Honoring Judge Cooke
On behalf of the officers and members of Monticello Lodge #532, Free & Accepted Masons, I wish to thank and commend the team at The River Reporter for its unrivaled work in producing the recent 12-page supplement honoring retired chief judge Lawrence H. Cooke. , Narrowsburg, NY, 04-27-1995
Issued to concide with our lodge's presentation to Chief Judge Cooke of the DeWitt Clinton Masonic Award for community service, distribution of the supplement added a welcome emphasis to the April 24th program, beyond that which was said in tribute to the honoree from the podium. The supplement will be saved and remembered by those who attended the program.
I know well that The River Reporter has never been the work of any single individual, so thanks must go to all who contributed to and participated in the supplement's creation!
TOM RUE, program chair
Monticello Lodge No. 532, F&AM
The River Reporter
"Musical Chairs" wasn't free
Two years ago, a respected local attorney agreed to take the case of two residents in a suit against the Village of Monticello. The matter came to be known as "Musical Chairs." The suit alleged several laws, as well as the village's own Code of Ethics, were violated in a scheme designed to enhance the power, prestige and pay of participating officials, who each moved up to public offices to which we the people had not elected them. , Middletown, NY, 01-08-1995
The people won, thanks to the able representation of Loran Shlevin, Esq. of Callicoon, who fought skillfully not only on behalf of her two clients, but in the interest of all village residents. She took the case knowing the likelihood she would never see a dime of payment. Occasional pro bono service is part of being a professional. However, because the actions by village officials were so outrageous, last year Justice Vincent Bradley of Supreme Court in Kingston ordered that the citizens' lawyer fees be paid.
Recently, while the Appellate Division upheld the ruling by Judge Bradley, the ruling for the village to pay the taxpayers' lawyer (which all agreed was highly unusual to start with) was rescinded. The village has lost its final bid to have the Supreme Court decision, which threw the renegade government out of office, overturned. Ms. Shlevin describes her out-of-pocket expenses as "a small fortune."
Contrary to your Dec. 30 headline asserting that the entire fisco was "free," one estimate places the cost to the public closer to $100,000 to date. At a recent board meeting the manager low-balled a "guesstimate" at $30,000.
To assert (as some have) that two years of time and energy that public employees wasted defending their unlawful and unethical deeds has no value, is incredible! Wound not this money and time have been better spent promoting economic development in our community, creating opportunities for youth, protecting our streets from crime, or for innumerable other worthy purposes, rather than pouring it down the drain and unnecessarily burdening the courts?
Whatever the true financial cost (which we will probably never know), in order to move on with life it must be acknowledge that all that was spent on this matter was expended in the interest of better government, and that lessons were learned by the perpetrators. Let us hope.
Voters should be grateful for the two brave citizens who staked their reputations and their sacred honor to sue Village Hall and for the lawyer who won the case.
THOMAS S. RUE
Monticello
The Times Herald-Record
03-24-1998
