Join us for a Beach Party at Dudley’s to Support the
Re-Election Committee for our County Legislator:

Minority Leader

Jim Maisano

When: Thursday, June 7, 2012
Where: Dudley’s Parkview Restaurant,
94 Hudson Park Road, New Rochelle
Time: 6:30 – 9 PM

Contribution:

Sponsorship: Platinum $250 or Gold $150
Tickets: $45 person -- $80 couple
Seniors: $35 person -- $60 couple
**** Children 12 & under are free! ****

-- Dinner includes burgers, ribs, wings, hot dogs and all the trimmings, along with beer, wine and soda, and coffee and cake for dessert.
-- Terrific event on LI Sound -- casual beach attire -- music -- rain or shine.
-- This is the most “fun fundraiser” in Westchester politics!
-- If you have any questions, call Anna Lisa at (914) 355-9205.­
-- Please RSVP by June 4 by mailing the bottom of this invitation with your contribution to:

Friends of Jim Maisano
93 Wilson Drive
New Rochelle, New York 10801

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A Minnesota attorney contact from Google+ has a very nice summary on his blog about the issues a defendant faces when accused of illegally downloading a movie, video or song from the internet. Please check out the blog of Aaron D. Hall, Esq.:

http://minnesotaattorney.com/copyright-infringement-tips-for-illegal-mov...

Mr. Hall provides a helpful summary on how to evaluate one of these copyright infringement lawsuits, which are usually brought by a big company against a regular person, without the financial resources to battle a team of corporate attorneys.

He makes a good recommendation to communicate directly to the plaintiff’s attorney upon being sued to see if you can work out a settlement, but speak with an attorney before making such a communication to avoid saying something that could hurt you later in the litigation.

http://jimmaisano.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/mark-your-calendar-may-20-12-...

Please visit Sheila Marcotte and I on Sunday, May 20, from Noon to 2pm, for our community outreach event at the Beechmont in New Rochelle. We look forward to chatting about any and all issues with our friends and constituents.

Thanks,

Jim

Jim Maisano is the Minority Leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. He represents District 11 covering New Rochelle and Pelham. You can follow Jim on Facebook, Twitter or on his Blog. You can contact Jim at 914-995-2826 or CtyLegJimMaisano@gmail.com

I am dedicating this post to my dog Marlee, because I would bring the same action here in New York if someone caused her death. I am referring to a National Law Journal article that discusses a Colorado case that makes it clear that dogs are more than just property.

In this Denver case, a dog owner sued a house cleaning company, which let her dog, Ruthie, get away and be hit by a car, despite the owner giving specific instructions to not let the dog outside except for the backyard. She sued for negligence and emotional distress and was awarded $65,000. I note these heartless workers merely brought Ruthie inside after she was hit and did not bring her to a vet or even notify the owner the dog was injured. This evidence of negligence was very helpful to plaintiff’s case.

Over the past few months, I have been engaged in interesting and diverse legal matters:

1) helped a family that could not locate a grandmother’s will – by winning a motion – so they could move forward with a probate action in Surrogate Court;

2) settled a significant collection action for a business client that was owed money;

3) drafted several wills, health care proxies, living wills and powers of attorney;

4) worked on several real estate closings;

5) helped a mother with a name change for her daughter;

6) set up a limited liability company with a “doing business as” name, and then drafted an assignment and assumption agreement for this LLC to take over a lease; and

7) helped a landlord evict tenants that had stopped paying rent.

Do you need any legal assistance? If yes, just give me a call or send me an email.

Since the beginning of this legislative term, the Democrats on the Board of Legislators (BOL) and the County Executive (CE) have been at odds over a law that was passed by the BOL last year to reform the Board of Acquisition and Contract (A&C Board). The law was vetoed by the County Executive, and his veto was then overridden by the Democrats on the BOL. The Republican legislators voted to sustain the veto believing that the law required a referendum vote by the residents of Westchester County and the mandatory referendum was not contained in the law. The CE‘s position was that the law was null and void because it was not subjected to the mandatory referendum, and he offers an opinion from the County Attorney to support this position.

It is the position of the Republican County Legislators that our County Charter dictates that any law that changes the powers of any elected official is subject to a mandatory referendum by Westchester County voters and that this A&C Board law does clearly alter the powers of the CE. Therefore, this change to our County Charter requires the approval of the voters through a referendum vote this upcoming Election Day.

An important legal decision relating to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (“NYFOIL”) was released this past week in Westchester, which should place local governments on notice that they cannot pass local laws restricting the availability of documents and information to the public beyond the clear language of NYFOIL, even if the local government does it in the interest of protecting confidentiality.

This decision in the New York State Supreme Court, Westchester County by the Hon. James W. Hubert was filed and entered on March 20, 2012 in the case captioned The Journal News v. City of White Plains.

This litigation deals with an attempt by the newspaper The Journal News to acquire documents from the City of White Plains relating to the ethics investigation of former Mayor Adam Bradley.

PRESS RELEASE

The Republican caucus of the Westchester Board of Legislators was pleased but not surprised to see the ruling of the U.S. Magistrate Judge affirming the actions of County Executive Astorino in his efforts to satisfy the terms of the 2009 housing settlement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Republicans were troubled, but again, not surprised to see the predictably partisan response to the ruling from Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). In media interviews yesterday, Jenkins claimed that the ruling from U.S. Magistrate Gabriel Gorenstein was not a victory for the county. Jenkins even refused to support the County Executive in his insistence that HUD release the seven million dollars of funding that they have been withholding because of their objections to the County Executive’s implementation of the housing plan.

Everyone had fun at the 53rd annual WVOX Radio St. Patrick’s Day Party at Dudleys in New Rochelle on 3/16/12 and check out my blog to view some photos:

www.JimMaisano.wordpress.com

Mr. O’Shaughnessy hosts a live radio show from this event every year. I am a big fan of my hometown radio station and am thankful to be part of the team on my weekly radio show every Tuesday morning at 10am.

Jim Maisano is the Minority Leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. He represents District 11 covering New Rochelle and Pelham. You can follow Jim on Facebook, Twitter or on his web site.

Tonight a group of veterans and residents will be attending the New Rochelle City Council meeting to speak about the Armory issue. I have to be in Albany tonight and tomorrow, but just emailed the letter below to the Mayor and City Council to lend my voice to the issue of saving the Armory:

County Legislator
Jim Maisano
93 Wilson Drive
New Rochelle, New York 10801
(914) 636-1621
E-Mail: CtyLegJimMaisano@gmail.com

March 13, 2012

Dear New Rochelle Mayor & City Council: