North Castle Political Rivals Spar Over Connection to New Law Firm
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
North Castle Councilwoman Barbara DiGiacinto questioned Supervisor Joseph Rende’s commitment to transparency last week for failing to disclose his relationship to a law firm that will soon absorb longtime Town Attorney Roland Baroni’s practice.
The two combatants in last year’s bruising election that saw Rende win by four votes following more than a month of litigation engaged in an eye-opening public spat during the board’s discussion to consider assignment of the retainer agreement from Stephens, Baroni, Reilly & Lewis to Abrams Fensterman, LLP effective Sept. 1. Last week’s resolution will ensure that the town’s retainer agreement for 2024 with Baroni’s firm will be honored for the last four months of the year.
Baroni, who has been North Castle’s town attorney for more than 40 years, is planning a process that will lead to his retirement and announced that there will be a transition period through 2027. His other clients, including the towns of North Salem and Somers, also have similar arrangements with Abrams Fensterman.
However, DiGiacinto, who acknowledged that she wrestled with raising the issue in public, said that Abrams Fensterman provided legal counsel for Rende during his post-election litigation, which she said should have prompted Rende to disclose his involvement with the firm to the public.
“The Town Board is being asked to hire a new law firm,” DiGiacinto said. “It has provided extensive legal services to Joseph Rende, and in full disclosure, I need to know and our taxpayers and residents need to know the complete monetary and legal relationship Joseph Rende had with Abrams Fensterman.”
DiGiacinto, who abstained from the vote (while Rende and councilmen Jose Berra and Matt Milim voted in favor), stressed that she was not suggesting any wrongdoing. Rather, she emphasized, Rende should be forthright with the public.
“In my experience, Joseph Rende, as an elected official, must disclose all relevant information regarding Abrams Fensterman, LLP,” she said.
It also came to light last week that Rende’s campaign accepted $1,000 donations from the firm, Robert Spolzino, the managing partner of Abrams Fensterman’s White Plains office, and Albert Pirro Jr., who is listed as another partner in the firm.
Rende said during the post-election dispute (which included him leading by one vote after Election Day and questioning several absentee ballots) he reached out to the Westchester Democratic Committee to have an election lawyer recommended to him. He was provided the name of Spolzino, who also serves as the law chair for the county Democratic Committee. Rende said he has also known Spolzino, who is a former state Supreme Court judge and has worked at other law firms before joining Abrams Fensterman, for about 30 years,
He said he has no relationship, monetary or otherwise, with the firm other than knowing that they are “a very worthy and reputable law firm.”
“I do take exception, quite frankly, that there would be an accusation made about my potential conflict, I guess,” Rende said. “But there is none, and I’m excited for you Roland that you’ve been able to create an exit strategy for yourself, and I look forward to hopefully continuing having you represent us as our town attorney together with your new partners.”
Milim, who supported Rende in last year’s election, said he also took issue with DiGiacinto’s tactic because she failed to raise it in executive session before the meeting. He charged that DiGiacinto did it for political reasons.
“Just making a statement like that to make something seem shady, it’s just unnecessary and political, and I just think we’d all be better served if we just approached this with the town’s best interest at heart and not try to kick somebody under the table,” Milim said.
DiGiacinto rejected Milim’s position that her comments were shady, and maintained there is the likelihood of a relationship between Rende and the firm. She then asked Rende if his campaign had received any donations from the firm or any of its partners. Rende responded “I don’t recall.”
“These are the things that are important to the public trust,” DiGiacinto said.
She also stressed that her questions had nothing to do with Baroni or his service to the town, but a lack of transparency on the supervisor’s part.
A check of the state Board of Elections website showed that Abrams Fensterman made its $1,000 contribution on Oct. 16, 2023, while Spolzino and Pirro each made their $1,000 donation to the campaign on Oct. 2, 2023.
Rende said last weekend that the day after last week’s board meeting, he checked with his campaign treasurer regarding the contributions. Their donations accounted for three of the 68 contributions received in 2023. He said he then e-mailed the board on Friday.
The town’s Code of Ethics only requires public disclosure of the contributions if they exceed $500, not a recusal, Rende said. Had he known about the contributions at the time of the vote, Rende said he would have tabled the matter.
Another option that was presented to DiGiacinto, he said, was to table the resolution until the board’s next meeting on July 24.
“If Barbara had raised those concerns in executive session where they should have been raised, again, not having the time to research whether or not, in fact, they had made financial campaign donations to my campaign, I would have tabled it and I would have waited until I found the information,” Rende said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
