Peekskill Councilman Calls on Mayor to Release Family Firm's Client List

At a Saturday press conference held in front of the Catalina family law firm in Peekskill, City Councilman Darren Rigger and others called on Mayor Frank Catalina to publicly release his firm’s full client list.

He said he wants to ensure that the Mayor is not representing any other private interests that have business before the City.

The Journal News published a investigative report Friday that noted that the developer of the $30 million Chateau Rive project, which needs multiple city approvals, was a client of Catalina’s family law firm. In “Peekskill: Mayor, Daughter represented developers in housing court,” TJN reported that the Mayor has also been a public supporter of the project.

“The Journal News investigation troubles me deeply. The question is, in matters in which his clients have business with the City, whose interest is the mayor actually representing: his landlord clients who pay him privately or the taxpayers of Peekskill,” Rigger said. “We need to get to the bottom of whether there are any other clients his family law firm represents who have business before the city. The only way to do that is to provide full disclosure so taxpayers can judge for themselves. I am calling on the Mayor to disclose the client list of his family law firm publicly.”

The Journal News reported that Catalina says his law practice and his daughter’s are now distinct, though he has appeared in court on behalf of his daughter’s clients. The paper also said the two share the same office and business website.

“The bottom line is this: winning elected office should not be great for the family business,” continued Rigger. “The welfare of the tax payers of the community he represents should be the sole interest of any public official.”