Village Board Votes to Retain Buchanan Justice
Public outcry, along with a plea from the village police chief, apparently helped convince the Buchanan Board of Trustees last week not to abolish the Office of Village Justice as a cost saving measure.
Only Buchanan Mayor Sean Murray, who was accused of trying to retaliate against Justice Jennifer Daly after she refused to fire a court clerk, supported the resolution that would have terminated Daly on April 6 if a permissive referendum wasn’t triggered.
“That’s not true. I felt there was a place where some improvements could be made as a result of an audit. As a result, I unfunded the position (court clerk). It was based on performance,” Murray remarked about the allegation. “There was a little friction, but I haven’t spoken to the village justice in about a year and a half. Over the last five years we’ve cut the budgets so much there’s nothing left to cut. We’re down to nothing.”
Murray argued over the last three years the court had lost $70,000, but Daly, who contended she never received any official notification of the board’s intentions, claimed the number of cases had jumped from 587 in 2011 to 1,045 through November of last year.
“I had no idea about this,” said Daly, who has served as village justice for 15 years and earns $12,600. “I guess that is how things are done in the village as we are seeing tonight.”
Several residents lambasted the board for even considering such a resolution that could lead to the elimination of an essential village service.
“I have never encountered a municipality that didn’t have its own justice court,” said Sam Cherchia of Westchester Avenue, an attorney who has tried cases in New York and New Jersey. “There is not a court system in this country that pays for itself. I just consider this a petty action on your part. Your basis for eliminating the court is so bogus. It’s insulting.”
“You say its money. That’s the biggest joke in the world,” former Mayor Alfred Donahue charged. “What you people are doing is a disgrace. You should be ashamed of yourselves. For 86 years we’ve had a judge.”
Jean Ryan of Burke Court said what the board was proposing was “an abuse of power.”
“I’m very shocked that something like this can take place,” she said. “The whole thing smells fishy. It just reeks and it’s wrong.”
Police Chief Brian Tubbs said eliminating the village justice would mean less police patrols in the village and more overtime costs since police would have to travel to Cortlandt Town Court for cases.
“Cortlandt is a much busier court than ours and we’ll probably be on the back burner,” Tubbs said.
Councilman Duane Jackson echoed the sentiments of the majority of the board by saying the numbers didn’t add up to warrant ousting the village justice, a move he maintained could lead the village “down a slippery slope.”
“There’s not enough money to be saved by this,” said Councilman Nicolas Zachary.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
