GOSHEN- On Thursday afternoon the Orange County Legislature voted to allocate $50,000 to hire an outside attorney to defend Legislative Chairwoman Katherine Bonelli’s decision not to provide legal defense to four of her fellow legislators who may face a potential lawsuit arising from their raising questions about the StarCIO contract for information technology services.
Last October, legislators Michael Paduch, the Democratic minority leader, Genesis Ramos, Laurie Tautel, and Mike Anagnostakis participated in a news conference led by Senator James Skoufis (D, Cornwall) that raised questions about the propriety of a contract given to the owner of StarCIO for information technology services. The owner of the company is the brother-in-law of County Human Resources Commissioner Langdon Chapman.
Following the news conference StarCIO’s attorney, Benjamin Allee of Vankwitt, LLP in White Plains sent the legislators a letter that indicated the company is considering filing a lawsuit for what it alleges were false and defamatory comments.
In February, the Democratic lawmakers who questioned the contract were notified by Bonelli that they would not be indemnified if StarCIO files a lawsuit because she believed the comments made at the news conference were political in nature and were not made by the legislators while acting in their official capacity.
In response to the denial for legal representation, the four legislators privately hired Goshen Attorney Michael Sussman. Sussman filed an Article 78 motion on behalf of his clients and is petitioning the court to overturn Bonelli’s decision and indemnify the legislators.
The resolution, adopted on Thursday, which was a late addition and was not included on the public agenda, will give Bonelli the power to hire outside counsel of her choosing to oppose Sussman’s effort. The resolution, which was introduced by Majority Leader Tom Faggione, passed with support from all Republican members as well as a single…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply