Longtime village attorney will retire February 27
January 25, 2024 at 12:44 a.m.
After 28 years of service to the Village of Port Chester, Anthony Cerreto will be retiring as village attorney at the end of February.
At the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 2, Cerreto said he would make it official that he had filed his application for retirement that afternoon.
“My last day will be Feb. 27,” he said. "Best wishes to you all. It’s been a great experience. It’s been a blessing to me.”
“I will thank you from the bottom of my heart,” responded Mayor Luis Marino. “You will be missed. You went through a lot of mayors and a lot of village managers.”
Cerreto, who has been a fixture at village board meetings for the last 28 years, has been touted as having a great deal of institutional knowledge because of his longevity with the village, serving as the attorney who crafts local laws and provides legal advice to the staff and land use boards including the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission. Periodically the Board of Trustees has had its own corporation counsel to separately advise them, as Peter Sisca is doing currently, but at other times Cerreto has been the village board’s exclusive legal advisor as well.
Because of his institutional knowledge, Cerreto may be contracted to lend his expertise to the village on an hourly basis following his retirement.
An advertisement for a new village attorney has been placed in this newspaper, in other publications, on the portchesterny.gov website and elsewhere soliciting applicants to send their resume and cover letter for the position to Village Manager Stuart Rabin, the person to whom this position reports, at 222 Grace Church St., Port Chester, NY 10573.
The advertisement states that “the ideal candidate will have litigation and legal research experience and the ability to formulate legal opinions and advice to village management. They will also be tasked with providing guidance to various boards and commissions if required.”
Some municipalities, such as the Village of Rye Brook, contract with a law firm that specializes in municipal law to handle the various duties of the village attorney rather than hiring a single lawyer to do the job.
During Cerreto’s tenure, the Village of Port Chester has contracted with attorneys who specialize in certain fields to handle legal matters relating to development, for instance, and to challenge lawsuits filed against the village.
While Cerreto is generally beloved by the Board of Trustees and staff, he has declined to do an exit interview. During interviews over the years on various topics where his legal expertise or just information about legal matters he was handling was sought by this reporter, Cerreto’s favorite lines have been: “You’re not quoting me, are you? This is just for background.”
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