Lumberland residents challenge board at heated meeting

Petition to change town’s classification is filed

By SANDY LONG

GLEN SPEY, NY — Residents of the Town of Lumberland packed the town hall on March 14 to address a variety of concerns. Some arrived with flyers, others with a petition. Underlying most of the issues is an increasing dissatisfaction with practices and decisions of the town board.

The meeting became contentious early, when council member Nadia Rajsz charged that she had asked supervisor John LiGreci for a copy of the town’s savings account balances and was refused. LiGreci countered that the balances were included in reports provided to the council members, but Rajsz called the amounts “line items” and reasserted her request for the figures.

Next, councilman Joseph Carr read a letter to “clear the air” regarding his recent removal from all board liaison positions. “Supervisor LiGreci doesn’t have the courage to speak the truth,” Carr stated, adding, “I have always strived to do my best,” as he explained his view of the circumstances surrounding the changes to his board assignments.

Council member Rajsz was also relieved of her liaison assignments, which carry a $50 per month stipend. Carr’s and Rajsz’s new assignments as “representative” or “alternate” are not compensated.

LiGreci, who made the changes, defended his actions. “The supervisor has a lot of responsibilities and has to have liaisons he is comfortable working with. I’m not quite happy working with certain people,” he said.

The move came following an incident related to the town constables. Because it is a personnel matter, specific details are not available to the public. According to Rajsz, both she and Carr were asked to accompany three constables to a meeting with the Sullivan County District Attorney’s office. In doing so, the pair became embroiled in an ongoing situation leading to LiGreci’s charge that Carr and Rajsz failed to follow procedural law as established in the town’s constables manual.

Rajsz defended the choice to accompany the constables by announcing at the town meeting, “I am not bound by that manual. I am not a constable. We did everything by protocol.”

LiGreci countered, “Everyone needs to follow procedural law and whoever doesn’t needs to answer for it.”

The incident, and ensuing changes made to Carr’s and Rajsz’s roles, has led to speculation that LiGreci’s decisions are retaliatory. “We are being punished because we went to the DA,” Rajsz stated at the meeting.

In addition, a growing rift involving council members Leigh Sherman and Faber Wilson, who are perceived to be supportive of LiGreci against council members Carr and Rajsz, caused 14-year Glen Spey resident Lorraine Lukasiewicz to observe, “I have never seen such tension or discord on the town board. It’s always three against two.”

Other residents cited additional concerns.

“We want our town government to be more responsive,” said Glen Spey resident Sharon Sparling, who submitted a letter resigning her position on the Circle Park Committee. “To prevent any perceptions that I could, in any way, personally jeopardize Circle Park, please accept this resignation with my deepest sorrow and regret,” the letter read.

Sparling said that she objects to “the punitive way that this board has been acting toward Joe and Nadia.” Worried that her opposition might invite problems for the Circle Park Committee, Sparling explained, “I felt that the best thing I could do was to sever ties so as not to risk hurting the park.”

Sparling intends to remain involved with the park. “It’s a tremendous project. I’m here as a resource, but in the background, not the foreground,” she said. Sparling added that she feels a “spiritual connection” to her community, but that her concerns over how the town board is operating have grown. “The way things are on the national level—the lying, the secrecy—we don’t want that in our town.”

Another Glen Spey resident, Mary Stegmann, has established a new web site ( www.lumberlandvoice.com ) to give residents a place to air their opinions. “A place where you WILL be heard,” read a flyer circulated by Stegmann in promotion of the site. “People want to be heard, and they’re not,” said Stegmann following the meeting.

Finally, on behalf of an “informal grass-roots bipartisan group of residents,” Van Krzywicki of Glen Spey has filed a petition for a proposition by special election to determine whether the town should change its classification from a town of the second class to a town of the first class. According to Krzywicki, the change would affect the supervisor’s position, which would be reduced from a four-year term to two. The town clerk’s position would be similarly affected and seats on the board would change on a different cycle, providing opportunity for new membership.

Krzywicki said that the group’s objective is to rally the town to create a responsible and flexible town board that is accountable to the townspeople and that seeks to find common ground. “The people want their town back,” he added.

The town’s legal advisor, attorney Brian Edwards, is currently reviewing the petition, which LeGreci said would be addressed at the next town meeting.

“If we’ve interpreted the law correctly,” said Krzywicki, the town will have to conduct the special election within 60 to 75 days of the filing date of March 11.