The village office in Corfu will open tomorrow morning, but rather than being staffed by longtime Clerk Treasurer Sandra Thomas and assistant Denise Beal, Trustee Ken Lauer said he expects he will be answering phones and handling whatever business he can.
The trustees held a budget meeting Thursday night, but didn't address the clerk situation in public session.
After the meeting Lauer agreed to discuss the clerk issue and said the actual employment situation with Thomas and Beal has yet to be resolved.
He said he's hopeful they will return to work. He said he spoke with both of them Wednesday night and had "productive" conversations, but he all he knows is they are considering their options.
On Monday, Thomas and Beal filed a complaint through Lauer against Mayor Ralph Peterson, accusing Peterson of trying to pressure them into handing over their computer passwords.
On Wednesday, Peterson showed up at the village office and by the time he left, Thomas and Beal had packed up their belongings and turned in their keys.
Whether the two women were fired or walked out is a fact in dispute between Peterson and people who say they witnessed the exchange.
We initially tried to ask Peterson, after the meeting, about the clerk situation and he said he was done talking with The Batavian and silently packed up his briefcase.
Trustee Art Ianni said he had "no statement" on the matter.
The budget meeting was held entirely in closed session.
Prior to going into closed session, Peterson said the session was being held to discuss personnel matters, specifically to talk about salary considerations with the two highway department employees.
More than an hour later, the trustees emerged (some 10 minutes after the two employees had left the meeting) and reported to community members at the meeting what they had discussed.
Besides the two employees agreeing to a cut in pay, Peterson said the trustees also agreed to sell some surplus equipment, expecting to raise $26,000, and cut $3,000 from the equipment budget.
Resident Greg Lang objected to the non-personnel issues being discussed in closed session as a possible violation of the New York Open Meeting Law.
Ianni said, "You know how it is. You get into a discussion and it just starts to flow."
Lauer almost didn't make the meeting.
When the meeting was first called to order, Peterson said, "Where's Ken?"
After Peterson, Ianni and Keith Busch went into closed session, former trustee Al Graham called Lauer and when Graham came back in the room he said Lauer told him that Peterson had called him earlier to say the meeting was canceled.
Lauer confirmed later he did receive such a call from Peterson. He also said Peterson had tried calling him just prior to the meeting but didn't leave a message.
Once Lauer arrived, Lauer said that Peterson apologized, but didn't elaborate.
Why would the mayor call a
Why would the mayor call a board member and tell him the meeting has been canceled when it wasn't?
Why would the mayor try to force public employees to divulge their computer passwords?
Why have computers been seized by the state?
Why would the mayor allegedly fire the employees, then claim its all a misunderstanding?
What is the status of the sewer grants? Why are budget matters and the selling of public property discussed in executive session? Why would a public meeting be abruptly adjourned with out a single statement issued?
Great questions Brian! But
Great questions Brian! But many more to be asked. Why would he have the guy that has been involved with the sewer grant since 2006 and has the most to offer banned illegally from the plant. Why would he fire the atty that the village has had for the last few years handling the missing money case? and try to fire him from the grant project also! Why is he telling people that the only way to balance the budgit is to screw the employees over when he hasnt offered one single cut other then screwing them over. Why is he tampering with witnesses in the missing money case? and why are his drinking buddies on the board supporting him when they also know the truth. They all knew that the excecutive session was illegal, they all know he fired the clerks and lied about!! Why dont they stand up for the residents!! One last thing, all this and he hasnt even been in office 2 weeks!!
Something seems very shady
Something seems very shady and I'm not talking about the weather! From a non resident of Corfu looking in something is very, very wrong! I hope the residents continue to ask/push for answers Good Luck! .
I grew up and previously
I grew up and previously lived in the Village of Corfu and I can say without a doubt it was, and still is, a great place to live filled with great people. Unfortunately now, they have all of this turmoil making the village and it's people look bad. I think this stems from when the current mayor was a trustee, he butted heads and did not like the former mayor, so he decided to scrape up enough votes so he could take his place. Now he has the job and does not appear to have a clue of what he is doing(and he should have some idea as he was a former trustee??) Why someone would want to drag an entire village and it's people down the toilet just to "get back at" the former mayor, or whatever his problem is, is beyond me. And to all of the people who voted in "this crew", shame on you!
I too have many friends in
I too have many friends in Corfu.
Corfu is near and dear to my heart
I personally know most of the folks in this melee.
I know nothing of the issues, and am making no comment thereof. All I'm going to say as an add on to Michele's comment above is :
Population of Corfu = 709 (2010 census)
156 are 17 years old or younger (2010)
that leaves 553 eligible voters
Total voters in Mayoral election 2013 = 201 (see below)
Todd lost by 2 votes
You get the government you vote for, folks.
http://censusviewer.com/city/NY/Corfu
http://www.corfuny.com/docs/Election-Results-2013.pdf
Ah that voter apathy always
Ah that voter apathy always seems to come back and bite ya doesn't it Dave?
You betcha, Mark. I don't
You betcha, Mark. I don't mean to pick on Corfu. It's the same everywhere.
Dave do you know that there
Dave do you know that there were voters outside the village that voted and residents that used to live in the village and moved out but there name was on the voter registration sheet they also voted!!!!!!! NOW THATS JUST NOT RIGHT
No, I didn't Nick, like I
No, I didn't Nick, like I said, I know nothing of the issues. I am willing to bet that somewhere in the village charter there exists the process for recalling an election.
All I can say is all you GOOD
All I can say is all you GOOD GUYS keep fighting!!!!!!!! What is going on is such a shame!!!!