Suddenly, it's 1973 all over again.

The County Legislature is beginning its search to replace a retiring public defender. Meanwhile, religious and community leaders, led by the Monroe County Bar Association, are fighting the Legislature's plan.

The names are different, at least for the most part, but the situation is the same as it was 34 years ago: Republican legislators want to control the process, but community and legal leaders say that will give politicians too much control over the selection and could open up the public defender's office to patronage and other abuses. At the least, they say, there could be the public perception of patronage.

"It's too important a position for our criminal justice system and our entire community for it to be a patronage position," says Tom Smith, president of the Monroe County Bar Association. The public defender hires the attorneys in the office, as well as support staff.

The Bar Association and the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Monroe Public Defender Selection Process, a group of religious and community leaders, want to see a public-defender selection committee like those convened in 1973 and 1977. Those panels included diverse community representation, lawyers, and judges from the Appellate, Supreme, and City courts. Legislators sat on those committees, but couldn't vote. The committees advertised nationwide for candidates and conducted interviews and reviews of each applicant.

County Legislature Republicans, who are in the majority, want the new public defender selected by an eight-member committee. The members would be Legislature President Wayne Zyra, one person appointed by the Legislature's majority leader, one appointed by the minority leader, county attorney Dan DeLaus, two judges, and two people appointed by the Monroe County Bar Association. Critics say the committee lacks community and minority involvement.

The disagreement came to a head last week when the Bar Association withdrew from the committee. At a press conference Friday, Bar Association President Smith called for the other committee participants to pull out from the "simulated merit process which appears to have a preordained political outcome."

Rumors are circulating, Smith and other speakers said, that Republicans want to appoint Tim Donaher, an assistant public defender in the office's Appeals Bureau, as the new public defender. It's not that Donaher isn't qualified for the job, Smith said, but the public needs to be assured that he is the best person for the job, not simply a well-connected Republican.

State elections records for 2007 list over $2,000 in contributions from a Timothy Donaher of Rochester to Republican and Conservative Party causes and candidates.

"If he's going to come through the gate, he has to come through the gate right," said Raymond Scott, who was a leading voice in the 1973 merit selection campaign.

The public defender's office was established to provide legal representation for defendants who can't afford an attorney. The public defender is a political appointment, and the office was once viewed as a bastion of patronage. During the early years of the office, in the late 1960's and early 1970's, there was community concern over the quality of representation for poor defendants. That ultimately drove an aggressive push for a merit-based selection process.

Merit-process advocates say it would be easy for the office to again become politicized. And they fear if that happens, the office's clients could suffer.

"We know what happened back then, and we know who's driving the bus now. We can talk about Mr. Zyra all we choose. He's not driving the bus," Scott said. Republican Party chair Steve Minarik is guiding the process behind the scenes, Scott said, and Republicans are interested in getting "their cronies into positions."

In 1973, legislators initially resisted the idea of an independent screening committee. But the Bar Association, social justice groups, faith groups, and community organizations fought for it. Legislators eventually conceded, and three of them - members of the Public Safety Committee - took part in screenings, though they didn't vote on committee selections, says Anthony Palermo, the former Bar Association president who chaired the 1973-74 selection committee.

"The Legislature was basically forced by the community to have the Bar Association bring in a panel," says Bob Bonn. Bonn is former executive director of the Rochester Interfaith Jail Ministry and served on the 1977 commission that recommended Nowak. Bonn also pushed for a merit selection process in 1973.

Catholic Bishop Matthew Clark, the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, Nazareth College President Daan Braveman, and the Rev. Franklin Florence, pastor of Central Church of Christ and president of the Faith Community Alliance, are among the community leaders calling for a nonpartisan merit-based selection committee.

The issue drew speakers to the Legislature's December 11 meeting - among them Franklin Florence, who said the selection process must ensure that every person will receive fair, open, and honest treatment in court.

The idea isn't to shut legislators out, says Palermo, but to work with them to select a qualified candidate.

Minority Leader Harry Bronson says he believes Zyra - who formed the committee - tried to come up with a fair process, but wound up with a bipartisan panel, not a nonpartisan group. Bronson is reconsidering his initial support of the committee. "We should take a couple of steps back and listen to the public," he says.

Republicans have shown no intention of changing their approach. Zyra did not return City Newspaper's calls last week. In statements to other media, he said he plans to move forward with his committee. And Minarik told the Democrat and Chronicle that, if he had his way, there would be no selection committee at all, leaving the decision entirely to legislators.

If the Bar Association holds out from the selection, Zyra may instead invite interested lawyers to apply for a spot, says outgoing Majority Leader Bill Smith.

Smith defended the selection process and said it will be based on merit. The next public defender needs to be a legal expert, but must also have good managerial skills, Smith says. He likens the position to a managing partner of a big law firm. For that reason, he says, he'd rather see a candidate selected by other legal experts as opposed to community members. Smith says he thinks it's important to have legislators represented, too. "The County Legislature is going to appoint them in the end anyway," he says.