April 28, 2011
To the Editor:
On March 4, 2011,I filed an Article 78 proceeding in the Orange County Supreme Court to vindicate the rights of the Office of the Mayor of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson and to recover monies that were paid and intended to be paid to the law firm of Tarshis, Catania, Liberth, Mahon, and Millgram by three members of the previous Village Board.
I was successful on March 4 in obtaining a temporary restraining order to stop payment of the legal fees to which I objected. However, minutes before my term ended on April 4, the TRO was lifted and, later that day, the new Mayor took office. He now has a village attorney of his choosing, which is an inherent right of the Mayor, denied to me for the first time in over half a century by the Board last year, and was the central claim I had made in the Article 78 proceeding. While I do not agree with his choice, I support he Mayor’s right to make that choice of counsel.
Knowing the events of the past year as I do, I still firmly believe that the legal bills to which I objected were exorbitant and illegal. But the voters have spoken and it is now the prerogative of the new Mayor and Board to do what they think is best for the village. The duty to properly expend village revenue is now theirs. I have no interest in causing further strain on the finances of the village, or my own, by continuing my case for no other purpose than to oppose payment of those legal bills. Therefore, I today directed my counsel to withdraw my claims against the village and Trustees Edsall, Vatter and Kane.
I respect the democratic process whas has wrought political change in Cornwall-on-Hudsonl indeed, I have been a part of it. But I also respect the institutions of government within which all politics must function.
Joseph J. Gross
Mayor (2007-2011)
Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson
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