A special council meeting was held Tuesday to undo the result of a meeting the week before, where a vote was taken after one council member had stepped out of the room.

Two weeks ago, a council minority voted to oust the city's auditing firm of Ernst & Young and the city's chief financial officer, Louis Picardo. The council minority suddenly had become the majority when Councilman A. Nino Giacchi stepped out during the public portion of the meeting to use the bathroom.

At that time, Councilman Michael Russo, a critic of Mayor David Roberts' administration, called for a vote to oust the two parties. It passed by a 4-3 vote. (Councilman Michael Cricco was not at the meeting.)

The four-member minority has asked for months for a representative from Ernst and Young and for Picardo to attend council meetings and answer financial questions, especially the recent budget meeting, but they had not attended. As a result, Councilman Russo took the opportunity, when he had the votes, to fire them.

"We have asked for their presence to be at these City Council meetings over and over again," said Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, a Russo ally, last week. "Because they aren't here, all we get is shrugged shoulders." Castellano, Russo, and the two other council opponents of Mayor David Roberts continue to hammer the administration on its budget, and it will likely be one of their biggest campaign issues come next spring.

After the firing of the two parties, Roberts called for a second meeting to rescind Russo's resolution, which would reinstate the auditor and CFO. On Tuesday, the council convened and voted 5-4 to rescind the firings. However, as always, the meeting was not without drama and arguments. CFO brought back

According to city attorney Joseph Sherman, the attempt to remove Picardo from his position of acting CFO was not proper because Picardo was not afforded the opportunity to be heard, "which violated his civil right in addition to state mandates."

Sherman also said it was also improper to terminate Ernst & Young's contract because, according to Sherman, they were fired for cause, but "there exists no contractual obligation that their employees attend public meetings." But there are some holes in the argument against Picardo, said the administration's critics. First, they said, the position is a provisional one which can be removed at any time by the council. "Interim, means it's at the will [of the council]," said Russo.

And secondly, said Councilwoman Carol Marsh, former acting CFO Michael Lenz was fired on Election Day in 2002, and he was not given notice and was not presented with the opportunity for a hearing.

"There was no due process the last time a CFO was let go," said Marsh, who counts Lenz as one of her closest political advisors.

The council minority also argued at Tuesday's meeting that the council majority didn't even have the power to rescind the previous week's vote.

They said that according to Robert's Rules of Order, a council parliamentary guidebook, only the voting majority on an issue has the right to rescind a resolution. Because Mayor Roberts' faction was not part of the voting majority on the resolution to fire, they said, they don't have the legal right to rescind the resolution.

"I would like the close this meeting," said Michael Russo, near the beginning of Tuesday's special meeting. His argument was that the majority didn't have the right to rescind his resolution so there was no reason to continue the meeting.

Russo also said that Ernst & Young has participated in the creation and maintenance of budgets for the past three years that have been overspent by millions of dollars each. He added that he believes it is illegal to knowingly overspend a budget. "That's a cause [to terminate their contract] in my books," said Russo.

Toiletgate

Much of the heated conversation at Tuesday's meeting centered around the ethical question of whether it was proper to take a vote when Giacchi was out of the chambers and in the restroom.

Roberts' supporter on the council said that it's "dirty politics" to take a vote while a member had stepped out. But the council minority actually argued that Giacchi wasn't even on the toilet during the 12 to 16 minutes he had left the chambers. They said he was leaving to watch the baseball playoffs and was called back by cell phone.

That rumor was debunked last week by three city employees who saw Giacchi return from the bathroom and walk into the City Clerk's office, where there is a small table of food for the council. While in there, according to one eyewitness, he opened a Sprite and started to make himself a quick sandwich. Before he could eat the sandwich, one of his political allies called him back into the chambers and told him that the minority was taking action without him.

Councilman Christopher Campos said that if Russo et. al. were really interested in good government, instead of political grandstanding and taking a sudden vote to fire two parties, "We would have had a real discussion about performance of the CFO and auditor."

Campos said at Tuesday's meeting, "Tonight [Tuesday], several new issues have been raised which are worthy [of discussion]. But at the last meeting a motion [to vote] was made before we could even discuss [the resolution]." Campos' opposition, on the other hand, admits to being opportunistic, but said that the performance of the financial professionals was so egregious that it warranted this type of action.

"An advantage was seen, and an advantage was taken," said Russo.

On Wednesday, Carol Marsh added that the council minority has been ignored and "lied to" for so long that these are the only avenues available to them now.

After Tuesday's meeting, Michael Russo said that he is considering taking legal action. He added that he still believe his resolution to fire was legal and the actions to rescind it were not.

But either way, he said, once the contract was terminated, it still must go out to bid and be renegotiated.

Uncivil actions

Underscoring everything that happened at the City Council recently is a patent dislike and distrust for the other political side. Parliamentary procedure regularly breaks down, as nearly every conversation quickly becomes a full-fledged argument.

As Councilman Michael Cricco said, "How do you have a process that is respected when you have this type of toiletry nonsense?"

Can the council be productive for the next seven months before the May mayoral/council election when both sides can't speak to each other without arguing?

"We get treated like garbage," said minority faction member Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, who added that the opposition members are "incredibly frustrated" because the majority with their five votes just steamrolls over them. "You can't be civil with uncivil people," she said.

On the other side of the aisle, Campos said that it's a difficult environment to get any work done.

As Campos left the council chambers Tuesday, he and Michele Russo - the mother of Councilman Michael Russo and wife of former Mayor Anthony Russo - screamed at each other from across the room.