Village of Fredonia trustees will never get it. This group of representatives, no matter who they have been over the last 12 years, keep forgetting they work for the residents — not themselves.

In fact, since their meetings are broadcast on public access you would think they would at least try to put a better face on what’s happening in government than what they have done for more than a decade: sit back and fight amongst themselves.

It is not a pretty sight.

Even when a special meeting was called to address a simple issue of repairing the village hall elevator, the trustees and mayor have to fight about something else. This time: what is a special meeting.

“Is there some language either in village law or the charter that says a special meeting can only be held specifically for one item or that a meeting is not a meeting?” Mayor Doug Essek questioned Trustee James Lynden during the Jan. 29 gathering. “This is a meeting. It’s a special meeting. It could be a regular meeting. I would think that any business that comes up in the meantime can be addressed. What if we had another emergency item? We can’t address that? … My opinion is a meeting is a meeting whether it’s a special meeting or a regularly scheduled meeting.”

Give us all a break.

Here we are in a global pandemic and a group of adults is fighting about this piddly issue? It is a poor look for a group who is supposed to have the village’s best interests at heart.