Published: January 08, 2009 01:26 am      

PENDLETON: Frawley confirms he’s quitting

PENDLETON — A day’s distance from a controversial vote did not cause a change of heart in Joe Frawley.

The town councilman confirmed late Wednesday that he is resigning in protest of the council’s split decision to dump the town’s attorney of five years in favor of a politically connected Lockport law firm.

“I’m a man of my word. They will have my letter of resignation before the next meeting,” Frawley said. “I think I can better represent the taxpayers for the rest of what would have been my term from the audience, instead of having my hands tied (on the council). And I plan to keep a sharp eye on those three up there.”

In a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the council appointed Seaman Jones Hogan Brooks LLP as the town’s attorney. Andrea Sammarco, the town’s attorney for the past five years, was thus dumped.

Voting in favor were Republican councilmen Marty Korkuc, David Leible and Ronald Morrison.

Frawley, a Republican who joined Democratic Supervisor Jim Riester in opposing the GOP-linked firm’s appointment, announced afterward that he would quit the council. His stance was unchanged a day later.

“This is not good government,” Frawley said. “Our town government just took a leap back in time, to the days before I joined the board and these appointments were all about party politics.. ... I think I can be more effective now sitting in a cheap seat.”

Earlier Wednesday, Riester said he’d hoped Frawley would back down from resigning.

“If he goes, it’ll be three-against-one, and that will be awful,” Riester said. “Joe is a good man. He really believes it’s his job to do what’s best for Pendleton, and obviously what happened (Tuesday) was not about the best interests of the town or its people. It’s a shame.”

The town drew three applicants for the attorney’s post, including Seaman’s firm, Sammarco and Richard Collins. It has been the board’s established practice, particularly when appointments are competitive, to interview the applicants before choosing one.

At the Tuesday council meeting, the members agreed unanimously they would conduct interviews for the conservation board, where four vacancies exist but only two residents applied to fill them. Then, at meeting’s end, Korkuc introduced the resolution to appoint Seaman’s firm without interviews. He pushed it to a vote over the protests of Frawley, Riester and residents who’d taken note of the inconsistency.

Seaman’s firm already supplies municipal counsel to the Town of Hartland, the villages of Barker, Middleport and Medina and the Niagara County Water District. Seaman individually is the town attorney for the Town of Lockport — a full-time Civil Service post — while firm partner Matthew Brooks and associate Michael Norris serve as part-time attorneys for the City of Lockport.

Seaman told the board Tuesday that he intends to be Pendleton’s primary counsel and would send a partner as his substitute only when he can’t be available for meetings.

Frawley questioned Seaman’s ability to give the town its fair share of legal attention when he’s already a full-time employee elsewhere and also serves as primary counsel for other municipalities.

Additionally, Frawley echoed concerns by resident Annmarie Reeb about the potential for attorney conflicts of interest — and additional costs for the town if it’s forced to hire outside counsel — as Seaman and his partners already do so much municipal and local private business.

The firm sought the Pendleton appointment a year ago and was turned away by town board deadlock. Without councilman Gerald Farnham Jr., who resigned in late 2007, the straw vote on Seaman’s bid was 2-2, with Korkuc and Leible favoring it and Frawley and Riester opposing. The November election of Ron Morrison, endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence committees, thus tipped the balance in Seaman’s favor this time.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.