Putnam executive says voters should decide
Some Putnam legislators are seeking for the second time in 16 years to expand their power over the county attorney, amid criticism from colleagues and the county executive and a pending ethics complaint.
With Paul Jonke substituting for Toni Addonizio as chair of the Rules Committee and not voting, its other two members, Greg Ellner and Ginny Nacerino, approved a proposed local law on Aug. 26 that would allow the Legislature to remove the county attorney without cause. The position has been held since January 2023 by Compton Spain.
At the monthly meeting of the full Legislature on Tuesday (Sept. 3), Jonke successfully moved to send the proposal back to the Rules Committee. The intention is to amend the language to exclude Spain through Dec. 13, 2026, when the attorney’s term ends, he said.
Under Putnam’s charter, the county executive names the attorney and the Legislature approves the appointment. The appointee represents both the county executive and the Legislature and is required to “comply with any and all lawful and permissible resolutions” adopted by the Legislature, except when the county executive vetoes legislation and an override fails. (The Legislature also has its own attorney.)
The executive can fire the county attorney but two-thirds of the Legislature must agree. Under a charter change approved by voters in 2008, two-thirds of the Legislature can remove the attorney but only when the interests of lawmakers and the executive conflict and the attorney refuses to represent the Legislature.
Jonke submitted a proposal to remove that restriction, essentially allowing the Legislature to independently remove the attorney without cause. It also would prohibit the county attorney from outside work. (At the time of Spain’s appointment, County Executive Kevin Byrne said Spain had left his family’s Mahopac law firm.)
Byrne, addressing the Rules Committee last month, said it was “shocking” that the Legislature would vote on a proposal making the county attorney “at-will.”
“This is essentially trying to change the charter in less than a week and a half,” he said. “If you feel strongly about this moving forward, it creates a conflict between the executive and the Legislature.”
Last month’s Rules Committee meeting began with Addonizio recusing herself because the discussion “could include issues currently before the Putnam Board of Ethics.”
Those issues are outlined in a complaint Spain filed in June with the Board of Ethics. It accuses Addonizio of ethics breaches, including failing to disclose that her son-in-law, Byron Voutsinas, was the buyer initially agreeing to purchase a county-owned property in Carmel.
Spain’s office moved to void the contract, arguing that Voutsinas failed to satisfy conditions for the sale to be finalized, including getting the Legislature’s approval, which never occurred. After Voutsinas filed a claim accusing the county of breach of contract, Spain successfully petitioned a judge to have the contract canceled.
The Legislature’s counsel, Robert Firriolo, defended Addonizio in a response sent to the ethics board in response to Spain’s complaint. He also accused Spain of failing to disclose, when asked on his employment application about criminal convictions, that he was found guilty in 1993 of criminal contempt of court.
(A judge found Spain guilty under state Judiciary Law, which does not classify the charge as a misdemeanor. Because the penalty can include jail time, Firriolo argues it is equivalent to a misdemeanor as defined under state Penal Law.)
Legislator Erin Crowley, who represents the Town of Carmel and Mahopac, referenced the complaint in a prepared statement at the Rules Committee meeting. Nancy Montgomery, whose district encompasses Philipstown and part of Putnam Valley, and William Gouldman, who represents the rest of Putnam Valley, also signed the statement.
They called the proposal “rushed,” and coming as Spain “has a pending ethics complaint” before the five-person ethics board. The board’s members include former Philipstown Legislator Barbara Scuccimara and Paul Eldridge, the county personnel director.
Crowley also said that Eldridge had “persuasively” refuted allegations that Spain had committed a crime on his employment application, and that approving the change would “appear to represent unlawful retaliatory action” by legislators. “This is a proposal to change the balance of powers in our government,” she said.
In arguing for the change, both Nacerino and Jonke denied its relation to an ethics complaint. Nacerino said it would give the Legislature “a voice” in removing a county attorney. Jonke said “it makes perfect sense” that legislators can remove the person holding the position. “This language does not seem like it’s all that big a change,” he said.
A power struggle over the county attorney’s position also took place in 2008, when voters approved the referendum that gave the legislators their current authority to fire the county attorney for failing to represent their interests. Bob Biondi, then the county executive, vetoed the amendment but lost an override vote.
Voters had to approve the change because it reduced the county executive’s power, according to news reports, which also said that Putnam became the only county in New York with such a provision.
Speaking at the Rules Committee meeting, Byrne argued that the proposal should again be put before voters and asked if it had been reviewed by the law department to determine if a referendum was required.
In response, Jonke said it had been reviewed by Firriolo. “The fact that you didn’t go to the law department is troubling,” said Byrne. “I believe it absolutely could be subject to a mandatory referendum.”
Your article incorrectly states that I accused County Attorney Spain of lying on his employment application. In fact, I reached no such conclusion, and explicitly stated in the memorandum you referenced that “I am not asserting that Attorney Spain was untruthful in his employment application.”
I did provide certain information I believed to be factually correct at the time so that certain personnel issues could be reviewed by the appropriate parties. However, I did not, and do not now, accuse Mr. Spain of any wrongdoing or misstatements in association with his employment application.
Firriolo is the attorney for the Putnam County Legislature.
We have changed the wording from “lying” to “failing to disclose.” Below is some of what Firriolo wrote. The full document is here.
“There is growing evidence that the County Attorney is ethically compromised…. In addition, and perhaps even more disturbing, it has recently come to light that Mr. Spain may have made a material misrepresentation on his application for the position of County Attorney. Attorney Charles Compton Spain was convicted of the ‘serious crime’ of Criminal Contempt for engaging in ‘disorderly, contemptuous and insolent behavior’ in court. He was then censured for misconduct and for failing to report that criminal conviction. (In the matter of Charles Compton Spain, 261 A.D.2d 64 (2nd Dept. 1999) [Exhibit E]). Mr. Spain’s employment application to Putnam County for the position of County Attorney nonetheless states that he had never been convicted of a crime. That answer was apparently affirmed as true under penalty of perjury -– a Class A misdemeanor.”