Callicoon board keeps Semenetz on payroll

Council members ignore supervisor’s objections

By FRITZ MAYER

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — Supervisor Linda Babicz came to the meeting armed with ammunition to support her position but her arsenal wasn’t enough.

At the Town of Callicoon Town Board meeting on January 14, Babicz explained to the public and the councilpersons why she objected to hiring former supervisor Gregg Sementez as a deputy code enforcement officer.

One, she questioned his judgment.

Everyone agreed that while Semenetz was supervisor, he also served in an unpaid capacity as the deputy code enforcement officer. But Babicz, who had just returned from seminars in Albany to learn about town government, said his dual service was illegal. She said it is against the law for a supervisor to serve in another position in which the supervisor is his own boss.

Asked if this was true, town attorney Marvin Newburg said he didn’t know, and he didn’t seek to find out in the past because “it never came up.”

Babicz also questioned her predecessor’s competence.

In June 2007, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) wrote to Semenetz and code enforcement officer Kevin Zieres requesting information regarding flooding issues. In November as supervisor elect, Babicz and others got another letter from the DEC saying that they had received no response from Semenetz or Zieres, and the letter said, if the DEC does not get the information, “Callicoon and Jeffersonville may be in jeopardy of being suspended from the national flood insurance program.”

Councilperson Tom Boze said that while the matter should have been attended to sooner, a meeting with the DEC has now been set up for later this month and no town residents were in jeopardy because of the delay.

On a third matter, Babicz pointed out that Semenetz advertises his services as a building consultant in the town, and this created a clear conflict of interest. Council member Howard Fuchs said the same issue arises with contractors who become code enforcement officers, and said “they are told not to do work within the town where they have jurisdiction.” It is unclear, however, whether Semenetz will be told not to provide building consulting services in the town.

Ultimately, the board voted to change the title of the position to assistant code enforcement officer, which is more in line with the actual responsibilities of the job. Boze, Fuchs and council member Charles Schadt voted to appoint Semenetz to the part-time position, which will require 15 hours of work per week or less, and Babicz voted not to. The council members further voted to fund the position at $100 per week, slightly more than half of the amount they initially proposed. The board voted not to include health insurance as part of the compensation; however, Semenetz is already entitled to have the town pay half the cost of his health insurance due to his previous service.

The majority of the approximately 55 people in the audience sided with Babicz, and made various comments supporting her position. But the meeting was not entirely contentious. The board voted unanimously to extend real estate tax breaks to Cold War veterans, which has also been done in several other towns and at the county level. Also, the board made some other appointments, which were not controversial.

However, the overall tone of the meeting can best be summed up by an exchange that took place near the end of the meeting. Bill Engle, Callicoon Democratic committee chairman, noted that a sheriff’s deputy had been in attendance throughout the meeting and wondered how this came to be.

Boze said the board asked him to come as a precaution.

Babicz asked, “Was there any particular reason the supervisor was not informed?

There was no answer to her question.