The Buffalo School Board voted unanimously to secure a Syracuse-based attorney as members try to unseat Board member Carl Paladino following his derogatory comments in Artvoice in mid-December.
During a special meeting Wednesday evening, the Board voted to hire The Law Firm of Frank Miller.
Paladino and his Board ally Larry Quinn were absent from the meeting. Paladino called the vote, "just another waste of taxpayer money."
"They have no case. They are too dull to have read the first amendment to the Constitution," Paladino told 7 Eyewitness News in a statement.
The Board secured legal counsel as a procedural step in what will undoubtedly become a lengthy legal battle with the Buffalo developer. Last week, the Board voted 6-2 to seek outside counsel to help them file an application for Paladino's removal to the the State Education Commissioner. Part of the motion was to give Paladino 24 hours to resign, which he never did.
For Paladino to be removed from the School Board, a formal application must be filed with the Commissioner within 30 days of the alleged violation, which would then trigger a hearing. The Commissioner would have to find Paladino guilty of "willful misconduct or neglect of duty."
In addition to paying for attorney Frank Miller, the School Board will also have to pay for Paladino's legal counsel.
So far, no one has filed such petition with the State Education Commissioner.
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