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General News: Village Removes Law Firm & Building Inspector
April 20, 2010
Less than a month after failing to re-appoint the village attorney and the village building inspector to new terms, the Cornwall-on-Hudson board of trustees voted Monday night to dismiss the law firm of Rider, Weiner and Frankel, and to ask for the resignation of code enforcer/building inspector Bruce Yancewicz.
The vote on both issues revealed a divided board, with newly-elected trustee James Kane siding with Mark Edsall and Douglas Vatter against Mayor Joseph Gross and his deputy mayor, trustee Barbara Gosda.
Board Asks for Building Inspector's Resignation
Trustee Kane, who is an attorney, first introduced the idea of eliminating Yancewicz’s position and asking the town to provide code enforcement and building inspector services. Both trustees Gosda and mayor Gross chafed at the proposal, saying that the village had its own standards for how those services should be handled. Trustee Vatter then proposed ordering Yancewicz to work only five minutes a week or as an alternative, asking him to resign. If Yancewicz did not resign, Vatter, concluded the village would seek his removal by the state supreme court. His motion was approved by a vote of 3 to 2.
In the midst of discussing this motion, the village attorney advised the board that Yancewicz was considered a building inspector by the county and, as such, he could not be fired. Kane had suggested this because he said he felt that Yancewicz's job performance was not acceptable. Trustee Edsall agreed with him, suggesting that the code enforcement officer did not use an even hand and that he showed bad judgement in dealing with the code issues discovered at the DPW building. After listening to these complaints, as well as a lengthy presentation by business owner Tony Missere about what he perceives as unfairness from the code enforcer/building inspector, mayor Gross said that until he had an opportunity to review these issues, he stood by Yancewicz.
Board Votes to Terminate the Law Firm
Next, Vatter turned his attention to the village attorney’s position and he noted that the attorney appeared to work for the mayor and that the board was not happy with the attorney’s representation in a labor arbitration. “We didn’t just lose we were spanked by the arbitrator on a fairly basic item of labor law,” Vatter said.
The mayor defended the law firm and said he has gotten and received clean, unbiased opinions from the lawyers. Trustee Gosda agreed. “I think we are looking for an attorney here that wants to tell us what we want to hear,” Gosda told the board, “and that is really sad.”
The move to dismiss the firm passed again with Edsall, Kane and Vatter voting in favor. Vatter also proposed that the firm of Drake, Loeb, Heller, Kennedy, Gogerty, Gaba & Rodd be appointed on an interim basis until the board can review proposals from other law firms to fill the position on a more permanent basis. That measure was approved.
Comments:
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Drake Loeb not only represents the Town of Cornwall, which creates a number of conflicts of interest, but, as Nancy Calhoun reminded us tonight at the Water Forum in Woodbury, that firm was central in the Town's failure to secure the Star Expansion wells which were offered to the Town in 1999 at little or no cost.
It may take generations to tally the total cost of that missed opportunity to the Village and Town.
posted by Jon Chase on 04/21/10 at 11:50 PM
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I agree that there may very well be a conflict of interest but the last time I checked, the Town has received years and years of sound legal advise.
I also find it funny that the building inspector was considered competent and capable UNTIL he wrote up the village for violations. Seems that what is good for the goose......
I hope the village works out their problems. As neighbors, I am disturbed by the rhetoric that some fellow community members feel is necessary on this comment board. I thought telephone-tuff-guys and internet-bullies were reserved for 10 year old's??
posted by Jake Satchel on 04/23/10 at 2:06 PM
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