On Monday, Jan. 14, the Vermont Court Administrator, Lee Suskin, along with the president of the Association of County Judges, Marlene Burke, traveled to the Orange County Courthouse to assist the side judges in preparing their budget.

Two days earlier, however, the Montpelier lawyer who has been advising the county, Atty. Scott Cameron, confirmed that he has "resigned/withdrawn from representation of Orange County." He did so in an explosive letter to both side judges, in which he placed the blame for the county stalemate squarely on Judge Brown who, he claimed, had lied to him. His letter provoked an equally angry letter from Brown.

Working Session

The working session on Monday with the court administrator went well, according to Burke. She said the four "spent a couple of hours talking about the budget and some issues within it."

She said she thinks they've come to an agreement and that on Jan. 22 they will be prepared to present a budget which will meet the needs of the residents of Orange County.

Burke came up from Rutland at the request of Judge Pease, who has often cited the recommendations of the Association of County Judges as justification for the additional salaries and benefits for side judges that have gone into the county budget.

Burke emphasized that her role was that of a "facilitator" rather than a "mediator."

Judge Pease was unavailable for comment, but Judge Brown also felt that the meeting was productive and that conflicts over the budget could be worked out. Another meeting will be held at the courthouse Jan. 22 to present the final budget.

Explosive Letter

In his letter to the side judges, Atty. Cameron tendered his resignation as county attorney as of last Wednesday, following the Orange County budget meeting held a week ago Tuesday.

Cameron accused Brown of blindsiding Pease by showing up at the Jan. 8 public budget hearing with his own budget. The "his and her" budgets were decried by taxpayers attending the meeting, since they have no power to choose between them anyway.

"I know it surprised her," admitted Brown when asked this week. He went on to explain that he felt it was the only way to open the conversation to all.

"The reason I came up with my own budget is because there were certain things I asked her to explain … There were things in the budget that were difficult to discuss with her because she had a completely different take on it than I did, and when we tried to discuss it, we got nowhere."

In his letter, Atty. Cameron said that "it is clear to me that Judge Brown is not working in good faith to address the present issues and concerns. I also believe that Judge Brown has lied to me. Since that is my perception, I must resign."

He wrote that in bringing his own budget to the Jan. 8 meeting without telling Judge Pease about it, Brown had created a situation in which "Judge Pease was hung out to dry … This tactic is commonly known as a ‘setup.’"

In a furious rebuttal letter, Judge Brown, who was appointed only in August, said it appeared to him from the beginning that Atty. Cameron accepted Judge Pease’s view of things, "while discounting my opinions out of hand.

"It appears that your representation of Orange County has been for the benefit of Prudence Pease personally," he wrote.

Brown also charged that in an early meeting Cameron joined Judge Pease in "remarks that were improper or inappropriate about County Clerk (Emily) Newman and Court Manager Penny Carrier." The remarks, he said, seemed to be part of "a plan to get rid of them."

He also wrote that at two different times, Atty. Cameron, along with Judge Pease, attempted to place Newman and the deputy clerk Lisa Eastman on administrative leave, an order that Judge Brown would not agree to sign.

Criminal Complaint

Those conversations occurred after an incident in Judge Pease’s office that resulted in a criminal complaint being filed by Judge Pease against Newman and Eastman.

The investigation into this complaint has been completed and is now "under review" by the criminal division of the state attorney general’s office. A spokesman said yesterday that he hopes a decision can be reached quickly as to whether formal charges are warranted.