Politics on the Hudson

Rolon William Reed, a former Westchester County judge who was mayor of Dobbs Ferry from 1979 to 1984, died Sunday near his Florida home from pneumonia and related complications, according to a family obituary. He was 80.

Reed, who was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Yale Law School, moved to Dobbs Ferry in 1963, eight years after joining the Manhattan law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He ran for village trustee  in 1974 as a Democrat in what was then a traditionally Republican village. Elected mayor in 1979, his efforts helped to transform Willow Point from a semi-industrial eyesore into a public park.

Reed, who retired as his firm’s partner in 1984, served as mayor until former Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed him to a judgeship that year. He left the bench in 1989 when he and his wife, Diana, moved to the Lake Jem area, outside Mount Dora, Fla.

When he moved to Florida, he once again got involved in local politics, becoming an interim county attorney. He also was public advocate battling overzealous real estate developers, helping local leaders to develop plans that guided growth to cities and kept urban sprawl out of rural areas.

Reed left his last public position to become a “retired country gentleman” at Sweetwater Farm with his dog, cattle, gardens and fishing pond.

Reed is survived by his wife, his three children from his first marriage, Rolon A. Reed, III, Hilary Yeo and Jennifer Simon, and four grandchildren, Jordan Yeo, Samuel Reed, Molly Yeo and Ella Simon, as well as his sister, Marilyn Reed Mellor.

Family members and colleagues described Reed as a charismatic contrarian, who was never afraid to fight for a position others opposed or did not understand.

Photo: Rolon Reed in 1988.

Put this one in the “irony” file.

White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, who declined to be tried by jury on domestic violence charges and was convicted instead at a bench trial, was called for jury duty today on the third floor of the Westchester County Courthouse.

Bradley should be well acquainted with the courthouse by now. He has made numerous appearances there since his arrest a year ago. It was where, after a lengthy trial, he was found guilty of attempted assault and criminal contempt of court, both misdemeanors, and three counts of harassment, a violation. It’s also the same building where his divorce proceedings are being held.

Today, Bradley was among more than two dozen other members of the public who were called for the murder retrial of Selwyn Days, a former Mount Vernon man accused of killing Eastchester millionaire Archie Harris and his home health worker Betty Ramcharan in 1996. The trial is expected to last 4 to 6 weeks.

I’m guessing that Westchester County Judge Barry Warhit, who will preside over the Days trial, isn’t going to let him be on the jury.

A state judge has rejected a request by 15 career prosecutors in the Westchester District Attorney’s Office to stop a sick-pay cash-out cap while their lawsuit against Westchester County officials moves forward.

The prosecutors sued the county in last year after officials capped the amount of sick time they can cash in when leaving their jobs. The attorneys claimed the county violated their constitutional rights and “breached the parties’ employment relationship” by changing the policy retroactively, after they had already earned the time.

State Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Colabella turned down their request for a preliminary injunction, which sought to keep the former status quo.

”(P)laintiffs have failed to demonstrate irreparable injury in the absence of injunctive relief or that the balancing of the equities favor such relief,” he wrote in his decision last week.

Mamaroneck lawyer Leonard Violi, who is representing the 15 prosecutors, said today that his clients do not know if they want to appeal Colabella’s decision. Whether they do or don’t, he said, the lawsuit against the county will proceed.

“The next step is full-blown litigation,” he said. “It will probably be fast tracked. The facts are crystal clear.”

The prosecutors filed suit June 23 in state Supreme Court. The plaintiffs include the top three prosecutors in the District Attorney’s Office: First Deputy District Attorneys James McCarty Jr., Maryanne Luciano and John George, who had threatened to quit over the changes, but did not.

Other prosecutors in the suit, all of whom have more than 20 years in the office, are Steven Bender, Mark Garretto, Fredric Green, Edward Livingston, Patrick Moore, Patricia Murphy, John O’Rourke, Perry Perrone, Robert Prisco, Robert Sauer, Steven Vandervelden and Timothy Ward.

This lawsuit was the latest salvo in a battle between lawmakers and workers in the District Attorney’s Office, after County Executive Rob Astorino pushed for changes to benefits and accumulated time.

