HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-03/23/1954 186
MEETING OF MARCH 23 , 1954.
The Southold 'own Board met at the office of Supervisor
Norman E. Klipp at Greenport, on Tuesday, March 23, 1954.
The meeting was called to order at 1:30 P.M. with the
following present: Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill,
Albertson, Clark and Demarest; Superintendent of High-
ways Price; Town Attorney Terry and Town Clerk Booth.
Moved by Justice Clark; seconded by Justice Demarest:
RESOLVED:That the minutes of the previous meeting be and
hereby are duly approved as read.
Vote of Town Board: Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill ,
Albertson, Clark "and Demarest.
Moved by Justice Albertson; seconded by Justice Clark;
RESOLVED: That the regular monthly audit meeting of this
Board will be held at the office of the Supervisor, Norman
E . Klipp, at Greenport, on Tuesday, April 6, 1954, at 1:30
P.M.
Vote of Town Board: Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill,
Albertson, Clark and Demarest.
The following bonds were presented to the Board for approval.
Moved by Justice Albertson; seconded by Justice Tuthill:
RESOLVED: That Bond No. SM 177661 issued by the American
Motorists Insurance Company in the sum of $500.00, on be-
half of Henry Y. King, be and .the same is hereby approved
as to its form, sum, manner of execution and sufficiency
of surety therein.
Vote of Town Board: .Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill, :
Albertson, Clark and Demarest.
Moved by Justice Clark; seconded by Justice Tuthill:
RESOLVED: That Bond No. SM 177660 issued by the American
Motorists Insurance Company in the sum of ;$500.00, on
behalf of Otto L. Anrig , be and the same is hereby approv-
ed as to its form, sum, manner of execution and sufficiency
of surety therein.
Vote of Town Board: .Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill;
Albertson, Clark and, Demarest.
Moved by Justice Albertson; seconded by Justice Demarest:
RESOLVED: That Bond No. SM 177662 issued by the American
Motorists Insurance Company in the sum of $500.00, on
behalf of James P. Kelly, be and the same is hereby approved
as to its form, sum, manner of execution and sufficiency =
of surety therein.
Vote of Town Board: Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill,
Albertson, Clark and Demarest.
Justice Tuthill was requested to have one additional street
light installed on Pike Street in Mattituck, and three
additional street lights installed on Old Harbor Road,
in New Suffolk.
Moved by Justice Tuthill; seconded by Justice Albertson:.
RESOLVED: That the Town Clerk be and he hereby is directed
to request the Long Island Lighting Company to install one
(1) additional aerial street light in the Mattituck # 1
Lighting District , said light to be placed on Pole #1 5
on Pike Street, Mattituck, N.Y.
Vote of Town Board: Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill ,
Albertson, Clark and. Demarest. ,
Moved by Justice Tuthill- seconded by Justice Clark:
RESOLVED: That the Town perk be ind he hereby is directed
to request the Long Island Lighting Company to install
three (3) additional aerial street lights in the Cutchogue
New Suffolk Lighting District, said light to be 'placed J
on poles #3 , #7, and #11 on Old Harbor Road in New Suffolk N.Y.
Vote of Town Board: Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthili ,
Albertson, Clark and Demarest.
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MEETING
01
TOWN BOARD
TOWN 01? solUTHOLID
Gveenport, N. Y
March 230 1954.
r s e Y,
KLIPP, Supervisor
Ju s t I c e s ol" the P e,a
£3-S2ER M. AL5E.k-,',Tc30Tl
22,NTH7 A. . CIARK
T
I�11 L-K-H, Ij . TUTHILL
'L= R. DE-MAIELEST
P L. G. TEHRY JR. , E804,. , Town Attorney
RE GINALD C. SjY,:CTH
,
for I,he ,,3espondent.
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MR. KLIPP: Now, we have been delayed momentarily
from opening this hearing because I failed to tell
George that the hearing would be held in Greenport
rather than Southold. So that at this time I will
open the hearing on the matter relative to Eloise Bowden
and turn my chair over to Judge Clark who will conduct
any .further proceedings in this hearing.
