Bickering supervisors Friday afternoon agreed to spend another $10,000 to complete the report that will chronicle alleged unlawful discrimination, harassment and intimidation against county employees.
Supervisors debated for nearly an hour before agreeing to pay the money to the Westchester law firm doing the report. Board members had agreed at a special meeting earlier this month to pay the firm an additional $22,000.
The county has already spent $248,000 on the report which was commissioned last spring.
County attorney Michael West said he spoke to the attorneys Friday morning and was told completing the report would take another 30 to 40 hours, and $10,000.
Supervisors debated the merits of the report, the costs and whether employees will now be required to be interviewed.
The report, Earl VanWormer of Esperance said, seems to have "taken on a life of its own."
The cost started at $50,000 and then another $50,000 was needed.
"I'm not going to support another nickel."
But Mr. VanWormer ended up voting in favor of the extra costs because "We have to get it done and over with and move on...
"We have to come to a conclusion on this. If not, we're not doing justice to our employees, the board or the taxpayers."
Dan Singletary of Jefferson, who has opposed the report, wondered, "I thought the report was done. What is it that we are looking for?"
Cross-examinations and further interviews are needed, Mr. West explained.
There will be a court reporter to record the interview and employees have to cooperate.
Originally, the interviews were to be voluntary, Mr. Singletary added.
Bob Mann of Blenheim attacked the report and its findings, which have not been made public.
"It's a bunch of BS. It's biased."
He disagreed with the report's conclusions and if it were made public, the public would agree.
Mr. Mann urged board members to "draw an end to this madness."
"Do we really need to spend another $10,000 to have [attorney] Fitzmaurice tell us anything?"
Gene Milone of Schoharie, whose motions began the commissioning of the report last spring, defended the investigation.
There has been an obvious resistance to an investigation since the beginning, Mr. Milone noted and "nothing has changed."
The county must find out "what did truly happen with the layoffs" (from two years ago) and about allegations of discrimination and targeting.
If the allegations are true, "those people should be disciplined," Mr. Milone continued.
"Why not cleanse the county of wrongdoing?"
Board Chairman Phil Skowfoe noted that Albany County was recently hit with a $2 million lawsuit.
"Whatever this investigation costs, if it averts one lawsuit, it's money well spent."
Sandra Manko of Sharon added, "If we don't address these issues, we're not doing our job."
Anne Batz of Broome countered that the report was "a bunch of hearsay...
"Basically you're terrorizing the people you want to protect...
"You're just going to feed the unrest in this county."
Mr. Singletary blasted the report in a written statement.
In his statement, Mr. Singletary said, "So the report that we now have before us is an unverifiable account of rumor, innuendo and hearsay maybe confirmed or dismissed at the pleasure of Attorney Fitzmaurice and hopefully a few facts have snuck in along the way...
"How can we continue this evaluation using only the imprecise, biased and unvetted account of Attorney Fitzmaurice...
The board should make policy, procedure and ethic reforms, "get this over with and end this witch hunt," Mr. Singletary concluded.
The report, according to Larry Bradt of Carlisle and Jim Buzon of Middleburgh, reveals some serious problems.
Two very serious items, Mr. Bradt said, showed that the county could be open to lawsuits, if they are true.
The problems are more serious than he originally thought, Mr. Buzon added.
"It has shown us we have a lot of work to do."
The Fiztmaurice law firm has already completed a three-inch report and needs another 30 days or so to finish interviews and do a follow-up report, officials said.