Evers Dodges a Bullet

A decision was handed down late last week by the courts in the matter of Robert Price V Evers which sought Evers removal from office for illegally paying a contractor $83,000 without town board approval. You can read the entire decision here.

The gist of it is that Evers conduct did not rise to the level requiring his removal from office. Citing the decision, “In our view, the allegations in the petition and accompanying affidavits, even if accepted as true, do not rise to the level required for removal from office pursuant to Public Officers Law § 36. Removal is a "drastic remedy" reserved for "'unscrupulous conduct or gross dereliction of duty' or [conduct that] . . . 'connote[s] a pattern of misconduct and abuse of authority'".
“Here, petitioner alleges that the payment to the contractor was made in violation of Town Law § 118 because respondent failed to submit the required officer's statement with the voucher and, on January 25, 2007, the Town Board disapproved the payment despite the fact that it had already been made. The failure to include the officer's statement, without more, amounts to only a "minor neglect of dut[y], administrative oversight[] [or] violation[] of law" that does not warrant removal from office.”
“Although it may have been imprudent to follow this practice given both the Town Attorney's strong recommendation that respondent no longer make unilateral payments – i.e., without the approval of the Town Board – and the Town Board's referral to the Office of Audit and Control, we note that the Town Attorney had not informed respondent and the Board that such payments were unlawful due to the cost overrun until January 7, 2007 – several weeks after the payment at issue had been made.

Well there you have it, “Minor neglect of duty”. Yet the court does not dispute that what Evers did was unlawful. We presume the Town Attorney needed to do more than just tell evers in words "I strongly advise..." and instead flat out tell him what was obvious to all, that such a payment would be illegal.

Since it is now clear the payment was unlawful, perhaps Mr. Evers is prepared to take the necessary steps to get the money back? Don't hold your breath.