Chemung County leadership has undergone much change in the past six months.
With long-serving County Executive Tom Santulli announcing that he would not seek a sixth term beginning in 2019, local and county officials were optimistic about what lay ahead.
Of course, the transition was never going to be easy. With new leadership comes changes. And changes can upset the routine of an administration with the same steady hands on the wheel for nearly two decades.
The voters of Chemung County, as prepared for the trials of change as they may have been, probably did not think it would happen quite so fast. Less than three months into the new year, the new county executive is now exchanging legal volleys with the legislature.
The timeline
On Feb. 22, the Chemung County Legislature announced a special meeting of the personnel committee followed by a meeting of the full legislature. The special meeting was to discuss how to handle the firing of Bryan Maggs, attorney to the legislature and special districts, by new County Executive Christopher Moss.
In that meeting, the legislature moved to commence an Article 78 proceeding, which is a uniform device to challenge the activities of an administrative agency in court. Basically, the move means the legislature could ask a state Supreme Court judge to rule whether Maggs could be terminated by the county executive.
The Legislature held another special meeting on March 11 following a regularly scheduled budget committee meeting. Legislators called an executive session to discuss the issue in private and were set to vote on retaining Ithaca-based attorney Ray Schlather on a pro bono basis to represent legislators in their Article 78 proceeding against Moss.
In a dramatic U-turn after more than an hour behind closed doors, legislators emerged from the meeting and announced that they have tabled resolution to hire Schlather and that their Article 78 proceeding was on hold because of renewed hopes that an amicable solution can be found in returning to the negotiating table with Moss.
Hope was short-lived as last week, Moss filed his own Article 78, petitioning a judge to step in and address the situation with Maggs, as well as the passage of a local law aimed at clarifying the language in the county charter vesting officials with hiring and firing powers.
The whole mess begs the question: what is an Article 78 proceeding?
Article 78
Article 78 proceedings allow for the challenge of agencies or governing bodies and the decisions they make.
In an Article 78 proceeding, the petitioner, which in this instance is Moss, asks a judge to evaluate an administrative action taken by the respondent, in this instance, the Chemung County Legislature.
The petitioner has 120 days from the violation to file an Article 78. The matter goes before a state Supreme Court judge, in this case, Judge Eugene Faughnan.
Faughnan will decide whether the legislature overstepped the authority granted to them by the county charter to hire an attorney.