Raymo sues Gouverneur over firing

GOUVERNEUR — Suspended Assessor Dale L. Raymo is suing the town to either throw out this year's assessment roll and remove an acting assessor or admit it fired him illegally, in which case Mr. Raymo's attorney will pursue a civil rights case.

"I think they've got a problem on their hands," Mr. Raymo's attorney, Robert J. Slye, said. "All we ask is that they do the right thing."

The lawsuit, filed with the St. Lawrence County clerk's office, also seeks a waiver so that Mr. Raymo, a retired state correctional officer, can receive his salary from the town without penalizing his pension.

It also asks for a hearing on the charges the town brought against Mr. Raymo.

After a troubled partial revaluation that drew complaints from property owners, the town suspended Mr. Raymo without pay July 7. The town started paying him again July 22, retroactive to the date of his suspension, but stopped again Sept. 1, when his pension waiver expired.

The Town Council appointed county Legislator Frederick S. Morrill, D-DeKalb Junction, as the hearing officer in October, but never told Mr. Slye or gave him details of the charges against Mr. Raymo.

"I think four and a half months is too long," Mr. Slye said. "They suspend him, prevent him from doing his job and then appoint someone else to do it."

The town charged Mr. Raymo with conduct unbecoming an officer of the town for supposedly making comments to taxpayers such as, "If you don't like the assessment, move out of Gouverneur," and retaliatory comments if they filed challenges to the property values he set.

The town also charged Mr. Raymo with not meeting state assessment standards. The third charge against him was failure to keep regular hours, improper use of town equipment, being unavailable to do his job and using a town vehicle for personal use.

Town Attorney Henry J. Leader said it took time for the town to settle on a hearing officer and for him to pull together the details of the charges against Mr. Raymo to send to Mr. Slye.

"It was a lot more complicated than we initially anticipated. We've had a lot of people come forward," Mr. Leader said. "They're waiting on amplification of the charges. That will be on its way."

Simply having a hearing at this point doesn't solve the problem because acting Assessor Barbara A. Finnie already signed the final assessment roll July 15, Mr. Slye said.

Under Real Property Law, the town had no authority to appoint an acting assessor unless Mr. Raymo was unable to perform his duties. Therefore, no vacancy existed and paying Mrs. Finnie violates the state constitution's prohibition against making gifts of public money, Mr. Slye said.

Declaring the assessment roll invalid would require recomputation of school taxes that many people already have paid. Exemptions would have to be redone and grievances acted on by the Board of Assessment Review would be voided, Mr. Slye said.