MR. TERRY: I think that probably the first matter-
that you will want to consider Is that I have talked
-v,yith Mr . Smith relative to a proposed. -adjournmen"l; of this
to some other date., and I have told him that I would
consent to an adjournment, but that having taken the
matter U-0 with Mr. Klipp., 1 felt that we should leave
that to the discretion of the Board, and I presume that
perhaps we might read the charges first., and then .hear
Mr. Smith in his proposed application for an adjournment
before proceeding.
MR. SMITH: I will waive the reading of the charges,
Mr. Chairman.
(The folloTxing are the charges against Eloise Bowden. )
March 12, 1954
Mrs . Eloise Bowden
134 Central Avenue
Greenport, New York
Dear Mrs . Bowden:
In accordance with the-he provisions of Subdivision 2
3
of Section 22 of the Civil Service Law of the State of
New York, yoti are hereby notified, that pursuant to the
direction of the Town Board, the followilngcharges are
preferred against you.
CHARGE 1: You absented yourself from your official
duties for a period of one month without permission
and after requested permission had been specifically
denied..
A
Specificauo.i i: After having been specifically denied
periiiission on January 4., 1954, you failed. to report
to work on February 1, 1954, -and continued
ntinued to remain
absent without leave from your work for each succeed-
ing working day thereafter to and including February
269 1954.
CHARGE 11. You have deliberately misconducted yourself
in the pevformance of your duties, and delayed. vital
information requested for an official- report to the
State Comptroller,
Specification is On January 4., 1954, you insolently
criticized the Supervisor and threatened to take a
months ' s vacation whether it was granted or not,
used profane language, and arrogantly indicated that
you would. work at your pleasure and convenience and
in such manner as best suited you, and that you did
not intend to cooperate with new employees .
Specification 2: On Fabruary 2'7. 1954 you again
Indicated. to the Supervisor that you did not Intend
to cooperate in 'the performance of the' duties required
of your office .
Specification 3: Oft March 9, 1954, you were insub-
ordinate and guilty of misconduct in that you wituhheld
and delayed certain vital and essential information
requested 'by the Supervisor' s 01"fice, and indicated
that th6 information would be. giver)- by you at your
convenience and then only as a' cou-.-?tesy to the
Supervisor' s Secretary.
That you havedeliberately indicated that. you do
not intend to cooperate . with 'the directives of the
Supervisor.
There- will 'be' a hearing on the above charges before
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the Southold Town Board at the Supervisor's Office-1ASouth
Street, Greenp' o:,t, New York, at 2:00 o' clock p.m. , on
Tuesday, March 23., 1954, at which time you will be given
an opportunity to defend yourself. If you -Ash, you may
be represented by an attorney.
If you are found guilty of any of the above charges,
the penalty or punishment imposed upon you may consist of
ly
either dismissal from the service, demotion Jin grade and
title., suspension without pay for a period not eXceeding
two months, a fine not to exceed. Fifty Dollars 050-00)
5
or a "reprimand.
Pending the determination of "U-hese. cha--rges_, you are
suspended without pair- for an indefinite period (not exceed-
ing '30 days) , effective immediately upon service upon you
• of these charges and this notification.
Very truly yours,
NORMAL; E. KLIPP
Supervisor
DIR. TERRY. 1 the m
think that embers of the Board
haven' t seen the charges except these copies that I
have Just presented to them -now. I don't know as it is
necessary to have the charges read for the purpose of
considering the matter of an application for an adjournment.
I think that maybe if you want to hear Mr . Smith on that
and perhaps have some discussion., perhaps Mr . Tipp would.
like to have something to say in regard to the adjournment .
MR. CLARK: We will hear Mr. Smith on his application
for an adjournment.
