Cortland Standard .net

By TYRONE L. HEPPARD
Staff Reporter
theppard@cortlandstandardnews.net
HOMER — After 12 years of working with the village, attorney Pat Perfetti said Thursday he decided not to put himself up for nomination, as Mayor Genevieve Suits considers who will be hired as the next village lawyer.
Suits said Thursday that Perfetti had announced at a meeting earlier in the week he would no longer represent the village. Perfetti announced his decision at the village board’s organizational and regular meeting Tuesday and Suits said it was unexpected.
“This was out of the blue,” Suits said. “He said he was over extended at work and thought it best to bow out now. I regret his decision to leave the village, but I understand. He’s helped us out immensely.”
The move comes shortly after Suits narrowly won re-election for a third term in a hotly contested race marked by disputes over whether to move village offices back into the Town Hall building.
During a special meeting the village held in October about whether it should discuss the possibility of moving back with town officials, Perfetti suggested conducting another environmental survey of the building at the cost of the town.
Shortly after that meeting, the town criticized the suggestion with Town Supervisor Fred Forbes even going so far as to say Perfetti put the village in, “a situation that, at best, is grievous,” for suggesting the village move out of the building in 2010.
In an interview Thursday, Perfetti said he submitted a letter informing Suits and the board of his decision, but he declined to comment further about his reasons for leaving.
It is the responsibilty of the mayor to appoint candidates for village attorney, which trustees have to approve of each year.
Now that Perfetti has stepped down, Suits said that process is underway.
“I’m currently interviewing new candidates,” Suits said. “I hope to have someone in place at the next board meeting (on May 5) depending on whether they (trustees) approve the candidate or not.”