Politics & Government

Ex Yorktown Politico Says She Deserves $76K

Yorktown town board members passed a resolution on Sept. 26 demanding Goldberg returns $76,959.63 – money she says she is owned for unused vacation time.

Former Yorktown town comptroller Joan Goldberg has filed a notice of petition against the town and Yorktown town board members asking them to rescind a Sept. 26 resolution that characterized her actions as "conversion of town funds."

In an email sent to town board members on Oct. 9, Goldberg wrote that it was with "deep regret" she authorized the filing of a formal legal procedure and action, but that in light of the resolution she had "no choice."

"All I'm asking for is that they rescind that resolution and they rescind the finding that my actions were improper," Goldberg told Patch.

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In that resolution, town board members authorized town attorney Jeannette Koster to send a letter to Goldberg's attorney demanding she returns the money – $76,959.63 (which ends up being $42,957.56 after taxes and deductions) – she had written a check to herself for unused vacation time. The payment was made via a direct deposit.

The rest of her email read (italics added for visual differentiation from the story):

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Quite frankly, there is no basis in fact or in law to support that resolution which followed a closed meeting characterizing my actions as "conversion of town funds." My intentions have always been clear.  I have always acted in the best interest of the taxpayers of the Town of Yorktown. It is in no one's interest, not mine, not yours, and certainly not the taxpayers of the Town of Yorktown, to continue in this vein. I hope, that after reading the lawsuit filed with the court, the board members will reconsider their position.

Goldberg, a Mahopac resident, worked for the town from March 25, 1996, until her last day on Sept. 21, 2012 before she began her new job as town administrator in North Castle.

According to the notice of petition, Goldberg's duties put her "at odds with the current Town Supervisor, Michael J. Grace, most recently when she communicated with the Town's Human Resources Department and the Town Board on September 11, 2012 about the legality and propriety under the Town's anti-nepotism laws when the Town Supervisor's wife was hired for a Town job." According to Goldberg's claim, several days after that, Grace challenged her accumulated vacation payout.

To read the entire 114-page notice of petition filed by Goldberg's attorney, click on the pdf file attached to this story above. 

To read more about Yorktown town board members asking Goldberg to return the money, click here

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