The Irondequoit Town Board voted to hire a law firm to defend it in two complaints brought by Town Supervisor Andrae Evans.
The vote came Monday afternoon after a quarrelsome start to the meeting, during which Evans attempted to read a statement objecting to the hiring of the firm Mancuso Brightman. Board members called for a point of order to stop Evans from reading the statement.
The measure passed by vote of 4-to-1, with Evans opposed.
The complaints stem from a town board censure of Evans in late February that barred him from texting town employees, entering non-public areas of town hall, and placed him under monitoring by the town. That censure was in response to a board-commissioned investigative report in January that alleged Evans sexually harassed a staffer, and then removed her from job responsibilities after she complained.
The board forwarded the report to Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley for investigation. It’s unclear what criminal charges could be levied against Evans.
Evans, in his complaints against the board, claims the town overstepped its powers with the censure restrictions. A censure typically is a strong condemnation of an elected official’s actions.
Evans is up for re-election this year, and is facing a Democratic primary challenge from town boardmember John Perticone.
