Town of Beekmantown officials voted this summer to eliminate one of two judge positions. During the latest town council meeting where they planned to explain why the decision was made, some questioned the data and reasoning that led to the decision.
Beekmantown is a rural area with about 5,500 residents about 10 miles north of Plattsburgh. In June the town council unanimously passed a resolution to eliminate one of the two town justice positions.
Town Clerk Randy Lozier explained that discussions as to whether the town actually needs two justices began in 2022.
“The number of cases from 2018 to 2023 went from 686 to 263,” reported Lozier. “We had two justices that each submitted their resignation. After that a permissive referendum had the appropriate number of signatures and it will be on the ballot for all residents come November this year.”
The citizen’s petition on the November ballot asks town residents if the second justice position should be reinstated.
Resident Terry Sears criticized the council for making a unilateral decision that necessitated residents to petition to bring the question before voters.
“Why don’t you leave it up to the town folks, we wouldn’t have had to go through this referendum. If you had left it up to the town folks to vote there wouldn’t have been all this. I bet you Judge Dupree would still be here and I think Russ would still be here,” Sears said. “That’s a decision you five shouldn’t have made and I used to be up there and I wouldn’t have even gone for that. I don’t think it’s right. That should be a town decision, not the five people up there’s decision because it’s an elected position.”
Former town justice D. Russell Lawliss resigned at the end of June following the Town Council’s decision. He was at this week’s meeting.
“The position of town judge is a service to the people of the town and when you go down to one that service diminishes. Anyway, it should not have been done that way and we should have been more involved in it,” Lawliss said. “As you remember it was rumor that came to the two judges that you were going to eliminate one of the positions or you were thinking about eliminating. You know it wasn’t even done properly with us.”
James Monty was among those disputing the data used to justify eliminating one of the positions.
“I really think there’s something wrong with those numbers,” Monty asserted. “Thirty-eight years in law enforcement I could go out on the Interstate and write ten tickets a day and those few that you’re calculating seems few.”
“If you like,” Lozier began.
“It’s too late now because you’ve got it on the ballot,” Monty said. “That’s another issue. The way the ballot is written that’s propaganda against the resolution.”
Brent Wyand asked Town Clerk Lozier if the decision to reduce the number of justices was financial.
“Was this passed as just a money saving resolution for the town?”
“No, I want to make that clear, Brent, the answer is no to that,” Lozier emphasized. “It was not done based on the amount of money, but it was based on the number of cases and the workload.”
“I know you guys said the decision wasn’t made on a monetary value as far as savings for the townspeople, but it does seem like it’s framed that way,” Wyand countered.
Both Justice Lawliss and Justice Brendon Dupree resigned in June and the Chazy town justice is currently covering cases.
