Supers' lawsuit heads to court

7/31/2012

By David Avitabile

The lawsuit brought by eight Schoharie County Supervisors to overturn the chairman’s decision to change board committees is slated to go to court this week.
The case was slated to be heard in Albany Supreme Court on Tuesday morning before Judge Eugene Devine, said county attorney Michael West.
The eight supervisors filed a lawsuit in June naming Chairman Harold Vroman as a defendant.
The objecting supervisors feared Mr. Vroman altered the committees because he did not like the way the supervisors voted.
The attorney for the eight supervisors, five Democrats and three Republicans, said state law decrees that supervisors named to committees serve until the end of the calendar year.
Changing the committees, the lawsuit stated, was beyond the powers given to the chairman.
Mr. West said the chairman had the right to make the change.
“I certainly feel confident with the decision of the chairman,” he said Monday.
The decision, he said, is supported by the rules of the order and procedure of the county.
“The chairman has to be more than a stick figure, a potted plant. When he needs to, he has to act.”
Mr. Vroman felt the committees were not moving forward and needed to adjust the personalities of some of the committees, Mr. West said.
Mr. West said he expected the attorneys from both sides to meet with Judge Devine.
He expects no arguments to be made on the record.
After listening to both attorneys, the judge could render a decision within 60 days, he said.