Public comment portions of Fredonia Board of Trustees meetings continue to be a source of turmoil.

Mayor Michael Ferguson unilaterally declared at the latest meeting that the two-section format adopted in previous weeks would get dropped. Instead, the televised portion about agenda items would get cut, and an untelevised portion intended to address any items would remain at the end of the meeting.

“I am moving the public portion to the end of the meeting as per the discussions I have had with our attorneys,” Ferguson said, emphasizing the first “I.” “Part of it is because of the abuse of this section.”

The mayor continued, “We offered two sections last time. The (first) section was things on the agenda, of which two people in the room decided to be cute and say, ‘The word agenda is on the agenda so we want to speak both times.'” Ferguson pointedly read through the entire list of requirements for speakers, even though he was not yet allowing them to speak.

Former Trustee James Lynden barked from the crowd that only trustees are supposed to change the public comment portions of their own meetings. He was ignored and the initial public comments session was skipped.

However, Fredonia Public Access did wind up televising part of the end-of-meeting comments portion, in a “Part 2” meeting video. It picked up partway through comments by Andrew Ludwig. The “Save Our Reservoir” stalwart also managed to make his voice heard during the meeting, by submitting a letter that Treasurer Erlyssa LeBeau had to read out. The letter was basically the same as his column in a previous OBSERVER.

“You messing with the public comment is just pathetic,” Ludwig concluded before stepping off the podium.

He was replaced by Helen Ihasz, who has slammed Ludwig for his behavior previously and sniped, “Unlike others, I’m going to follow the rules.”

Ihasz had a question about contracts answered by Ferguson, and then snapped, “Now I’m going to break the rules and say the reason public comment has been removed has been because of all of you,” evidently referring to “Save Our Reservoir” members.

“Thank you,” cracked someone from the crowd. Trustee LeeAnn Lazarony corrected Ihasz that the public comment portion was not entirely ended.

Lynden took the podium with statements against consolidating local municipalities. He then addressed the handling of public comments.

“We went through this before when you tried to change this multiple times over a number of meetings, and it was realized that it’s only the board that can address procedures for open meetings,” Lynden said to trustees. “You did that — maybe it wasn’t the best way to do it, but you did that. Now (Ferguson) has changed it again on his own. You did not vote to change the procedure. That’s illegal!”

Lynden advocated for the village to keep its water system independent. Dadie Sedota then spoke, criticizing village officials for their behavior. Sedota is also a “Save Our Reservoir” member.

She said they did not provide a “welcoming atmosphere” for government. Sedota, a Fredonia High School teacher who is adviser to its student newspaper, referred to high school students in the crowd. “These students are here to see government in action, and what are they seeing? A bunch of adults acting — Middle school students do better.”

She soon continued, “Reading that whole list of what we can’t do… and last week, a former school administrator (Ludwig), the police are called to escort him out of the meeting? That is nonsense, that is nonsense, and I think the students would probably think that is too.”

Sedota went on to opine that the village board “doesn’t even seem to welcome us, you don’t seem to want us here.” She complimented Trustee Paul Wandel for planning an open session about village water issues, “where people can actually talk, because in the meetings in the last year… we had the mayor yelling at us and getting angry because we were asking questions.”

Sam Drayo pointed out that while Ferguson often says the state’s Open Meetings Law is silent on public comments at meetings, “It doesn’t prohibit public comments. The board, if it sees fit, can allow public comments at its meetings, and allow it to be televised by Public Access, which is run by the village and paid by its taxpayers.”

He declared, “This new restriction on speaking by Fredonia citizens needs to stop. I respectfully ask that you return the village board meetings to the long accepted practice of allowing Fredonia citizens the right to address their elected representatives at public meetings on any village matter, and televising those concerns for the public to hear.”

Tom Carpenter, the final public speaker of the meeting, accused Fredonia’s officials of “stifling dissent,” calling it “un-American.”

There was some misbehavior by the public, not strictly related to the comments controversy, after the meeting. A couple people got shoved, chairs knocked over, and police were called.

Ferguson offered a response a couple days after the meeting, phoning in from a New York Conference of Mayors session.

He said the Board of Trustees has given him the OK to suspend the public comments portion of their meetings for three months. The board has not yet formally done so.

Ferguson added that legally speaking, the mayor can set the agenda of trustees meetings — to schedule and remove public comments as he wishes. “This stuff that it is illegal to put it at the end is absolutely not true,” he said.

Ferguson commented that “seven or eight” other mayors at NYCOM were

complaining about their meetings getting out of control.

“I find it ironic how they’re standing up during the public portion and they’re talking about me taking away the public portion,” he said of his critics.