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County Attorney to Represent Legislature in Disputes with County Executive
Legislature approves resolution supporting $94,500 grant request for Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum
by Margaret Sternberg
On June 23, 2008, the Putnam County Legislature met in a Special Meeting that had initially been called for the express purpose of voting to override the veto by County Executive Bob Bondi of a resolution and local law, which called for the County Attorney to represent the Legislature in disputes with the County Executive. County departments would also be represented by the County Attorney.
The County Executive will be required to seek outside counsel, which would be at taxpayer expense.
As Legislator Dan Birmingham, an attorney, explained it, if the County Executive chose not to follow local law or resolutions, "the County Attorney's Office [has been] in a predicament because…the County Attorney supports the County Executive…on a day-to-day basis…" Prior to the resolution, legislators maintained, the County Charter was unclear what the policy of the County was with respect to whom the County Attorney represented in the event of a dispute between the County Executive and virtually any other department or area of the County Government. Legislator Birmingham said, "What this does is it makes it clear…that if there is a conflict between any branch of government…the County Attorney's Office…shall represent the proponents of the local law or resolution…"
Legislator Birmingham said he viewed the local law as "getting the County Attorney's Office out from under the inherent conflict that's been there when there's been a disagreement between the branches [of government.]" He said that until the passing of the law, the loyalties of the County Attorney's Office had been "unclear."
County Attorney Jennifer Bumgarner said that the County Executive initially being advised by the County Attorney might create inherent problems "that are not necessarily solved by this amendment.," adding that these problems could arise "frequently…if, in fact, there are conflicts…" between what branches of government feel on a given issue." She elaborated that problems of attorney-client privilege arise based upon the County Executive being the one initially advised by the County Attorney, who may ultimately be his adversary.
Legislator Birmingham responded that, in general, not all of the department's attorneys would be involved in any given issue but that in a "worst case scenario" all county attorneys might have to recuse themselves, resulting in both the Legislature and County Executive needing to hire outside counsel. Despite some of the possible issues, Birmingham concluded that the new law is a "good thing for you [the County Attorney] to know exactly where you stand…your predecessor had a terrible decision not knowing who to represent."
Asked to comment on the Legislature's action, Mr. Bondi noted that several areas of county government have their own counsel, citing Legislative Counsel, as well as the Deputy County Clerk. Mr. Bondi also noted that the County Executive's Office has no attorney on staff, leaving the County Executive with "no representation" and calling the effect of the resolution "counterproductive." Commenting that "it is expensive to go to outside counsel" and a "waste of taxpayers money," Mr. Bondi asked, "what is to be gained?"
Mr. Bondi said he does not plan to challenge the resolution in court.
In other business, the Legislature approved a resolution of support for an application from the Putnam County Historical Society & Foundry School Museum (PCHS-FSM) for a grant from Preserve America.
The application was presented by Legislator Vinny Tamagna and voted upon that night in order to meet a June 30 deadline for submission. An earlier grant involving a joint application between PCHS-FSM and The Chapel of Our Lady of Restoration for a Cold Spring feasibility study on Loretto Rest had recently been denied and this request represented a re-purposed application.
According to its application, the PCHS-FSM is seeking funds in order to increase "heritage tourism" in the Village of Cold Spring, which was an important location in the national history. In order to increase heritage tourism and give tourists a deeper understanding of Cold Spring's role in the larger historical landscape, the PCHS-FSM would execute several projects, including museum exhibitions, public programs, and an interactive historical website. These events are not only anticipated to increase historic tourism, but increase the number of residents who visit local historic resources, and generate an awareness of the importance of preservation.
These programs would also provide an adjunct to the major celebrations being planned for 2009 to commemorate the Hudson and Champlain Quadricentennial and Fulton Bicentennial, both of which are anticipated to involve hundreds of events that will focus tourism - from a local through an international scale - in the Hudson Valley.
The approved resolution, which also needed the support of the County Executive, was approved by Mr. Bondi in time to meet the deadline.
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