obscenities from the 'carpenter'. when he attempted to reinstall a light/fan combination that he had removed and forgot how to put back which he admitted -that item was damaged because he randomly attached the wires together putting power into the fixture improperly-this from a licensed electrician. I observed the carpenter's behavior, which was agitated, rapidly approaching volatile, and I observed the profanity. I was just about to suggest calling the police to have the man removed when he stormed out of the domicile leaving the wife in a frightened state .Yes, I spent the money to have the fixture assessed because I saw a dirty deal and an even dirtier cover up.
  I never saw so many people collude to protect one incompetent carpenter. Especially when the local code enforcement officer had nothing good to say about the man's work practices. I did observe that Mr. Lawrence pulled every possible political ploy to cast the 'individual' as a complainer and deliberately block all attempts to obtain any satisfaction from Mr. Barney. Mr. Barney, in his own right, treated the person he calls the 'individual' with disdain and disregard constantly for anything he had to say. It reeked of age discrimination. As an observer I had difficulty not becoming incensed with him myself. Lastly I must say that everywhere I went to seek redress for this horrendous situation did nothing more than pass the buck and do the "Malone Two Step". Even the people who were charged with supervising the satellite unit did everything in their power to avoid taking any action-much less appropriate action. I watched individuals who were supposed to be serving the citizens of the community treat this man like "this is what you get, Mr. Charity Case, and you should be grateful you're getting that." What these people never appeared to consider was they they were doing this to a citizen's home, not somebody's dog house. They all appeared to be in it purely for the money they could get from the federal funds. Mr. Lawrence is the consummate political wiggler. Mr. Barney is frequently untruthful. The HUD office in Albany, N.Y. shirks their responsibility as supervisors. The situation was ended by stating that the contract would be considered fulfilled by what work was done and all remaining work cancelled out so that the homeowner was not required to pay for the work that had been done up to that point. I would NEVER let HUD in my home after what I saw happen.

My name is Ronald Barney and I am the individual being slandered by the people whom reported a HUD scam.  First of all the people who reported the false claims did not nor do they have expertise in the building trades.  The homeowner was a retired maintenance worker for a nearby state.  The individual wanted the contractor to complete a drop ceiling in a manor where the contractor would have to not use standard application. He wanted the contractor to do it his way instead of the right way.  If done improperly the contractor would not warranty his workmanship nor materials.  I tried to explain this to the owner but he insisted he wanted it completed his way.  I never used foul language or disrespected the individual. 

The owner on the other hand could not talk or express himself without swearing and raising his voice.  I and the contractor were verbually abused through out the entire project.  The owner came to the monthly Town Board meeting where he stood up and started his complaint calling me a lier.  He continued to yell and swear at the Town Supervisor and would not be seated when told to.  This individual told the contractor to remove himself from his property if he would not take his advice on the ceiling application.  I told the contractor to leave and not to argue with this hothead. 

This individual did not talk about the entire project.  Many good things were done at this project: new insulated windows, new metal roofing, new insulation, etc. 

I personally have never meet such miserable, nasty person in my whole life.  I am a Social Worker who graduated from Potsdam State University and enjoy the work I do helping homeowners who cannot afford to make repairs themselves.  I hope I never have to be subjected to such an individual again.  This person did not appreciate what the Town, Town Supervisor or HUD was trying to do for him.  He was only interested in cheating the contractor out of extra work and being paid for work he completed.