Tony Gugino
Fredonia Department of Public Works Supervisor Tony Gugino is retiring, and the village Board of Trustees acted quickly Monday to hire Scott Marsh as his replacement.
Mayor Douglas Essek began the meeting by reading Gugino’s brief retirement letter. Gugino, Fredonia’s DPW chief since 2018, wrote he was resigning as of June 16 in order to retire so he could spend more time with family.
The trustees accepted Gugino’s letter then went into a 40-minute-long executive session “to discuss the employment history of persons or persons involved with the DPW,” according to the motion of trustee Roger Britz.
jdagostino@observertoday.com
In this photo from Fredonia Access Television, trustees are pictured as the mayor joined via video. From left are Heidi Powell, James Lynden, Roger Britz, Scott Johnston and EvaDawn Bashaw.
Monday evening’s special meeting, which was televised only through the Fredonia Public Access Channel, said it all. When it came to the final approval of the 2021-22 village of Fredonia budget, Mayor Douglas Essek was on the outside looking in.
Seated in village hall were the five trustees while Essek joined the meeting by video. Residents, who wanted details, were nearly facing some of the same obstacles.
Fredonia s budget approval reveals rift | News, Sports, Jobs observertoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from observertoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mayor Doug Essek was not part of the trustee gathering on Monday.
Monday evening’s special meeting, which was televised only through the Fredonia Public Access Channel, said it all. When it came to the final approval of the 2021-22 village of Fredonia budget, Mayor Douglas Essek was on the outside looking in.
Seated in village hall were the five trustees while Essek joined the meeting by video. Residents, who wanted details, were nearly facing some of the same obstacles.
As of Tuesday morning, there was no agenda published on the village’s website for the previous evening’s meeting and no details regarding the budget.
Fredonia Village Hall is pictured.
So this is where local governments that are supposed to look out for the best interests of its constituents become heavy handed. Instead of looking at the significant issues such as the continuing water problems in the village of Fredonia, or the drying up of revenues from state aid to assist in the closing of the NRG power plant in Dunkirk it’s the mundane stuff that is grabbing all the attention.
Well why not? It is easier for local elected officials to sweat the small stuff than take on tough decisions.
Fredonia, for its part, is caught up in dictating fees to users specifically in the food trucks. Within the last four years, the fee was put in place to balance some of the competition between longtime eateries in the village and those making a road trip for a day or two to see some revenues.