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General News: Fmr. Mayor Drops Legal Case Against Village
April 28, 2011
By Charlie B. Scirbona
After almost a year of arguments over whose purview it is to appoint the village attorney former Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Mayor Joe Gross announced Wednesday that he was dropping the Article 78 law suit he filed against the village and three board of trustee members.
Gross explained his position in a letter to Cornwall-on-Hudson.com (read it here).
“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,” said Gross. He went on to say that voters had spoken and that it was up to the current board and mayor to do what was best for the village.
“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,” he said.
This is in sharp contrast to what Gross said during his run for re-election. On multiple occasions, Gross claimed that he would defend the office of mayor from having it’s powers usurped by the village board whether he was mayor of not.
Gross had originally filed the Article 78 on March 4 against the village and board members Mark Edsall, James Kane and Douglas Vatter as well as a temporary restraining order preventing payment to the contested law firm Tarshis, Catania, Liberth, Mahon, and Millgram. Both Vatter and Gross lost their re-election bids. During the reorganization meeting on April 4 a majority of the board, including Mayor Brendan Coyne, voted to keep Tarshis Catania as the village attorney.
Gross’s attorney Jonathan Chase, said that he would be sending a letter to the state Supreme Court in Goshen to notify them that the Article 78 had been dropped. He added that because no decision on any of the motions made in the case had arrived yet Gross could dismiss the case without petitioning the judge.
Chase also said that, while it is within the law to do so, he was not considering reimbursement from the village for his work on the case.
Current Mayor Brendan Coyne said that this was good news for the village.
“This is one less legal matter the village board has to deal with,” said Coyne. “Now we can get to more pressing issues.”
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