Common Council Appoints John P. Collins Jr. to City Court, 4-2

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. From the Mayor’s Office and reporting by John F. Bailey. August 5, 2019 UPDATED by WPCNR, 12 NOON AUGUST 6, 2019:

The Common Council approved the appointment of John P. Collins, Jr. to a 10 year term on the White Plains City Court Monday evening.

The vote was 4 to 2, with Councilwoman Milagros Lecuona abstaining, Mayor Roach, Council President John Martin, Councilman Justin Brasch, and Councilwoman Nadine Hunt-Robinson voted in favor of the Collins appointment. Councilman John Kirpatrick and Councilman Dennis Krolian voted no.

The discussion of the vote was taken up with Councilman Krolian and Councilwoman Lecuona charging that the selection process was flawed and not transparent, because a confidential vote was asked for by Councilman John Martin to ask councilpersons their first three preferences of the candidates. Krolian said that some council persons “bullet-voted” (voting only for one candidate) and that this straw poll of the council result was kept confidential by Marin.

Krolian and Lecuona felt the Council President John Martin should have held a special meeting with the Council to discuss the straw vote preferences. Both Krolian and Lecuona said they had asked the Mayor for a Special Meeting, but were not contacted.

Council President John Martin dismissed the thought that the confidentiality of the straw poll was inappropriate. He said it was his attempt to get a sense of consensus because of the high quality of the 8 candidates under scrutiny. Councilman Brasch and Councilperson Hunt-Robinson said they were very impressed with all the candidates, and pointed out Mr. Collins’ experience and community involvement as well as his prosecutions of money laundering and fraud during his time with the Southern District. Ms. Lecuona said she was abstaining from the vote because she felt it was “a flawed process.”

To view this hour long discussion on the process, you may see it on the city website by clicking on “Multimedia,” then clicking on “Common Council,” and clicking on the meeting of August 5, 2019 and clicking on Item 1: Appointment”

or go directly to this link:

http://whiteplainsny.swagit.com/play/08052019-1051

John Callahan, the White Plains Corporation Counsel backgrounded WPCNR Monday evening with Judge Collins’ qualifications.

He is a Graduate of Columbia College and Yale Law School .


From 2000-2017 he served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States for the Southern District of New York.   
Since 2017, he has served as Court Attorney/Referee for the New York State Unified Court System, and previously served as law clerk to two federal judges.

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