The Glendale Condo Story

A commenter post about a Glendale apartment that Councilmember Diana Reyna owns has been circulating in the comments section on a couple of stories about the election. This is the kind of story that is very difficult to prove and rumors can fly wildly if written incorrectly, and isn't a story if the facts do not line up.

I spent most of my day Friday looking into the condo and the notion of primary residency, and concluded that this really isn't a story. Diana spends most her time in Bushwick and not in Glendale. It is my understanding that Diana and her husband bought the property as a place to move into after her second term expired, but Diana chose to run for a third term and the property is now serving as an investment property.

Now... I spoke with a couple of attorneys, including The Wolf, about residency and what holds up in a court of law. In order for this story to be controversial, a number of identification paperwork such as vehicle registration, mail received, insurance registration, address on a drivers license would have to be out of the district.

Stories about residency of elected officials are often go-to negative stories that surface prior to an election (I will be writing more about this phenomenon soon), and I am curious why this particular story is coming out on the day of the election? Did a campaign advisor sit on this for a few weeks for a particular reason? The attorneys (and several editors) agreed that the story had little fire, and that it smacked of sour grapes.

The important thing now is trying to figure out how committee chairs will be divvied up, what shifts in alliances in City Council will occur in the coming weeks, and how councilmembers Reyna, Levin, Lander, and others fit into all of this. I will be covering that, and anything else that comes up in the meantime, including more aspects to real estate ownership if a story develops.