Town Board approves meeting attendance law

 The Amenia Town Board approved a new local law establishing training and attendance requirements for planning and zoning board members at its workshop, Thursday, June 12.

All but one member voted for the resolution. Councilperson Gretchen Hitselberger voted no. 

The vote followed a public hearing, during which resident Cheryl Morse spoke in favor of the law. 

“I think this is a wonderful idea,” she said, adding that its passing would eliminate further errors on those boards. 

Town Board comments

During the Town Board comments section toward the end of the meeting, Hitselberger spoke about the new law.

The councilperson noted that at the previous meeting, May 22, others were saying she was splitting hairs regarding her discussion of the law. 

“First, I thought we should be getting better work from our lawyer when it comes to grammatical and punctuation errors in our town laws,” she said. “If you tolerate it, that’s what you’ll get.”

“Secondly, and most importantly, the law was not [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant, and it would have opened us up to an ADA lawsuit,” she added. “The law as it was originally written only allowed for mileage reimbursement. The law submitted at the last board meeting would have excluded citizens with disabilities who can’t drive.

“[Councilperson Vicki Doyle] picked up on what I said and that section was changed, to add the word transportation as opposed to mileage,” Hitselberger said. “Some people may call this splitting hairs, but in this case it keeps us from getting sued and it keeps us from discriminating.”

The councilperson said she still felt the law was “sloppily written” despite the change.

“And that’s why I voted no,” she said. 

Attorney’s response

Attorney to the Town Denise FitzPatrick spoke after the Town Board comments and supervisor’s report.

FitzPatrick said that after she left the May 22 meeting, “which was done simply to conserve attorney time for the town,” a comment was made by Hitselberger “to the effect that she had been attempting to reach me for a period of two weeks regarding the local laws.”

The attorney explained that she saw the rest of the meeting on YouTube. 

“I had to respond separately to the board during that two-week period of time,” FitzPatrick said, “there were 15 emails exchanged between me and Councilwoman Hitselberger, there were several telephone calls that I made to her and there was a 35-minute telephone conversation that I had with her.

“I think that the comment that she was trying to reach me during that two-week period is inaccurate,” she added. “I certainly am not in the habit of ignoring a client’s inquiries on something as serious as a local town law.” 

FitzPatrick added that since the comment was made during a public session, it gave off a negative impression of her to the town’s taxpayers.

“I’ve been very privileged to be representing this board, I take my professional responsibilities seriously and I think it’s unfair when a statement is made that is totally inaccurate,” the attorney said, explaining that the particular circumstance affects her reputation, an “essential part” of her professional practice.

FitzPatrick also defended her writing abilities, citing successful appeals she has written at the state level.

“I would like this board and the Amenia public to know that I take this job seriously. I intend to give my full efforts to doing a good job,” she said. 

Doyle said she appreciated that FitzPatrick did not charge the town for the “extra cost that it took to document that in fact she had responded numerous times” and explained that this also saved a cost to the taxpayers.

Doyle added that when FitzPatrick took the job, she brought herself up to speed with the town’s comprehensive plan at no charge. 

“When we interviewed her she said she was interested in doing a very, very good job for the town and that she wouldn’t take this job if she weren’t fully familiar with it,” the councilperson said, adding that previous attorneys to the town did charge for this cost. 

Hitselberger, also recalling that interview process, said she wanted FitzPatrick to be the town’s attorney, partially because of her writing skills. The councilperson held that her comments on May 22 were not inaccurate.

FitzPatrick also addressed the ADA subject, stating that “there is nothing in the state law [for planning and zoning board attendance and training] which the legislature deemed appropriate to pass that specifically references the ADA.

“The state law and the local law that this town has passed addresses various formats for the members to attain their training,” the attorney added. “It can be done electronically and by various means online, and I think the state certainly did that so it could accommodate people with disabilities. And the town in like fashion did the same thing.”