Yesterday, I told you about a squabble between the Northampton County Council and Executive that spilled over into the courts. Was it about the Executive's failure to follow a county council resolution that provided for retention bonuses at Gracedale? Nah. Did it involve a novel interpretation of the Home Rule Charter or Administrative Code? No. It was instead a petty dispute over audio-visual upgrades to Council's meeting room. They both look silly. Today, I have yet another example of government by litigation. This is a second lawsuit, this time by District Attorney Steve Baratta, concerns the Executive's refusal to allow him to fill a vacant "Senior Deputy" position at a smaller salary than its previous occupant. The Executive advised that only County Council could approve this hire at a smaller salary than the one originally approved. Why Baratta just didn't go to County Council is a mystery to me. Why the Exec insisted on getting Council approval for a position they already established at a higher wage is another puzzler. Instead, they've been more than willing to govern by litigation.
The procedural history of this simple disagreement makes it sound like the case of the century. Baratta starts with a complaint in Mandamus and a Motion for peremptory judgment. The County responded with a Motion to Strike the Motion for peremptory judgment, and Baratta hit back with preliminary objections, to which the county responded with its own set of preliminary objections.
Who's on first?
After shoveling his way through all the legal manure, sustaining this and overruling that, President Judge Craig Dally (who got stuck with this case as well as the County Council spat) does conclude that there's a "reasonable expectation that the County Executive will continue to attempt to manage the District Attorney's Career Exempt Employees [nonunion] in clear violation of the Northampton County Home Rule Charter, unless a resolution is promulgated by this Court."
Judge Dally not only dismissed the Executive's attempt to strike the DA's motion for peremptory judgment but has actually scheduled a hearing on that matter for March 18 in a separate order from what you see below.
The office of District Attorney is a constitutional office and is an independently elected office. In numerous cases filed by former District Attorney (now Judge) John Morganelli, the courts have long recognized that the DA, like the courts, has the right to hire, fire, promote and demote as he sees fit. His only real limitation is the budget approved by County Council. The Executive should never have injected himself into another independently elected office.
DA v. McClure Decision on Preliminary Objections by BernieOHare
7 comments:
Council will fold. McClure and his legal team don't do anything they don't want to do. The hell with a law. It's always been his way or the highway. Get rid of county council. Its taxpayer's money wasted. They are nothing but rollovers. Zirnski has his team pulling the strings so nothing will change including Gracedale.
Government circle jerks are a waste of time. But they keep the hackarama busy, and distract it from harming taxpayers. More, please.
Another nail in the coffin of McClures desperate attempt to unseat RM. He'll get 1 vote, his own. Maybe 2, if his wife gives him a sympathy vote.
Baratta is right and he should win this challenge. Surprised him and McClure are butting heads, as they are both close buddies with Judge Morganelli. I believe there are two bigger stories here:
1. McClure / Zirinski hire their friends as solicitors instead of better qualified candidates.
2. The mass exodus at the DA's office continues. People are still leaving left and right, even under the new DA, including the two previous Senior Deputy DAs, who both left in the last six months. The one was grossly overpaid as he did less work than the most junior DA did, and the other was probably underpaid, as he was doing his job and the duties typically handled by the First Assistant, who is supposed to manages office operations, supervises staff attorneys, and handles the most complex, high-stakes felony trials - the First Assistant only seems to be handling the latter. No disrespect to him as he is one of the greatest attorneys in the county, he just isn't the right person for the position.
Ah yes, the real point of all of this.
Boy, Bernie. You missed the boat today. W'all thought you'd post about Ed Pawlowski being released this summer, a few years early than his sentence.
I still maintain that he was railroaded by Mike Fleck. He's the real criminal in that mess.
You are obviously an insider "at the Court House". However, you are wrong about Zrinski and her relationship with McClure. She knows quite well that McClure shafted the employees, the County officials who followed him in that election, the retirees, the taxpayers and most of all "Zrinski" with an underfunded budget and an embarrassing employment problem at Gracedale. McClure will lose his bid for Congress and will then run for JUDGE in Northampton County.
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