Mar 27, 2008
Brancati wants Bacal to work out of the Town House
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Supervisor, town attorney jockey for legal edge
The jockeying for a legal edge over the fate of the town attorney job continues with the town supervisor’s demand that Jessica Bacal work full-time out of the Town House.
Town Supervisor Edward Brancati raised the issue in a letter to Ms. Bacal, town attorney, earlier this month when he set her work schedule to be from 8:30 to 4:30, Monday to Friday, and to be conducted at a desk in the Town House. He also required “that all official and legal files of the town of Lewisboro” be brought to the Town House and kept there. Ms. Bacal has those files in the office of her private firm in Katonah, which is where she conducts town and private business.
Also, the town’s hiring of an outside legal consultant last week in part to handle “the situation surrounding the position of town attorney,” according to Town Board member Peter DeLucia, suggests that Mr. Brancati’s requirements of Ms. Bacal are to establish a legal basis to have her removed from office.
Ms. Bacal began the legal positioning game when she sent a letter to the Town Board on Feb. 18 in which she stated, citing state law, that she was effectively appointed to a two-year term by the board on Jan. 3, 2008, because the resolution did not specify the length of her appointment. Mr. DeLucia has said the board intended to appoint her on a month-to-month basis while it sent out requests for proposals (RFPs) for attorneys to possibly replace those currently working for the town — including Ms. Bacal — but erred by not specifying that in the resolution. Ms. Bacal sent the letter after learning that the town had sent out the RFPs.
Two weeks after Ms. Bacal sent that letter, the Town Board rescinded a resolution it had passed only two months earlier that had made her employment retroactive to Jan. 1, 2006. The original resolution had erased a four-week gap in her otherwise continuous 10 years of service to the town, which had made her eligible for 100% health and dental coverage for life from the town.
Back and forth
The Ledger obtained all of the correspondence between Mr. Brancati and Ms. Bacal for a two-week period in March through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. The town released the documents to The Ledger shortly after 5 on Tuesday night. Mr. Brancati did not have time to return a phone call and an e-mail seeking comment because he was in meetings on Wednesday morning that lasted past The Ledger deadline, according to the supervisor’s secretary. Ms. Bacal said she would not comment on most aspects of the situation because she is the legal representative for the town.
Mr. Brancati sent a letter to Ms. Bacal on Friday, March 14, in which he laid out the “town attorney’s roles, responsibilities and work schedule.” He stated that she would be provided with a “desk, telephone, computer with Internet capabilities and file cabinets” and that she would be restricted to working only on town-related matters.
“During these hours you will only be permitted to conduct the official business of the town of Lewisboro,” Mr. Brancati stated in the letter, and Ms. Bacal was expected to begin working in the Town House on Monday, March 17.
Despite Mr. Brancati’s requirements, Ms. Bacal continues to work out of her office in Katonah and conducts both private and town business during normal business hours.
There do not appear to be any regulations in state or town law that require a town attorney to conduct town business during a specific time or at a specific place.
Ms. Bacal responded to Mr. Brancati’s requests in a letter later that day.
“The letter states that you have decided, without board resolution, to convert a town attorney position which historically, for at least 50 years, has been a part-time position, into a full-time position, effective less than 24 business hours from the date of the letter,” Ms. Bacal stated. “Please provide the reasoning that justifies this sudden decision to require me to abandon my law practice. Upon receipt, I will determine the appropriate course of action.”
The position of town attorney was re-established by the Town Board on Jan. 31, 2006, the same day the board appointed Ms. Bacal to the position. The position includes benefits and eligibility to collect a pension and full lifetime medical coverage. In the 10 years prior to that, Lewisboro had been retaining an attorney for the town, a consultant, who did not receive any benefits from the town. Other town officials, including the two town justices and Town Board members, receive the same benefits as Ms. Bacal but also work in the private sector away from the Town House.
The Jan. 3 resolution appointing her to the position of town attorney did not specify whether the position was full-time or part-time.
“In regard to how this position was dealt with in the past is for past administrations and town boards to answer or explain,” Mr. Brancati responded in a letter sent to Ms. Bacal on Monday, March 17. “As for this administration and Town Board, we want to ensure that we are receiving the highest level of service from our employees and making the most of every taxpayer dollar spent. Therefore, we expect you to work the hours that we have set and handle the work of town attorney.”
Mr. Brancati also reiterated that he wanted all of the town files Ms. Bacal has to be brought to the Town House, and offered the assistance of town employees to help move them, if needed. Ms. Bacal told The Ledger she is willing to bring the files to the Town House but is waiting until she receives from the town a key to the office where the files will be stored and one for the file cabinet they will be kept in, because she is responsible for the files as town attorney.
On Monday, March 17, Ms. Bacal sent a letter in response, stating that “I intend to fulfill my duties and obligations as town attorney.” She did not state where she will conduct that business.
Outside consultant
A day later, at the Tuesday, March 18, Town Board meeting, the board came out of executive session and unanimously approved a resolution to “retain Joseph Sacamano of the law firm of Jackson, Lewis to provide legal advice, for a fee not to exceed $5,000.” Mr. DeLucia, along with fellow Town Board member Al Perruzza, was not at the meeting, but he discussed the resolution with The Ledger.
“To the best of my knowledge, based on previous Town Board discussions, he has been retained to provide legal advice to the board on several matters now before the board, including the situation surrounding the position of town attorney,” he said.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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