By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
In the wake of its volatile Jan. 5 meeting, the Lysander Town Board has made some changes to its operations. Attendees of the Jan. 19 town board meeting noticed an armed, off-duty Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy providing security for the board’s work sessions and meetings, and the town board has instituted new rules for public comments during meetings.
“The goal of this town board, and these town board meetings, is to afford the opportunity for us … to get the work of the town of Lysander done, and to hear from you,” said Deputy Supervisor Bob Geraci, who chaired the meeting in Supervisor Joe Saraceni’s absence. “We want to make sure we do this in the most safe and respectful manner possible.”
There will now be two citizens’ comment periods, one toward the beginning of the meeting, during which residents may only address agenda items, and one at the end of the meeting during which residents may only discuss town-related business, not personnel matters. Residents have five minutes to speak during each comment period.
Geraci said residents who would like to discuss a particular town employee should contact the town board in writing and their concerns will be addressed outside of the public meetings.
Several residents attending the meeting questioned the board’s decision to hire security.
“I see we already have the security person, and we haven’t even voted on it yet. Can someone explain to me how that occurred?” asked resident Kevin Rode.
“It sounds like it’s the cart before the horse, but we were advised by our town attorney that we could actually bring this person on board provided that we are going to have the vote with a majority,” Geraci said.
“What precipitated bringing security to these meetings?” asked resident Gail Tosh. “Because as far as I can see, this is more boring than church to me.”
Tosh said this was the first town board meeting she had attended, so Geraci summarized the chaos of the Jan. 5 meeting.
“We had to go into recess because the meeting got out of control. Until such time as this town board feels confident that control will be maintained at all times, we decided … to retain an Onondaga County officer,” Geraci said. “There was a level of concern expressed by town employees and others that it reached the point that people were concerned about their personal safety.”
Tosh also opposed the cost. The board voted to hire Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies Christopher Wall, Amy Bollinger and John Clochessy to provide security at work sessions and board meetings at an hourly rate of $40 with a three-hour minimum.
Geraci said only one of the three deputies will be present at each meeting. He estimated the annual cost of security to be $2,880 and said the money will come from contingency funds.
“We only pay our town historian $892 a year,” said resident Fred Burtch. “I appreciate [the deputy’s] work, but he’s supporting the wall back there.”
Burtch asked if the deputy would leave “as soon as the gavel is hit” or if he or she would stay until everyone leaves the building.
“I’m presuming that our security person will stay around until the premises are vacated,” Geraci said.
Burtch referenced a November 2011 incident in which then-supervisor Barry Bullis poured coffee on Burtch’s recording equipment. Bullis was charged with criminal mischief. Burtch said he wanted to make sure the sheriff’s deputy was there to protect residents as well as town officials.
Resident Rob Stanek, who works in the security industry, said the security guard position should have been subject to open bid. Geraci said it was important to the board to act “expeditiously” to provide security for the work sessions and meetings, but the town is not required to put professional services out to bid. He encouraged Stanek to contact the town about future security agreements.
“There’s a difference between requirements and what you owe your constituents,” said resident Abigail Moore.
Moore also asked about the town board’s “standards of decorum.”
“We would want us and the rest of the audience to act like we would act in front of your grandmother,” Geraci said.
Moore asked what the sheriff’s deputy would be authorized to do if a town board member felt threatened and asked what would happen if a resident were ejected from a meeting and decided to sue the town.
“Would this board act capriciously and arbitrarily in terms of ‘we don’t like what you’re saying, you’re out of here?’ No,” Geraci said. “You’re asking a lot of ‘what ifs.’ All we’re trying to do is make the forum a safe space.”
Tosh said she felt uncomfortable and unsafe having an armed guard present.
“I don’t see the need for an armed guard. I’m not extremely happy about guns,” she said. “I’m wondering was it really just an uncomfortable feeling of, ‘Oh my gosh, so many people don’t agree with what I’m saying and I have to protect myself with an armed guard and we’re going to push this through before anyone has a chance to say anything about it,’ or is it a real threat?”
“Nobody has a crystal ball,” Geraci said. “It was our best guess, it was our best judgment that we needed to [hire security]. If you and the rest of the residents can convince this board that we made the wrong decision, we’re not obligated to keep security in this room. I would rather be safe than sorry.”
“It makes me feel strange to have an armed guard watching me conduct my democratic right,” Tosh said. “I’ve lived in countries where they didn’t have the same sort of government that we do — totalitarian government — and I was used to the police being around and seeing guns. This reminds me of that, and it makes me feel unsafe in my own country.”
Burtch said he had corresponded with two neighboring town supervisors about the Lysander Town Board’s changes to the public comment periods and its hiring of security.
“Both of them said, ‘What they’re trying to do is suppress public speech, and it’s disgusting,’” Burtch said.
“We’ll let the audience judge if this board ever dares to suppress free speech because that’s the last thing we would do,” Geraci said.
