The public comment period at the Dec. 15 Lysander Town Board meeting turned into a shouting match over the Lysander Community Ice Arena and Councilor Melinda Shimer’s idea to remove board and public discussion from the minutes.
Lysander Republican Committee Chairman Mike Bishoff told the board he did not support Shimer’s idea of having Town Clerk Lisa Dell record resolution-only minutes.
“It would be a huge insult to the people of this town. I think you would be doing a disservice,” Bishoff told Supervisor John Salisbury. “It’s apparent, based on your past actions and the past actions of Councilor [Andy] Reeves and Councilor Shimer, you obviously have an axe to grind against the town clerk.”
Salisbury tried to interject, and Bishoff raised his voice, saying that Reeves filed a complaint against Dell with the New York State Attorney General’s office. Reeves confirmed that he did so.
“You’re out of order,” Salisbury said.
“No, you are out of order,” Bishoff replied.
Bishoff told Salisbury that he had been “disrespectful” to Councilor Roman Diamond and told Reeves that he had “impugned” Diamond for his age and for not owning property.
“I’ve taken enough of your abuse to last a lifetime,” Reeves said. He and Bishoff proceeded to yell at each other until Salisbury banged his gavel and told Bishoff to sit down.
“This is a disgrace to the whole community,” Salisbury said of the argument.
“No, Mr. Supervisor, you are a disgrace to this whole community, you arrogant SOB,” Bishoff said. A few other residents attending the meeting applauded.
Bishoff wasn’t the only resident to speak against the proposal to remove public and board comments from the minutes.
“It’s a lot easier to go back on the website and read the minutes than it is to start watching videos,” said resident Larry Barnett. “I don’t want to spend half an hour or an hour going through PAC-B … when I can scan the minutes in two minutes.”
Barnett told the board their “bickering is a cultural issue” that needs to be addressed.
Diamond then suggested the town board post audio recordings of its work sessions on the website. Currently, work sessions are not recorded and minutes are not taken.
Reeves said during the Sept. 22 meeting, Diamond suggested the board make a resolution to not approve the previous meeting’s minutes. Diamond said he made the suggestion because the board could not agree on what to do with the minutes. Reeves and Diamond shouted at each other until Salisbury banged his gavel again.
Cicero Town Councilor Mike Becallo stepped up to the microphone to share his thoughts as well. Salisbury protested because Becallo is not a Lysander resident.
“He’s a neighbor and a fellow town councilor,” Diamond said.
Salisbury allowed Becallo to speak.
“When I’m making decisions on current issues that are up, [minutes help] me see what the board in the past has decided on and it also gives me an idea of the history of outstanding issues,” Becallo said.
He added that minutes “keep elected officials on our toes” and help residents understand the discussion of issues.
“Lack of community involvement in community government means the government is failing its people,” Becallo said.
Finally, Dell addressed the board to defend the accuracy of her minutes and her methods.
“There’s no law on the books that says the town board can tell the town clerk how to do the minutes,” Dell said. Salisbury and Reeves said there is, and Reeves referred Dell to town attorney Tony Rivizzigno.
Hockey fight
A handful of residents whose children participate in the Syracuse Youth Hockey Association (the Blazers) addressed the board regarding practice time at the ice arena.
Town Clerk Lisa Dell provided The Baldwinsville Messenger with a flier from the SYHA Board that stated that the Blazers were “removed from all practice ice slots previously given under the [Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena] contract and the slots were given back to LYHA [the Lysander Hockey Association] and Camillus.”
Salisbury said the document was full of “misstatements,” and Reeves said the GBIA’s accounting records did not support the Blazers’ claims.
“We’re letting adults and parents with whatever agendas they have get in the way of our kids playing a competitive sport,” O’Neill said. She asked for “fair treatment of all teams and kids that want to play in that ice arena.”
Salisbury said the town board “has absolutely nothing to do with the assigning of the [ice] time.” Salisbury said he felt that Robyn Bentley-Graham, whom the town board hired as a management consultant for the ice arena in October, was working out well.
“We get nothing but good comments [about Bentley-Graham]. The only place we get bad comments is from the Syracuse Youth Hockey,” Salisbury said.
Resident Peter Schroeder said Bentley-Graham did not offer SYHA an ice time contract and only offered “ice time that nobody else wanted” — before 4 p.m. or at 9:45 p.m.
“That arena’s going to fail, and it’s going to fail because you’re not looking at the big picture.
Salisbury said the town would look into the situation.
“Yeah, you’ll look into it, but you don’t do anything. You’re great at talking, but we’re not seeing answers,” Schroeder said.
