Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson

Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson defended himself and Village Hall against a critical state financial audit, and criticized the termination of Department of Public Works Director David Bird, in comments to the OBSERVER this week.

“They report on what happened,” Ferguson said of the state Comptroller’s Office audit. “We asked for extensions (on sending financial reports). Us not being on a typical (January to December) fiscal year, we get our audits late. We always tell the state that, they tell us it’s going to be fine.”

Ferguson stated, “There were no controls when I took over, for the most part. Department heads were asked to spend within budget, but there was no reporting on spending until bills came in.” However, since early in his mayorship, department heads can’t spend without the authorization of trustees and Treasurer Erlyssa LeBeau.

Ferguson also declared, “To go from a 46% tax increase (for the 2025-26 fiscal year) to a 2% tax increase shows we’re handling our finances.”

The mayor went on to downplay the list of corrective actions in the audit, which the village is supposed to provide an action plan on within 90 days. He said Village Hall knew what the actions were going to be eight months ago, and corrections “are in place for the current (2025-26) budget and for the next budget as well.”

Regarding the removal of Bird, Ferguson said, “I thought Dave was doing a good job.”

He said of the three trustees who voted to fire Bird, “I respect their rights to vote as they do. I didn’t think it was the right vote.”

Ferguson said Bird’s DPW team “respected him.” The mayor added, “I didn’t always agree with Dave when he was a trustee. He turned out to be a great employee.

“Look at (recently repaved) Central Avenue, look at what’s happened in the last three months. We had a great DPW leader in Scott Marsh, and Dave filled his shoes well.”

Trustees Ben Brauchler, Christine Cruz Keefe and LeeAnn Lazarony voted to terminate Bird at Monday’s trustees meeting. The vote was at the end of the meeting after an executive session. Trustee Paul Wandel voted “no,” and Trustee Jon Espersen was not present.

Ferguson suggested a resolution to overturn Bird’s termination might be on the agenda of trustees’ next workshop Monday. However, he acknowledged that unless at least one of the trio that voted to fire Bird changes their minds, the resolution will fail.