By DAVID HULSE

MONTICELLO - Seeking to disband what he calls an out-of-touch Legislature and return to a Board of Supervisors, Monticello attorney Monroe Davis yesterday said he has filed suit to force the Legislature to allow a petition action that would initiate the changeover.

County Attorney Ira Cohen says Davis has misinterpreted the law he is citing.

Davis said his Article 78 action would force the legislature to adopt a resolution that would allow petitions to be filed favoring a local law to rescind the county charter. "There's a multitude of reasons for this. It started last year when [the Legislature] requested a 54 percent pay raise for themselves after negotiating long and hard with their employees, who settled for two percent," Davis said.

Cohen said Davis' petition to the Supreme Court calls on the county attorney to provide a local law to authorize a resolution to be circulated. "It's not in the law. I've told him that," Cohen said.

Davis said his lawsuit is answerable on August 31 and he will seek arguments before the judge.

Cohen said the county would seek to have the case postponed until after Labor Day, if it's heard at all.