Lawsuit stems from comments at Nov. 2019 meeting
By David Tyler
Publisher
Ian Hunter, owner of Last Chance Recycling, Inc., which has been embroiled in a series of lawsuits with the town of Cicero related to the town’s brush removal program, has filed a lawsuit alleging that former Cicero Supervisor Mark Venesky slandered him at a town board meeting in November.
The suit, which was filed in state Supreme Court on Jan. 24, is seeking $1 million in damages. It names Venesky personally as the defendant, and does not name the town of Cicero.
The suit claims that at the Nov. 13, 2019, meeting of the town board, Venesky publicly called Hunter a “liar,” a “cheat,” and said that Hunter is “a guy who couldn’t even put a truck on the road.”
Additionally, the suit claims that Venesky went out of his way to publicly slander Hunter because there was no business between Last Chance Recycling, Inc., and the Town of Cicero on the meeting agenda and any court proceedings between the two parties had been wrapped up by Nov. 13.
In his comments on Nov. 13, Venesky does not mention Hunter or Last Chance Recycling, Inc. by name, except when reading a brief section of the judge’s decision in the most recent suit between Last Chance Recycling, Inc., and the town. In the decision, the judge states that Last Chance failed to provide all the necessary information required in the bid specifications.
“You should ask him for an apology,” Venesky said at the meeting, “because this guy cost you, the taxpayers, over $40,000 in litigation fees.”
“Hopefully this guy will go away,” Venesky continued. “This guy was a liar, a cheat, and what he said was wrong.”
The comments have since been available to the public in an audio file of the meeting on the town website, ciceronewyork.net.
