Unanimous Vote by NYS Appeals Court Judges Denies Claim by 12 Yonkers Residents Represented by Sussman
By Dan Murphy
On June 23, a NYS Appeals Court ruled that a lawsuit filed by 12 Yonkers residents claiming that the vote by the Yonkers City Council last year was illegal was without merit. In a unanimous decision, the Appeals Cour Judges found that the Council and Mayor Spano did not violate the Yonkers Charter and did not commit an ethics offense simply by voting for a signing the term limits extension, which amended the permissible terms of office for the Mayor and City Council from three, four-year terms to four, four-year terms.
Arguments were filed with the court by attorney Michael Sussman, on behalf of 12 Yonkers residents; ANNE MARIE McARDLE, CAROLYN SOLIERI, MICHAEL REPRESA, CHRISTINE ANITA PETERS, ERIC ADRE JOHNSON, FRANKE. COLEMAN JR, GEORGE McANANAMA, JOAN GRONOWSKI, JOSEPH PINION III, KISHA SKIPPER, MARK PAROLISl and RONALD MATTEN.
The law firm of Harris Beach filed arguments on behalf of the City, Mayor Spano, and all of the members City Council. In Nov. 2022, the Council vote was 4-3 to extend term limits, with Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy, Majority Leader Tasha Diaz, Minority Leader Mike Breen and Councilman John Rubbo voting yes.
In April of 2023, State Supreme Court Judge George Fufidio ruled that the vote by the council was lawful, writing, “there were no ethical violations committed by the Yonkers City Council by increasing their own and the Mayor’s term limits,” and “this Court does not find that the increase in term limits for the City of Yonkers Mayor and the Yonkers City Councilmembers violates the Yonkers City Charter.”
Judge Fufidio added in his decision, “The Court agrees with the Respondents that this case is, factually and legally, almost identical to the Molinari case (Molinari v Bloomberg) in which the Federal Eastern District and Second Circuit courts found that the increase in term limit for the New York City Mayor, City Councilmembers and other city officials was lawful. “
“Simply put, the term limit increase and the concomitant salary is not the kind of “financial benefit” contemplated by such rules. First, it is a benefit which is not guaranteed to Mayor or any of the Councilmembers. Each still needs to win their seat in a general election, which leads to the second point, that is the seat, salary and term limited office is potentially available to anyone who is eligible to run for office in the City of Yonkers.
The other argument made by Sussman and the 12 residents was that any change to the term limits law required a referendum vote. Fufidio wrote, “New York State decisional law has held that a change to the length of term limits that does not change the length of a term of office does not need to be enacted by a referendum.”
The loss by Sussman, a noteworthy attorney best known for his role in the Yonkers Desegregation cases in the 1980’s (and portrayed in the film Show Me A Hero), does not go unnoticed. The Appeals Court decision also leaves us where this reporter has stood on the matter from the beginning.
A majority on the City Council voted to amend term limits last year. And, the final determination of who will serve as the next Yonkers Mayor is still in the hands of the voters this year.
