POUGHKEEPSIE – Eighth Ward Poughkeepsie Alderman Matt McNamara has weighed in on the common council’s lawsuit against Mayor Rob Rolison.
The council sued the mayor for his veto of their attempt to hire an outside lawyer to review the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. Mayor Rob Rolison filed a countersuit.
Now, McNamara said the “lawsuit, allegedly filed by the entire Common Council, is completely improper and will likely be dismissed before our holiday decorations are put away. In order for the Council to commence an action against the Mayor of our City, there first must be a vote of the Council, taken at a properly noticed public meeting. That didn’t happen.”
McNamara said a “generic, non-specific motion to hire an attorney most definitely does not satisfy these important requirements. Furthermore, the manner in which this lawsuit was initiated leaves little doubt that work was underway to prepare it for some time, all without any discussion by Councilmembers sitting in their official capacity.”
He said there was no public comment, “zero transparency – nothing but a press release written by Councilmember Brannen which improperly alleged to be an official statement of the Common Council. Like the lawsuit itself, that press release was not authorized by the Council and I want my constituents of the City’s Eighth Ward to know I had nothing to do with it.”
Meanwhile, Brannen fired back on Facebook. “There was a vote by the common council. It was unanimous – meaning you voted for it. Also, the statement was drafted by our attorney, Rich Zuckerman.”
