Fred Larson
More information is coming out about a City resolution that requests the State Comptroller investigate a former City Court Judge for illegally receiving city retiree benefits.
According to the city of Jamestown, retired City Court Judge Fred Larson entered into an illegal agreement with former Mayor Eddie Sundquist “…in which he and his wife obtained City of Jamestown dental insurance, which he was not entitled to as he was never a City employee.”
The resolution states the city has terminated the benefits and requested multiple times that Larson repay the funds expended. The staff report said that $1,576.70 in dental benefits were provided.
The city, responding to WRFA, said that not only did former Comptroller Ryan Thompson terminate Larson’s retirement dental benefits in March 2022, but a paralegal in the Corporation Counsel‘s office disagreed with the agreement signed by Sundquist and Larson. Despite that, the letter did get mailed out from the Corporation Counsel’s office, hence why the city is requesting outside counsel, if necessary in this case.
WRFA reached out to former Mayor Sundquist for some background on the agreement. He responded,
“The agreement to provide dental benefits arose after Judge Larson’s retirement. It was determined that Judge Larson had been on the City’s benefit plan in the past. His retirement triggered a review of benefits. Since he was already receiving dental benefits, we conducted a legal review to determine if those benefits could continue. It was determined it would be both legal and in the best interest of the City to execute an agreement and continue benefits as this was the City’s past practice with prior City Court judges. Formal agreements related to the City’s healthcare plan is common practice and have been entered into with non-employees in the past going back several administrations.”
Larson had previously served as an at-large City Council member from 1979 to 1982. However, according to the City Administration, this service is not enough to qualify him for city retiree benefits. The City said that prior to his retirement from the State, Larson participated in the State-funded health and dental programs and could have continued in those programs “by paying the full cost thereof pursuant to COBRA.”
Larson, who served as a City Court Judge from 2014 until his retirement in 2021, stated that former City Court Judge Sam Alessi had received City health insurance benefits upon his retirement in 1993.
However, when Judge Alessi became a City Court Judge in 1973, he was a city employee because New York State municipalities bore the full cost of personnel expenses for local courts. This changed with the implementation of the Unified Court Budget in 1977.
Prior to 1977, each county and municipality was responsible for funding their own local courts, including the salaries of judges, clerks, and other court personnel.
With the Unified Court Budget, the state assumed the responsibility for the “first instance” payment of court personnel costs. The City Administration said when the State took over responsibility for all City Judges, the State allowed Alessi to remain on the City health and dental plans with the State reimbursing the City for the City’s share of those expenses.
Those employed after the unified court system went into place were not offered municipal benefits. This includes former City Court Judge John LaMancuso, who retired after 30 years of service at the end of 2023.
The City Council Finance Committee will review the resolution at their committee meeting at 7:00 p.m. tonight with a review by the full council at 7:30 p.m. The meetings are open to the public with the full work session being livestreamed on jamestownny.gov.
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