FOIL documents: Three law firms paid more than 192,000 by city

Matt Curatolo, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Jan. 28—OGDENSBURG — The City of Ogdensburg spent more than $192,000 in 2021 on three law firms, one of them being the city attorney, according to city documents requested through the state's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

The Journal had requested the firms used by the city in 2021 and how much was spent on each in detail. A request for the description of what each firm was used for by the city, including City Attorney Scott Goldie, was denied citing "attorney-client privilege."

According to a review of the documents received by The Journal, three firms were paid a total of $192,812.38 in 2021. Totals were derived by a page-by-page review of each firm and their transactions for the year.

The firm of Coughlin & Gerhart, LLP was paid a total of $87,301.14 for the year, the most out of any of the firms used by the city. According to a press release issued by City Manager Stephen P. Jellie, the city had retained the law firm to represent both Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly and the city in a lawsuit filed in federal court in September by a group of citizens who are claiming the mayor is violating their First Amendment rights by blocking them on his personal Facebook page.

The same law firm had been named in a press release as representing the city in legal action with St. Lawrence County regarding the transferring of duties such as the enforcement of unpaid delinquent taxes on behalf of the city and crediting the city for unpaid delinquent taxes.

City Attorney Scott B. Goldie with Conboy, McKay, Bachman & Kendall, Canton, was paid $84,260.12. He is charged at a fee of $190 per hour, according to previously published reports.

The other law firm to be paid was Barclay Damon LLC, a firm reportedly handling legal matters regarding the city's dealings with the Ogdensburg Professional Firefighters Local 1799. They were paid $21,251.12. The city ended the year with a total of $200,269.03 in expenses for legal consultants. The city had budgeted $200,000 last year and $175,000 this year.

According to a review of past city budgets, the $200,269 in legal fees is the highest amount spent by the city in the past 10 years. The second highest amount was $103,753 in 2018. The least amount spent over the last 10 years was $49,766 in 2017.

Other expenses listed in the documents for legal fees were $2,300 for James A. Gross, who was the arbitrator involved in a grievance with the police department; $2,895 for Phenix Investigations that researched assets of the former owners of the cheese plant, TooBro Cheese Company; $2,960 for Fiscal Advisors & Marketing Inc.; $1,500 for North East Appraisals & Management; $1,215.20 for Precision Reporters LLC; and $327 for the St. Lawrence County Clerk.