OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Steve Mead, a former Arkwright Highway Superintendent, strongly objected to the Town Board’s proposed local law to change the role to an appointed position.

ARKWRIGHT — Roughly an hour worth of public comments sent a very clear message to the Arkwright Town Board. The residents — at least those who care enough to show up to speak their minds — want the Highway Superintendent position left alone.

Even after pushback a month prior, Brian McAvoy went into the public hearing optimistic regarding his idea to change the Highway Superintendent position from a full-time, elected position to redefined position appointed by the Town Board.

That optimism didn’t last long.

Ten residents attended the public hearing, and not one of them said a positive word about the idea. Among the guests were former Arkwright Highway Superintendents Steve Mead and Jim Ziemba, who each opposed the idea a month prior, as well.

The public hearing was much less cordial than the prior month’s meeting. Residents talked over each other and ignored McAvoy’s attempts to provide structure for each resident to speak.

“If everybody is so doggone passionate about this, I really wish you could’ve helped us out in 2020,” McAvoy said, referring to the difficulty the Town had in finding a full-time candidate when current Highway Superintendent Lisa Waldron first took over. “Now everybody comes six years later when we’ve got things rolling, and we want to make a simple change like this.”

By the end of the hearing, after constant criticism, raised voices and personal shots, McAvoy abandoned the idea entirely.

“I don’t feel like I want to go forward with this,” McAvoy said. “It’s not worth fighting. I didn’t come to this job to be criticized, to be told how bad I am at it, it’s no fun. We’re not going to do it.”

McAvoy initially pushed the idea forward after discussing the matter with Waldron, who was open to a change in her job description and hours. For any change to take place, the Town Board needed to adopt a local law to change the role to an appointed position. It would then be listed on the ballot in November to give voters the final say.

It didn’t get that far because of the public outcry against the idea.

McAvoy defended his stance for a good portion of the public hearing, but residents grew more and more angry as it went on. One resident got up and left in the middle of the debate. Several others raised their voices and took shots at McAvoy and Waldron.

“You just sent one very nice resident out the door pissed off as hell. Now you’ve gotten other people pissed off as hell. You’ve got a whole room of pissed off people here,” Steve Mead said to McAvoy.

Mead then asked why it is worth it to consider, and continued to yell for roughly another minute straight. “Now you’ve got me pissed off, and I don’t want to be pissed off,” Mead shouted at McAvoy. “You and I grew up together, but damn it, you’ve really, really got a fire going in this town that’s bad. I’m concerned, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. This topic is sending us off the top.”

McAvoy defined a “philosophical difference” from his viewpoint and the residents in objection regarding the Highway Superintendent role. “I don’t consider the Highway Superintendent to be an elected job,” McAvoy said. “I consider it to be a job. It’s a job you can raise a family on.”

To further his point, McAvoy highlighted that while the President of the United States, the Governor of New York, and the County Executive are elected, but members of the cabinet for higher offices are typically appointed. McAvoy felt that residents have their say in electing the Town Board, then it is up to the Board to choose the most qualified candidate – resident or not – to serve as Highway Superintendent.

Citing the fact that a Highway Superintendent has been elected the entire time it has existed in the town, one resident said, “It’s been done that way for 150 years or whatever the town has been around and you’re trying to change this all of a sudden. I don’t understand why you guys think you’ve got the authority.”

Another resident called the change “a slippery slope.” He then later questioned what the next step could be.

McAvoy hoped the switch would provide several benefits to the Town, including the ability to fill the position with a qualified candidate from outside the limits of the town. The Town Board felt the role would be much easier to fill with a qualified candidate on a part-time basis than it would be with the current residency requirements.

A switch could have also saved the town money, as Waldron currently receives a salary of $55,702 for the role of Highway Superintendent. Making the role part-time could have saved the Town quite a bit of money if the duties of the job were redefined and the hours were reduced. The actual duties of the department would not have changed.

Whether it was a lack of trust from the residents or just an overall hesitance to change, the feedback McAvoy and the Board received was clear. Those who cared enough to show up and speak their minds were unanimously against the idea.

Had the local law been adopted by the Town Board, then approved by voters in November, the change would not take effect until Waldron’s current term expired or was relinquished by resignation. Now that the Town Board has dropped the idea, Waldron will still be the full-time, elected Highway Superintendent through 2027, and the position will be up for election in November of 2027.

When asked for his opinion by the public, Board member Bruce Gustafson said he preferred an elected Highway Superintendent rather than an appointed one. Board member Polly Gambino believed the Town Board was better served focusing on building projects like the new Town Hall, rather than the argument on the Highway position.

After McAvoy decided the issue was not worth pursuing any further, the Board voted to table the proposed local law. Gambino voted against tabling the matter because she wanted it dropped for good, but McAvoy stated the Board has no intention on attempting to pass the law again at a later date in time for it to be listed on the ballot this year.

McAvoy said, “The public overwhelmingly is telling us they don’t like it. Not a single person from the public here tonight gave even an iota of support for it. It’s unanimously against the idea. I think we should table it and move on.”