Colonie

In mid-September, James Callahan was working on his lawn in Latham when a political volunteer for Colonie town Supervisor Paula Mahan came by handing out campaign materials.

They began talking, and Callahan asked the volunteer if he knew anything about the arrest of one of Mahan's sons in Florida on a drug charge.

The campaign volunteer turned out to be Joseph Mahan – Paula's husband. Callahan alleges that he soon faced retribution for asking the question.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Mahan family is using its political power to punish me because I'm guilty of asking a simple question," Callahan said this week.

Callahan's comment was apparently referring to the Mahans' 40-year-old son, Paul, who was arrested during a traffic stop in south Florida in April on marijuana-related charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges were later dismissed.

A few days after the conversation, Callahan said he received a folded business card with a phone number in his mailbox. It was from Paula Mahan's other son – like his father named Joseph Mahan – asking for a call from Callahan, he said.

In the subsequent phone call, the younger Joseph Mahan – who is a senior official at the Colonie Building Department – allegedly accused Callahan of putting "my face in the dirt" by asking if one of the Mahan children had been arrested on serious drug charges.

During the same call, in his capacity as a member of the Building Department, Mahan told Callahan that he needed to get a permit for his deck – even though the deck is not visible from the street and had been built prior to Callahan's girlfriend, Cynthia Valdes, buying the residence 10 years earlier, according to Callahan.

"I'm putting dirt in your face because you told my father I'm on (drugs)," the younger Joseph Mahan said, according to Callahan.

The deck or its permitting hadn't been an issue in the decade since Valdes purchased the home. It had no liens when purchased, according to Callahan.

Colonie town spokeswoman Sara Wiest said Callahan's account of the phone call is inaccurate. Joseph Mahan "absolutely did not" say he was retaliating against Callahan, she said, and only said that he wasn't comfortable working on the deck issue with him because of the drug comment to the elder Joseph Mahan.

After being told that the deck needed a permit, Callahan said he was agitated and went to the Building Department to confront the younger Joseph Mahan.

A heated verbal confrontation between Callahan and the younger Joseph Mahan – which did not turn physical – resulted in a 911 call. Colonie police filed an incident report for a "person annoying" to document Callahan's involvement. But no one wished to press charges and the matter was dropped.

Callahan's girlfriend also received a letter dated Oct. 18 from the town of Colonie Building Department stating that her property had a "deck that was constructed without a building permit" and that the situation had to be remedied by Wednesday, Nov. 2, or it might "constitute an offense punishable by fine or imprisonment or both." The letter was from building inspector Anne Greene.

On Monday, Paul Shepard, who is the Joseph Mahan's supervisor in the Building Department, went to Callahan's girlfriend's home to inspect the deck. His girlfriend paid $50 for the permit. Callahan hopes the matter is over, but fears retribution for sharing his account of the matter publicly.

The younger Joseph Mahan didn't return a phone call seeking comment.

Wiest, the town's spokeswoman, said that on Sept. 14, the younger Joseph Mahan had been inspecting homes near Callahan's – Callahan had expressed concerns about his neighbor's fencing days earlier – and noticed an issue with Callahan's deck. She said that was two days before the police report states that Callahan had inquired about the drug charge with the elder Joseph Mahan.

However, Wiest said she could not produce any documentation of the Mahan visit to the homes near Callahan's residence on Sept. 14, as no violation was documented.

"We don't understand the motivation behind these allegations, because the issue of the deck preceded the resident's remarks to the supervisor's husband," Wiest said. "Later the resident went to the Building Department and was so disruptive that the police were called. The resident then left the Building Department and showed up without an appointment at the supervisor's office. Nevertheless, the supervisor met with him."

At the meeting – which happened after the police had been called – Callahan apologized "profusely" for offending the senior Joseph Mahan with his drug-arrest remark and discussed the deck issue with Paula Mahan, Wiest said.

"The supervisor assured him that she would follow up and have the Building Department work with him in resolving the permit issue with his deck," Wiest said. "It is my understanding that as of this morning this issue has been satisfactorily resolved. Sadly, I can only conclude that this is another politically motivated attack targeting the supervisor and her family."

Paula Mahan is running for re-election on Tuesday against Republican Albany County Legislator Frank Mauriello. Callahan said he is not politically active.

An administrative review of the situation is ongoing, Wiest said.

Lauren Stanforth contributed reporting