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SCHENECTADY
New counsel for city named
Polster will take Van Norden post
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The city’s new corporation counsel is an attorney who has worked for the city part-time since 2005.
    John Polster, who specialized in tax cases, code violations and contracts between the city and other municipalities, was named corporation counsel by Mayor-elect Gary McCarthy on Tuesday afternoon.
    Polster will be offi cially appointed on Jan. 1, but he began work immediately.
    “I think I’ve got a very good idea of what this office does, but I haven’t been handling everything,” he said of his years as a part-timer. “Over the next couple days or week, I’ll be sitting down and reviewing everything.”
    One of his first tasks will be to assess the department’s work with the code department. The law department is trying to work more smoothly with codes to better prosecute violators and enforce compliance.
    “I know that’s something the mayor and the council want me to look at,” Polster said.
    Polster said he is willing accept the $92,000 salary and plans to stay for the “long term.”
    Former Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden took a steep pay cut to lead the law department and threatened to leave several times when he was not given a raise. The city has also lost other attorneys to private practice because of the city’s payscale.
    But Polster, 59, said a salary is more consistent than the highs and lows of private practice.
    He’s also looking forward to having a say in how the law department is run.
    “I will now have the ability to participate in policy decisions,” he said.
    He also plans to maintain the biggest money-saving change initiated by Van Norden. The city will continue to settle some lawsuits rather than spend millions on the grounds that Schenectady was not in error. Van Norden insisted on the change after the city lost two high-profi le lawsuits regarding police misdeeds and had to pay far more than would have been required in an out-ofcourt settlement. .......................>>>>.......................>>>>.................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01101&AppName=1

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