There is a lot of information circulating regarding recent actions taken by the town of Richfield in selecting a judge to replace soon-to-be-retired Justice John DeFino. As reported in the Mercury, DeFino informed the town on Jan. 21 that he would be retiring as of April 2008, leaving the justice position vacant from May 1 to Dec. 31. The board was left to appoint a replacement until the November 2008 election when a new justice would be voted on by the public. A notice seeking applicants for the position was publicized by the town at that time, stating all interested parties must mail or hand deliver letters by Feb. 14. The board called a special meeting for Feb. 23 to interview potential town justice candidates. Five candidates applied for consideration, including Janyce A. Terwilliger, Bruce Watson, Don McKay and Warren Leonard, all of whom are residents within the village or town. One application was also received from Mark Osterhoudt, who was not considered since he does not reside within the town. The town learned that training for the justice position, provided for by the New York State Judicial Institute, was scheduled for March 28-29, April 4-5, April 11-12 and then June 6-7, of 2008. According to the institute, every newly elected or appointed town justice who is not a member of the bar is required to attend these training sessions before they can serve in their new position. With this in mind, the board decided by March 4 to call a second special meeting for March 8 to appoint a new justice. In attendance were Supervisor Wayne King and board members Laurie Bond, Bonnie Domion and Barbara Petersen. Langdon Ames was on vacation and not present. Pursuant to Town Law 4-3 C. 1-2, the board does not have to post a legal notice in a publication but does have to post a notice on the town clerk’s bulletin board notifying the public of the time and location of the meeting. The town is also required to notify the media by telephone or mail of the event. Town officials have stated an attempt to submit a notice to the Mercury failed as they missed the deadline, so they filed a notice in the Community Calendar of a local daily paper. The notice was published in the March 8-9 edition and did not cost the town anything since it was listed in the calendar of events, not as a legal notice. A notice was also posted on the town bulletin board. Leonard was voted in as the next justice at the March 8 meeting. By the March 17 meeting, Leonard resigned, purportedly 10 minutes before the town meeting, via a letter to the board. Since it was related to personnel, the board went into executive session at the very beginning of the meeting to discuss the matter. According to the Town Law Manual, Section 4-6, D. 1, executive session may be used “to discuss what is commonly referred to as ‘personnel matters.’ ... The actual statutory language.. reads as follows: ‘the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation.’” Did the town do everything in its power to notify the public that they were seeking applicants for the position to be vacated by DeFino? Did they do everything in their power to notify the public of their meetings considering time constraints? Did they act appropriately by moving to executive session to discuss Leonard’s decision to decline the appointment? Based on the facts provided, you the reader must decide.
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