Pomona mayor withholds cost to defend village
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- August
- 1
Pomona Mayor Nick Sanderson yesterday refused to disclose any information about how much it would cost to receive services from Robinson & Cole LLP., a law firm that was hired by the village to fight a lawsuit brought by a Jewish congregation.
The congregation wants to build a rabbinical college on a 130-acre site off Routes 202 and 306.
Sanderson said he had “some” idea about the price tag but wouldn’t give any estimate because he didn’t know.
I pressed him to give me the information, saying that it would be unreasonable as the village’s fiscal officer to hire a firm without informing residents how much the village would pay for its services.
Then he said the village wanted to focus on defending itself, not on the cost, at this point.
I told him that it was illegal for the village to withhold the information because the village board voted to hire the firm at a public meeting.
Sanderson then told me to talk to Village Attorney Doris Ulman.
Ulman said the information should be available to the public, but I needed to file a Freedom of Information Law request to get it because the firm’s proposal, which included dollar figures for its fees, stated that the information in the document was confidential.
I sent out my FOIL request as the first thing this morning but found that the village’s record officer, Village Clerk Lisa Thorsen, was out of office today. Without her, we cannot get it.
We’ll do a story as soon as Thorsen gives me the information.
It’s puzzling that Sanderson did not want to disclose how much it would cost at the first place. Whose money is the village going to use? It’s taxpayers’ money.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 1:02 pm by Akiko Matsuda.
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Hello readers,
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Most recently, my Orangetown taxpayer lawsuit provoked a corrective NYS Comptroller audit regarding an improper gift of retroactive pension by the Town Board members to themselves. Simply outrageous!
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/s/
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PS I also expect to help the public interest further by being elected to the County Legislature, District 1.
pomona officils are above the law. the discrimination ,corruption,cover up commited by pomona officials is beyond belief. the village is a out of control dictatorship. any person who attempts to assert there rights is subject to severe retaliation including arson fires and threats on life. one monority builder was called a fu…ing ni..er by the vllage engineer when he complained at a pomona public hearing he fell victim to the retribution. the NY attorney gen. office had evidence of corruption and was to arrest certain pomoma officials however the hole matter was covered up. people in pomona live and work in a climate of fear and intimidation.