Adirondack Daily Enterprise Saranac Lake Ny

Franklin Co. courts are backlogged

SARANAC LAKE - Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne says the county needs another judge to help pare down a backlog of court cases that he calls a "colossal nightmare."

And he isn't alone.

Defense lawyers also agree that the county needs more resources to deal with the large number of pending County, Family and Surrogates cases, most of which are being handled by one judge, Robert G. Main Jr.

"He could be Superjudge, and it wouldn't make any difference with just one judge there," said Malone attorney Kevin Nichols.

But lawyers on both sides say the chances of getting the state Legislature to spend money to create a new judgeship are slim, and they don't think the county has enough "political pull" to make it happen.

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'Collision course'

Champagne said a combination of factors are to blame for the current backlog of cases.

"The first is, we obviously don't have enough judges in Franklin County," he said. "We have Judge Main, who with Family Court, Surrogates Court, Supreme Court and County Court is completely bogged down."

Plattsburgh City Court Judge Penelope Clute helps out in Franklin County Court every other week, but she's not elected by the people of Franklin County, which Champagne said he has "serious reservations about, as far as a democratic system goes."

Also contributing to the backlog, Champagne said, is the loss of a state Supreme Court justice seat in the county that was formerly held by Jan Plumadore, who retired in 2009. When he was in office, Plumadore would occasionally come to Malone to help with county court. But when his seat and another in the 4th Judicial District came up for vote in 2009, they were won by judges who don't reside in Franklin County.

"If this county still had a Supreme Court judge, then we wouldn't have this colossal nightmare," Champagne said.

Another factor in the backlog, Champagne said, is a mandate from the state Office of Court Administration that court sessions must end at a specific time each day so its staff - clerks and court reporters - don't accumulate overtime.

"Today we were in the middle of a proceeding, and we had to stop the very second the clock hit 3:30," the DA said. "We kind of have this collision course of losing the Supreme Court judge, the OCA budget, and now we're suspending at 3:30, whereas in the old days we'd go until 5:30 until all the cases were done.

Schumer, Gillibrand Visit Long Lake Heart of the Adirondacks ...

By NATHAN BROWN – Staff Writer (nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com) , Adirondack Daily Enterprise

SARANAC LAKE – Both of New York’s U.S. senators will be in town Friday and will hold three events together, focused on economic issues.

The first event will be at 9 a.m. at North Country Community College in Saranac Lake. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer are hosting a “Rural Care for Veterans Round Table” with representatives of Saranac Lake’s Veterans Administration clinic, St. Joseph’s Addiction Treatment and Recovery Centers, Homeward Bound Adirondacks and the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

Then they’ll shoot down to Long Lake, where, according to their schedules, they plan to hold a roundtable with local business and community leaders at 10:45 a.m. at Long Lake Central School. A press release from Gillibrand said this roundtable will “highlight sustainable economy initiatives including the Common Ground Alliance and the Adirondack Partnership and economic development efforts for the North Country and how they can assist and promote local growth.”

Then their schedule calls for them to be at the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear for another economic development roundtable at 12:15 p.m. This one will focus on the airport and on the growing biotech industry in Saranac Lake.

Gillibrand also plans to visit Bombardier Transportation in Plattsburgh at 2:15 p.m. to announce her new agenda to create more advanced and high-tech manufacturing jobs, the cornerstone of which is her “Made in America” competitive grant program. She says advanced and high-tech manufacturing is growing despite heavy job losses in other manufacturing sectors in New York.

Gillibrand’s last official visit to the area was in July 2010, when she held a forum with local officials and community leaders in Lake Placid. Schumer’s was in August 2010, when he visited Lake Placid and Tupper Lake to promote legislation designed to boost tourism. They also both vacationed in Lake Placid last August.

Schumer has visited the area numerous times since his election in 1998. Gillibrand represented part of the Tri-Lakes area when she was a congresswoman for New York’s 20th District.

Saranac Lake Mayor Clyde Rabideau, who has about 20 years of political experience here and in Plattsburgh, said he has never seen two U.S. senators in the same place at the same time. The closest he came, he said, was when Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Plattsburgh. Sen. Alphonse D’Amato showed up, and Sen. Patrick Moynihan meant to but missed his flight.

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