A brief special meeting of the Middleburgh Village Board turned briefly contentious Monday after one-time mayor Gary Hayes challenged a move into closed, executive session.
Mr. Hayes would not confirm he’s running for mayor again.
If he does, he’ll be facing Deputy Mayor and Trustee Tim Knight, who’s now effectively in charge of the village after the resignation of Mayor Trish Bergan on April 26.
Because they failed to execute their oaths of office within 30 days of assuming their official roles, Mr. Knight and fellow Trustees Bob Tinker and Sheryl Adams are serving as trustees defacto rather than trustees de jure.
It’s a technical error, but one that requires action by the State Legislature to remedy.
As defacto trustees, the New York Conference of Mayors has recommended they “desist from acting on significant, non-routine discretionary final proposals until the situation has been remedied.
“[However, they] may continue performing non-discretionary services for the village, such as holding meetings under the NY Open Meetings Law, approving and executing salary payments, and other expenses…”
Monday’s special meeting was advertised as a public session of 5-10 minutes, “followed by a lengthy executive session with village personnel.”
Specifically, the public portion of the meeting dealt with accepting a $41,000 bid for work at the Wastewater Treatment plant.
Mr. Knight then called for an executive session regarding the village’s contract with Delaware Engineering and “village personnel.”
Department of Public Works Superintendent Nick Dunscombe resigned last Thursday; he and other DPW employees stayed for the executive session.
Mr. Hayes challenged the Village Board for not properly citing the reasons for the executive session; “village personnel” was too vague, he said.
“Go away, Gary,” said Mr. Tinker as Mr. Hayes pressed his point. “Go away, Gary.”
Mr. Knight said “We specifically said ‘Delaware Engineering’,” regarding the reason for the executive session—but did not address Mr. Hayes’ “village personnel” concerns.
“I’m talking about transparency,” Mr. Hayes said repeatedly inside the Village Hall and after leaving the meeting.
“It’s the law.”
Mr. Hayes served as mayor in the early 2000s.
Once the trustees’ legal status is restored, a process that could take several months—Assemblyman Chris Tague has introduced the necessary legislation—Mr. Knight has said expects to be named mayor.
Mr. Knight said he already has someone who’s agreed to replace him as trustee, someone who’s served previously as trustee and deputy mayor, but has not publicly named the individual.
Responding to Mr. Hayes’ charges, in a written statement issued Tuesday, Mr. Knight said:
“The Village Board entered Executive Session for two allowable reasons under New York State Open Meetings Law: financial, contractual discussions with our engineering firm regarding the ongoing WWTP project, and an employment discussion with three members of our Village DPW crew, which we scheduled during their work day to be more convenient for them.
“I am disappointed that a former mayor, who voted at least nine times himself to enter an executive session to discuss personnel during his past tenure, apparently believes in one set of rules for himself and another for everyone else in elected office.”