The Town of Alexander Board appointed its third town justice in less than a year on Monday after its most recent appointment, Paul Tomaszewski, resigned, citing health reasons, without serving one session on the bench.
Tomaszewski was appointed in November to replace Ronald Merrill, who resigned after six months, deciding the job wasn't for him.
The town spent $800 on Tomaszewski's training and he became a town justice on Jan. 1 but he never opened the required checking account to accept fines during his term.
The debate on Monday was whether Tomaszewski should be paid the nearly $2,400 salary he may be due in the first quarter of 2022 or if, legally, the board can withhold the pay since he didn't perform any duties of a town justice during that period.
Supervisor David Miller has a request in with the town attorney to advise the board on its legal obligations to Tomaszewski but the attorney, David DiMatteo, is currently out of the country.
"I don't feel that Paul should be paid for a quarter that he did not fulfill any duties of his appointment," said Board Member Laura Schmieder
Roy H. Haller, III said that since the town paid for his training, perhaps the town is legally obligated to pay him for the one-quarter of his term he served before his resignation, which is effective March 31.
"I accept his resignation but technically, is he an employee? We sent him to school through the taxpayer's money, through the town's money, we paid for it all, and now ... this is two judges in a row," Haller said.
Schmieder made a motion to not pay Tomaszewski pending appropriate legal advice from the attorney.
Haller again expressed concern about the town's legal obligation.
"I think it's a bit tricky," Haller said. "He said he is resigning because of health reasons. If he had resigned because he said he didn't like us but he said he resigned because of his health. I do not think we should get in a court fight over one-quarter of pay."
The resolution failed with only four board members present on a 2-2 vote. Eric Wagner voted yes and Miller voted no.
When Tomaszewski was selected in November, there were two other candidates for the post, Molly Meek-Grimes, and Sarah Kohl. Miller indicated they could both be considered to fill the new vacancy but a third candidate was at Monday's meeting: Troy Robbins.
After a brief closed-door interview, Robbins was appointed with a unanimous vote of the board with no further discussion of the appointment.
