BishopAccountability.org
	Troy Still Faces Lawsuit over Hiring Attorney to Continue Action Involving Appointment of Ex-Judge Tom Spargo, Who Quit Job in July By Tim O'Brien Albany Times Union September 26, 2006 http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=520202& category=RENSSELAER&BCCode=&newsdate=9/27/2006 Troy -- Tom Spargo may no longer be an employee of city government, but he is still in the sights of attorney John Aretakis. Spargo, a former Supreme Court justice forced from the bench in March, was hired by the city in April to a $30,000 a year, part-time job as a deputy corporation counsel. Aretakis responded to the news by filing a notice of claim against the city in May, threatening to sue and claiming the hiring was illegal because Spargo lived in East Berne, outside the city, and was unfit for the job. In July, Spargo -- a lawyer specializing in election law -- resigned from the city's payroll. City spokesman Jeff Buell said Spargo still works for the city as a consulting attorney, paid $100 an hour. Since July, he has worked for the city for a total of 23 hours, Buell said. "We're down two spots in the corporation counsel's office we haven't filled," Buell said. One of those slots was held by Henry Bauer, another judge forced to resign and hired by the city. Bauer stepped down from the city's employment because he was elected City Council president. Aretakis informed the city Friday in a letter that the change in Spargo's status won't affect the lawsuit brought by his client, Nicholas Barbera. The city failed to respond to the notice of claim, Aretakis said. "Just so this matter is entirely clear, my client and I are not dropping the notice of claim," Aretakis wrote to Mayor Harry Tutunjian. When Spargo was on the bench, he issued a preliminary injunction against Aretakis and demonstrators concerned about priest abuse of children, requiring them to stay at least 300 feet from Holy Cross parish in Albany during services and on school days. In his ruling, Spargo called Aretakis' conduct "aggressive and hostile" and "unsettling to decent people." Aretakis' client in that case, Mark Lyman, co-chairman of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, unsuccessfully tried to have Spargo removed from the case, arguing he was biased. The state Commission on Judicial Conduct decided March 31 that Spargo should be removed for pressuring lawyers to contribute $10,000 each in 2003 toward his defense fund. He also was criticized for handing out $2,000 in coupons for gas and coffee and buying drinks for voters in his campaign for Berne town justice in 1999. O'Brien can be reached at 454-5096 or by e-mail at tobrien@timesunion.com.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.