Dunkirk’s Common Council passed a 2022 budget over Mayor Wilfred Rosas’ veto on Monday.

The council decided 4-1 to override Rosas, with Councilman Marty Bamonto voting “no.” Council members Nancy Nichols, Jim Stoyle, Paul VanDenVouver and Don Williams voted “yes.”

There were actually four votes to override, each going 4-1. Two of the resolutions passed in those votes established Dunkirk Boadwalk and garbage/refuse funds, separate from the main budget.

Those funds were major sticking points for Rosas and his financial brass, leading to his veto. They hold that the funds will wind up costing the city and its taxpayers in the long run. The council majority feels just the opposite — that Dunkirk will save money because the funds will be self-sustaining.

The council’s final budget has no property tax increase for 2022. That was the same as in Rosas’ proposed spending plan.

Prior to the votes, Bamonto asked Chief Fiscal Officer Marsha Beach and Treasurer Mark Woods to reiterate their opposition to the council’s budget.

“I think the mayor’s veto message spelled it out. I was hoping the council would have a chance to reconsider,” she said.

Bamonto asked her to confirm that nothing had changed since the council initially proposed the amedments that upset the mayor and his administration. She said that was the case. Woods, as it turned out, didn’t say anything.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, city Democratic Party chair Ned Divine and Natalie Luczkowiak, the Democrat councilmember-elect for the First Ward, rose to criticize the amendments.

“Before the Nov. 2 election, the entire council met multiple times to discuss the mayor’s 2022 budget, with everyone agreeing on the planned budget,” Luczkowiak said. “Following the election, the council met again, this time without Marty Bamonto … and without his knowledge. Marty is the city finance committee’s chairperson. On the Friday before the last council meeting, radical changes, radical revisions, were handed in.

“As a result, the voices of voters were neither heard or represented,” she continued. “This was deceptive, and an insult to Marty’s voters, as well as all voters in Dunkirk.”

Luczkowiak went on to vow that she would be “truly transparent” and added, “Large disparities necessitate discussion and compromise. No communication divides our city. Communication fosters compromise and unity, allowing us all to be happy and proud of a respected council.”

Nichols objected later on to the comments of Divine and Luczkowiak.

“We just had a comment on the budget and the decisions that were made and what we’re working with,” she said. “We’ve had many budget workshops that were open to the public. I saw no one that was in this audience come to those budget workshops — so I don’t want to hear anything when they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Stoyle, like Nichols a Republican, also bashed the Democrats in the room.

“Even Joe Biden calls a Republican once in a while,” he said. “I missed the last meeting, but I wanted to talk about a few items. But after reading an article in the paper calling us a renegade council, a 20-pound weight went on this side.”