Tonight: Big Money on stage.
In the wake of the "Brandi lawsuit," a proposal has emerged.
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Proposed law in wake of "Brandi lawsuit"
Legal fees and who pays are at the center of the issue.
By: Stephen Thurston
In the wake of a lawsuit Saratoga Springs City Council lost earlier this month, Mayor John Safford has proposed a change in the city’s code that would determine how and when city employees can expect to be paid back if they run up legal bills for their work on the job. The proposed law covers elected and appointed officials, along with regular employees and some volunteers if they are involved in the legal system as part of their duties.
Safford released a draft of a law to create a revised Chapter 9 of the city’s code, called “Defense, Representation and Indemnification.” Safford said the new law aligns with chapters 18 and 19 of the New York State Public Officers Law “with some modifications tailored to the city of Saratoga.”
He opened a public hearing on the law on Tuesday Aug. 19, a hearing which will remain open at least through the next council meeting on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 474 Broadway.
This stems from the “Brandi lawsuit” that the city recently lost when State Supreme Court Justice James E. Walsh stopped payments
that the city had agreed to pay to reimburse four employees for their legal fees.
The judge sided with the plaintiff, Michael Brandi, the Saratoga Springs Republican Committee chair, stopping the city from making the payments. Read that story here.
“The intention of this new law is for the council to lawfully provide the widest possible scope of defense and indemnification for our city officers and employees acting within the scope of their public employment,” the mayor said at the start of the public hearing on the matter.
The proposed law is still under revision and may have changed since the drafting of this story. Readers can download a copy of the proposed law provided to the Dispatch on Thursday Aug. 21, here.
What came to light in the legal decision was that the current Chapter 9 relies too heavily on Chapter 18 of the state public officers law which indemnifies city workers only in civil cases, not in criminal ones. The stopped payments at the center of the “Brandi lawsuit” related to legal activity in a criminal investigation.
Also, the original law is 122 words long, and does not provide a procedure for employees to follow if they want or need to hire their own attorneys, or what a “reasonable fee” for those attorneys might be.
The proposed law requires the person hiring an attorney to work with the city, asking in writing for an outside council. The city’s attorney may determine whether an attorney is needed, and that decision can be appealed to the proper court for a judge to consider.
The process is similar for civil and criminal procedures.
To be clear, and many officials have mentioned this, the proposed law will not protect employees who have committed wrongful acts or crimes while working.
In criminal cases, the proposed law says that the city will cover a person’s legal fees and litigation expenses for providing testimony in a trial, to a grand jury or as a witness in an investigation of the city or employees. The fees are not covered if the person has committed a crime.
“The Brandi lawsuit,” asked the courts to stop the city of Saratoga Springs from paying for legal fees accrued to Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran, Deputy Commissioner of Accounts Stacy Connors, then-Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub, and city employee Brooke Van Buskirk.
The four had hired outside law firms after the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation into the “on-call” pay of deputy commissioners last year.
The fees for Moran and Connor amounted to $111,000 for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, a law firm with offices worldwide. (Moran disputes that amount and says the actual bill is about one-third of that.) The fee for Golub and Van Buskirk amounted to about $2,300 to Schreiber Law of Saratoga Springs. The DA did not press charges.
The arguments during city council meetings surrounding whether or not the city had to pay these bills dealt with the fact that none of the four were named in the investigation, meaning they likely should not have been paid.
However, the four helped in the investigation by providing documentation and interviews. Hiring an attorney in that situation might be valid under the proposed law.
The city council members have also argued over whether the attorneys fees were “reasonable.”
The proposed law seems to directly address many of these issues.
Keep reading!
Judge sides with GOP on legal payments
UPDATED. Former Commissioner potentially sues Springs, Commissioner Coll
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Lifestyle
Jon Batiste’s hotly-anticipated album release hits SPAC stage tonight
The jazz phenom releases ‘Big Money’ to an eager crowd during Philly Orchestra’s final weekend.
By: Abby Tegnelia
World-renowned jazz, soul, funk and R&B phenom Jon Batiste will hit the SPAC stage tonight to release his new album, Big Money, to an eager crowd. The musician, 38, hasn’t performed at SPAC since 2018’s Jazz Festival, four years before he swept the Grammys and then starred in a Netflix documentary.
“We've been wanting to get him back,” says SPAC President Christopher Shiley. “He had this incredible explosion of popularity and fame and has been one of the most in-demand touring artists since then. It’s a unique thing for Saratoga Springs to have this national album release at our venue right before he goes on a huge multi-city national tour. It’s really special.”
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo was originally scheduled for tonight’s show but
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