The East Syracuse Village Board on Monday unanimously voted to support the Nov. 6 suspension of East Syracuse Fire Chief Robert Russell and announced that a hearing relating to the suspension will be held at a later date.
Mayor Robert Tackman said the hearing will not be open to the public.
Russell was suspended in November due to a “personnel issue” that is being handled internally, Tackman said. The mayor would not offer further details on what the “personnel issue” was.
At its Dec. 1 meeting, the board of trustees voted to adopt a resolution that affirmed the suspension of Russell as fire chief pending a hearing to be held at a later date and to appoint attorney James Hughes to serve as an independent hearing examiner “for the purpose of making findings to be submitted to the village board,” according to the resolution.
Originally, a private meeting between Russell and involved parties was schedules for Nov. 20, but it was postponed, Tackman said.
While no charges against Russell have been made public, Tackman said the hearing will investigate the matters behind his suspension and the board will be able to make a decision as to the status of his employment at a later date.
According to Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, the village does not have to disclose any charges relating to Russell’s suspension until a hearing on the issue is held. Freeman, however, said he believes most courts would have a hearing like this open to the public.
Freeman cited the legal case MTR Herald Co. v. Weisenberg, which states that a hearing should be open to the public unless there is “a compelling reason for closure” such as that a public hearing would reveal intimate details of a person’s private life. If a body does find that is has compelling reasons to close such a hearing, those reasons should be stated “on the public record in as much detail as would be consistent with the reason for closure,” according to the legal decision.
This is the second time Russell has been suspended this year. In February, he was suspended for a week due to circumstances relating to another personnel issue, which also was not specified at that time.
According to Tackman, these two incidents are not related to the same issue, and the earlier issue was resolved when Russell was reinstated.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
