On Monday, April 27, Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson had me unjustly removed from the Village Board meeting by a Fredonia police officer for insisting to speak about an agenda item during the first public comment session of that meeting. The mayor had neither cause nor the authority to have me removed from this meeting. I left that meeting willingly out of respect for one of Fredonia’s Finest, who was visibly uncomfortable with the position that he had been put in by the mayor.

According to the board’s own resolution, village residents are allowed to speak about agenda items during this first public comment session. The second public comment session is clearly on the agenda of every Village Board meeting, in spite of the mayor’s claim that it is not. The regulations, rules and broadcasting policy of either comment session should therefore be a topic to be addressed at every village board meeting.

What the mayor did not want the public to hear about once again is that the first public comment session is broadcasted and recorded by Public Access Television and also posted on YouTube but for reasons unexplained by the village board, the second public comment session is not broadcast or recorded and posted by Public Access TV.

What possible reason could the mayor and the board have to end the broadcasting and recording of village board meetings before the second public comment session? It’s not too hard to understand the board’s unspoken motives. Mayor Ferguson and the Village Board do not want the citizens of Fredonia to hear from their fellow citizens about village issues.

And they certainly do not want their comments and statements made during the meetings to be fact checked by the public and then broadcast during the second public comment session on local access television and posted on YouTube.

Also clearly written in the board resolution regarding the public comment sessions is the statement that the board may remove speakers who do not follow the rules governing these comment sessions. The board also gave themselves the authority to restrict the speaking rights and possibly ban rule violators from attending future meetings.

The guidelines in this board resolution do not give the mayor the authority to have anyone removed from a public meeting. Only the board has this authority. Although not stated in the resolution, unless a crime is being committed it has to be the case that the Village Board must vote to have an individual removed from a village board meeting. A citizen can not be justly removed from a meeting simply because the mayor does not like what they are going to speak about.

Although it’s quite possible the board could have voted contrary to their own resolution and had me removed from that meeting, no vote to have me removed from the village board meeting on April 27 occurred. Even if the board had contradicted themselves and voted for my expulsion from that meeting, it still would have been unjust. I did not violate any meeting protocol regarding public comment.

The mayor and certain board members seem to think that being elected by a majority of voters gives them some sort of mandate to act as they please. I seriously doubt that the mayor or any board member would have been elected to their positions if they had stated openly while campaigning that they would be stifling voices, restricting public comment and violating citizen’s First Amendment Rights.

I also do not think that voters would have responded favorably to candidates telling the public that they would vote in favor of joining the North County Water District over the much less expensive option of simply upgrading the village’s water treatment plant, dam and reservoir. And I am certain voters would not have gone to the polls in support of unchecked spending and the resulting 56% tax increase. But as we have sadly seen at all levels of government, once elected, politicians often behave quite differently from how they promised to act.

Village government has spoken about how available they are to the public for the discussion of various topics. The mayor and board members often proclaim how they want to hear from the public and they encourage citizens to call them on the telephone. But it is quite obvious that our elected officials do not want to hear from the public when those words are spoken on the record while being televised and recorded and then posted on YouTube.

In attendance at the April 27 meeting were educators and a former Fredonia school board member. Fredonia school board meetings have two public comment sessions and both are recorded and posted on YouTube for transparency. How can educators and a former school board member, or anyone who values democratic principles, rationalize the lack of transparency and the violation of First Amendment Rights by the mayor and the Village Board?

As I voluntarily left the meeting with the Fredonia Police Officer, a retired teacher, clapped her hands in delight. I have to wonder what to think of a Village Board and a former school board member who sat silently in tacit agreement while the mayor disregarded the conditions of a board resolution, And what do you make of an educator who applauds when an elected official violates a citizen’s First Amendment Rights?

Citizens of Fredonia should see this concerning lack of transparency and violation of First Amendment Rights as a wake up call. What are the mayor and the Village Board trying to keep from the public?

The mayor and the board’s mismanagement of Fredonia’s water system has the public frustrated and grasping for any perceived quick fix to the village’s water woes, no matter how harmful to the village it might be in the long run. Regardless of anyone’s opinion of Fredonia’s water plans or of the Save Our Reservoir group, the lack of transparency and the suppression of First Amendment Rights by this board and mayor is just as concerning as their mismanagement of Fredonia’s water system.

When government tells me to stop asking questions, that is a signal to ask more questions. When I am told I can’t exercise my freedom of speech, it’s time to speak more often and more loudly. Anyone wishing to see the second public comment session of village board meetings can visit the Save Our Reservoir Facebook page and/or YouTube channel. SOR wants the citizens of Fredonia to see what the mayor and the board do not want you to see.

Andrew Ludwig is a retired math teacher and a retired public school and Catholic school administrator. He currently works as a substitute teacher in Chautauqua County.