L’pool judge defends his department as trustees consider consolidating with town
By Russ Tarby
Contributing writer
Discussion grew unusually heated at the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees’ April 4 meeting after Village Justice Anthony LaValle addressed the board.
The trustees are considering the abolishment of the Village of Liverpool Court in favor of consolidating with Salina Town Court, but LaValle maintains that the current court structure is financially and procedurally efficient.
The judge accused the trustees of retaliating against the court because last fall the resignation of an assistant court clerk led to an investigation of possible harassment at Village Hall.
“There has been talk of the court losing money, that the cost to operate the court is excessive,” he began. LaValle researched various village departments as well as his own and concluded, “The village court is the most efficiently run department that we have.”
As to its expense, he argued, the court costs taxpayers just three cents of each $100,000 of assessed value.
The trustees have been looking into the possibility of eliminating the court for three or four years, according to Mayor Gary White. The idea gained momentum last Sept. 28 at a rare joint meeting between the town and village boards at which Salina Town Comptroller Greg Maxwell suggested consolidating with Salina Town Court.
“For the last four or five years,” White said, “Village Court has been costing more and more money. All our accountants and auditors have told us we’ve got to do something. Then when we met with the town last year, Greg Maxwell said he considered it a no-brainer to abolish Village Court to save money. None of us knew that we were contributing to Salina Town Court.”
The mayor said that LaValle had been consulted over the years as the future of the village court was discussed, but the judge seemed surprised by the trustees’ growing concern.
LaValle gave a detailed summary of his department’s budget and reported that in 2015 the total cost to operate the court was $108,819.81 Revenues generated from fines ($72,887.87), leaves a net cost to operate a village court of $35,931.94, LaValle said.
“This is 1.38 percent of the village budget ($2,593,894.27) and 2 percent of the village tax levy ($1,536,365),” the judge said. Revenues from traffic fines have dropped significantly over the past few years, but LaValle said that’s a police problem, not a court problem.
“You can’t blame me if tickets are not being written,” the judge said.
But Trustee Nick Kochan said, “We’re paying twice for court service,” once at the village level and again at the town level.
White pointed again to the Salina comptroller’s recommendation and said court consolidation fulfills the spirit of recent recommendations by the Consensus commission.
Because the village court generates revenue for the village, LaValle said, he strongly opposes the court’s abolishment. “To say we’re losing money and you want to get rid of the village court makes no sense,” the judge said. “For what you’re getting for just three cents per $100,000 house, is it worth taking away the people’s court?”
When Kochan asked LaValle why he thought the trustees were looking into possible court consolidation, the judge dropped a bombshell.
“I think this is in retaliation against the village court for blowing in the mayor for harassment,” LaValle said. “My court was the whistle-blower.”
Kochan reacted strongly. “The moment we heard about that,” he said, “we took it seriously.”
According to documents obtained by the Star-Review, LaValle sent a letter to Onondaga County Supervising Judge James Murphy requesting his help to “address and defuse what can only be characterized as a hostile work environment in my office, created by the mayor, Gary White, and his two clerks [names redacted].”
In his letter, LaValle accuses White’s clerks of harassing his assistant clerk, Antoinette Spina, to the point where she was forced to resign. He said the mayor also participated in the harassment; according to resignation letter sent Sept. 25, 2015, by Spina, while speaking to then-Court Clerk Kimberly Hall, the mayor had referred to Spina as “your girl.”
“I have a name,” Spina wrote.
Hall also has resigned from the village, citing the same harassment; she left the village’s employ effective Feb. 25.
On Nov. 2, 2015, LaValle also requested an investigation into the harassment claims.
As deputy mayor, Kochan hired a private investigator and oversaw the probe. A final report was reportedly delivered late last week. The Star-Review has filed a Freedom of Information Law request to see the report; however, as it deals with a personnel issue, it may not be released to the public.
The mayor said that attorneys have advised him against commenting on the investigation.
At the April 4 meeting, Trustee Dennis Herbert said the court’s future is an ongoing issue unrelated to the investigation.
“These issues [regarding court consolidation] were brought up long before any ‘harassment’ situation,” Hebert said.
Later on April 4, Kochan met with Maxwell and Salina Town Supervisor Mark Nicotra to discuss the possibility of consolidating with Salina court. “It could be done legally by June,” Kochan said after meeting with the town officials. It’s all about cost-saving, he said. “If we do this, there’ll be no cost to the village.”
On April 8, Mayor White expressed doubts about eliminating the Village Court.
“It could be done within the constraints of Tony’s tenure, which is up at the end of June,” White said, “but I’m troubled by two things. We have no comprehensive numbers regarding dissolving the court, but we know we’ll have ongoing expenses. For instance, all the court’s historic records have to be maintained, and the village would have to bear that expense. So far I’m not convinced there are enough savings to walk away from it.”
LaValle believes village residents would oppose the elimination of Village Court.
He was first elected to the bench in 2008 after launching an independent campaign against the Republican nominee, George Alessio. LaValle was unopposed when he was reelected in 2012 as a Republican.
The judge is slated to run for a third term in the June 21 village election, if the court continues to exist. Republicans Kochan and Trustee Jim Rosier are also seeking reelection this year.
If the trustees vote in favor of dissolving the village court, village residents would have the opportunity to petition for a permissive referendum so that the electorate could either approve or reject the board’s decision.
The trustees’ next meetings are at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 14, and at 7 p.m. May 16, both at the Village Hall.
