There is a responsibility that comes with being a supervisor. It is even greater when you are serving the community.

That is why it is so discouraging to see what happened in Cassadaga. Sam Alaimo, who is the village’s Department of Public Works supervisor, was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, trespassing and tampering after an incident June 6 at the Valley Outdoors business at Route 60 and Maple Street.

“At this point, there’s nothing we can do,” Cassadaga Deputy Mayor Bill Astry said of the situation. “He’s innocent until proven guilty.”

That is not completely true. If Alaimo has been charged, then something did go wrong. The village can suspend the employee — especially if he allegedly mistreated a taxpayer.

But this could be another instance of municipal boards not being tough enough on staff or those they hire. Who can forget what happened in the summer of 2022 in Fredonia when an employee with a torch killing weeds created a fire at a local tavern? There were no criminal charges, but the Village Board could have come out with a statement of some sort of discipline. It never did.

In both these cases, the government was taking the side of its staff when their positions exist due to the residents they serve. It is one more reason the public has lost faith in local leadership that follows the “do as we say not as we do” motto.