• PITS,. SMITH: Mr. Chairman and Membevs of the Town
Board: on behalf' of Mrs . Bowden I would like to apply
for an adjournment of this matter for ten days or two
weeks during which time it could be further considered
by our firm. At the outset I should say that Mrs . Bowden,
through your attorneys, challenges the right of the Town
Board to render the charges at all and we challenge it
on two tt,;rounCi.c3a The, f1rot is that your Board does not
have author ity to discipline her, an6 that -Irs D?*_!ma.r-_JlyJ-
or to a Zzlea"6 exI-Gent, a q-L'Iestlon 0' lawi . The, zel,'-�ond is
unfortunately you have heard this matter before., -and the
record indicates that you have already made up your mind
Irvith resp pp"'4 to her and there I lore you ,are dijsquallliied. as
a. whole, Board. And even more so is Mr.- Klipp disquali.-P-Led.
from acting except as a withess or a prose, ut-W. and 1 ani
Inc?tried to thin!: that with all. respect to yo-et, air ,
U
O.ndicating Judge, Clark) that you have dis' qualified yourself
in the form and ,manner which tlie resolutions of February
16 and March 9. have been made., and., shown v-Pon your recordso
In awaking this application I %,:.-int to say to you that
I personally., as an attorney.., regret. to see irlatters of
t hio k'ind. IL,id. bare and to t;-.ikce posit-Ions that rr'L it U
dif.-[icult for us to proceed in the future .
Mrs. Dowden, I thj.nlec; 13p to this time., has apolo�;izpjd
to the Supervisor for her very poor e.hoice of '-cords., at
one ti-me when she was in his office. And 1, on her beha.1f.,
do the sai,,ie again. I hope 'Ohat' an adjournment of two -vieel,
might ensue I rom this time on and .that the matter may be
considered informally in between. times so that it, can be
dis-oosed, of without making a great deal of trouble over it.
VIe, all have our faults and we all have our virtues and I
never knew Mrs . Bowden before, but it seeras to me that she
has a great inany virtues, and like I said befoxre, 'a great
7
many of us., she has Faults . I hope this woman with a
great deal of training in this work in your To;,ni may
be saved for you,, but I am afraid you have already
taken a position as ' a Board, and disqualified yourselves.,
and I must ask for an adjournment of two weeks .
MR. TERRY: I think for the purpose of the record
that it should be stated that the Board has not made a
determination, but is having this hearing for the purpose
of comply ink; '141th'-t the provisions of Section 22 Of the Civil
Service: Law. That the law itself' does not require the
Board to have "a hearing., but that the Board is going a
.step beyond the requ!:�6m6hts_' ; of 'the Civil Service Law
in providing for this heaving, and 'giving Mrs . Bowden
in
an opportunity to comeAand refute the charges, or to
show any extenuating or mitigating circumstances-, if
there are some, and l think that while we all regret
the choice of language, I think that the charges go
beyond the matter of unwise use of words, and also I
think that I shall have to take' issue with Per. Smith
as far as the Dower of the Board is concerned'. ' I believe
that the To-vj-n records will show that Mrs . Bowden V'ras
employed not by the Board' of Assessors., or not by any
are individual, but by the Town Board itself, and that
she is an employee of the Town and that' it is. ,vjithin
the discret'ibn' of the - Town Board to hear these charges .
8
In other words, there is no other body or -individual
with authority to hear these charges, , un.less it be some
higher authority. And in the First instance they must
by
be heardnthe Town Board. The Tows Board must make some
determination, which it has not made yet. Now, 'in
this case all you will have to do is to decide whether
you will grant an adjournment of the matter, or whether
you will proceed to hear the charges at this time,
Noes Mr.. Klipp want to make any statement?
MR. KLIPP: I have no objection to an adjournment
as long as, it is for some reasonable cause 'or some
reasonable amount of 'time .. As I understand the Civil
Service Law, all of this must take place within a time
of thirty 'days .' is that correct?
MR. TERlr? ; Well, the suspension cannot exceed
thirty days . In other words, , T....think it could' not, be
fair to e�'Gher file 'I't�i/vTfl Boa rd o:,.'' Mrs • Bowden if ' some
de ,ermination'weren' t made within thirty' days . ':fin.
fact,:i.t 'should be really made within twenty days so
that she would have an opportunity to appeal during
the time of her suspension. Fty feeling, as far as the
adjournment is concerned,, I am going to xiecommiend that
an adjournment be ;ranted, but i think that if you are
going to have an adjoux:-nm'ent merely to raise the issue
9
that the Town ,Board is not going to be -in a position to
make a determination in this matter as it has not yet
done so. 1 -think we should stipulate that in the first
• instance the Board should hear what the allegations are
or what. is set forth in the charges., and. that certainly
the matter should be discussed by the Board.. Arid I
take issue with Mr. .,Smith 'as far as his disputing the
authority of the Town Board in the first instance to
' 'r' ik
make any determination, and if it is . n, othe Tords.,.
