Reproduced with permission of The Journal News.
3rd Town Court judge OK'd
By JOSEPH AX
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 15, 2004)
GREENBURGH — The Town Board last night unanimously approved the establishment of a third part-time judicial position for the beleaguered Town Court, a move officials believe will ease a massive backlog of thousands of pending cases.
The board also hopes that the addition of a third justice could help to rectify what a state audit has called "sloppy" record keeping. Fiscal mismanagement at the court over the course of several years has left funds open to theft and made it impossible for state auditors to determine whether any cash is missing, according to the state report.
"This court is in crisis," said town Supervisor Paul Feiner, minutes before the board approved the resolution.
Feiner said he believes the justice, who will be elected in November, will more than pay for his or her costs in revenues from additional cases. The two current part-time justices, Doris Friedman and Sandra Forster, earn just over $50,000 a year.
During a lengthy public-comment session before the vote at last night's board meeting, several residents complained that the approval came too late to allow a primary election.
"I am very disturbed at the whole way you're doing this," said resident Ella Preiser. "This election should be open to the public."
Instead, the Republican and Democratic Town Committees will select candidates via ballot.
Judah Shapiro, a Hastings-on-Hudson lawyer, has accused the board of purposefully delaying action in order to allow the Democratic Town Committee to select the candidate. The five members of the Town Board are all Democrats.
Shapiro has said that the committee favors James Hubert, a member of the Planning Board and a lawyer who ran in the Democratic primary for Greenburgh justice in 1999 and lost. In June, the executive committee of the Greenburgh Democratic Committee voted to endorse Hubert.
But Feiner and board member Steve Bass, who worked extensively on convincing state representatives to introduce a bill authorizing the position to the state Legislature, reiterated that there simply wasn't time after Gov. George Pataki signed the bill on June 30.
Bass said the county board of elections has the power to extend the filing period for primary petitions, which expires today. In addition, Feiner said state law permits town committees to add names to the ballot, provided that enough district leaders approve.
The third justice, who will take office in January, will enter a court that is beset by financial problems and an enormous number of pending cases.
According to the state review, Friedman, Forster and Chief Clerk Cecile Sia did not adequately oversee funds. State guidelines call for elected justices to supervise the court's money.
Board member Diana Juettner said last night that new procedures had been put into place following the state's findings that she believes have solved many of the previous problems.
Some of the court's problems can apparently be traced to animosity between the two judges, according to Feiner, who said recently that they are not on speaking terms.
Administrative Judge Francis Nicolai said he appointed an outside judge, state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dickerson, to supervise the court last year after learning there was "some lack of communication" between Friedman and Forster. Nicolai declined to comment further.
Both justices have declined to comment on their relationship.
Reach Joseph Ax at jax@thejournalnews.com or 914-694-5064.