“I have zero respect for that mayor,” Councilman-at-large Paul VanDenVouver told the OBSERVER on Wednesday, a day after a heated Dunkirk Common Council meeting. “He thinks he can just come in and make decisions for the council, and he can’t. He’s one of the biggest liars I have ever known.”

The meeting Tuesday became heated about half-way through when questions were brought up about a paralegal position in the city that, according to First Ward Councilman Don Williams, never passed a resolution.

Arguments on both sides broke out several more times as the meeting dragged on, leading to VanDenVouver kicking Dunkirk Mayor Wilfred Rosas out of the meeting altogether.

“It was a Memorial Day event, that’s what I was trying to say,” Rosas stated in regards to overtime that was called into question involving his brother Hector Rosas. “When we heard that Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell were coming down, we had literally 48 hours to plan an event. We met on that Saturday and Hector was assigned the event.”

Wilfred Rosas

“Seeing as that is his job as festivals chairman, that’s where the two hours of overtime came in.”

Rosas went on to share that, in his opinion, the whole thing is a personal vendetta.

“It was very rude — a lot of what they talked about could have been called in and inquired about,” Rosas said. “Some of those points don’t need to come to a meeting; they just want to make a public show out of it.”

Rosas said the incident leading to him leaving the virtual meeting was embarrassing and sad, and does no justice for the people of Dunkirk.

VanDenVouver, however, said the next year-and-a-half is going to be tough for Rosas. He said the whole situation at the meeting was “very unprofessional.”

“If the mayor never wants to attend another meeting that’s fine by me,” VanDenVouver said. “I’m actually looking into whether or not I can suspend him from a few meetings following last night.”

One statement that VanDenVouver made that stood out was calling Rosas “weak.” When asked about who he considered strong, VanDenVouver replied that “Dick Frey was a very strong mayor, hardworking and came to all the events.”

“It’s all about accountability in the city,” VanDenVouver continued “The mayor is signing off on overtime for his brother, and this wasn’t a one off two hours. He’s collecting two hours every week in overtime. That’s an additional $13,000 padding his retirement, coming out of the taxpayers’ pockets.”