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Politics & Government

Somers Justice Named Mamaroneck Village Attorney

A 3-2 confirmation vote gives Michael McDermott an early taste of politics on the gilded waterfront.

Michael J. McDermott, a Somers town justice with a private law practice, has been appointed Mamaroneck’s part-time village attorney.

He succeeds Steven Silverberg, who resigned the post on April 1 after his firm, Silverberg Zalantis LLP of Tarrytown, had been removed in a political dispute from its more lucrative advisory role to the village’s land-use boards.

Not surprisingly, McDermott begins his tenure with a 3-2 confirmation vote that appeared dangerously close Monday to a 2-3 rejection.

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The village attorney is a mayoral appointment, subject to confirmation by the board of trustees. The board can reject a nominee but it cannot name an alternative candidate.

Mayor Norman S. Rosenblum, the Republican-Independence executive of a board on which Democratic trustees hold a 3-2 majority, said 10 candidates—law firms or individuals—had been interviewed and that, after narrowing the field to two, he had settled on McDermott only Monday afternoon. He attributed the selection, in part, to an off-the-cuff remark McDermott made after his interview about organization and record-keeping.

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In the roll-call vote that followed, however, some of the other board members were less enthused. Democratic Trustees Sid Albert and John Hofstetter cast immediate “no” votes, with Hofstetter saying, “This is not the candidate I thought we’d agreed on.” 

Democratic Trustee Toni Pergola Ryan, potentially McDermott’s third strike, was briefly silent before saying he, “would not have been my first choice, but I will vote yes.” Nevertheless, she voted to confirm, virtually assuring McDermott’s appointment. Rosenblum and Republican Trustee Lou Santoro voted “yes.”

McDermott, who was not present for the board’s vote, has been a town justice in Somers since 2000. A 1984 graduate of the University of Dayton law school, he was admitted to the New York bar in 1985. McDermott has mixed private practice with municipal appointments, although this will be his first time heading a government office. He and his wife, Fausta, maintain a practice in Somers and New York City.  

After Monday’s vote, Rosenblum expressed thanks to Pergola-Ryan for breaking ranks with her Democratic allies and acting to “de-politicize” the confirmation process. “I would like to thank you as a village resident more than as a trustee,” he said.

The village attorney’s job in Mamaroneck has been a political see-saw since at least 2009, the office changing hands with each switch of control on the board of trustees. Rosenblum, who two years ago was the newly elected Republican-Independence mayor, ousted a full-time Democratic appointee. Leading a 3-2 board majority, he replaced her with a part-time attorney, the wife of a GOP leader.

Rosenblum’s appointee, Christie Derrico, successfully ran last year for election as village justice, leading to Silverberg’s interim appointment. 

Democrats, however, were again ascendant, claiming a 3-2 majority in the same election and making it clear from the outset that the land-use boards—planning, zoning and Harbor and Coastal Zone Management Commission (HCZMC)—would be getting their legal advice from new faces.

On April 11, the Democratic majority voted to install Lester D. Steinman as planning board counsel and Anna L. Georgiou as counsel with the zoning board of appeals and HCZMC. Both are lawyers with Wormser, Kiely, Galef & Jacobs LLP in Elmsford.

Under an agreement filed by the board Monday, Steinman and Georgiou will bill the village at $410 and $260 per hour, respectively, after their first two hours of work on an application. The firm will charge a “discounted rate” of $245 per hour for the first two hours to limit the expense for less-complex applications. While the village will pay Wormser, Kiely’s legal bills directly, it is expected to pass these charges on to applicants as board fees.

Editor's Note:  The last three paragraphs of this article were added to a previous version.

 

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