Playing With Fire: Ramapo inspector could soon lose his job

<p>After a nearly two-year News 12 investigation, a local code enforcement officer who had been giving passing safety grades to failing schools could soon be out of his job.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 20, 2017, 10:22 PM

Updated 2,347 days ago

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After a nearly two-year News 12 investigation, a local code enforcement officer who had been giving passing safety grades to failing schools could soon be out of his job.
News 12 confronted Ramapo Fire Chief Adam Peltz in May 2016 about a startling discovery made during a Playing With Fire probe.  The discovery involved allegations about Peltz giving clean inspection reports to at least 15 schools found to be riddled with serious code violations.
Residents and officials were furious, including Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski.
“Should they falsely mislead the public and sign off dangerous conditions, then they need to face the consequences,” said Zebrowski.
Peltz confessed to turning a blind eye to things like sprinklers, dead-bolted doors and expired extinguishers.
An outdated state law only gave power to the secretary of state to issue certifications for inspectors but not to revoke them. Zebrowski recently convinced the state Assembly to pass a bill to change that. The state Senate quickly followed his lead. Gov. Andrew Cuomo now has one month to sign the bill into law.
Peltz is still on the job as assistant fire safety inspector for the town of Ramapo. He couldn't be reached for comment.


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