OBSERVER Staff Report
A report regarding state, county and municipal payrolls by the Empire Center for Public Policy has found that an area law attorney earned $294,979 for his work in six different municipalities in its 2009-10 listings.
Michael J. Bolender, who collected $86,640 from the town of Ripley, also serves as an attorney for these municipalities: town of Carroll, $6,250; village of Cherry Creek, $61,745; village of Mayville, $47,325; village of Sherman, $10,050. Compensation from the village of Forestville is reported as $56,063 and $29,906, according to Lise Bang-Jensen of the Empire Center.
“This person is the second-highest paid employee outside of New York City. It certainly seems like a lot of money,” she said during a telephone interview. “This is not a very wealthy part of the state.”
The latest Census figures estimate Chautauqua County to have a population of 133,503.
“That would be like every person in the county paying him $2,” said Bang-Jensen…
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