Once again, Corfu trustees and Ralph Peterson are at odds over the conduct of the first-term mayor.
This time, residents and trustees raised concerns about Peterson obtaining keys to all of the filing cabinets and demanding an office in the village facility.
In non-binding motions passed 3-0 each, the trustees expressed displeasure with both actions.
When asked by Trustee Ken Lauer if he would surrender keys to the file cabinets, Peterson shook his head no. When the motion was made opposing setting up an office for the mayor -- workers have already started moving filing cabinets -- Peterson shook his head no.
He made no apparent vote on either motion.
Lauer, Keith Busch and Dave Bielec voted yes. Art Ianni was absent.
Since taking office, Peterson has been accused of firing village staff, lying, banning the employee of the sewer contractor from the sewer plant, and demanding employee passwords for computers.
The password incident garnered a warning from Donald O'Geen, a special district attorney handling the investigation into missing court money, for Peterson not to tamper with evidence.
Village officials are concerned that Peterson's acquisition of file cabinet keys and the desire to have an office in the building are further attempts to interfere with the investigation.
Former Village Justice Robert Alexander and his daughter, Brandi Watts, are the possible targets of the investigation following a comptroller's audit that found the court was allegedly missing at least $10,000.
O'Geen has been appointed special district attorney to help avoid any potential conflicts of interest that may exist with the Genesee County District Attorney's Office.
Debbie Graham, a longtime village employee, and wife of former trustee Al Graham (the sewer employee Peterson allegedly tried to have banned), raised the issue of the file cabinet keys during the public comment portion of the meeting.
She questioned why Peterson needed the keys.
"I have the authority to have the keys," he said.
Debbie Graham said that for keeping records properly secured and to avoid any accusations of missing records leveled against Peterson, Peterson shouldn't have a key. Lauer, Busch and Bielec all said they agreed.
"To be honest with you, Rosie, I don't trust you," Debbie Graham said.
"We all have people we don't trust," Peterson said.
Asked about establishing his own office in the building, Peterson said, "I have the authority and I'm going to exercise my authority."
Resident Greg Lang told Peterson that it appears he's trying to establish a dictatorship.
"You're doing whatever you want and nobody has enough guts to stop you," Lang said. "We used to be friends. You were a decent guy before you got that power. It went right to your head."
After the meeting, Al Graham asked a gentleman in the third row of the audience who he was. He identified himself as the attorney for the Village of Oakfield. He said he had been asked by Peterson to come to the meeting by Peterson to observe it.
The attorney is Reid Whiting, a Le Roy resident.
Peterson has previously tried to replace village attorney Mark Boylan. Whiting didn't reveal if he was there as a possible Peterson nominee for attorney or to assist Peterson with his situation in Corfu.
Al Graham asked Whiting what he thought of the meeting, and Whiting said it was "hostile."
Photo: Lauer, left, and Peterson.
Not knowing much about how
Not knowing much about how 'gov't' works, it's tough to even suggest what should be done in Corfu.
IF Peterson does have the authority to possess the keys, then I would assume the Village Charter must be written that way.
IF there were (some) 'proof' that the mayor is not fit for the position, I would also assume there were some method to have him removed.
As for (resident Greg Lang's) statement, ""You're doing whatever you want and nobody has enough guts to stop you," ...", I would say it's about time somebody in Corfu 'grew a pair'.
Concerning attorney Reid Whiting, in any dealing I had with the man, he is an upstanding person. That being said, we all know that attorneys are to 'fight' for their clients (to the best of their ability). I do believe that Reid wouldn't align himself with any person HE thought was 'corrupt'.
My suggestion, to anyone 'concerned' with this whole deal, would be to "copy, and send" (with Howard Owens' permission) all previous Batavian articles about this matter, to Reid Whiting. As I said, I do think he would know whether he wanted to embroil himself in this, but he may not know what's transpired so far.
Tough situation here, at least from the 'outside looking in'.
Ed, there isn't really
Ed, there isn't really anything in law to say he can or can't have the keys, and he is the mayor, so ...
And NYS has no recall procedure for municipal offices. Residents would have to convince the governor's office or the area Supreme Court (the way I read the village law, it's just the Supreme Court) to remove the mayor. That would be a tall wall to climb.
Put up a tent and charge
Put up a tent and charge admission because it looks like a circus to me.I remember when Town of Batavia meetings went something like this
Thanks, Howard. As for tall
Thanks, Howard. As for tall walls to climb, if I'm not mistaken, didn't a blind man climb Mt. Everest a couple years ago?
Given the right incentive, very little is insurmountable in life. The residents in Corfu might want to think about that.
Just sayin'!
His term would be over before
His term would be over before it would even reach the supreme court, most likely. Unfortunate but true.
Karlie's probably right --
Karlie's probably right -- Corfu mayor is a two-year term ... 18 months left on this term.
I will say that the board is
I will say that the board is doing what they can to stop Peterson from doing any harm. If you go back to articals Howard posted while Peterson was a trustee you will see that he wont stop. As soon as you stop one nasty plan of his he attacks from a different angle. You can go back years and see hes been after the clerks, The village clerk filed harassment charges against him before while he was trustee and again as Mayor. The former police admin also filed against him as a trustee. What he is doing is not new! He just has more power to do it. Every meeting has to be recorded because he says something one meeting then denies it the next. It seem every single meeting he is caught in a lie! When he is he just clams up and you get the smirk face just like Howard caught in the above pic He lied to peoples faces to get elected and now were stuck. I will say that more and more people are facing the fact that they voted for the wrong man and they are finding out that he lied to them to get their vote. If there was an election today he would be hard pressed to buy a vote. Right now the only thing we can do is shed light on what he does
By the way the law reads that
By the way the law reads that he gets access to the records as in he asks the clerk and she has to give them to him. It does not say that he can have the keys so he can come in at 2am and go thru them like he did the computers. He was NEVER denied any records by the clerks! Makes you wonder what he"s looking for that he doesn't want anyone to know about! At least the State Police came and took the court computers so he couldn't mess with them.
Village government as is has
Village government as is has become arcane, ridiculous and an unneeded tax burden for its residents. This ongoing fiasco in Corfu is proof of the desperate need to change the way that local government operates in this state. Eliminate villages or make them totally independent of towns, but in either case end the nonsense.