Earlier this year, the county executive proposed — and the Board of Legislators in May approved — a cap on sick and vacation payouts and a voluntary buyout incentive worth $1,000 a year up to $30,000. The cap in payouts translates into tens of thousands of dollars for a seasoned prosecutor.

The cap was coupled with another law that required nonunion managers to pay between 10 percent and 20 percent of their health insurance premiums, based on salary. The actions were to address a large budget deficit and control spiraling costs.

Soon after, several top prosecutors threatened to leave after the county required nonunion managers, including prosecutors, to help pay for their health benefits. Four prosecutors and seven support staff members took the buyout in July.

Read more of this story tomorrow in The Journal News and on LoHud.com.

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore has been named to the public safety committee of Governor-Elect Andrew Cuomo’s transition team, which will recruit, review and recommend high-level people for posts in law enforcement, including counterterrorism.

“These appointments will affect the safety and protection of all New Yorkers on a daily basis, and come at a fiscally challenging time with terrorism a constant concern,” DiFiore said in a statement. “I look forward to the challenge and opportunity that lies ahead as the committee gets to work.”

The other committee members are New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Zachary Carter, and Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne, who is the president of the state District Attorney’s Association.

The Public Safety Committee is the second of three committees that Cuomo has announced prior to taking office on January 1.

With all but four voting districts in Westchester reporting results from Tuesday’s election, the race may be over for four state Supreme Court seats in the 9th Judicial District.

The district covers Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties.

Justices Emmett Murphy and Lawrence Ecker were far ahead in the eight-candidate race, with Murphy getting 435,932 votes and Ecker getting 280,794, according to unofficial results Thursday. Murphy, who ran on both Republican and Democratic lines, won his second 14-year term. Ecker, who was appointed to the bench, won his first full term.

The other incumbent, Justice Colleen Duffy, was in third place with 249,495 votes. The last seat will probably go to Rockland County Family Court Judge Linda Christopher, who has 243,128 votes.

The other candidates fell behind with the latest vote counts in Westchester. Westchester County Legislator James Maisano had 235,803 votes; Suffern Village Justice Matthew Byrne had 235,029 votes; and Cortlandt Town Justice Gerald Klein had 178,430 votes. James Burke, who ran solely on an anti-abortion line, was a distant last.

All vote tallies are unofficial.

State Supreme Court judges generally preside over civil cases. They make $136,700 a year.

Fifteen hours after the polls have closed, there seem to be two winners and two toss-ups in the race for state Supreme Court justice in the 9th Judicial District, which covers Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange counties.

Justices Emmett Murphy and Lawrence Ecker were far ahead in the eight-candidate race, with Murphy getting 397,061 votes and Ecker getting 251,179, according to unofficial vote results. Murphy won his second 14-year term while Ecker, who was appointed to the bench, won his first full term.

The other incumbent, Justice Colleen Duffy, held a slight edge over her competitors, with 222,750 votes. But Westchester County, by far the most populated county in the judicial district, has yet to count 25 percent of its ballots, so Duffy still faces heated competiti0n from Rockland County Family Court Judge Linda Christopher with 217,114 votes, Suffern Village Justice Matthew Byrne with 218,893 votes and Westchester County Legislator James Maisano with 217,846 votes. All vote tallies are unofficial.

State Supreme Court judges generally preside over civil cases. They make $136,700 a year.

A Mount Vernon lawyer backed by Republicans to be a Westchester County Court judge this fall secured the Conservative Party line over his Democratic challenger in yesterday’s primary race.

Douglas Martino won the minority line by a nearly 3-1 ratio over Barry Warhit, a Greenburgh lawyer who was appointed to the bench several months ago. The vote was 833 to 303, according to unofficial vote tallies.

They will face off in the Nov. 2 election. Warhit will carry the Independence and Working Families party lines as well as the Democratic line.

County Court judges preside over felony criminal cases.

In the other countywide judicial race, eight candidates are vying for four open seats on the bench in Family Court, which handles child custody, visitation and neglect cases as well as juvenile delinquency issues.

Incumbents David Klein of Mamaroneck and Nilda Morales Horowitz of White Plains are running for a second term. Both are endorsed by the Democratic and Working Families parties.

The other Democratic candidates for Family Court are Family Court attorney referee Michelle Schauer of Ossining and Hal Greenwald, a Yonkers lawyer who specializes in Family Court cases. They will appear on the Working Families party line as well.

