GOSHEN – The Orange County Legislature approved over $92,000 for legal and special master fees in its redistricting dispute.
Lawmakers were supposed to draw new district lines for this fall’s elections and when they adopted the same lines as they previously had, a local resident took them to federal court. The judge appointed a special master to draw new lines and the county got the legal bill.
Legislature Chairman Michael Pillmeier was not happy with the bill, but he acknowledged it had to be paid.
“All this legislature had to do is to vote on a map,” he said after the meeting Thursday. “There is no map that is ever going to be produced that is going to be perfect; that is impossible, but at least, if we had passed a map, and it was challenged, fine. Let it be challenged. At least if you went to court, you had something to talk to. We went to federal court and said nothing; we had nothing to stand on.”
The vote to pay the $92,371.08 bill was 15 to 6.