OBSERVER Photo Pictured is the Fredonia Village Hall.

Under the administration of Mayor Athanasia Landis, the village of Fredonia has regularly ignored both its own charter and state law, former village attorney Samuel Drayo Jr. charged during a statement he read at last week’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Landis hit back, using her report time to allege misbehavior by Drayo in his advocacy for a village administrator — a position that she said was not even officially in the charter until the lawyer was about to retire. The mayor alleged that Drayo encouraged a law defining the position as a way to cover himself and Fredonia was getting back in line with its charter under her leadership.

Drayo makes his case

The longtime village employee, who retired in 2016 and still has a law practice in Fredonia, started off with the statement, “Trustee (Roger) Britz has not asked me to come here tonight and is not a client of mine.”

Drayo was referencing an incident earlier this year where Britz allegedly engaged in aggressive behavior at the village offices and the Department of Public Works, angered over the proposed purchase of a truck that the trustees hadn’t vetted.

“I want to thank Trustee Britz in public for having the courage to bring to our attention the unauthorized purchase and use of taxpayer money without prior board approval,” Drayo said. “This is apparently condoned by two elected officials — the mayor and the chair of the finance committee, Trustee (James) Lynden.

“Roger, you’ve taken a lot of unfair ctiticism from certain individuals because you were passionate about making sure our laws were obeyed,” Drayo continued. “The criticism against you, in my opinion, was motivated in large part by the desire of certain individuals to deflect from the serious and real issue, the unauthorized use of taxpayer money.”

Landis has openly considered filing a workplace violence accusation with the state Labor Department over Britz’s behavior. However, Drayo said it doesn’t meet the state’s standards for workplace violence, because there is no evidence of a verbal or physical threat of violence, unconsensual physical contact or stalking.

“If there is such evidence, why hasn’t it been presented?” Drayo asked. “Roger has the right to see the allegations made against him. He has not been given copies of the statements made against him and I’d like to know why.”

Britz allegedly used loud language while expressing anger during the incident, and Drayo said that is protected speech.

“It needs to be remembered, the First Amendment of our Constitution protects free speech and free expression,” the attorney said. “The First Amendment does not restrict speech to moderate levels of voice with certain decibels. Citizens in our country are free to raise their voice, in anger if they feel necessary to do so. Some people think yelling and raising of voices is unprofessional, and in some cases it may be, but unprofessional conduct is subjective and certainly does not constitute workplace violence.

“Should he be criticized and condemned for his passion in insisting on compliance with our village charter? Not in my opinion,” Drayo added. “The real issue in all of this is the use of taxpayer money without prior board approval, which is a serious violation of our village charter. … Finding a supposedly good deal for purchasing a truck is no excuse for violating our charter.”

Drayo also criticized village trustees for a lack of a resolution on the Central Avenue paving, “though maybe I missed it.” He thanked Streets Superintendent Tony Gugino and the Department of Public Works for their work on the project — but told trustees that an agreement from an informal discussion in a workshop is not the same as a resolution.

“I’m concerned our charter is not consistently adhered to. This will only lead to conflicts and problems,” Drayo concluded.

Landis defends herself

The mayor followed with a lengthy statement of her own, which she labeled “Truth, Lies And A Law That Was Never There.” Her full statement is on Page A5 of today’s edition.

She first mused that she wanted to talk about the positive things going on in Fredonia, such as the Central Avenue paving project, but was instead forced to use her report time to defend herself.

Landis said that “state village law assigns administrative duties to the mayor. Our charter is silent on the matter, so state law prevails.” A village board can appoint a non-elected administrator, but the villagers must vote to approve the creation of an administrator position, she added.

In 1967, Fredonia’s board created an administrator position. “However,” the mayor said, “because in 1967 the board was not authorized by the charter to create that position, the village stepped out of the boundaries of the charter where it stayed for the next 10 years.”

The position was repealed in January 1977, she continued, only to be re-established that September. “Apparently aware of the fact that the charter never authorized transfer of power, the Board of Trustees, under the direction of attorney Sam Drayo Jr., combined the positions of village clerk and village treasurer into one. The new position was arbitrarily called ‘Village Administrator,'” Landis said. “Just as before though, neither act was authorized by the charter, so once again, and for the next 21 years, the village was moved outside the margins of the charter.”

The mayor went on to say that the word “administrator” was only added to the charter in December 2016. “Right before he retired, Mr. Drayo very quietly pushed through a local law and amended the charter, with no other explanation than to ‘codify and clarify practices previously adopted’ and ‘tighten some loose ends.’ I call it, ‘covering your tracks,'” Landis said. “Of course, there was no referendum involved, only a six days’ notice for public hearing.”

Drayo defended his decision not to call a referendum by saying that as a charter village, all the power rested with the board, Landis said. However, “as for there being no transfer of power, the resolution said one thing, the practice was drastically different,” she said.

The mayor went on to list allegations about the behavior of Richard St. George, the village administrator when she was elected in 2015. “The former administrator repeatedly and in the presence of many called himself ‘Head of the Heads,’ “ Landis said. “The former administrator repeatedly and in the presence of many, accused employees of insubordination when they talked to me after talking to him, clearly believing that the mayor was his subordinate. … The former administrator not only thought himself above the mayor; he thought himself above the board.”

St. George retired in 2018 and the administrator position was split into a treasurer and a clerk. Landis concluded, “My administration has returned the village to its charter. The accusations to the opposite are unsubstantiated fabrications. I invite everyone to read the background information, ask the questions you need answers to, and come to your own conclusions.”

Sedota: “I’m guilty, Sam”

Village Treasurer Jim Sedota later came to the defense of Landis and the trustees on the issue of the truck purchase.

“I’m guilty, Sam,” he said to Drayo. “It was me — it wasn’t the mayor, it wasn’t the board. Tony had a chance to buy a truck. He came to the board and asked permission and it was an informal decision but there were more than two board members there. … He brought it in and I OK’d the purchase order which I shouldn’t have done at that time.”

The truck seller sought his payment and Lynden, as claims auditor, OK’d it, Sedota continued. “I found out later that day that happened … I told Mr. Gugino, knowing the board was going to pass the resolution on Monday, to hold the truck, put it in the garage, not drive it until Tuesday,” the treasurer said.