County Government

Is in Crisis

By M. D. Drysdale

Orange County government is in crisis.

That much was clear Tuesday night after a tumultuous budget hearing that produced two competing budgets, disclosed deep hostility between factions in the courthouse, and heard two calls for the resignation of Side Judge Prudence Pease.

The hearing took place under the shadow of a criminal complaint, alleging assault and unlawful restraint, filed Dec. 20 by Judge Pease against County Clerk Emily Newman and administrative assistant Lisa Eastman. The complaint is being investigated by the State Police (see separate story).

The meeting ended with a summary by Margaret Richardson of Orange Center, who has long acquaintance with county government.

"I am totally disappointed," she said. "I have lost faith in the Orange County Court.

"I am just thankful that there are not any young people her tonight to see what happens in Orange County Court."

The hearing was supposed to allow input on the final proposal for a county budget, to be paid for by the 14 towns in the county. Instead, the more than 60 people from throughout the county who attended were presented with two budgets, one each from Judge Pease and from the other side judge, Maurice "Mo" Brown.

Judge Pease said that this came as a surprise to her, because she thought she and Brown had reached agreement.

The two side judges are the administrators of the county, with responsibility for budget preparation, personnel decisions, and other management chores. No higher authority is in place to review the budget prepared by the side judges, or to resolve disputes that may arise between them.

The budget differences between Pease and Brown, both said, are relatively minor. Total expenditures for the county (not counting the sheriff's office) were $322.576 in the budget submitted by Judge Pease and $316,857 in Judge Brown's budget. Both of them were slight reductions from a $333,553 budget that was roundly criticized in an earlier hearing Nov. 29.

Dysfunctional

More important, Tuesday night's hearing revealed a dysfunctional environment in which various employees, especially Clerk Newman and Judge Pease, will not speak to each other, while the two side judges find communication difficult.

"We have a very contentious atmosphere in the offices, and it's very difficult to get anything done," explained Judge Brown early in the meeting.

Tuesday evening's meeting itself was an example of the dysfunction. It was not chaired by any one person, leading to many side discussions and arguments, once requiring Sheriff Bill Bohnyak to step in and shush the crowd. The role of those who attended was not clear, since the budget decisions are solely in the hands of the two side judges, who don't agree.

"I am disconcerted by this whole process," one person said. "All we can do is sit around and complain. I'm not sure why we're all here."

Most of the complaints, as in the Nov. 29 budget hearing, concerned the budget items that grant generous health benefits to the side judges, as well as charges that Judge Pease is incapable of working with others.

"We can't seem to work together very well," Judge Brown said at one point. A meeting to reconcile his proposed budget with Judge Pease's budget "lasted less than five minutes," he said. "It got very contentious right away."

The remaining disagreements, he said, include the section on health and retirement benefits for the side judges, as well as a $6000 item for training.

The training in question is judicial training, which should be paid for by the state, not the county, he said.

Pease repeated that she thought the questions about benefits had been settled previously, with advice from the county attorney, Scott Cameron.

Pease was also challenged about her disagreements with a former side judge, Russ Hotchkiss. These got so bad that a mediator had to be hired, at an expense of $1000 to the county, to smooth relations between them.

Pease responded that the mediator was called in to work out an agreement on just one budget issue. In general, she and Judge Hotchkiss were able to arrive at a budget proposal each year, she pointed out.

Calls for Resignation

Former State Rep. Sylvia Kennedy, a longtime Chelsea resident, opined that "The whole issue is the contention."

"I am tremendously disappointed with you as a side judge. Prudence," Kennedy said. "I wish you would resign."

Pease did not respond. The second call for her resignation came later from defense attorney and public defender Dan Sedon, who criticized Pease's role in personnel relations.

"A judge must avoid even the appearance of impropriety," Sedon thundered. "This judge has failed this test in every way, shape and form.

"The entire process has been compromised. County government is paralyzed, and she should resign."

Judge Pease did not respond to this statement, either.

Atty. Richard Burstein of Randolph wondered about the future. What will happen if a budget is not arrived at, he asked: "Do criminals go free?"

The two side judges agreed they would try to complete the budget in the next two weeks, and another budget hearing was set for Jan. 22.

Two Randolph Selectmen and Town Manager Peter Butterfield attended the meeting, as did a number of municipal officers from throughout the county. Butterfield said later that his primary concern is the increasing bill received by Randolph for county operations.

The bill (including the Sheriff's Department) went from less than $60,000 two years ago to $71,000 last year and a proposed $91,000 this year, he said.

"Any way you look at it, these are huge increases, after years of relative stability," he said.

Selectmen Jim Hutchinson and Larry Townsend also attended, and Townsend expressed his displeasure at the hearing.

"I'm having trouble with this 'his budget' and 'her budget,' he declared. "It seems like you should be working together for our benefit."

For Bradford Police Chief Gene Martin, the county situation reflected in the meeting was "kind of embarrassing."

"There are obviously some problems in the courthouse," said Martin, who has been a deputy sheriff for 17 years. "This isn't working."

"This is very important to the county, very important to the town of Bradford- but this (meeting) is a total waste of time," he said, receiving a round of applause.