The Light Shines In

It is appropriate to shed a little light on the town lawyer issue and the extremely misleading information being disseminated by Darrel Aubertine.

An article in Talk of the Towns legal experts take issue with the decisions by state officials.  Here are some of the highlights of the article.

"Countless attorneys have accepted part-time municipal employment, at low salaries, in part because would earn credit in the State's retirement system. Many municipalities have knowingly and deliberately, to save (taxpayer) money, employed those part-time attorneys and legally enrolled them in the retirement system"

"If the Attorney General prevails, municipalities could face significant increases in legal fees."

"The initial determination as to whether an individual falls into 'employee' or 'independent contractor' status is left up to the employer."

"Comptroller's Rules and Regulations have historically stated that set hours are not required where employment is obtained by election or appointment. Positions such as part time attorneys physicians, and engineers, generally require appointment by the governing board of a town. Moreover, these positions are normally filled by individuals who also work in private practice."

A local person, who handles the finances of several towns and villages throughout Jefferson County said, "they are nitpicking, it is a widely acceptable practice that knows no partisan lines."

Only as of June 2008 did the Comptroller's office define the Rules and Regulations of the term "employee" and prior to that neither did Retirement and Social Security Law. Since, the Comptroller's office has defined 'employee' and 'independent contractor' and have developed guidelines for local governments to follow in its certification determination.

There is a distinct difference in the two situations facing the candidates.

In the case of David Renzi, there were no laws or guidelines developed and as they are developed, pension credits will be wiped out by the Comptroller for any professional hired by local governments that is outside the guidelines. This is why Aubertine spokesman Cort Ruddy used the term "deferred," it is not and never will be a situation of theft. If the Comptroller's office does their job all pension credits that have been issued before the guidelines were established will be eliminate through the audit process. Mr. Ruddy acknowledged the fact Renzi did nothing wrong when he carefully selected the word he used, "deferred."

On the other hand, Mr. Aubertine's situation there was a law already in place, which he co-sponsored and voted for, therefore he broke a law, which is a huge difference in the two scenarios.