So does Westchester take any command from the Monitor seriously?

In his July, 2010 report, the Monitor wrote that:

“The County uses the term ‘fair and affordable’ throughout its submissions to the Monitor, as well as on its website.  Although this term at first may appear to address the County’s AFFH obligations under the [consent decree], the County also uses the label on its website to describe housing developments that completely lack an AFFH component…The term ‘fair and affordable’ conflates fair housing with affordable housing and obscures the County’s obligations to AFFH.  Going forward, the County should use the precise language of the [consent decree] — ‘Affordable AFFH Units’ — when referring to the housing it is required to develop under the Stipulation. The distinction is not merely semantic. Clarity is vital to the public’s understanding of, and confidence in, the County’s efforts to meet its obligations under the [consent decree]” (p. 23-24).

The very next day, and continuing to the present, Westchester ignored the Monitor’s command.  The County still uses the conflating and obscuring term “fair and affordable” housing, and the Monitor does nothing about it.  That is part of the cost of allowing wishful thinking to substitute for an actual analysis of facts on the ground.