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By Brian Powers
            Given that questions have been raised about Shandaken’s legal expenses of late, we thought it would be useful to understand the actual dollars involved, where they’ve gone, and how Shandaken’s costs stack up against neighboring towns and other towns our size throughout the state. After reviewing every legal bill paid by the town since the Di Modica administration took office in January 2002, we’ve also reviewed extensive raw data from the state Comptrollers office which tracks legal expenses for New York’s 900+ towns, to try and place Shandaken’s costs in some sort of context.

Like most towns, Shandaken has had to call on professional legal help to deal with a very broad range of issues in recent years. In the 20 months Supervisor Di Modica has been in office, the administration has paid for legal advice on health and safety issues from fire, sewer and water districts to EMS services and cell towers. There have been administrative issues including health insurance, purchasing contracts, civil service law, and a lease for a town park. There were issues related to the highway department and town roads, and issues related to  junk cars and dogs in public buildings. There was also a major assessment suit brought by the state, and the usual questions relating to issues coming before the planning board, the ZBA, and the town zoning office. During this same period, the town also had to defend against some 12 lawsuits, only 4 of which were even filed under the current administration.  These are all normal functions of town government whose costs the town has little choice but to bear: Failure to obtain accurate legal information in advance of problems, or to defend against actions by others would likely cost taxpayers far more than the bills that were actually paid.

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