Republicans endorsed Patricia O’Callahan, a former deputy county attorney and Bill Edwards, an acting Family Court judge in White Plains. Former Yonkers City Court Judge Edward P. Borrelli and candidate Mary Clark replaced Sharon Bell Adamo of Pound Ridge and Guy T. Parisi of Rye as Republican candidates.

Edwards and Clark will appear on the Independence line, while Greenwald and Borrelli will appear on the Conservative line. Horowitz and O’Callahan will carry both the Conservative and Independence lines.

Both Democrats and Republicans endorsed incumbent Surrogate Court Judge Anthony Scarpino for another term. Surrogate Court judges handle wills and estates and decide disputed claims among family members.

Judges for County, Family and Surrogate courts serve 10-year terms and receive $136,700 a year.

Staten island District Attorney Dan Donovan, who is seeking the GOP nod for New York Attorney General, paid a visit to White Plains this morning to pick up an endorsement from former Gov. George Pataki in front of the Westchester County Courthouse.

“I can tell ya,” Pataki said, “that Dan Donovan as state attorney general is not going to tolerate legislative corruption. He’s not going to tolerate politicians who think they’re above the law.”

Donovan welcomed the endorsement of Pataki, the former Peekskill mayor who served 12 years as governor, saying that both he and Pataki believe New Yorkers deserve better government, one that is “free from the choke hold of special interests.”

“The last four years have been a disaster,” he said. “It’s time for a change.”

Onondaga County Comptroller Robert Antonacci said Monday that he also plans to run for attorney general on the Republican line.

Both men are running in a race that is expected to be vacated at year’s end by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, who is expected to announce he is running for governor.

On the Democratic side, at least five candidates are running for Cuomo’s seat: Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice; former state Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo; lawyer Sean Coffey; Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh; and Sen. Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan. The parties will nominate their candidates for statewide offices in late May and early June.

Photo: Pataki, at podium, with Donovan

UPDATED: District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s response below.

Westchester Republican District Attorney candidate Dan Schorr today announced his plan to tackle gang violence in the county, especially in Yonkers and Mount Vernon, where murders and gun violence are high.

If he unseats incumbent Democratic District Attorney Janet DiFiore, he said, he would:
• Assign experienced prosecutors to high-crime jurisdictions for longer periods of time.
• Establish a Zero Tolerance Policy for gang-related and/or violent offenses involving handguns. If a criminal is convicted of a violent gun crime, (s)he would go to state prison, not the county jail. Repeat violent offenders would get consecutive, not concurrent sentences.
• Assign the same prosecutor or team of prosecutors from beginning to end, instead of changing at different stages of the case, so help them understand the complexities of a case and complicated nature of gangs.
• Hold off on giving plea deals until notifying the arresting officer(s).
• Send prosecutors and criminal investigators into local schools to teach a comprehensive anti-gang program to increase gang awareness and point out the legal punishments for gang offenses.
• Combat the “anti-snitch” attitude on the street, in part by reinvigorating the Crimestoppers program and developing a stronger witness protection program.
• Work with the corrections and probation officers to identify and monitor known gang members, as well as those at high risk of joining a gang.
• Hold convicted gang members responsible for violating probation curfews, drug use, and other criminal activity.
• Develop standard questions for police to ask anyone they arrested to determine if the arrestee is part of a gang or has information about gang activity.
• Improve ties with federal law enforcement agencies that have the resources and intelligence to help investigate gang activity in Westchester.

“This plan to reduce gang violence is a result of my experience prosecuting violent crime in New York City and Westchester, and from talking with local police, community, and religious leaders to create a realistic and achievable approach to making our streets safer from gangs,” Schorr said. “We can’t bury our heads in the sand from this growing problem, and I’m confident that a multi-pronged solution such as the one I’ve proposed will result in a real reduction of dangerous gang activity in our county.”

And here is what DiFiore thinks of Schorr’s plan:

“Dan Schorr displays a complete lack of understanding of how gang-related violent crime is currently handled by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and, indeed, how cases are investigated by the police and prosecuted by my office. Just as he fails to grasp the facts of cases he continually comments on in this race, his so-called plan demonstrates he has no idea what has been going on in the law enforcement community over the last four years.”