Shelby attorney says town asking governor to fill vacancy so board can function
‘Shelby is in a serious situation having lost their supervisor and deputy town supervisor’
Photos by Tom Rivers: Kathleen Bennett, the attorney for the Town of Shelby, speaks with about 100 residents during a meeting on Tuesday at the Shelby fire hall. She said the Town Board currently can not function because there are only two members and at least three are needed to conduct town business.
SHELBY – The Shelby town government faces a difficult predicament after three of its members, including the town supervisor and deputy town supervisor, resigned last week.
Town attorney Kathleen Bennett said the board can’t meet and can’t vote on anything without a third member.
Bennett said the board is paralyzed and can’t have a Town Board meeting, pay bills or approve a budget until a third member is appointed or elected.
John Parada said the three resignations from the board members “crippled” the town government.
Bennett met with about 100 residents on Tuesday at the Shelby fire hall to discuss what she called “a serious situation.” She said town employees will be paid in the near future and health insurance will be paid for employees and past employees. That’s because those were set up on a pre-pay schedule.
The town has the money in its account in the short-term to make those payments. However, Bennett said money will need to be transferred from an investment account into the town fund where it can be spent for payroll, insurance and other bills. She doesn’t have a time frame for how soon that needs to happen before the current funds are exhausted.
“We’re working to make sure the payroll and health insurance will continue,” she said. “That is of primary importance.”
The town also has bills to vendors and others not on a pre-pay schedule. They will get their money but it may not happen in the usual time frame.
“Ultimately all bills will be paid they just might not be paid on time,” Bennett told the residents at the meeting.
Bennett said there are two ways to quickly resolve the crisis caused by the resignations of Town Supervisor Scott Wengewicz and board members Jeff Schiffer and Stephen Seitz Sr., who is also the deputy town supervisor.
Either Wengewicz or Seitz could rescind their resignation and rejoin the board to allow for an appointment to the board. Wengewicz or Seitz could then resign again. But the board would have the needed three members after the appointment.
Schiffer can’t rescind his motion because the Board of Elections has already started the process to fill his vacant position as part of this November’s election. Candidates on the ballot for this position need a nomination from one of four constituted parties – Republican, Democratic, Conservative and Working Families. The deadline is July 28 for a certification of nomination.
Wengewicz or Seitz both have terms ending Dec. 31. If someone is appointed to fill one or both of their spots, they would only be in the job until Dec. 31. (Jim Heminway last month won a Republican primary against Wengewicz for town supervisor, and Lawrence Waters Sr. and Ed Żelazny both won primaries for town councilman over Michael Moriarty and Vassilios Bitsas. Seitz didn’t seek re-election. But those terms don’t start until Jan. 1 and there is still a general election in November.)
Kathleen Bennett said she is pushing to get a third member on the Town Board as soon as possible, and also is trying to ensure the town has money in its accounts to make payroll and cover health benefits for employees and former employees. Some of the town’s funds are in an investment account and will need to be transferred over to pay some bills in the near future.
Bennett said she reached out to Wengewicz or Seitz about rescinding their resignations and briefly rejoining the board so a member could be appointed. Seitz declined and Wengewicz hasn’t responded to Bennett, she said.
“I’ve advised them it would be in everyone’s best interests for one of them to rescind their resignation just for the point of appointing one member,” she said.
Shelby also has the option of a governor’s appointment to the board. Last year two towns faced a similar situation as Shelby following mass resignations of board members.
In the Town of Berne in Albany County, Hochul made an appointment six months after the resignations. In St. Lawrence County, four of the five members of the Hermon Town Board and Hochul appointed two members about a month later.
Bennett said the governor’s office has been notified of the Shelby situation and asked to start the process of filling a vacancy. She hopes the turnaround will be about a month and not the six months it took in Berne.
In both Berne and Hermon, the resignations were on Republican boards. Hochul filled the vacancies with Democrats, Bennett said, and they served for only a few months so the Town Board could function until the new year started.
If a timely appointment isn’t made by Hochul or locally (with one of the board members who resigned rescinding that action and rejoining the board briefly), Bennett said the board could have enough members after the November election to fill Shiffer’s term. The winner of that election could join the board once the result is certified by the Board of Election and wouldn’t have to wait until Jan. 1.
Bennett works for the Bond, Schoeneck & King law firm. One of her colleagues has reached out to the governor’s office, asking the governor’s office to start the process of trying to fill the vacancy.
“The governor appreciates the seriousness of the situation,” Bennett said. “Shelby is in a serious situation having lost their supervisor and deputy town supervisor.”
The town departments – clerk’s office, court and highway – should all functionally normally even though the Town Board is currently unable to meet and vote on anything.
Schiffer resigned last Thursday, with Wengewicz and Seitz stepping down from their positions on Friday. Bennett said their notices didn’t include a reason for why they were quitting.
Cassandra Boring, a confidential secretary to the town supervisor, also resigned.
