Motions passing 3-2 by the mayor and the village board are getting to be a habit. On April 30, Mayor Jack M. Martins and trustees Larry Werther and Stephen Franzini passed a budget by a 3-2 margin with trustees Lou Santosus and Linda Fairgrieve. Last Wednesday, there were more 3-2 votes, this time for the appointments having to do with the village's legal work.

The board voted 3-2 in favor of Kevin Walsh as prosecuting attorney, Phyllis Ann Kalenka, John Gibbons and Benjamin Truncale as deputy prosecuting attorneys, the frim of Spellman, Walsh, Rice, Schure and Markus as special retain counsel for the village and the firm to represent the village as special retain counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation Grant Funding.

Most notable was the appointment of John Spellman as village attorney. The vote passed by a 3-2 margin, which is surprising considering Mr. Spellman has been the village attorney for 18 years.

Again, trustees Santosus and Fairgrieve voted against the motion. During recent budget discussions, both Fairgrieve and Santosus favored studying the feasibility of having an in-house attorney in order to save costs.

Mayor Martins said he would look into conducting such a study but such an endeavor would take at least a year. Therefore, the mayor was in favor of appointing Mr. Spellman for another year.

Even with a study, it is possible it will be discovered that hiring an in-house attorney wouldn't save the village money. It is extremely unlikely the village could hire an attorney that could handle the variety of cases Mr. Spellman's firm currently handles. The village may find itself farming out a lot of cases to outside firms.

Although Mayor Martins agreed to conduct a study into whether it would be cost effective to have an in-house attorney, the mayor seems to have full confidence in Mr. Spellman, calling him perhaps the top municipal attorney on Long Island.

Trustees Fairgrieve and Santosus also never questioned the quality of Mr. Spellman's work. The two trustees believe, however, that the village has to look to cut costs. During recent budget discussions, Santosus pointed out that the 1099 tax form for income to Mr. Spellman's law firm from the Village of Mineola in 2002 was $497,000.

"You have five people from his firm on the payroll," said Santosus in reference to the firm Spellman, Walsh, Rice, Schure and Markus. "I think it's a little absurd right now."

Trustee Santosus acknowledged that Mr. Spellman's fees haven't gone up recently, but said that the village must look to cut expenses in these days of double digit tax increases.

Trustee Fairgrieve was in favor of appointing Mr. Spellman as the attorney for an interim period while the village looks into whether it is feasible to hire an in-house attorney. Trustee Fairgrieve did not want to commit to a year with Spellman, Walsh, Rice, Schure and Markus.

Fairgrieve also would like to be more informed when it comes to legal work done for the village. She suggested having a list of cases with case statuses, a legal agenda similar to the clerk's agenda and legal budget letters so board members know what the legal fees are going toward.

Mr. Spellman said his legal fees haven't increased in eight years. A check of the law firm's 1099 incomes in recent years shows that there hasn't been a drastic change in the fees the village has paid out to the law firm. In 2001, the 1099 income form shows that the firm made $374,407.62 in 2001 from the Village of Mineola. It was $475,374.15 in 2000 and $432,000 in 1999.

If the legal fees have been fairly consistent in recent years, why are trustees Santosus and Fairgrieve challenging them now when both have been on the board in the last three years?

Mayor Martins believes the trustees' decision not to vote to appoint Mr. Spellman as village attorney was politically motivated and accused the two trustees of political posturing.

The mayor believes the two trustees are putting their own political agendas before the village and making decisions such as not voting to appoint an attorney that has been representing the village for 18 years that could hurt the village.