WESTERLO — Alene Galgay has been the town attorney since 1997, but, after hearing that a group within the town is against her re-appointment and critical of her actions, she said she doesn’t know why she does it anymore.
"It doesn’t matter what you do, someone is always out to get you," she said.

This week, The Enterprise received a letter to the letter, Who elected the town attorney", from Eugene McGrath and Michael Sikule, members of Citizens Against the Reappointment of the Town Attorney.

McGrath said the group, which now has about 20 members, began forming this summer when residents were upset with Galgay’s role in the planning process.
"So who voted for the town attorney"" the letter says. "Because it seems obvious from attending any meeting — town, planning, or zoning — that it is the town attorney who seems to be doing all the talking, interrupting elected and appointed officials at will, correcting them without any sense of protocol or respect to the board chairperson, making comments directly to the audience without having them evaluated by the chairperson, and addressing applicant attorneys without deference to the chairperson." (See opinion pages.)

Galgay said the letter writers attended a few meetings, and were unhappy with the results of the board’s recent decision to grant a special-use permit in September.

She said that all who attended the September planning board meeting voiced their opinions and presented their criticisms. Her role, she said, is to inform the board members and be as professional as possible.
"I don’t vote," Galgay said, and added, "I like to dot all my ‘i’s and cross all my ‘t’s."

The controversial special-use permit Galgay cited was issued to Guy DeGennaro and his family, of DeGennaro Fuel Service, a heating oil company and roll-off trash container business.

Before the board granted the permit, some residents, including Sheila McGrath, said road conditions within the town, combined with the nature of the DeGennaros’ business and its fleet of industrial trucks posed problems.

Some claimed the town’s roads were not wide enough and would be damaged by the DeGennaros’ fleet. Some also said that, given the width of DeGannaros’ trucks and the width of school buses, issuing the permit could possibly endanger children.
"Anybody’s entitled to their opinion," Supervisor Richard Rapp told The Enterprise this week after learning of the Citizens Against the Reappointment of the Town Attorney.
Asked what the role of the town attorney is, Rapp responded, "To advise the board on legal matters, which she does."

Rapp added that Galgay helped with legal matters throughout the formation and completion of the town’s first water district.
"She did a good job," he said. Rapp said that, throughout the project, there were a lot of legalities.
"I didn’t expect so much legal work," he said.
Galgay is earning $18,000 this year. She said, "I did the legal work for the water district with no additional stipends." Rapp earns $13,000.
"It doesn’t matter whether I am on the phone for six hours or six minutes," she said. "I don’t get anything extra."

Asked if her position as the town attorney and her practice within the town cause a conflict of interest, Galgay said she routinely doesn’t accept cases which could be brought before the town’s justices, the planning board, or the zoning board.
"It’s a town law for the position of the town attorney to go to a [practicing] attorney within the town," Galgay said.

Hiring an attorney from out of town, on a consulting basis, she said, is much more expensive than hiring a constituent.
"It would cost $200 per hour to hire someone from Albany, plus travel time," she said.

When asked if it seems, at times, that Galgay oversteps her bounds, Councilman Ed Rash told The Enterprise, "Unfortunately, in some cases, it may seem that way."
"She does what the town pays her to do, which is to advise us on legalities"She’s been good at what she does," Rash said. He added, "Unfortunately, some don’t see it that way."

Rash said that some of the meetings, given the nature of the issues, can become technical, and the board needs her expertise to make an informed decision.
"She doesn’t control the meetings," Rash said.

Galgay’s demeanor, he said, doesn’t sway the board one way or the other. He said the information she provides does.
"We need things explained properly," he said.

Appointment for the town attorney occurs each year in January.
Asked if the board planned to re-appoint Galgay in 2007, Rapp responded, "I can’t speak for everyone on the board."