I am perfectly willing to consent to an adjournment
with the idea that he will either have mere time to obtain
additional witnesses or either to show some extenuating
circumstances or some mitigating factors' that we are not
now awarle.,qlf,or disprove any of the charges ., or in other
words, to ask for an adjournment, and -then to state that
the Board. has no jurisdiction in the matter. I would
ask him ''co stipulate -that when the hearing does proceed
it would proceed before the Board,
TAP 'SMITH: Well., Mr . Terry, I think you have known
Sze long enough, I decline to so stipulate. - I do .not
think. that -1 can urge an adjournment on ihe ground that
I will be better prepci-red in two weeks to meet the issue .
I do not make the application for an adjournment on that
g r ou n. I make d. the application on the grbund, in two
respects; the first is that 1 hope that between now and
the end of the time, there may be some way of disposing
to
of this matter -without hearing the whole thing. And I
also ask for the adjournment on the ground that 1 do
challenge the right of the Board to act, and 1 do challenge
the two gentlemen the right to sit . I don' t want to be
mealy-mouthed about it at all . I decline to stipulate and
1: ask sor::the adjournment solely on those two grounds '.
MR. CLARK: Well, as members of the Town Board I
� think that we should have an executive meeting to see
whether we runt to grant the adjournment or not.
(The Board lest the room and went into :executive
Session. )
(The Board returned.. )
MR. CLARK: The application for an adjournment is
denied. The Board will proceed to hear the matter .
MR. SMITH: May I speak just for a moment, Mr.
Chairman. s regret very much that you have done this.,
but inasmuch as you have made a record of it, I now
must stay you in your proceeding. Mr. Town Attorney, here
is a Notice to Show Cause; and Mr. Supervisor, here is
a Notice to Show Cause; staying you from proceeding.
MR. TERRY: I think some thi nEp vie can determine right
here now as far as the petition and determining. The Order
which has been served upon us prohibits the entire Board
from proceeding with the platter, and we will have to appear
at Mineola on April 5th, Monday mornix ig. is there any time
foxi that?
MR. 'SMITH: The open'ing of the Court. '
MR. TERRY: So - that I think no further proceeding, can
b e taken at this time 1— think that the Board might very
well go intosoine of, these arguments in the petition,,
particular-Ly the Board of Assessor.s, as long as they are her-
MR.. SMITH: Mr. 'Terry., certainly I don' t want anyone
else disqualif"ied here in this matter. 1 ask ,you, please,
don' t take this up with the Board of Assessors .
MR. TERRY: Well, I think no further proceedings
can be heard at this time .
MR. CLARKz 'We will adjourn the hearing until the
. disposition of the Order.
Vi
A 40
1.3
A communication was received from the Board of Trustees
of the East I''iarion Cemetery .Association in regard to dam-
age done to monuments by local young folks . They especially
would like to commend the police work of Officer Howard
in handling the case. Said communication to be filed with
the Police Department and posted on the bulletin board.
M6ved7by Justice Clark; seconded by Justice Albertson:
RESOLVED: That Otto L. Anrig , Chief of Police be and hereby
is authorized to purchase a new radio to replace the one
in Police Car #82.
Vote of To?,!n Board: Ayes-Supervisor K1ipp; Justices Tuthill,
Albertson, Clark end Demarest.
Moved by Justice .Albertson; seconded by Justice Demarest:
RESOLVED: That in connection with the proceedings concern-
ing the changes against I•Irs . Eloise Bowden, Rensselaer G.
Terry, Town Attorney for the Town of Southold, be and he
hereby is authorized to employ such legal assistance and
incurr such expenses as he may deem necessary.
Vote of Town Board: Ayes-Supervisor Klipp; Justices Tuthill,
Albertson, Clark and Demarest.
R
The hearing on the matter relative to Eloise Bowden was
duly opened at 2 o 'clock P.M. and the record of the pro-
ceedings of this hearing is attached to the minutes of this
meeting.
Adjournment was at 5:30 P.M.
Ralph P. Booth
Town Clerk
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